Jotun - Impressing the Gods

We are Thunder Lotus, a start-up indie studio from Montréal, Canada and our very first project is called Jotun.

Jotun is a hand-drawn action-exploration game set in Norse mythology. In the summer of 2014, Jotun raised over $64,000 on Kickstarter and was Greenlit in under a week, drawing attention from several important game outlets. You may have heard of our game, since we have been featured in some of the biggest gaming outlets in the world.

In Jotun, you play Thora, a Viking warrior who has died an inglorious death and must prove herself to the Gods to enter Valhalla. The Viking culture is based on valor. This means that you don’t reach Valhalla, their version of Heaven, by being a good person. You only go there if you accomplished valorous deeds in life. Cowardice is one of the biggest sins in Viking culture and cowards go straight to Hel (you guessed right, it is their version of Hell). For Jotun, we took the liberty of adding another layer to the Norse afterlife: Purgatory, a place where a select few have a second chance to reach Valhalla by overcoming impossible trials.

Thora is a bad-ass Viking warrior. Viking women were also fighters and we really wanted to incorporate this in our game. We are trying to make the game loyal to Viking culture, so we never considered making Thora a character with sex-appeal. We want people to like her for her fighting skills and her courage, not for a big cleavage or “boob plate” armor.

That being said, Thora has tons of attitude and charisma! I think that a fair comparison for her personality is the fan-favourite Brienne, from Game of Thrones: both are the “strong silent” type of character, ultimate warriors, honoured and, above all, extremely brave.

Her quest in Jotun demands a lot of bravery. Her second chance to reach Valhalla involves a challenged proposed by Odin himself: Thora will have to explore five different regions of the Norse Purgatory to find runes that unleash the jotun, giant Norse elementals, and defeat them using only her massive two-handed axe, your skills and the blessing of the Gods.

The jotun are indeed gigantic:

http://i.imgur.com/d15FRCV....

Jotun is a game about epic boss fights. Take the scale of Shadow of the Colossus as an example. The game has 5 different giants, each one with their own levels. The big guy up here is Isa, the winter jotun. He is our poster child, but all other jotun have different powers and scenarios. Last month, for example, we revealed Fé, the cave jotun. She is queen of the dwarves that live in the caves of Nidavellir. You need to use different strategies to fight them. Isa, for example, offers a melee based combat. His fight is about timing and using the environment to help you.

The most important thing about Jotun’s bosses is scale. We want them to feel impossible to beat and we are creating this sensation by using massive scale and brutal difficulty levels.

Another key aspect of Jotun is exploration. Each level in Jotun is filled with secrets, so exploring every nook and cranny always pays off.

http://i.imgur.com/uobUd9f....

We want Jotun’s levels to be as diverse as possible. While some levels (especially in the winter region) are really vast and lonely, based on open exploration, some levels are puzzle-based and some have combat. Another crucial aspect is that every level in Jotun is inspired by mythology. From the dwarven city above to the frozen rivers of Nifheim, every region is carefully giving homage to Viking legends.

Speaking of legends, many Gods and myths from the Norse pantheon will appear in Jotun. In fact, some Gods will give their blessings to Thora, by lending a bit of their power to her. In the example below, Thor, the mighty God of Thunder, gives Thora the power of the mythic hammer Mjolnir!

http://i.imgur.com/0HDrMkh....

Last, but definitely not least, is our art style. Remember when I said that Jotun is a hand-drawn game? I meant it. Every tiny detail that you see on the screen is hand drawn and carefully animated. By hand. No 3D, very little tweening. We like to think that, technology aside, Jotun is being made in the same way that our favourite Disney movies were made. As you can see in the gif, Thora’s moves are super accurate and resemble cartoons. We are really proud of this and thankfully we are receiving a really warm and positive feedback from the community.

http://i.imgur.com/LHGkUNl....

Speaking of community, we couldn’t be happier with the response from people. Every social media interaction, every playtest, every feedback, every gaming show is very important to us and really helps Jotun to become a better game.
As you can see, we are pretty happy Vikings right now, all thanks to you!

http://i.imgur.com/bzNUJYV....

Jotun is coming to Steam in September 2015 for Windows, Mac & Linux.

If you want to know more about the game, connect with us on:

* Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jo...
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/JotunGa...
* Join our Mailing List: http://www.jotungame.com/

IMPRESS THE GODS!!!

Day 14 | Thunder Lotus Games