Jusant succeeds by being wholly singular. From the jump, you have one goal: climb up. Everything else is in service to that one objective.
Perhaps an obvious statement, but this is most apparent – and most interesting – in the game’s mechanics. Developer Donʼt Nod put serious thought into translating the act of mountain climbing onto a video game controller; you control each hand individually, when you climb up, where to create anchor points, and so on. It asks you to think about each movement you make and consider your path forward. In that way, it’s a puzzle game, but one that neatly mimics the physicality of the sport it borrows from.
Not unlike Death Stranding did for hiking in 2019, Jusant is all about the labor of movement and the careful consideration of navigating natural terrain. That’s a unique position for a game to be in. A lot of games want movement to feel effortless; it helps create the fun. But Jusant’s fun lies in its arduousness, in completing complex challenges that take time and careful consideration. And it does so with shocking success.
Jusant is unlike much else, and it’s sure to be one of the hidden gems of 2023 – and maybe one of the hidden gems of Donʼt Nod’s catalog, which is mostly known for its narrative adventure games like Life Is Strange. But if you’re itching for a different experience, you’d be remiss not to take this climb.