PC | PS5 | XBOX SERIES |
HOW I PLAYED: I played on PS5 through the premium streaming service.
STORY — 18/20
INTRO (4)
The opening cutscenes really sets the tone for the rest of the game: it's melancholy and fascinating at the same time. We're shown a barren wasteland littered with destroyed ships and rusted anchors.
What the hell happened here? What could have caused this?
I was so curious. Cut to a wide angle shot with a lone figure approaching in the distance.
Who is this person? What could have possible brought them to this forsaken place?
As the camera zooms in we can see our androgynous explorer gazing at something in the distance - something high up. Must be seagull. But then again.
What are they looking at?
Somethings out there. Something different this time. Finally we get to see it too. A colossal tower of rock piercing the clouds, standing alone in the desert - the games logo appears.
Jusant
"Oh, I'm soo in!"
As soon as we gain control of the playable character it appears that we've already climbed a considerable distance. I backtracked a bit to see where I could have come from but all I found was a staircase that was blocked off. I would have liked to have started from 0 and climbed myself instead of being ferried the first leg of the climb. I didn't see any helicopters. I just found this a bit strange and wanted answers that never came.
The game is pretty self explanatory. Go up. So I moved towards the first ledge, the controls felt great and then I hit a wall - one I could climb, though. Using the shoulder buttons I gradually advanced with a grin on my face. This was so cool. I wasn't just pressing a button to go up - I was in control of each and every movement.
CUTSCENES (5)
Great cutscenes aren't just visually striking - they make you feel something as well. I got this from all of the cutscenes in the game. They show off the incredible art design while also adding to the world. Top it off with the phenomenal soundtrack and I was completely absorbed.
WORLD BUILDING (5)
The entire game is free from any spoken dialogue and there are no NPCs. All of the world building is done through messages you discover and a fantastic use of environmental storytelling. The amount of unique assets I discovered as I ascended the tower was incredible. Little towns and shelters were littered with the remains of the people who once lived there. A lot of it was sailing equipment and things that make you float, but I also discovered cooking equipment, musical instruments and pens for animals.
Let me just expand on this last point real quick. I was reading an edition of the Gazette which is a local publication in the game's world. They mention a species that is found in the area but is exceedingly rare. When I stumbled upon these creatures later in the game I felt so special. The dots were connected. It meant something.
Every once in a while - if you go out of your way - you'l find these large shells that reveal glimpse of the past. When the character listens to the shell they sort of evoke a trance and the sound of children playing, waves crashing, people working and ship bells in the distance can be heard revealing what might have happened in that area while it was still inhabited.
OVERALL STORY (4)
There's no spoon feeding here: the games story is vague and like I mentioned earlier, told entirely through notes and messages scattered around the tower. Even after reading every single one I came across I was still left with some gaps. But I managed to piece together this: that the world has stopped turning and the sun is stuck in one position. The Tower was once inhabited by various sailing communities who traveled up and down with the tide. These once thriving communities were devastated by the Jusant: the receding of the tide and the cessation of the rain.
The livelihood of the people here slowly started to fade as businesses struggled and others were forced to leave as there was no way to grow food. This also lead to families being split up while other more stubborn folk chose to stay on the tower.
The world also features a character named Bianca who is the author of many of these letters. She was heading up the tower too, fuelled by curiosity and seeking adventure. She meets other residents of the tower along her journey and Its Bianca -not the playable character that undergoes character development - a fascinating spin on storytelling and one that really made me stop and think.
While simple in its execution, Jusant's story really left an impression on me. Like the best FromSoftware game's I was compelled to scour the internet to expand the lore to piece together any details that I had missed. And once I did I liked it even more.
GRAPHICS — 12/15
CHARACTER MODELS (4)
The playable character is designed with the games overall aesthetic in mind: lacking texture and heavily stylized. The art design does all the heavy lifting as graphical fidelity is not the aim of Jusant. The baby Ballast, that accompanies you along your journey is as simple as it is adorable. For what is required of Jusant from a visual standpoint it executes with mega style and grace.
ENVIRONMENTS (4)
Its hard to look at Jusant and not feel a sense of wonder and amazement. Just from a straight up design standpoint the thing is fascinating; you're on the edge of a cliff that is supernaturally high and it somehow has shipwrecks and things that belong floating in the sea scattered all over it. Its pure fantasy. Its surreal in the most captivating way.
Jusant has Fumito Ueda written all over it - the game even has windmills for crying out loud. The way the camera reacts and changes to always show you the most dramatic angles for instance. The lone wanderer scaling larger than life structures. Seagulls. Atmosphere for dayys. The sense of loneliness paired with unmatched beauty. Its all here and I couldn't get enough.
