Jusant

Have you ever heard of Jusant? If not then skip all this — don’t read another word and go pick up the game. I think it might be my favorite of the year.

I booted up Jusant in the early afternoon and was feeling pretty cynical about everything, expecting to bounce off and return to my mindless fast food games — explosions and loot boxes and endless violence. But Jusant stopped me in my tracks in the way a great movie does. It slapped the cynicism right out of me and I realized that I couldn’t put the controller down, finishing it all in just one sitting. From the moment I hit START to the moment the credits rolled I had a big stupid grin on my face: The music! The setting! The rope physics!

The story!

In Jusant the world has ended. The water is gone. You’re a lone wanderer in an empty desert with a strange blue pet who, for reasons unknown, must climb an enormous mountain that reaches into the heavens. The gameplay requires you to scurry and jump and hook your way up empty cliffside towns reading old notes (which I actually stopped to read!) and listening to seashells that have recorded the sounds of these now abandoned cities. It’s sad and beautiful in equal measure.

I could go on and on. About the world building, about how Jusant treats the apocalypse, about the sounds and music, the lack of any speech or dialogue. But before I bore you to tears I want to make myself as clear as can be: Jusant is a classic, en par with the likes of Journey.

A straight-up 10 out of 10.