Jusant

A very pretty game, but note that despite its calm tone it can also be frustrating.

Its world is stylized and gorgeous, especially if you have an HDR display. However, most of what you see is just non-interactive window dressing. It does some nice environmental storytelling if you examine things carefully, but that's all you can do with it. Sound design is wonderful.

The most frustrating aspect is the controls. Yes, they're in many ways clever and innovative and it can sometimes be satisfying to climb, but the system could have used a lot more polish. Too often it's impossible to direct the angle of your jump, leading to you falling down—possibly a lot—and losing valuable progress. I enjoy a challenge, but I felt that the problems were not due to my skills. And the physics can be buggy and wonky, especially when swinging. All in all, it's a wonderful idea but falls short of its promise (pun intended!).

I also found the collectibles annoying. Exploration is rewarded ... except when it's not. This is one of those games in which taking a wrong turn will advance the story and not let you go back. Sure, you can replay the chapters after you're done, but even then it's hard to remember where you haven't gone. Really, the only sensible way to collect everything is to use a walkthrough, which is a game design failure.

Jusant is both lovely and annoying. I recommend it only for people who are patient with clunky controls.