Unlocking the catharsis of climbing in meditative puzzler Jusant

gamedeveloper.com:

Jusant is beguiling. Don't Nod's upcoming climber turns cliffs and chasms into vertigo-inducing Rubik's cubes and asks players to unlock their secrets to achieve a singular goal: ascend.

During a recent hands-on session at Gamescom 2023, I was immediately struck by how intuitive traversal feels in-game. The protagonist's hands are controlled by the left and right triggers, with each one mirroring the player's left and right hand. Pushing the triggers will cause the player to grip onto a handhold, and releasing will result in them letting go. That means if you release both at once, gravity will quickly take over.

As players carefully lock and release, they'll need to use the analog stick to search out new holds or fling themselves up and around chasms by leaning on mechanics and items like a double jump, deployable pitons that can be used to bridge gaps, and a rope that facilitates abseiling and breathtaking leaps of faith.

It's a system that quickly becomes second nature, and after a few minutes with the demo I was tactfully maneuvering over and around looming rock formations with purpose and precision. That, according to Jusant co-creative director, Kevin Poupard, is exactly what the team set out to achieve. Getting there, however, required some trial-and-error.

"It took a lot of time. We tried many different climbing mechanics. At one point, we tried letting players control the legs as well using the left and right bumpers, but that was too complicated," says Poupard. "We wanted to keep it simple to help broaden our audience, which is why we just give players control of the arms."

Jusant is a game that's very much about the journey. That was part of the rationale behind allowing players to access all of the game's