Random Game Reviews

The Game

Jotun: Valhalla Edition made by Thunder Lots Games is an amazingly aesthetic game based on Norse mythology. Battle your way past gods and figure out weird puzzles on your way through the afterlife. You play as Thora – a recently deceased human wielding a massive two-handed axe. This is quite a challenging game which will have you in potential fits of anger as you face up against some of the later bosses. Each big boss (known as Jotun) fight is preceded by a couple of relatively peaceful missions to find some runes, often accompanied by a puzzle of sorts. Often you will also find special shrines that give you some interesting skills ranging from healing and shields to decoys and even the blessing of Thor’s hammer.

Once you have collected the appropriate runes you face off against a boss, and boy do these bosses pack a punch. The sense of scale is something the game plays with really successfully by pitting you – a tiny human against some truly gigantic deities. Each Jotun will have various phases, attack patterns and timings that you will need to learn and master in order to get past them. These fights can be very frustrating and you will suffer a quick death if you make too many mistakes. The process of figuring these bosses out and beating them is extremely satisfying.

Worth it?

Generally the game will set you back around £12 depending on platform, but is very often on sale up to 75%, allowing you to pick it up for less than £5. At that price it’s a must have. The game is an acquired taste in terms of difficulty, but an audio-visual masterpiece. The narration, soundtrack and artwork are something truly special and a testament to indie game development. If you see this game on sale make sure to pick it up. Overall it’s definitely worth the purchase and while the gameplay itself won’t last you more than around 5-6 hours, the world is so beautiful and the gameplay is extremely satisfying (and also challenging), making it an absolute must have.

Tips

• Keep on the look out for Ithunn’s Apples – these will upgrade your health bar
• The shrines of Mimir will replenish your skills and health, but they can only do so once
• Take time to study a boss’ movement patterns and attacks
• Heavy attacks will often do different things than basic attacks – experiment with this
• Look for openings between legs arms or other bits where you can avoid being hit

Useful Links

• Kinguin Cheap CD Key: https://www.kinguin.net/category/29712/jotun-valhalla-edition-steam-cd-key?r=rndgamereviews
• Wiki: https://jotun.fandom.com/wiki/Jotun_Wiki
• Nintendo Tips Video (Spoilers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4WvivL0R_M