The Indie Game Magazine July 2015 | Issue 51 | Page 16

COVER STORY

Whosoever Holds
this Axe... by Vinny Parisi

I

’ve always taken a keen interest in mythology. As a child, I was particularly
enamored by Greek mythology, featuring stories of the Gods and their interactions with mortals making for some truly
epic tragedies. I also fell in love with comic
books at an early age, which for all intents
and purposes, are modern day society’s
version of mythology. I bring this up because it’s hard to be a Marvel comics fan
and not mention the God of Thunder himself (or herself, if you’re keeping up on current comic events), Thor.
Thor, to very briefly generalize, is based in
Norse mythology. Norse mythology is centered
around Yggdrasil, the tree of life, which connects all of the existing nine Realms. Earth, for
instance, belongs to the Realm of Midgard.
I mention this because reading Thor led me
to pursue an interest in more traditional
Norse mythology, which is directly relevant
to this feature. Thor, much like Thunder Lotus

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Games’ upcoming Jotun, takes its inspiration from Norse mythology, digging into a
rich tapestry of lore as the basis for a grand
adventure. But whereas the Odinson travels
via Rainbow Bridge across the Nine Realms
in search of glory, Thora – the protagonist
player’s will adventure alongside in Jotun –
is confined to the rather expansive gateway
known as Purgatory.
The basic premise of Jotun is that Thora must
impress the Gods before she is granted entry
into Valhalla, a place where the spirits of all
proud Norse warriors go after they fall in
honorable combat. The problem for Thora,
though, is that she died an inglorious death,
and must therefore prove herself to the Gods
during her time in Purgatory before it’s too
late. The details about how Thora died stripped
of honor are currently a mystery, and Jotun
designer/coder/business guy Will Dubé wants
to keep it that way. Considering the game’s
emphasis on story and exploration, the team’s

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desire to preserve any narrative details until
players experience it for themselves doesn’t
come as much of a surprise.
What we can instead focus on, is the gameplay
itself. With an Alpha available for Kickstarter
backers and a demo making the press/convention rounds, much of Jotun’s combat has
been proudly displayed over the past few
months. In addition to this, details about the
exploratory aspects of the game have slowly
trickled out over months of development
updates, courtesy of Dubé, as well as some
new tidbits I pried out of him for this issue’s
accompanying interview segment. But before
delving into the n itty-gritty of gameplay, it’s
important to understand Thora’s environment,
and the role Purgatory plays in the game.
As you’ll see from looking at screenshots,
Jotun is hand-drawn in appearance, with an
emphasis of large set pieces, both in size and
scope. Despite the entirety of the game taking
place in Purgatory, players will not be limited
to a singular environment. Rather, Jotun will
feature a distinct Region for each of the titans
Thora must face in battle. Each region consists
of two exploration levels, filled with secrets
Thora can uncover to improve her combat
prowess, and one boss fight. These regions
will be aesthetically varied, featuring drastic
changes in appearance that will send players
on frozen ice-capades against a frost giant,
to venturing through the recently unveiled
Nidavellir, described as “an underground
realm of treasure and darkness; home of
the dwarves and the mighty Cave Jotun, Fé.”