Jotun: Valhalla Edition

Every market we collect.

Hours played at review time, across 804 reviews with recorded playtime.

positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up

Tl;dr short but good if you don't mind the lack of build customisation, and you enjoy boss fights that demand patience. You can't change your character's build or weapons, and Thora's animations are rather slow. But if you enjoy working within those limitations and like to be deliberate in your movements, it's fun and satisfying. Movement itself is somewhat unrefined for M&K controls as you can't aim your axe with a mouse like in Hades. Also, once you realise that you move faster by dodging, you'll practically be rolling your way into Valhalla, which sounds funny but is not exactly good game design. It would've been nice to get the option to sprint. It's for these reasons that I don't think I'll try Valhalla mode; the most I could handle was "normal" difficulty without god powers. The piece de resistance of Jotun is its boss battles, for there is little else to be had in terms of gameplay. While obviously telegraphed and not many in variety, their attacks deal serious damage, and each has unique environmental hazards. The bosses themselves are a bit uneven in quality. Fe's fight is hilarious because you get to watch her steamroll her own dwarves like they're bowling pins. On the other hand, Hagalaz and Kaunan could be better as you can do nothing about the random bolts/lava cracks, and if you're especially unlucky, they'll trap you in the midst of an attack. The cracks also don't show up well on certain monitors, and there's no way to turn up brightness or gamma in-game. The final boss is kind of boring in comparison to the rest (he basically has one attack... in a game whose bosses have around three...). The animations are great, accompanied by an exciting soundtrack. Character designs are unique and interesting, about what you'd expect from the Viking theme. Except the final boss, he's a little too "comic book" or "children's animation" for me. Some of the giants' expressions are fun to watch, and without the slow-ish pacing of the fights, I don't think I would've found the time to appreciate the animations.