Jusant: the snail on the slope

Jusant is a rare gift. It’s a calm, meditative, incredibly sweet adventure where you have to climb to the top of a tall tower to help a friend. It’s a game from Don’t Nod studio, so it’s definitely worth checking out.

Desert

No one knows where, no one knows when. In the middle of a vast desert that was once the bottom of the ocean, among the remains of sea mollusks, reefs and shipwrecks, stands a huge tower. A lone traveler in a poncho with a bag on her back wanders toward the tower. She needs to climb this mountain, high, high, above the clouds, to… perhaps to bring back the water.

Who is this girl, is she even a girl? Where did she get those tattoos? Who is in her bag? Why does she have to climb this tower? None of this really matters. Jusant is a case where the journey is more important than the destination.

Tower

People used to live here. People filled this city with laughter, gathered in coffee shops, built boats, raised children, made beautiful bas-reliefs on the walls and bizarre drawings in secret caves. They moved around on numerous stairs, elevators, bridges and passages.

There is no one here now. There are only the remnants of a former life, abandoned things, empty corridors, echoing halls. And letters, piles of letters and notes that tell the stories of the past. Sometimes these are some minor everyday details, sometimes confessions, sometimes confessions. If you want, you can learn a lot from these letters. But… will you have the desire to read when you have to look for a way up?

Up

The climbing mechanic has long been used in games. Even in the Tomb Raider series, even in Assassin’s Creed, even in
Zelda. But in Jusant, climbing is less of an arcade game than in the games mentioned above.

Here, you have to find the right way up, hammer in additional rope attachments, give your hands a rest, use inertia, and so on. No, it’s not a simulator by any means, but it’s not exactly an arcade either. It’s more of a balanced experience. Although, of course, there are purely arcade elements, such as the wind, which can help or hinder climbing, or the use of amazing plants and sometimes monsters as handholds.

The best way to climb is with a gamepad. Left hand – left trigger, right hand – right trigger. Hook – move, hook – move. It is really very convenient. You can also play from the keyboard, but the gamepad is definitely better.

Music of the wind

Jusant is a very unhurried, very calming and meditative experience. You should not rush here, it is better to enjoy the scenery, the quaint settlement in the middle of the rock/reef. Look for side passages to the altars, pyramids-cairo. Look for large shells that allow you to eavesdrop on how this city sounded in the past, and yes, collect additional letters. Maybe that’s how you’ll understand who that girl is who is stubbornly crawling up.

The game has a very cool sound and pleasant background music, for which you should use headphones.

Jusant also has a very interesting, seemingly very simple, but pleasant visual style that suits this game.

A journey for one evening

Jusant is a short game. At a leisurely pace, it can be completed in 4 hours, that is, in one evening. Again, this is more of an advantage than a disadvantage. In fact, it’s almost a reference game for Game Pass. It may not be worth buying such a small game at full price, even though it costs only 438 UAH. But if you have Game Pass, Jusant is definitely worth a try. This is a very kind, very warm game that leaves a pleasant aftertaste.