Jotun: Valhalla Edition (PC) Review

Jotun is absolutely stunning. Its hand drawn style perfectly complements the exceedingly fluid animations. Early on, it's obvious how talented the artists are behind this title, as you chop through vines and not a single frame is dropped. Everything looks just short of perfect, and the details in everything from the scenery to the player avatar shows a proficiency lacking in many hand drawn games. Simply put, in the realm of hand drawn titles, Jotun may be the most realised and attractive one in years.

The sheer scale of everything in Jotun is clear early on. As the player edges towards the first major altercation, the scope of the environment easily dwarfs them. It's daunting, almost like you're a flea on the back of the world. Even the enemies stand over the main character like monoliths of destruction.

This would all fall apart if the combat was cumbersome, and all too often it is. Even after adjusting the controls to something usable, it's entirely too slow and imprecise. Enemies are significantly quicker than even you are, which is fine, except that aiming and swinging feels like moving a boulder, and once the swing starts, there's no way to adjust it. Every swing feels too heavy to be effective, regardless of whether it is a heavy or light attack.

Still, enemies are pretty exciting to face off against, and even more fun to watch fall. It's just too often hard to tell if you're fighting a giant plant beast with a flower in its belly, or the keyboard or game pad. Jotun's environments don't help its case, either. Several environmental traps seem purposely unavoidable, like tough love in the digital age. Putting everything together, it's like a pretty stream of eye roll-inducing hack and slash.