interestingly enough, the rune as depicted in the game is just that, an elder futhark rune, and not the Old Norse equivalent rune (which looks quite different). It was also the name of the "J" rune in the elder futhark. I don't think the final boss is something specific either, but jera is an ancient Germanic word meaning "harvest", and is the root word of the English word "year". Draugr guard their barrow graves and the treasures within, and can grow to tremendous sizes at will (like the boss did). it's probably a random draugr (a revenant or risen dead), a dead person who has brought himself back to unlife through force of will. The thing you fought in the barrow is probably not something specific. Odin did a lot of other things too, but we might get to them later. Odin sacrificed one of his eyes in order to be allowed to drink from the well, from which he gained, well, wisdom. The narrator (who is clearly Odin) mentions the Well of Mimir Mimir was another giant, who guarded the well of wisdom at the foot of Yggdrasil, the world tree. I've never played this game, so maybe it'll come up later. He nursed from the primordial cow, Audhumbla, and in time from him sprung the first hrimthursar (frost giants), two from his armpit, and a third when his legs mated with each other. In the midst of Ginnungagap, the flames of Muspelheim met the frost of Niflheim and from the fog that created came the first jötun (that is, giant), Ymir. From a wellspring in Niflheim sprung twelve rivers, which froze into a mighty glacier. It is flanked on its south and north sides by Muspelheim, the realm of fire, and Niflheim, the realm of ice. Ginnungagap is the primordial void that predates all existence. I haven't even beaten the game yet myself (I was about halfway through by the time I said "screw it" and went for the LP). What I will do is I will "blaze" through the levels on camera (this still allows for plenty of scenery admiring, trust me), and then cut to power-ups and the pieces of scenery that are a bit out of the way. Jotun is very heavily focused on exploration - in order to get the power-ups and skills, you must explore every last bit of every map. The first update is not really representative of how the remainder of the game plays. Some people don't like the fact that you have to read the subtitles to understand what's being said, but I think it's a brilliant move that doesn't break immersion, but enhances it. Icelandic is the language that retained the most similarities to Old Norse out of all modern languages. Wait, why is the voiceover in a language I don't understand that isn't English?. Besides, geeking out over mythology is what the thread is for! My commentary will be focused mostly on the game design, be it visuals or gameplay mechanics. This does not, however, stop me from appreciating the visuals and the narration of the game. Sometimes I won't even know where does a certain element come from (when the game doesn't explain it, which it usually does). Consequently, I will not always be able to keep yapping about what legends are specific elements of the game taken from. No, I am not a nerd of Old Norse mythology, or any mythology, for that matter. This is somewhat offset by gameplay that has some flaws, including fairly slow pace of the game and brutal and unfair difficulty of combat. The game draws heavily on Old Norse mythology and folklore, and its art style is absolutely gorgeous. Jotun is an indie top-down action-adventure game released in September 2015.
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