Jusant

Introduction

Jusant sends a lone traveller, accompanied by a small water-dwelling companion, up an immeasurably tall tower whose biomes shift from arid stone to windswept snow across the climb. Developed and published by DON'T NOD — a studio better known for narrative-driven titles like Life is Strange — it released 31 October 2023 for NZ$38.75. Over two years on, it holds 6,810 Steam reviews sitting at Very Positive, roughly 92.9%, with recent sentiment holding close at 92% across its most recent 100 English reviews. This review reads a substantial share of both the negative and positive samples, and finds a game whose fundamentals draw close to unanimous praise, paired with a length-and-story complaint specific and consistent enough to shape the whole verdict.

A climbing mechanic reviewers say is genuinely distinct

Start with the clearest, most consistent praise across this review's sample: Jusant's climbing feels good, and reviewers describe it with real specificity rather than vague approval. Managing rope tension, placing anchors and reading a stamina meter by feel rather than through button prompts draws credit as a genuinely distinct system, separate from the climbing mechanics bolted onto larger action-adventure games as a secondary activity. Art direction earns equally strong, close to unanimous praise — reviewers repeatedly describe each biome the tower passes through as visually distinct and detailed enough to feel lived-in rather than a series of generic climbing backdrops, with one reviewer specifically comparing the feeling to the original Assassin's Creed games "minus the murder." Music and ambient sound draw matching credit for reinforcing the game's deliberately calm, meditative pace. The absence of combat, death or failure states is treated by a meaningful share of reviewers not as something missing but as the game's central design choice, successfully executed for players who want lower-pressure exploration over challenge.

A length and story complaint that even fans raise

Set against that praise, this review's sample shows unusually consistent agreement on where Jusant falls short — and notably, the complaint doesn't only live in the negative sample. This review's single highest-voted positive review opens by calling the game "a tough one to leave a fair review on," citing a roughly five-hour completion time against the asking price as a genuine sticking point even for a reviewer who ultimately recommends it. That pattern repeats through much of the rest of the sample: most reviewers complete the game in three to six hours, and several explicitly question whether that length justifies full price rather than a sale purchase. A related, equally consistent complaint concerns mechanical depth — reviewers describe the climbing system as staying largely the same across the whole runtime rather than escalating in complexity, so what a player does in the first hour closely resembles what they're still doing at the end. Story delivery draws its own specific criticism: Jusant tells its narrative mainly through collected letters and audio logs rather than dramatised scenes, which a significant share of reviewers describe as thin or one-note, with one detailed review comparing it unfavourably to games that deliver backstory through static logs rather than lived experience.

A completion rate that's modest for a short game

Steam's own achievement data adds a useful data point here. The ACH_EndGame achievement sits at 31.1% — meaning fewer than a third of everyone who owns Jusant has reached its ending, a modest figure for a game most reviewers finish in well under six hours. That's worth reporting alongside the length complaint rather than instead of it: a genuinely short game with a low completion rate suggests some buyers sample it and set it aside rather than being stopped by difficulty, which is consistent with a design built around atmosphere and feel rather than escalating stakes to pull players toward the finish.

Final Verdict

Jusant earns its Very Positive standing through fundamentals this review's sample agrees on almost without exception: a genuinely satisfying, distinct climbing mechanic, art direction and music that make its tower feel like a real, inhabited place, and a deliberate choice to remove combat and failure that succeeds on its own terms for the audience it's built for. What keeps this from a stronger score is a length-and-depth complaint this review's own sample raises consistently, even inside its most enthusiastic reviews — a three-to-six hour runtime, a climbing system that doesn't meaningfully evolve, and a story told mainly through collected notes rather than dramatised scenes. For players who want a beautiful, low-stakes climb rather than an expanding mechanical or narrative experience, Jusant delivers exactly that. Anyone weighing it against its price should go in with that scope firmly in mind.