The Legend of Zeldafranchise has had a monumental influence on the video game industry over the last nearly four decades.The Legend of Zeldahas continued to pioneer features and mechanics that have since become staples of the action-adventure genre, and that influence has continued all the way up tothe series' latest entry,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which seems to have already influenced an exciting new game from Don’t Nod calledJusant.
Unveiled during the recent Xbox Showcase,Jusantis being described as an action-puzzle climbing game. Marking quite the departure fromDon’t Nod’s usual narrative, choice-driven titles,Jusantdoesn’t seem to be afraid of wearing its influences on its sleeve, andThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomare clearly some of the developer’s biggest inspirations.
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Jusant Takes Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Verticality and Runs With It
The Legend of Zeldafranchise has always put adventure and exploration first and foremost. As time has gone on, and technology has advanced, Nintendo has been able to reshape what those core premises mean forThe Legend of Zeldaseries. In many ways,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis the perfect culmination of the series' core ideals, and its climbing mechanics play an integral role in that. Allowing players to scale just about any surface,Breath of the Wild’s climbing mechanicsare some of the first in gaming to truly let the player go wherever they want, at any time, greatly enhancing the game’s sense of exploration and freedom.
The recently releasedLegend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomtakesBreath of the Wild’s core concepts, and runs away with them in the best way. On top of its predecessor’s climbing mechanics,Tears of the Kingdomadds a whole new layer of verticality to the game by introducing Sky Islands, a whole new section of the map set above Hyrule. Beyond that,Tears of the Kingdom’s new Ultrahand and Fuse mechanicsallow players to create all kinds of flying contraptions, increasing the game’s verticality and player-freedom even more.
Jusantmay not feature the complex creation systems thatTears of the Kingdomhas, but it looks as though it’s takingZelda’s verticality, and upping the ante in some pretty big ways. DuringJusant’s reveal trailer, fans can get a good look at some of the game’s climbing mechanics. At one point in the trailer, the player uses a gust from the wind to help them cross a chasm while climbing. The trailer also briefly shows the player-character using their climbing rope to swing themselves to the side, run across a mountain face, and reach a higher ledge. It also seems as though the player-character’s adorable little creature friend can activate some special abilities while climbing, like revealing plants to climb across, or making vines grow to carry the player upwards.
On paper,Jusantlooks like a pretty simple game, seemingly just tasking the player with climbing up a giant mountain to reach some unknown goal, but it’s this simplicity that makesJusantstand out so much from the crowd. WhileZeldathrives on having multiple complex interweaving systems,Jusanthas carved out its own identity by sticking to just one core feature and doubling down on it. Paired with a gorgeous art style and expert camera work that makes each environment look suitably daunting and majestic,Jusant’s verticality could be its greatest strength.
Jusantwill be available in Fall 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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