Jotun is one of those games, like Dragon's Lair before it, that has an incredible art style and great aesthetic. The design cuts through the whole game with various larger-than-life characters, fantastical locations, and scenes pulled right out of Norse mythology. Such as the World Serpent chewing on Yggdrasil's roots as you explore the roots of the great tree. It is however sparse, and like Thora herself, there's not a lot of world building going on with her, or around her. Unlike say, Hyper Light Drifter that's packed with all sorts of tiny details. It's a minor thing, but I'd have liked to see more detail go into the map design in some of the places.
The Humble Québec Indies Bundle just launched today. It features games like Jotun: Valhalla Edition, Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation, Castle Story, and more.
Jotun: Valhalla Edition is this week’s free game at Epic Games Store. It is free until December 12. Once you claim it, it’s yours to keep.
There are numerous examples of games that are influenced by or allude to great works of literature, but there are few studios quite as devoted to adapting famous tales of old as Thunder Lotus. Both of their titles to date, Jotun and Sundered, are directly inspired by some of their teams’ favorite stories: ancient Norse myths and H.P. Lovecraft’s terrifying fiction. Parallax Media was fortunate enough to get their level designer, Ian Lafontaine, on the line to discuss why they choose to model their game designs on famous works of fiction and how they go about doing so.
