Jusant on Game Pass offers a chill rock-climbing break from Big Games

2023 has been a great year for games, no doubt — but it’s a lot, isn’t it? Many brilliant games are vying for our attention. Some are noisy or complex. Alan Wake 2,This is a frantic, fractured and frightening psychotropic horror video game. Spider-Man 2 The city is full of distractions. Super Mario Bros. WonderThis is a psychedelic platformer that’s constantly changing. Or maybe you’re considering resuming one of this year’s weighty role-playing games mid-playthrough — Starfield, Phantom Liberty Cyberpunk, 2077Or Baldur’s Gate 3. Somehow, Diablo 4The second season of the show is well underway. It’s all a bit overwhelming.

Although it may appear counterintuitive, we recommend that you use a snuff box. Another way to say it is that you can also use another new game to you as the answer to this brain-scrambling glut — but trust me, I have just the thing. And it’s sitting right there on Game Pass. (It’s on PlayStation 5 and Steam, too.) It’s JusantA beautiful, meditative adventure of rock climbing from Life is Strange developer Don’t Nod.

Pre-Viewing Jusant back in August, I ventured that it might be the chill-out experience of the year; playing the final version now, my mind hasn’t changed. If it’s possible for a video game to be mindful, this one is. That’s not just because it’s very pretty, completely nonviolent, and generally calm in its aspect, with a minimal soundtrack that’s often no more than silence, footsteps, and a whisper of wind. It’s also because the game is all about being in the moment. There’s no leveling here, no endgame, no customization, no meta goals to tick off. It’s just you and a rock face, pulling yourself up one handhold at a time.

Image: Don’t Nod

In an arid, post-apocalyptic landscape after a major flood. JusantOur young and well-shod adventurer climbs a tower of rock that once housed a whole society when the sea was below. The tower-city is now deserted and, for some reason that’s not explained, our young hero has to scale the rock structure in company with a watery creature who has life-giving, resonant powers.

Jusant has given me things no other game this year — even the surprisingly fluid, organic, and mindful, in its own way, Tears of the Kingdom: The Legend of Zelda — has done: space, quiet, and simplicity of purpose. The game is full of collectibles and secrets that you can find on your journey. As you advance, the puzzle-like climbing challenges will become increasingly complex. Jusant only ever asks you to think about where you’re going (clue: It’s always, eventually, up) and how you’re going to get there.

This game is a great way to clear my mind. There’s another reason for that, I think: the gentle, physical rhythm of it. The controller triggers are mapped to your right and left hand grips and the left stick controls your arms. As you move from grip to grip, your fingers perform a see-sawing action. It’s just inherently relaxing. You can say how many control schemes you know for video games. You can also find out more about us here. about?)

Image: Don’t Nod

More to come Jusant This is more than enough. For one thing, the way the vanished society of tower-dwellers reveals itself to you gradually through notes, soundscapes, and the beautifully cracked and sun-bleached location design gives this lonely traversal game an emotional resonance it didn’t necessarily need, but that lends it some extra weight. The heat can also make climbing difficult, as it reduces stamina. Your blob buddy will help you grow vines.

All of this helps you stay engaged during your climb. The reason for booting up Jusant — or to download it from Game Pass, which you should do right now, if you subscribe (it’s on both Xbox and PC plans) — is to revel in the sheer minimal purity of it, and the fact it only ever asks you to do one thing. As I wrote in August: “In a year in which more has so often turned out to be more, this game is less.” As we enter the final months of this exhausting, amazing gaming year, that’s doubly true.