What I mean by this is that it very much looks like a hand drawn animation. The movement of both the Jotun and Thora seem to flit between different hand drawn images. The presentation is lovely and the art work is gorgeous however, the game has definitely got an odd feel to how it’s all animated. It feels like this is a direct result of the game being hand drawn. The controls feel somewhat laboured lacking the fluidity of other games. One of the weakest elements of Jotun is also perfectly coupled with one of it’s greatest strength. In fact all the battles basically involve you twatting the Jotun’s ankles, a bit like that scene from The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. You only really have two attacks, a simple swing or a heavy lunge of your axe, you also don’t climb or otherwise interact with the Jotun. Unlike that game though there is perhaps less to the Jotun battles here. Immediately this brought to mind a 2D version of Shadow of the Colossus, with that games emphasis on screen filling boss fights. The battles look epic and the Jotun dominate the screen. There are five on offer here and each one looks visually distinct from the other, based as they are around the mythic Jotun. The bosses are the second part of the game. There are a couple of instances of enemies to defeat, but mainly you’re left to your own devices to go through the level and get the rune. As you are exploring there are some mild environmental puzzle elements and the odd secret however, the emphasis is on admiring the scenery and taking your time. You’re tasked with walking through the level to discover a rune, or part of a rune, which will then allow you entry to the boss arena. There are two parts to the game, the first is an exploration game. Jotun plays out from an isometric point of view, with the camera willing to pull back to showcase the art work pretty regularly. To hear them correctly pronounce all the mythical names really sets the scene and draws you into the story. All the voice acting in this game is done in Icelandic actors and is frankly ace. There are six Jotun to defeat and Thora’s story is slowly revealed after each encounter. She is doing this as an attempt to impress the Gods and gain entry to Valhalla, you see she’s already dead by the time of the opening cinematic. The story follows a Viking warrior named Thora as she goes around slaying the aforementioned Jotun. The transition to the home console has done nothing to diminish the effect of these, and the game looks as lovely as ever. At the time of release Jotun was praised for the hand drawn graphics on display. This is the same game but now includes the more difficult Valhalla mode, which is unlockable upon completion. It was with this forefront in my mind that I looked forward to getting to grips with Jotun: Valhalla Edition.Īs is so often the case this was first released on Steam following a Kickstarter campaign. There are tales of violence and gods, full of wonderfully vivid images, as well as some proper bonkers bits in it involving talking cows. I’ve always been of the opinion that Norse mythology is great, and would make a brilliant fit for videogames. Septemin PS4 tagged art / jotun / odin / story-driven / vikings by Steven
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