Jotun: Valhalla Edition, Thunder Lotus Games FEEL This is great for those who prefer less of focus on challenge and more on the lore. And the main game is endlessly re-playable as well, either for each individual level or the entire game. All in all, it’s a really tough fight, but definitely adds another layer of challenge and re-playability to the game. It also challenges you to complete the boss fights as quickly as possible, with as little damage taken as possible and with as little God Power use as possible. Valhalla mode is a boss rush mode that bumps up the difficulty of each Jotun. This may have just been my exam addled brain though. However, the fire/storm realms’ bosses as well as the final boss, which I won’t spoil here, have a difficulty spike that had me smacking into the figurative wall. They mainly just involve standing by their feet/vines and hitting them repetitively. Some of the bosses, namely those of nature, the earth and the ice realms, were too easy. If this is the case then Thunder Lotus is partially successful. The aim, I believe, was to make each boss a mini-puzzle in the vein of The Legend of Zelda or Shadow of the Colossus.

Each Jotun controls a certain element of the universe, and each come with their own particular challenges. The bosses more or less make up for it, however. Jotun: Valhalla Edition, Thunder Lotus Games BOSSES This is equally suited to traveling slightly quicker and dodging the fire Jotun’s sword. Your final combat ability is a dodge roll. In fact, besides the two levels with the dwarves, I don’t think there’re any enemies besides the bosses in the entire game. Not that you’ll have to use combat outside of hacking away branches very often. This is unless it is combined with Thor’s God Power which makes it pretty good. However, the heavy attack is just too long and does just too little damage to be widely usable. You have two moves, a quick light attack that can be chained up to three times, and a heavy attack that deals slightly more damage. The combat, while serviceable, is somewhat lacking, especially for a game starring a Viking. Unfortunately, some aspects of the game aren’t as good. In fact, the lore also reminded me to replay Age of Mythology, one of my first introductions to mythology. They are also all told in Icelandic (the closest we have to ancient Nordic today), which is brilliant. These little pieces of lore (including the creation myth) are a brilliant introduction to Nordic mythology and mythology in general.

This edutainment is granted in the form of Thora’s descriptions of the God/Goddess Shrines you encounter as well as of various landmarks from Nordic mythology such as the Yggdrasil and Brokkr’s Forge, and other characters such as the four deer from the top branches of the Yggdrasil. As well as these enhancements, you also gain a greater education in Nordic mythology! Huzzah! Jotun: Valhalla Edition, Thunder Lotus Games EDUTAINMENT These will heal both your health and ability uses (you can use each ability 2/3 times) fully. The final God’s blessing comes from Mimir’s Wells. This is all while providing you with some information on the Gods/Goddesses (from Frigg to Freya, to Loki to Heimdall) whose blessing you have just received. These God Powers grant you abilities that allow you to heal, speed up (which I most often used for traversal, I must admit), attack harder, distract enemies or shield yourself. The other is a God Shrine that will grant you a new God Power. One is Ithunn’s Apples which increases your max health. This dishonorable death prevents her from reaching Viking heaven and, so, her tale begins.Īs well as the previously mentioned runes, each realm also contains two collectibles to enhance your abilities. However, Thora’s story was cut short by Sedna, mistress of the ocean, when she was drowned at sea.

After each Jotun boss-battle, Thora will explain a snippet of her backstory which, while I don’t want to spoil it too much, involves a fair amount of family intrigue, betrayal, and good old Viking conquest. This will allow her to have the chance to defeat a Jotun (giant) from each realm in order to reach Valhalla. Odin has tasked her to travel the five realms branching off from Ginnungagap and find each realm’s rune(s).

Her story involves her attempts to impress the gods and earn her place in Valhalla. In the game, you follow the story of Thora, named after the god of thunder himself. However, there is the question as to whether Jotun succeeds as a fully-fledged game or just an interact-able storybook. This is all while providing some epic boss fights and stunning visuals. Jotun: Valhalla Edition is a storybook-esque game that does a good job at exploring some of the tales from Norse Mythology.

Jotun valhalla edition review roundup