Jotun: Valhalla Edition

Combat feels terrible. Doesn't teach basic mechanics. No english audio. Stopped playing after 15 mins on two separate occasions.

A beautifully handcrafted experience. The simple, experience of exploring the world, it's puzzles and it's incredible sights is almost perfectly juxtaposed against the thrilling and epic fights against the massive, powerful Jotun. Coupled with possibly my favourite soundtrack of anything ever, I think you should check this out.

Jotun is all about patience and is way harder if you lack it, like me. I've spent 12 out of the 20 hours of playtime dying like an idiot. The combat is mostly very slow and methodical. It took me some time to get used to it. Generational lock-in is required to beat some of these bosses with no powers, especially in Valhalla Mode. They fu*k you up QUICK, while your swings take half a business day. It's different, beautiful and sometimes brutal. Had a good time/10.

what a perfect game

Thunder Lotus' first game already has their fantastic art style and equally amazing music. Since it's also their first game, I have some gripes with it, mainly that the main character moves and attacks a little slowly for the exploration, some of the boss attacks are poorly telegraphed, and the level design is a little inconsistent at times. Only took me ~3 hours to play through. But it's still a fun game, solid 7/10.

Clunky controls and poorly handled 3D map/movement. The character is extremely slow, with only 2 axe attacks. One weak but a decent speed, the other is more powerful but so slow there's no point. You can't chop down bushes or trees. You can't tell what's a path and what's just "behind" a tree. Killing an enemy or boss gives you nothing. I don't know if it ever gives you different armor or weapons or money or anything to collect at all. I don't understand the point and have no desire to keep going. Kill some enemies to impress the gods or something. It's an overly simplistic design with a basic "kill bad guys" lack of a story. It feels more like a programming school class project than a professional game.