It’s rude to make such a definitive statement after playing the game for almost three hours. But playing through the first two chapters of the game during a quiet night at home left such a strong impression on me that it’s hard not to feel anything but excited about it.
In the distant future JosantWhere water is scarce, the nameless protagonist makes his way across the desert – seemingly the bottom of what was once an ocean – to reach a mountain towering high in the sky. And then, they go up.
Josant It is a silent, contemplative game about climbing this sometimes treacherous, often beautiful mountain, and discovering more about the people who once lived on it. Mountaineering, rock climbing and abseiling are of course central to this.
In what seems like a mix of ideas from Naughty Dog’s Anonymous 4 Bennett Foddy is excellent Jerb (It’s free! Play it!), Scalable skins Josant It requires you to pay close attention to where your next handgrip will be, and how strong your grip is. Your controller’s shoulder triggers are used to control the grip of your protagonist’s left and right hands, while the left analog stick is used to guide his free limbs.
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The limited stamina bar creates some urgency to the climb, and is a relevant consideration you should also keep in mind as you search for the best path forward – is your stamina running low? Stop and take a break before you lose your grip completely. Although the preview version we played was made available for the Xbox Series Josant Uses the most accurate haptic feedback of the PlayStation 5 controller.
Overall, the system makes climbing even the smallest gaps an act that requires some thought, which is refreshing. Josant It’s about the journey up the mountain, after all. In fact, you might even stand out Josant like a trip On the mountain, due to the similarity of their meditative features.
Despite the heart-stopping heights and risky maneuvers Josant Did you perform, and luckily you can never fall to your death. The protagonist is equipped with a kind of futuristic harness and climbing rope, which automatically locks into the anchor point when starting a climb. Fall, and you’ll be rescued by the attached rope, allowing you to easily get back up and start again. A limited number of stabilizers, which are hand-held climbing anchors, can be deployed on longer climbs, which serve as de facto checkpoints for times when you forget your stamina, or are about to undertake a difficult maneuver.
You’ll be performing a lot of difficult maneuvers as well. Not content with the satisfying feeling of climbing alone, Josant Very quickly it starts throwing more complex scenarios at you. Many of the walls have a wide array of handles, requiring you to look ahead and carve your own way out of the many possible options – a refreshing departure from the linear path-oriented paths of action-exploration games. Many climbing puzzles require big jumps, big swings, and wall running to get from point A to point B, requiring a certain level of awareness, planning, and dexterity.
Aspects of imagination play a big role in the construction Josant Climbing is also varied. A short distance into the game, you discover that the protagonist has a magical water creature in his backpack, which you can summon to interact with the unique plants growing on the mountain. You’ll need to do things like wake up large creeping vines and bulbous cacti to create clusters of new knobs – although they wilt in direct sunlight, so sometimes, you’ll have to be very quick.
Colonies of small rock insects also make up some of the most memorable moments of the first few hours of the game, as they wander around the mountain, creating a sheer living wall of ever-changing paths. And in the last moments of Josant When creating the preview, there were glimpses of larger creatures, sparking some curiosity about how the game will continue to build on its already interesting challenges.
Josant An excellent climbing system, combined with satisfying puzzles, a saturated aesthetic, wordless storytelling, and a simple score make for a great combination. It’s instantly compelling, and I can’t wait to discover what’s at the top of his mountain.
Josant It’s scheduled to release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S at some point Fall 2023 (Northern Hemisphere).