The dialogue is all subtitled Scandinavian, keeping true to the Nordic tone. The game follows the Norse mythology, which we often see only vague allusions to in gaming. Fortunately, the good people at Thunder Lotus Games chose to simplify it for us Collect runes in each area, then beat the centuries of dust off of the ‘Jotun’ that guard them. The task you are given at the start of the game may seem cryptic impress the gods could mean all manner of things, after all. ‘A shrine to the Goddess Frigg… why are you laughing?’ Some of the shrines needed to unlock these powers and their upgrades are hidden too, which extends the enjoyment you can extract from combing the levels. There are several more of these powers to find scattered throughout the levels of Jotun – split between attacking or more defensive abilities and, though their use is limited, they help to add more variety to combat that would otherwise have been a bit too simple. It teaches you your basic and heavy attack, dodge move, and gives you your first ‘god power’ – a special ability that, in this case, allows you to heal. The starting area serves as a tutorial of sorts. Little details like this make Jotun feel special, and there are many more impressive examples of this as you work your way through the game. When you reach the forest below, you start to see glimpses of how this cartoon imagery comes to life tree roots will sprawl out to block your path, poison mushrooms burst in the marsh and even the well which replenishes your health has a somewhat pleasing animation of the water draining. You soon find that the unfolding panorama you see above is actually the map of the game’s first area and even at this early stage it’s giving you hints at things that may help you later on. The gods, it seems, agree with this sentiment and the dead viking is challenged with ‘impressing’ said gods to avoid a trip to viking-hell. Thora, your lady-viking protagonist, just drowned you see a rather pathetic death for a sea-faring, village-ransacking, marauder type. Overall it’s definitely worth the purchase and while the gameplay itself won’t last you more than around 5-6 hours, the world is so beautiful and the gameplay is extremely satisfying (and also challenging), making it an absolute must have.This is the scene that welcomes players to the world of Jotun, after a brief introduction of your character and her death (!gasp). If you see this game on sale make sure to pick it up. The narration, soundtrack and artwork are something truly special and a testament to indie game development. The game is an acquired taste in terms of difficulty, but an audio-visual masterpiece. Generally the game will set you back around £12 depending on platform, but is very often on sale up to 75%, allowing you to pick it up for less than £5. The process of figuring these bosses out and beating them is extremely satisfying. These fights can be very frustrating and you will suffer a quick death if you make too many mistakes. Each Jotun will have various phases, attack patterns and timings that you will need to learn and master in order to get past them. The sense of scale is something the game plays with really successfully by pitting you – a tiny human against some truly gigantic deities. Once you have collected the appropriate runes you face off against a boss, and boy do these bosses pack a punch. Often you will also find special shrines that give you some interesting skills ranging from healing and shields to decoys and even the blessing of Thor’s hammer. Each big boss (known as Jotun) fight is preceded by a couple of relatively peaceful missions to find some runes, often accompanied by a puzzle of sorts. This is quite a challenging game which will have you in potential fits of anger as you face up against some of the later bosses. You play as Thora – a recently deceased human wielding a massive two-handed axe. Battle your way past gods and figure out weird puzzles on your way through the afterlife. Jotun: Valhalla Edition made by Thunder Lots Games is an amazingly aesthetic game based on Norse mythology.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |