Comparing Jotun and Volgarr the Viking Video Games

Jotun is an indie game that released on Steam in 2015 that deals with a female Viking shield maiden named Thora that is stuck in purgatory after she died a dishonorable death. Because she didn’t die in battle, she was not allowed to enter Valhalla. For her to escape and enter Valhalla, she must defeat the Jotun. The Jotun are large creatures that can be described as giants that Thora must defeat in order to prove herself worthy to the Gods. The Jotun can be compared to the Titians from Greek Mythology. The Jotun had super human strength and lived on the world of  Jötunheimr. Throughout her journey, there are multiple shrines dedicated to each of the Gods. The Gods help Thora on her journey by granting her powers that help her fight off the Jotun. The different Gods give Thora different powers such as the ability to use Mjolnir (Thor’s hammer) for a short period of time, this power is granted by Thor himself. Some more unique abilities granted from the Gods include the ability to heal by the Goddess Frigg (The highest ranking Aesir Goddess that is the wife of Oden) and Loki grants the player the ability to clone themselves. All these unique powers help Thora conquer the puzzles and the Jotun in order to finally enter Valhalla. Not only does this game include Shrines dedicated to the Gods, you learn about Thora’s past through authentic Icelandic voice acting that helps immerse the character into the game. Not only does this game offer an authentic Viking experience I thoroughly enjoyed playing through this game and enjoyed the experience it gave me.

Volgarr the Viking is a side scroller beat’ em up style game that released in the arcades that finally has a port coming to the Nintendo Switch. This game revolves around you being woken up by Odin and going on an action filled journey that is full of blood and glory. This game appeals to me not from an authentic standpoint, but from an action-based standpoint because it really captured what people perceive the modern Viking to be. Based on what I learned in this class about what a real Viking was (a peasant who takes up arms from a Nordic village not necessarily a strong burly brute who kills and plunders everything in its path) I also learned that when it comes to videogames people either tend to think about it from a story stand point and or a gameplay standpoint. And for someone to play a game where you are a small farmer from a village who can barley pick up a sword won’t be fun to the modern video game player. This is where the two games Jotun and Volgarr the Viking differ. Jotun offers the player an atmospheric experience where they can play as a Viking as well as a story-based game of honor and dishonor (two important concepts in Viking culture), Icelandic voice acting, shrines to pay respects to the given Norse Gods and an action filled adventure game. Whereas Volgarr the Viking offers the player an action filled game with very minimal Viking lore aspects to the game, which be a let down to the modern player. In my opinion, I believe that both games offer the player a unique experience on their own and are a blast to play.