Jusant is an absolutely gorgeous game. The soft, pastel look made me feel so calm and relaxed. Each chapter had a unique look and colour palette that was a contrast to the previous area and they were a joy to discover. I went from a bright orange side of the tower drenched in heat to a dark cave full of purple and blue luminescent plants. It was all so fantastic.
There were noticeable bald patches with no texture and walls that only suggested a hint of a brick pattern (like in cartoons) but they didn't feel as egregious as the buildings in Fires of Rubicon for example. I could appreciate that it was a design choice and part of the aesthetic.
Assets and set dressings were plentiful and the use of environmental storytelling was about as good as I've seen in a game. Not only do we find letters from Bianca but also the remains of her expedition left behind like a trail of breadcrumbs for us to follow. Pickaxes, headlamps, every maritime object imaginable, bundles of ropes, and the dishes from campsites all embellish the games lore.
SPECIAL FX (4)
The game makes some really nice touches with its FX. Besides standard things you'd come to expect like dust kicking up when move around, the use of lighting and particle effects were especially noticeable and brought with them a sense of enchantment.
It wasn't until my third playthrough that I noticed even more subtle things like heatwaves gently causing the screen to ripple.
AUDIO — 15/15
AMBIENCE (5)
The soundtrack for Jusant was romantic, passionate, meditative and serene all at once. The piano pieces, synthesizers and string sections were spellbinding. This is one of the most incredible OSTs I think I've even heard in recent memory. There was such a sense of raw powerful emotion that nearly brought me to tears on a couple of occasions.
This is a prime of example of just how much a great OST can carry the experience.
The music in Jusant was transcendent.
BOSS MUSIC (SOUND DIRECTION) (5)
Since the game has no bosses to speak of I needed to change this category to something else. I felt like this was a good opportunity to talk about the sound direction - is what I'm going to call it - the timing and placement of the game's soundtrack. It always seemed to be queued perfectly and in sync with climactic moments or big discoveries. This added so much impact, rather than just having background music that played the entire time I was exploring.
In one of the later chapters I was climbing an especially huge cliff face and as I approached the top the music seemed to pick up in tempo and energy - like it was hinting to me that I was getting close to my next objective. The game regularly made me feel things. Like your first time discovering Majula and hearing that melody. Jusant was full of moments where the soundtrack really hit me.
SOUND DESIGN (5)
Our silent protagonist will let our gasps and shriek if they fall off the cliff (don't worry nobody dies in this game - your rope is always there to save you). Upon making discoveries of hidden artifacts they'll look up and gasp in awe. Small things like this that made them feel human were so potent. My favourite moment - and this only happens once - was when I first discovered "pebbles" which are small rock shaped looking creatures that live and climb along cliffs. There's a section in the game where they first appear and you step off a platform and realize that you can grab onto them as if they were handholds for climbing. The playable character let out the most genuine laugh of astonishment and joy at the exact same time that I did and it was magic. It was like we ere discovering the same thing as the same time and they were just as impressed as me. This was so freakin' cool.
PERFORMANCE — 7/10
FRAME RATE (4)
Jusant ran really smooth but there were no options for graphic settings.
STABILITY (3)
The game does have its fair share of jank. Id regularly just stuck on geometry and objects laying around and creatures and animals would pop in and out of existence in front of me. There was nothing majorly game breaking but you definitely get the feeling that it could have been play tested a bit further.
GAMEPLAY — 32/40
CONTROLS (5)
Man, it really feels like this game was designed with a controller in mind because it felt so - I don't know; logical and organic. The developers at Don't Nod took one of the most mundane things we do in gaming and built a whole IP off of it. That in itself is impressive.
Its really simple but so tactile and satisfying. You essentially alternate between the two shoulder buttons to control the characters hands and with the analog stick change the direction of where they reach. Every single decision and handhold felt important.
There's also a jump function which is used to reach ledges and platforms not just above you but across the X axis. You can also double jump to reach even further.
The fully in control tactile nature of the controls doesn't end at climbing it extends to other very basic tasks like interacting with giant statues and opening doors. There was a theme of rotation the analog stick and holding shoulder button and it just meant so much more than just walking up to something and pressing square.
MECHANICS (5)
Each new chapter introduced a new mechanic that layered upon the previous one you had learned. For example in chapter 2 you gain the ability to interact with plants - using your companions new found abilities it can generate "echos" that will cause plants to grow rapidly in size that create new handholds and paths for you to traverse. Then in chapter 3 the sun becomes a factor and not only does your stamina bar deplete more quickly in the sun but plants that you've interacted with will wilt in the heat after a brief period.
