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This game reminds me that you can gamify climbing, spelunking, travelling by foot in rough terrain and can make a really good game with good mechanics. The last game that was in my mind that gamified the feel of climbing, travelling by foot, spelunking into an interesting game mechanics was Death Stranding.
Climbing as an actual involved game mechanic is so under-explored in games. Even with Jusant, while I love the game, there‘s still so much untapped potential in terms of challenge and depth, so I really hope this game will inspire other developers to do that.
Platformers used to be big. I am not sure if either of games mentioned managed to make traversal into satisfying gameplay loop. I think they thrive mostly on novelty. Play either for too long and you will find systems rather limited. Jusant isn’t really that far from “press forward” of AssCreeds. Yes you need to press L&RT but that’s about it. Not much control or mastery to be had there. If you are interested in neat take on a platformer, I would point you to SnakePass. That game has a pretty in-depth. And unique control system (on account on being a snake) with a decent amount of depth to it.
Don't Nod are literally an independent studio... even if they weren't I'd still say they are small enough and games niche enough to fall into the indie style category.
They're niche enough to be crowned indie darlings, they're also huge enough to have pioneered massively in the industry of producing woke agenda main characters
Just beat this one in one sitting. It's been like 5+ years since I've been able to do that. This is one of those games that will sit with me for a long time. Just the world and lore behind it is so fascinating. 10 / 10 must play game
I'm very excited for the channel's future, now that we have Skill Up's traditional reviews and "Please Don't Skip" Reviews and Austin's reviews and Indie Spotlight reviews.
Excellent review of a game I would have never known existed otherwise. I would watch 4x the amount of indie spotlight reviews if you guys had the time to put them out. My life is so busy I don't have the time to scour steam like I used to. I'll be putting this one on my wishlist
I absolutely love games like this. Journey, Abzu, The Pathless, Gris, and Dredge have provided some of the most memorable gaming experiences I’ve had. Can’t wait to play this one.
Beat this game last week and played it because I was experiencing a lot of stress and anxiety in everyday life. The tone and music of this experience really helped calm me down and definitely puts you in that meditative flowstate. Great experience.
I suspect this video won't hit the numbers that more mainline coverage would, but I'd like to express my support for it. Austin talking about cool, short indies, in a slightly shorter format? I am HERE for it. More please.
I quite enjoyed this one. The climbing gave me Death Stranding vibes due to the fact you’re using the triggers to simulate left and right limbs and personally I find that way more engaging rather than just holding the stick in whatever direction to auto climb.
I personally would give this strongly recommend, this is one of my top 5 of the year. Such amazing atmosphere and world building, and I’m a real climber, which biases me towards it.
Great review Austin! Absolutely gonna go give this a shot on Game Pass soon, I really hope we see even more short, tight experiences from devs in the coming years. Seeing small passion projects like this is always so exciting
Honestly I think this is game of the year for me. Such awesomely implemented mechanics. The only thing I wanted was more difficulty and complexity in the climbing puzzles. Please please make a Jusant 2!!!
When Death Stranding came out, I was excited to see a game that focused on movement and traversal as its main gameplay mechanic, and how other devs might incorporate that in the future. Jusant really feels like it's carrying that torch. Movement is the pillar for everything we do in games, and I hope to see more devs figure out ways to explore that like this brilliant game does.
In a year with so many amazing games, this small title has managed to sneak it’s into my top 3 this year, not quite good enough to topple BG3 but still something I enjoyed immensely
This game is incredibly charming and soothing. Thank you for this spotlight ! A shame it didn't get a nomination at the game awards. It does some incredibly inventive things with the way you use your fingers on the controller. Reminds me of the sensation you have grabbing a creature in Shadow of the Colossus.
I was never this hooked with a review. Holy shit Austin, this was amazing, it was as if I felt what the game was about without playing it (yet!). Keep it up!!
Great Indie game. Best experience i've had with one since Journey tbh. Really hoping it does well enough to justify a sequel. Maybe with Co-op climbing (with Bianca mayber), and water mechanics. Awesome review, really conveyed the experience.
Watching this it reminds me a little of the environmental experiences you wander through in Stray, not the environments, but the feel, just you with your thoughts as you explore.
This game is excellent. It is a perfect game to bang out in one sitting with some nice headphones on. It has the best soundtrack I've heard since Stray. And speaking of Stray; this game scratched that same itch for me that Stray did. I agree with Austin on all points.
agree with everything here; i got to 100% within a couple days of release after playing the demo months ago and being immediately enthralled. re-hearing some of the music again gave me chills and brought me right back to the feeling of accomplishment the game gives you when clambering up over that final ledge of each section. i was also left wanting juuuust a little more from the story! would love to see if this expands into future projects.
