Interview: Jusant\u2019s vertical world explored with game\u2019s creative directors Don’t NodWe interviewed the creative directors of Jusant to learn more about the developmental process behind their unique action-puzzler climbing adventure. Jusant is Don\u2019t Nod\u2019s upcoming action-puzzler, set to be released this October 2023. The game will see players scale to new heights as a lone climber braving a mysterious and desolate tower. There\u2019s an abandoned civilization etched into the cliff face and players will have the chance to uncover the tower\u2019s secrets, accompanied by a small, water-based creature. So, get ready to swing into action because here\u2019s what Kevin Poupard and Mathieu Beaudelin \u2014 the creative directors behind Jusant \u2014 had to say about what it takes to become an elite climber in this atmospheric world. Before the climb Jusant is a game in which history plays a pivotal role in the story told. Therefore, we thought it would only be right to do the same, asking Poupard and Beaudelin about the game\u2019s initial inception. \u201cWe wanted to test a new storytelling approach. The ambition behind Jusant was to have a simple and minimalist story, based on a single strong and clearly identifiable gameplay loop. We also knew that we wanted the gameplay of this loop to symbolically tell something about the story.\u201d This ultimately led to the idea of a \u201cgigantic tower\u201d for players to climb, allowing for original gameplay and plenty of \u201cvisual potential.\u201d Exploring a style of play not often used at Don\u2019t Nod, the universe and design of Jusant offered an interesting challenge; \u201cWe are proud to have succeeded in overcoming this and it has taught us a lot of things to better anticipate the future challenges that await us!\u201d Games that helped inspire Jusant included Thatgamecompany\u2019s Journey, Playdead\u2019s Inside, and Japan Studio and Team Ico\u2019s Shadow of the Colossus. The creative directors praised how \u201ceach in their own way\u201d showcased an \u201coverall minimalist approach, a refined design, supported by an almost wordless narration, more based on evocation.\u201d \u201cAll we had to do was find a story that resonated with all, and even though it may have changed in small ways during development, we knew that we had something powerful in this vertical movement to exploit.\u201d Building the tower Jusant\u2019s world is vibrant and fantastical; sweeping dunes where the ocean once was, the tower soaring above the wastelands. From its saturated color scheme to its \u201cethereal\u201d soundtrack, everything in the game\u2019s design has been \u201cthought out vertically.\u201d This is because it was important to the directors \u201cto convey the feeling that people once lived there on the tower and moved up and down it in a vertical society.\u201d \u201cThere had to be similarities with our world, like certain objects or constructions that look like boats or homes, while adding our own touch in order to immerse players in this unknown world as well. The visual style was therefore chosen to distort reality a little, to play with its conventions to better make them our own.\u201d And while doors cannot be opened, players relying on crumbling foundations and open passageways \u201ccan instinctively understand that behind these walls, there were also inhabitants living there, families, and that the tower was their home before they left.\u201d In terms of Jusant\u2019s soundtrack, music composed by Guillaume Ferran plays tribute to all of the game\u2019s various details with a \u201cunique tone,\u201d from \u201cthe sound of rocks in our hands\u201d to \u201cthe wind whistling in our ears.\u201d There are \u201cvery sunny sounds\u201d that occur throughout the game to encourage players on their journey, and even the climber\u2019s little companion, Ballast, has his own theme. \u201cAs he is made of water, Guillaume composed the track so that the piano notes make us think of rain falling all around us.\u201d The mechanics of an elite climber Jusant stands out thanks to its unique and meditative gameplay with a hands-on approach that defies genre expectations. Players get the chance to control each of the climber\u2019s hands, which direction he moves, which hand hole he grabs, and how he navigates the tower\u2019s challenges. In Jusant\u2019s earlier stages of development, there was a prototype control for both arms and legs. However, the complexity involved was \u201cclearly against our notion of fluidity\u201d and the idea was later scrapped. \u201cOne would expect, because of the nature of climbing, something very physical, intense, with a high difficulty level, but we had an introspective experience in mind. We started from the principle that even if the gameplay had to bring a certain complexity, it was above all necessary to favor fluidity and instinctive control of the character.\u201d To capture the feeling of rock climbing, research led Poupard and Beaudelin to be \u201cstruck\u201d by the \u201ctranquility\u201d many climbers experienced; \u201cThey take the time to look at the walls they try to climb, to read them \u2013 their movements are measured. We tried to encapsulate this feeling in the controls.\u201d With plenty to explore and no need for players to rush their ascent up the tower, Jusant\u2019s journey can be expected to be completed in \u201cless than 10 hours.\u201d Inspiring hope and a sense of accomplishment Don\u2019t Nod is known for \u201ccreating powerful and immersive narrative experiences,\u201d with previous games such as Life Is Strange tugging at players\u2019 heartstrings and having them reaching for a box of tissues. Jusant, however, offers to leave players on a more hopeful note, with the experience designed to be an \u201cimmediate feeling of accomplishment\u201d as the tower\u2019s various challenges are overcome. There are also more tragic undertones in Jusant\u2019s story on a \u201csubject which unfortunately is very current,\u201d but these are left for the interpretation of players. Be sure to check out Jusant\u2019s free demo on Steam before September 19, with much to look forward to when the full game is released later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Interview: Jusant\u2019s vertical world explored with game\u2019s creative directors Don’t NodWe interviewed the creative directors of Jusant to learn more about the developmental process behind their unique action-puzzler climbing adventure. Jusant is Don\u2019t Nod\u2019s upcoming action-puzzler, set to be released this October 2023. The game will see players scale to new heights as a lone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}