Jusant Preview: Ain't no mountain high enough

Ever since Journey, and probably long before that too, game developers have utilised the endless cinematic potential of placing a location on the horizon, preferably something breathtaking, and then letting curiosity do the rest. Here, mountains, like the one in Journey or even Throat of the World in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, work quite well.

But in Don't Nod's upcoming Jusant, physically ascending the mythical location and defeating it, vertical metre by vertical metre - well, that's the whole game. It's a game about climbing, and while there's not much else, so far it's working pretty well.

Jusant means "ebb", as in the tide has receded. This is exactly what has happened to this world, which many years ago almost completely dried up. Now, the wreckage of civilisation must frantically search for the last areas that can offer the now very, very valuable and essential resource.

Like Journey, Inside and Abzu, the narrative is vague and only a few scraps of information have been left behind in the sloping, dilapidated buildings of the mysterious tower/mountain - little scraps of paper that tell stories of collapse, unrequited love and unwavering optimism.

It's a little hard to determine at first why you're here in the first place, but you'll soon realise. Your little companion Ballast, a kind of water spirit that lives in a pouch on your belt, is not only used as a supernatural piece of climbing gear, but he/she can revitalise these abandoned, dead and arid regions. So that's why you climb, and climb, and climb.

Jusant is, mechanically, quite simple, and it's clear that Don't Nod leans heavily on atmospheric music, graphics and cinematography, rather than sophisticated systems. You grab with either your left or right hand with the corresponding trigger button, and by creating a flow you can overcome one vertical wall after another. At the same time, you have to make decisions on the fly by placing "pitons," or mountain peaks, in the rock face, which allow you to find new momentum when energy is low.

It's not like Jusant is reinventing anything here, but the mechanics that are present are relatively satisfying, and I'm pretty sure the game will continually add more challenges across its seemingly modest playtime (my preview build lasted just over two hours).

Jusant is nice to look at, though. It's all stylistic in appearance, a bit like Journey and Abzu in particular, and the view, the detail and the overall picture painted is one you'll want to explore. It has to be said, though, that so far I wish Jusant had a system or two more to complement your journey beyond pure climbing. Maybe a little progression here and there? Maybe some resources you could collect to make the journey easier? Maybe some strategic considerations here and there? I don't mind simplicity. I mean, Celeste is also about climbing a mountain, and it's great precisely because it drops all the meta-systems that we're begging bigger publishers to cut out. But in Jusant, I wish there were more interaction options with the world, because even though it's a beautiful canvas I move through, it remains two-dimensional as it doesn't let you interact with it.

That said, I'm looking forward to Jusant, and it's clear from the first minute that Don't Nod is onto something here. Whether it remains just as enervating all the way through, well, that's another story.