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Jusant is a fantastic game and the reason Gamepass exists. Would you ever buy a game like this if it wasn’t presented as free to you?

You play a teenage climber, stranded in a colourful land that clearly has been ravaged by drought, wandering through the remains of a seabed before landing at the foot of your challenge, a vast mountain.

Along the way, you will pick up a cute companion and discover the lore and mysteries of what has happened.

Graphically, the game is close to cell-shaded but not quite, hovering between comic and anime. It makes it easy to distinguish climbing surfaces and different regions as you progress.

After the graphical style, the thing that grabs you is the fantastic level design and climbing physics, using the triggers as each arm and the right stick to direct them, this is probably a deeper climbing simulator than it has any right to be. The climbs are challenging and enjoyable and can be approached as you see fit. In later levels, your choice will come down to what technique you prefer.

The addition of a climbing rope and anchor points seems like it makes the game easier, until later levels where it is essential to traverse the climbs, either by abseiling or ziplining.

As you progress, the different regions or faces of the mountain present unique challenges. The baking sun saps your stamina bar, wind can be used where there are no handholds and creatures and foliage can be activated by your companion to assist your climb.

Without story spoilers, you find out what has happened to the region through collectable lore, and here is where the game makes its only misstep.

There can be too much of a good thing, and the game has too much to find. Some of the items are poorly signposted and take too long to reach, travelling for minutes at a time to reach a small room with nothing in it, only to realise the lore was sitting in a table at the entrance.

If you don’t mind not being a completionist, Jusant is a brilliant diversion for a few hours, the graphics and stunning vistas you visit are among the most memorable in gaming this year making Jusant well worth your time as a palette cleanser.