Holy Sh*t Austin! Great Job on this one. Please make "Indie Spotlight" a recurring series. Such Games are essential to the current micro transaction infested gaming Market and a very welcomed change.
Was very interested in this game, so pleasantly surprised but it appears to be such a focused experience. Hearing a game is only 5 hours or so is actually a huge selling point! I don't have much energy to play games so having one that I can actually complete is a joy.
Don’t know what warmed my heart more. The fact we have Indie Spotlight videos or the beauty of the first few words of the video. Go team ShillUp and Austin if you ever doubt your script writing some dark day in the future, please give this video a rewatch.
I greatly appreciate you two doing this! I hope there are more Indie Spotlights ahead. Getting more eyes on more games that might lack marketing budgets is a wonderful and altruistic thing to do.
Indie Spotlight is fantastic, I'd love to see more of these. A wonderful review from Austin, too, I hadn't realized Jusant had such an interesting premise alongside its unique gameplay.
i had just started getting into rock climbing and found out that this was coming out in a few weeks. i ended up 100%ed it in two days. a lot of fun, really relaxing
Great review, Austin. This game was such a refreshing surprise. Played it over a few days and was often blown away by just how lovely and serene it was. The music really is special and made me feel both melancholy at times or upbeat and determined at others. So glad it was on Game Pass or I probably never would have experienced it.
I really enjoyed this game. The stories told throughout are moving and sometimes heartbreaking. The mechanics are intuitive. It was really easy to sit down thinking i'd play 20 minutes and suddenly realize id been there for an hour or more. It never feels unfair, i didn't come across a single bug and i never got frustrated even when it was more challenging. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants a game to just get lost in. If they'd made it different and let you die it wouldn't have been so compelling. Having played Cocoon then this back to back as pallette cleansers between other games they felt very distinct but also like a really good pair. The soundtrack is fantastic too as mentioned. I played it on Gamepass but loved it so much i bought it afterwards and know i will be diving back in to collect everything in each chapter. I'd missed much more than I thought I had and really want to climb back in and find everything. I also played it with my young son and he absolutely loved playing along when he could and encouraging in areas that were a bit beyond him. It was a perfect game for us both to sit down and discover together.
This channel has exposed me to so amazing games that I would never have thought to try like Stray, Humanity, Sea of Stars and hopefully soon to be Worldless. Love seeing these reviews, time to download this one.
Yeah this game is phenomenal. Played it a few days after it came out & it gave me Abzu & Ori vibes immediately. An absolutely beautiful game, both graphically & the story it tells through the journals of Bianca's that you find, was nearly in tears by the end.
Just finished this game the other night and really enjoyed it, it reminded me strongly of Journey and if you liked that you'll most likely love this as well. Played it right after finishing Alan Wake 2 and it was the perfect game to play after that.
Jusant is such a lovely experience. Probably a top 50 game for me. The worldbuilding, the art style, the gameplay, the pacing, and man, the music - it's all SO GOOD. Can't wait to see what this team at Dontnod will do in the future.
I played this on Game Pass and wow it is so worth playing. Such a stunning game with a cute story that you unravel as you play the game. Interacting with your little companion and the moments you take to take in the view. The soundtrack that accompanies Jusant is also wonderful. Such a beautiful game and I hope more people pick it up and play it.
Yessssss we need more of these! Cocoon, Venba, Planet of Lana, and Season: A Letter to the Future would have been great fits for these smaller reviews just this year.
I just finished this game and everyone should really try indie games like this once in a while. If your tired on AAA games there's always indie games like this.
We 110% need more rock climbing games. Real world climbing is too fun not to be explored in game. Currently downloading this off gamepass because this definitely caught my interest. Just imagine if this game had a baby with Mount Your Friends and Descenders. Honestly, that's an absolute dream game.
Watching now but just have to give a preemptive thumbs up for the increased level of Austin reviews...both Shillup and Austin are still the best reviewers in the game space in my humble, useless, internet opinion...much love to both of you champions!
One of my games of the year. Beautiful. Surprising. Delightful. Captivating. Unexpected. And a joy from start to finish. (Much like the review itself. Great work, Austin.)
I feel like indies got overshadowed by the admittedly stellar big budget games, but we've had so many good indies this year that deserve spotlights like this, thank you! Jussant, Cocoon, Dredge and Dave the Diver have all been A+.
I’ve been playing this over Alan wake and disco elysium lately. It’s more an experience than a video game. But it also helps that the climbing mechanics are actually reallly nice and the music is so freaking pleasing
Played this. Glad it is getting more attention. It was in Game pass. It’s the best thing to happen to my gaming experience as it means I can try these games without financial worry. Meaning that I can try games out of my comfort zone/genre with no risk
