Review - Jotun... Cheapshot & Cheese

 

Images courtesy of Thunder Lotus Games

Every game studio has to start somewhere.

    Sometimes that jumping off point can be a little more strenuous than others. With the right things in place, however, a game can make enough of an impact that a studio generates the revenue needed to push forward and make something else. Ideally, they would be making something better. This can be seen with Digital Sun in Moonlighter as they use their cashflow to springboard a sequel that looks bigger, better, and bolder than the original. I suppose we'll see.

    The concept here was also used by Thunder Lotus Games in their development of Jotun. The game is a short jaunt, literally five hours, into a few different realms of Norse mythology's Yggdrasil while playing as Thora. Thora is a shield maiden who had a tumultuous demise that unfortunately robbed her of the glory needed to reach Valhalla. Through a series of trials set by the gods, Thora must prove her worth in the afterlife to ascend to where she rightfully belongs.

The Good

I actually didn't find too much to be compelling in Jotun.

    The art style is interesting, so I suppose that sets it apart. It is hand-drawn, but everything is so distant that it can seem really small and thus difficult to truly see what's going on. The titular Jotun that Thora battles, however, are all distinctly unique in their appearance and engagements with the hero. So that's something.

    Sound is neither good nor bad, but I needed another thing in The Good. The music is forgettable, but about the best thing going for the audio of the game come from the Nordic narration that Thora gives us after each key battle. These little moments seemed heartfelt, and it was here that I could actually see the connections between Thunder Lotus's first game and its much more popular third in Spiritfarer.

The Bad

Thunder Lotus is clearly capable of doing some amazing storytelling. They prove this time and again with the individual stories of Spiritfarer. As Stella, you get to experience the farewells of multiple people that were close to you as well as several that just need a solid goodbye. While it can get a little repetitive at times, Spiritfarer is a great game with a fun loop. 

If you're going to play a Thunder Lotus game... go with this one

    The same cannot be said of Jotun. Narratively the game does little to nothing to give anyone a reason to keep playing. If the whole reason you're there is just to enjoy the combat anyway, then pack your bags. It doesn't get much better there.

   The gameplay loop and combat is frustrating, to say the least. Enemies can cheapshot Thora very easily or sheerly overwhelm her with hordes of minions. A couple of the boss battles really only deliver a victory based on luck rather than actual tangible skill. That can be disputed, surely, by the fact that some people are conquering these foes without using any divine powers. Or the fact that there are trophies for slaying the enemy without receiving a single hit. I would contest that there must be a lot of restart spamming to achieve those feats.

My Ruling

As a huge fan of virtually anything to do with the Norse and vikings, I wanted to really like this game. After all, it only took a few hours of my time. Nevertheless, I felt like those few hours were wasted. Despite the fact that I got the game on sale for $5, I don't feel like it was money well-spent. If you want to try your hand at it, then by all means... Just don't say I didn't warn ya.

4/10

Worse than Most