Moreover, the narration is delivered in Icelandic and is subtitled in English, which is just brilliant. It’s a difficult balance to achieve, but Jotun does it brilliantly. It’s an impressively staggered approach to storytelling, with the narration never lasting so long as to be irritating, while also appearing often enough that the player never feels in the dark. Whenever the player first arrives in an area, a brief bit of narration fills them in on the background context of the area, and when Thora successfully defeats one of the Jotun, she offers us another glimpse into her own backstory. The story is revealed piecemeal through snatches of narration, either from Thora herself or by someone who is presumably the overseer of the void. The Jotun are not to be taken lightly, what with them being literal giants and everything, so Thora’s quest to impress the Gods will be filled with peril, and dodge-rolling. In order to prove her worth, and finally enter Valhalla, Thora must explore the realms of the abyss and vanquish the titular Jotun that dwell within. A warrior essentially raised from birth with a driving motivation to impress her clan-chief father, Thora suffered an inglorious death and so was banished to The Void, or Ginnungagap if you want to give your tongue a workout. Which is a good thing, really, seeing as the story follows a young viking named Thora as she journeys through the afterlife. A mix of mellow music and subtle sound cues combine seemingly effortlessly with the charming visual design to give the game an enchanting, otherworldly quality. Not to be outdone, the soundtrack supports the visuals perfectly. The art is hand-drawn, with frame-by-frame animation, allowing for intricate and nuanced character design alongside beautifully coloured environments. Not to give away my opinion early on or anything, but Jotun really is a lovely game. On the much more restrained end of the spectrum, though, we have Jotun: Valhalla Edition on Nintendo Switch. Thankfully, April 2018 has been The Month of the Viking, with God of War arising to prove itself the grand, big-budget masterpiece we all hoped it would be. In the grand scheme of gaming pop culture icons, vikings are often shunned to make room for more zombies, ninjas, and even pirates. It had felt like ages since we’d had games with Norse themes. Developer: Thunder Lotus Games Publisher: Thunder Lotus Games Platform(s): PS4, XB1, PC, Wii U, Switch (new release)
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