Jotun

Around the World Three Yggdrasil swirl all the worlds of Creation. In one of them called Midgard rages a horrible storm in the midst of it together with her men Thora tries to navigate her ship, but the storm proves to be stronger... Now the young warrior should prove to the Gods that she is not great only by name.

Jotun is a hand-drawn action-exploration game, created by Thunder Lotus Games and it is heavily inspired by Norse mythology. Jotun hit the market on 29th of September and became instant success. Let us see if this is deserved or was it just because of the great hype there was around this game.

From Ginnungagap to Valhalla...

As I already mentioned during vicious storm the young Thora together with her whole crew perishes, but because of her inglorious death now she should impress the Gods to be allowed in the Halls of Valhalla. Until then she will have to reside in the primordial abyss Ginnungagap. To win the favor of the Gods our young heroine will have to explore five realms and collect 10 key runes to open her path to the five monstrous Jotuns that guard each realm. But before talking about the Jotuns lets talk a bit more about the realms.

Every realm is drawn directly from the ancient Norse Sagas. You will visit places like the forge of the dwarf Brokkr who crafted Thor's hammer and the lake where the Thunder God fished for the World Serpent. And with each visit you will learn a little about each place. Most planes are also elementally themed, which give them even more character and variety.

Your task in each area is to locate a magical Rune...actually to find the way to the Rune which may not be that easy and usually involves solving some kind of puzzle. In each area you will also find one well with the head of the wise Mimir in it which will heal you, one three with the golden apples of Idun which will increase your life and one shrine of a God which will give you a certain power. All powers have two charges and you need to go back to Ginnungagap to recharge them.

Nothing of these things except the Runes is not necessary for you to reach the Jotun boss in each area. But they will be extremely useful if you want to stand a chance against the giants. Especially the apples and the gifts of the God Altars.

The fights with the Jotuns are one of the several things in the game which won my heart and reason is how epic they are. But to understand better what I'm talking about, I will tell you a bit more about the main character - Thora. This flame haired warrior is not like the most female chracters you have seen in video games. She is brave, strong leader and carries huge battle axe which she swings with such ferociety that whole bands of dwarves fly when struck and even the roots of the World Tree tremble and retreat under her attacks. But this woman that is equal to every man from her village and is named after the greatest warrior amongst the Gods is a mere gnome compared to the Jotuns that guard the way to Valhalla. 

The Giants that you will face will call thunders, posion clouds will cover the battlefield and the earth will tremble under their feet. They will literally squish you like a bug if you are not careful. At the same time you will have to dodge their attacks, pay attention to different henchmen they have and nick at their health bar with your now-its-not-so-big axe. Every Jotun have different weak spots, attack paterns and behaviour during the fight which guarantee unique experience in every fight. In other words there are some damn hard fights expecting you...but if they were easy, how will you impress them Gods?

Like a Saga came true...

The other thing with which Jotun won me over was its aesthetic and sound. Every move of Thora, every swing of her axe is so smooth that its almost like she is alive. In every area you visit its easy to see the hard work that is done while crafting them. They are simply gorgeous, more than once I have stoped just to admire the scenary that opens in the background. And sometimes what I saw was scary. The voice acting was another thing that added a lot to the immersion of the game. Because there is not single line spoken in English...

Conclusion

Let's Conclude! Jotun is a amazingly looking game where you take the role of the warrior Thora which after her inglorious death in sea now should immpres the Gods if she wants to ever get into Valhalla. For this she will have to collect ten magical Runes guarded by crafty puzzles. And slay five monstrous Jotuns, which can easily splat you on the ground, in epic fights to the death. And in the end stand and defeat Odin himself. The game is heavily inspired by Norse mythology and during your adventures you will visist many places described in old stories. You go as far as the roots of Yggrdasil and wander trough the blacksmith where Thor's hammer Mjolnir has been crafted.

If you're like me and like Norse mythology and epic boss fights then there is absolutly no reason not to try Jotun, where you will get plenty of both!


Links:

Official site

Steam