By the end of the game you're using all the tools in your arsenal and feel like a seasoned climber. The sense of progression was fantastic.
PACING (5)
The only way is up! Some areas have optional routes to take but at the end of the day you can't really get lost.
The chapters were roughly 20 to 45 minutes in lengths depending on how many notes you read and time you spent just gazing at the scenery. I beat the game in around 7 hours my first time.
UI/UE (3)
The UI is super basic and shows your stamina and the amount of pitons you have in use which are the pegs you drive into the rock to support you should you fall. There's no menu in the game for any inventory and no currency.
BOSS QUALITY (LEVEL QUALITY) (4)
Like I mentioned earlier, there are no Bosses in the game so I needed to find another way to spin this category. As the game world itself is the actual challenge why not expand on that?
Jusant is basically one big puzzle. The objective is to climb to the top and its your job to find the right path and navigate the games geometry.
The game offers small hints like scuff marks on a cliff that suggest someone has swung across there before, Game icons will appear in places that you can ineract with but you'll still have to get up high enough to do so.
The core gameplay is organized in a way that constantly urges you to push ahead while keeping you entertained every step of the way.
ENEMY VARIETY (PUZZLE VARIETY) (4)
I thought the pebbles were maybe overused a bit. As remarkable as they were I still felt like the game maybe relied on too heavily. One chapter features two large sections with them that felt a bit copy pasted.
The rope which the character carries with them serves as the game's other main attraction. Various sections will require you to hang from the rope and swing across massive gaps. Using L1 and R1 you can shorted and lengthen the amount of rope and by double tapping R1 quickly ascend all the way up to where your last piton was attached. The rope sections were a lot of fun and often Id just swing back and forth or hang just to admire the views.
GAMEPLAY VARIETY (4)
Jusant manages to break up the climbing with various other activities that offer a change of pace and gameplay style.
Scattered around the tower are stone sculptures which you can and interact with and when you walk up to them the character will place a new stone on top.
Zip lines also come into play and were a short but fun thrill and various elevator contraptions lift you to new areas.
Hidden caves are home to large murals that you can "awaken" using your Ballast echo ability. These are catalogued in the extras menu and are part of the game's collectables for the Platinum trophy.
REPLAYABILITY (3)
Other than self imposed challenges or the desire to attempt speedruns there isn't much here to bring you back - that being said though, I played the game three times back to back while writing this review just because I just enjoyed being in the world that much. The game is a vibe.
There are collectibles which we touched on a bit earlier but the game has no alternate endings or things of that nature.
The accessibility features do offer some variety or replay value in their own way so let's take a quick look at those.
BONUS — 1/3
The accessibility menu offers various options to facilitate the journey such as being able to exclude the stamina meter entirely or jump assistance that grabs hold automatically for you.
OVERALL — 86/100
GREAT
One of my single favourite parts of Jusant was just using the camera; looking around was part of the experience. Being able to see where I'd come from and then look up at see where I might be headed: admiring the landscape and appreciating the views. By design it almost encourages you to just slow down and look around. I can't think of very many games where just being there was part of the experience. The game was like moving art. Whereas in God of War I felt like I was stuck in the cutscene - in Jusant I felt like I was creating it.
My co-host Jimmy put it like this - Its is a nice palette cleanser. I totally agree. If you're looking for something chill after you've just dumped 60 hours into a huge game this is a great choice. The pacing is wonderful and the gameplay offers such a fresh deviation from the norm.
Jusant is my personal favourite game that I played all of 2025. It spoke to me on so many levels and wasn't just a game - it was an experience.
PROS
✅ Incredible art design
✅ Immersive atmosphere
✅ Outrageously good soundtrack
✅ Fun and unique mechanics
CONS
❌ Storytelling style might be unappealing for some
❌
❌
❌
TLDR: 86/100 (GREAT) Jusant is a serene, visually striking climbing adventure that trades traditional storytelling for environmental details, letters, and atmosphere, creating a meditative and immersive experience. With tactile, satisfying controls, layered mechanics, and breathtaking art design paired with an extraordinary soundtrack, the game feels more like living art than a standard video game. Though the story is vague and replayability limited, its pacing, emotional resonance, and sense of wonder make it a standout and deeply memorable journey—one that’s as much about simply being there as it is about reaching the top.
PICK UP (JUSANT) HERE:
PlayStation: https://www.playstation.com/en-ca/games/jusant/
Xbox: https://www.xbox.com/en-CA/games/store/jusant/9PJB1ZRJDCBQ
PC: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1977170/Jusant/
CHECK OUT OUR VIDEO REVIEW HERE
0 Comments