Jotun Valhalla Edition - Review

Last year I played Sundered Eldritch Edition by Canadian based Thunder Lotus Games. It was a phenomenal game, part horror, and part Metroidvania, to me it was a perfect game. It had a great story, beautifully hand drawn visuals, an epic soundtrack along with challenging gameplay that toed the line between difficult and hair pullingly frustrating. The only downside about the whole experience is that I didn't buy the physical copy when it was released by Limited Run Games.


I love chocolate, but then again who doesn't? In the last five to ten years I have really started getting into Oreos, I tried so many varieties of them and there are few I did not like. A couple of months back I tried Cadbury's Oreo Mint Chocolate, it combined three things I love; chocolate, mint and Oreos, little to say I loved it. I didn't think it was possible to enjoy any of those parts any more than I already did but somehow combining these great things made them even greater. Playing Jotun I found myself asking was this the perfect combination of great ingredients?

Story


Jotun comes from Scandinavian Mythology and means a member of the race of giants and enemy of the Gods. The game follows Thora a Norse Warrior who is killed at sea when a storm destroys her ship. Unfortunately, dying of old age or as Thora did is considered an inglorious death and means you are unable to get into Valhalla. She is given a second chance and must defeat five Jotun and impress the Gods. Thora discusses the different areas she visits and how she came to be on that ship and her family.


Overall the story is intriguing and left me wanting to read more into Norse Mythology. A well developed story that had me care not only who Thora is but also her journey to try and reach Valhalla.

Visuals


No matter what I say about the hand-drawn visuals in Jotun it will not do them or the artists that created them justice.  The cave area feels so enclosed and treacherous, and Fe the cave boss looks amazing. Two of my favourite Jotun were Hagalaz who controls lightning and on first look seems fairly innocuous but that changes quickly. Then there is Kaunan who is a fiery smith who is the most overbearing enemy and really gave me pause.


Overall the visuals are up there as some of my most favorite and can't wait to see more games in the future from Thunder Lotus Games.


Music


The soundtrack is easily as epic as Lord of The Rings and in my opinion better, I am already listening to it for the third time today.  The music when exploring the levels differs in intensify to those of the boss fights and make each track really stand out on it's own. The score is composed by Canadian Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis, who worked on Thunder Lotus Games Sundered.


The soundtrack comes in at around an hour and there is not a single second wasted. It is by far my favorite soundtrack I have listened to this year. There is no point beating around the bush I love all the tracks and gun to my head I can't pick a favorite one. Overall the soundtrack is magnificent and even during boss fights I found the soundtrack helped keep in the zone and focused.

Gameplay


The gameplay moves between exploration and boss fights. Because of this, the boss fights feel more intense and the exploration feels more relaxing. Thora is equipped with her mighty axe which has a light and heavy attack. Then she has her roll ability, which saved my life more than a few times. Each new area you explore offers the chance to gain new abilities, improve them and increase your health bar.  Thor's Hammer was one of my favorites and can really help major damage, use it at the right time and you can really turn the tide of battle.


The boss battles are well balanced and offer a good challenge that while often tough feel achievable. Hagalaz was one of the first Jotun I took on and to me is still one of the toughest, maybe it's because he seems unassuming at first or because he can create two of himself, or maybe it was that I had to really focus on his attack patterns and my own. In case the battle was intense and defeating him was all the more satisfying.


Overall the gameplay is fantastic, well balanced and hugely enjoyable. Once you have completed the game Valhalla mode opens, give you the chance to have all abilities and upgrades and take on the Jotun again but this time much tougher.





Final Thoughts

So, after six hours how did I feel?  Pretty damn good! An intense and fun experience. The story was great, the visuals were beyond amazing, the soundtrack is one I will listen to again and again, and the gameplay was perfect.  Overall this one is a slam dunk and easily gets a 5 out of 5

Sundered Eldritch Edition - Review

While visuals are not the most important thing to me when it comes to games, it's hard for me not to be blown away by Sundered's hand-drawn visuals.  I decided I just had to play it to see if the gameplay was as good as its visuals.  I was originally going to purchase a physical copy from Limited Run but alas I missed my opportunity, so instead download it from the PlayStation Store.


Duck in plum sauce.  I have always been sceptical to try it, not because I don't like duck or that I have anything against plums.  I just don't like my main courses to be sweet, it's why I have never really like sweet and sour sauce.  However, one evening I was ordering food and thought to hell with it, I'd give it ago.  I was not disappointed, the plum sauce worked so well with the duck and I'm already looking forward to trying it again.  Playing Sundered I found myself asking was this I write to hesitate or was it going to be a surprisingly tasty experience?

Story



The story has you play as Eshe, a woman wandering through the desert when out of nowhere she is pulled in the world below.  Upon your arrival, a mysterious entity offers you their abilities to help survive the harsh environment and promises more if you help it.  As you progress through the game you will find out there were two groups, the Valkeries and the Eschatons.  The Valkeries were all about science and military might, while the Eschatons were a religious cult that used a Holy Stone for guidance and worshipped The Elder One.  The world was dying and both sides had different schools of thought on how to 'save' it.  


The story is interesting, and you will get to find out more about both groups and what part you will play.  There are three possible endings to unlock depending on what you decide to do throughout the game.  Overall a great story that had me wanting to know more.

Visuals


The hand-drawn art used in the game looks amazing and helps in creating a dark atmosphere.  The enemies all look different from mechanical enemies to wraith style enemies.  There are three very distinct looking regions, which helps it feel varied especially when you are going to be traversing through them a lot.


Overall it's hard to fault the visuals, sometimes hand-drawn animations in games can have a tendency
to provide a soft edge in an otherwise dark game.  However, in Sundered it helps in creating a dark and horrific world.



Music 

The sound in Sundered is dark, moody and even horrific.  Playing the game there were moments where I felt tense for no other reason than the music.  The score is created by Canadian film composer Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis.  He has worked on films, documentaries and games including:
Civilization, The New Great Game, and Jotun.
The score runs at around forty-five minutes.  It is rare for me but this is one of these scores where I had no favourite tracks because they were all fantastic.  It is one that seamlessly blends with the other elements of the game to help create a memorable experience.

Gameplay


Sundered is a Metroidvania style game, there are enemies aplenty and just when you think you've pushed them back you get attacked by a horde.  The gameplay can be chaotic at times and initially, it was almost overwhelming, but quickly I grew to like it and the challenge it provided.


Similar to Metroidvania games you will not be able to access all pathways straight away.  As you progress you will find new powers ups, which later can be upgraded further with dark shards, should you choose to.  There is a skill tree which I really liked as even when dying I felt a sense of progression as I could spend my experience points to power myself up.


There are multiple bosses in the game that vary in difficulty, in most cases it only took me a few times to defeat them.  I think though they would be a whole other challenge on the insane difficulty but I'll save that for my next playthrough.  My favourite boss was Dominion Boss (Xea' Sh' Kaebt), the fight was intense, tough and when I did defeat him there was a great feeling of accomplishment.


Overall a fantastic experience that I really enjoyed from beginning to end.




Final Thoughts

So, after almost twenty hours playing Sundered how did I feel?  Awesome!   Sundered is the first game I've played this year and I'm really glad about that.  The story is interesting and dark as are the visuals and music.  The gameplay is chaotic, intense but also a lot of fun.  A great game that I have no hesitation giving 5 out of 5