Jusant from DON’T NOD is an action-puzzle climbing experience as you aim to get to the top of a tower. Learn more in our Jusant review!

 

Jusant from DON’T NOD is an action-puzzle climbing experience as you aim to get to the top of a tower. Is a meditative journey in which you’ll take on this challenge at your own pace. Jusant is a French nautical term for a receding tide, and it makes sense as the game’s name since you’ll start your journey over a wide desert that was once a mighty ocean. There are plenty of ships and other remains around you from a long-gone era that will remind you of what used to be normal back then.

This one is certainly a different experience from the studio’s previously developed releases, such as adventure games Life is Strange and sequel Life is Strange 2, bizarre 3D journey Twin Mirror which has a heavy dose of a Twin Peaks influence, narrative-driven visual novel Harmony: The Fall of Reverie. Oh, and let’s not forget about the solid RPG-lite experience Gerda: A Flame in Winter, and it’s DLC, Liva’s Story, which gives us a new perspective on the game’s story by focusing on resistance leader Liva.

 

You’ll move forward with the left analog stick as you turn the camera around as needed with the right analog stick. Since you’ll be climbing though this on, you’ll need to use your left hand with the L2 button and your right hand with the R2 button to grab onto something. You can also jump with the X button. By attaching a rope, you’ll be able to climb up or down the rope by pressing the L1 and R1 buttons. You can also detach the rope by pressing the Circle button, which is sometimes needed when the rope is stretched too much, and you can’t continue to climb. And whenever you’re running low on stamina, you can rest by pressing in on the left analog stick as long as you’re at a spot where resting is an option.

The Triangle button is for interacting with objects. You can interact with your companion by pressing left on the D-Pad. Petting your companion – known as a Ballast – is always a good option! It’s a funny creature made of water, which is quite rare! If you want to create a checkpoint, you can place a piton by pressing the Square. This will place a pin that can save you if you fall. You have a limited number of piton to place as you climb, so be sure to make each one count! Pressing up on the D-Pad will make the Ballast produce a glowing echo

 

Your companion will be crucial in making it to the top of the tower since it can use its mighty echo tto wake up nature as you travel further up. It will reveal some clues along the way that can help you find your footing. It’s interesting how you go from the barren desert that used to be the bottom of the now dried up ocean to finding gorgeous biomes where peculiar flora and fauna thrive in harmony. It will also use its echo at the end of each chapter for a very special effect.

The game has a full trophy list waiting for you with a Platinum trophy to unlock. The list is split into 6 Bronze trophies, 8 Silver trophies, and 7 Gold trophies. Along with a trophy for completing the game and hugging the Ballast a bunch of times, restore your stamina more than 50 times while climbing, activating a fresco, listening to a shell, turning an altar, reading a letter, complete a cairn, read a letter… and then trophies for obtaining all of the aforementioned collectibles. There’s 105 collectibles in total, so if you need some extra help, you can always check out this Jusant Trophy Guide.

 

Jusant is an action-puzzle climbing experience that you can play a your own pace. As you go from walking through a huge dessert that used to be the bottom of the ocean to climbing up a large structure that shows signs of a long-gone civilization. As you start to piece things together from the letters and notes you find, you’ll be interacting with the local flora and fauna to climb higher and higher up the tower. What will you find at the top? Jusant is out on PlayStation 5 with a $24.99 price tag.

Disclaimer
This Jusant review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by DON’T NOD.