Interview: Climbing the tower with Jusant’s art director

24.11.2023 - 16:37 / destructoid.com

It’s been an incredible year for gaming with a bit of something for everyone. One of the unexpected gems of 2023 is Jusant, a game by DON’T NOD.

The game doesn’t ask you to do anything particularly complicated – there’s a tower, and you’re supposed to climb it. Proceed, and you’ll find yourself on a delightful and occasionally challenging journey that manages to tell an emotional tale.

It’s unlike anything else, though there are some games worth comparing it to if you’re trying to figure out what you’re getting yourself into. Much like Journey, Jusant offers a calm yet curiosity-piquing atmosphere, and while you’re not always certain where you’re going and why, the promise of solving mysteries motivates you to keep moving forward.

You’ll also find Jusant familiar if you’ve played Death Stranding, as your main rival is the landscape, and gameplay is almost entirely composed of traversal. Lastly, like Team Ico games, Jusant relies on environmental storytelling to tell its cryptic tale.

It’s a relatively short game that can be completed in an afternoon or two though it’s engaging enough to have you wishing for a sequel as soon as you’re done. To help you climb up the tower, you have rope, some pitons, and an adorable sidekick that’s able to affect your environment in useful ways. Climbing is a matter of finding the right pathways to progress, which occasionally requires a little out-of-the-box thinking.

It’s a gorgeous game with relaxing gameplay that’ll put a smile on your face. As you ascend, you’ll be treated to breathtaking views and beautiful environments that feature aesthetically pleasing use of light. Thanks to a recent accessibility update, more players than ever can access this title. The update brings several accessibility options including a simplified climbing mode and colorblindness settings.

I recently got the chance to interview Jusant art director Edouard Caplain. We covered several topics, including the inspiration behind the game, how it has been received, as well as how it fits into DON’T NOD’s body of work.

Destructoid: Jusant has a very distinct art style, featuring simple, rounded shapes, bright colors, and smooth textures. What was the inspiration for this art style?

Caplain: It’s something I’ve always been keen to try. Working with almost flat colors, shapes, and lighting works very well in painting, but having this translated in 3D is another story. The art team behind INSIDE did it very well, it looked fantastic. Jusant has this distinctive climbing gameplay where the goal is to ‘read’ the walls and find where the grips are. So, relying on 3D shapes – like real climbers do – felt right.

And the colors, along with the music, aim to bring the positivity and oneirism that