Jotun: Valhalla Edition Reviews
Beautiful animation and an authentic Nordic feel enhance an already impressively distinct 2D action adventure.
Jaw dropping beauty and a hefty challenge await you in in the hallowed realm of Jotun.
Jotun: Valhalla Edition is a throwback to retro gaming in terms of both art style and gameplay. While the minimalist design manages to offer quite a bit of variety, the lack of combat and exploration options becomes evident rather quickly. Still, anyone interested in Norse mythology mixed with retro gaming and old-school art design will enjoy Thora's ascent into Valhalla.
Jotun Valhalla Edition on Switch is the same game launched on PS4, Xbox One and PC almost two years ago. It will astound you with its visuals, narrative, gigantic final bosses... But under all that shinning beauty, lies a game with a simple mechanics and ideas, that in some levels seems to be a little bit empty in terms of content.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Jotun just falls short of receiving that higher recommendation. It’s enjoyable yet clearly inconsistent, despite its great use of setting and some terrific boss fights.
A nice adventure, as it was originally on its PC versión. The new features on this Valhalla Edition are not worth the wait.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Jotun offers the exploration and storytelling of Bastion, and combines it with the epic battles of Shadow of the Colossus. What’s not to like?
For a game that deals with this large a scale it often feels small and lifeless outside of the boss fights. It is, though, a visual showpiece that offers a stiff challenge. And while playing it on the go probably won't make this worth a return trip to Ginnungagap, it is definitely a great game to add to your Switch library if you've not checked it out before.
Jotun: Valhalla Edition is a beautiful, but sometimes shallow, crash course in Norse mythology that shines in its boss fights’ designs and overall presentation. And while Valhalla Mode isn’t much of an incentive to jump back in for returning players, it adds tremendous challenge to the already difficult core experience.
Jotun is a well-crafted experience made for anyone fond of great storytelling mixed with satisfying combat.
This gorgeous game has little to offer in the way of fun.
Jotun isn’t a long game by any means, but it packs in a lot. The diverse environments are beautiful, the boss fights are expertly designed, and Norse mythology is just cool. It also tells a personal story that makes the ride all the more enjoyable.
Supremely easy on the eyes and simple to pick up and play, Jotun’s depiction of Norse mythology is flamboyantly atmospheric. Somewhat less up to the task however, is the longevity of the game itself which leaves you craving for more beyond the relatively meagre playtime that the game offers. All the same, Jotun: Valhalla Edition manages to secure its place in the pantheon of action adventures with verve and aplomb on account of it's superb boss fights and varied mystical realms.
Jotun: Valhalla Edition is an epic to experience, but more for its memorable destinations than the journeys to get to them. The gorgeous sceneries and animation combined with the amazing, authentic audio make its bosses something that should be hoarded like Fafnir's gold. Even though the gaps between bosses leave more to be desired with disappointing exploration, Thora's tale is one that manages to enter Valhalla's gates with an adequate amount of flying colors.
Jotun: Valhalla Edition is a marvelous effort that clearly stands out amidst the indie games pool. With its rich visual environment, very engaging boss battles, extremely demanding combats that will require full commitment from the player and recurrent replay value, this is a game that will certainly keep everyone clinging on to their Wii U GamePad for a very long time.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Graphically, it's a masterpiece, but Jotun's action is too imbalanced to allow the same to be said about the game as a whole. Exploring its environments will be a treat for some players and getting stuck into its difficult boss battles will be a treat for others: if your tastes are wide-ranging enough to appreciate both scenarios, this is a winner.
“Jotun: Valhalla Edition” is a solid action-adventure game made memorable by stunning, fluid visuals and towering boss fights that are gigantic in every sense of the word. Gameplay mechanics for your character can feel awkward and dead spots in area design dampen the experience somewhat. If you like a throwback game with solitary ambiance or loved the original Jotun and pine for an extra challenge with its bosses via the new Valhalla Mode, however, you will enjoy what this version has to offer.
Those that haven’t played Jotun before are in for a real treat.
Rich, hand-drawn worlds inspired by the tapestry of Nordic legends and lore make Jotun a fantastical and breathtaking journey, although it sometimes feels barren between the big encounters.
There’s a lot going for Jotun, it’s Norse artistic nature permeating the very being of the game, but there are certain aspects of it that certainly focus more directly on the art side of things rather than the gameplay experience. That’s not always a bad thing, but in the case of Jotun, it can make the overall experience feel disjointed; going from a simplistic and art inspired level to a challenging boss battle is a paradigm shift that is difficult to properly balance. At the end of the day Jotun is a great game for everything it does right, including its art and overall styling, but misses a lot of the key aspects that could make it a perfect journey to the halls of Valhalla.