Recent reviews by IronBroo

This way lies madness.

Jump King occupies a very specific and complex place in my heart. I both loathe and love this game in almost equal measure. Anyone with passing knowledge of the game will understand that it’s known to be difficult and annoying. At the core of this game lies an almost sinister and powerful source of irritation, a test of personal skill, endurance and mental fortitude.

Jump King is a force of nature. Tackling it is akin to trying to summit a mountain or face the sea in a storm. The game takes no action against you, it doesn’t hate you, it doesn’t pity you, it simply exists, massive and uncaring in the face of your desire to conquer it. Your inevitable and repeated failure proves utterly insignificant to the unchanging landscape of your task. Dashing your hopes continually against the rocks of the mountain before you can make it appear to grow, to become harder and harder as time ticks away. You become inextricably aware of the passage of time and its unending and unstoppable movement compared to your own lack of progression.

After contemplating your battle against such immovable forces, it dawns on you that the only true thing that lies before you to overcome isn’t the tower, it isn’t the dozens of jumps that you haven’t even seen or thought of yet. It is only yourself. The true game of Jump King is one of personal achievement and improvement in the face of almost unimaginable difficulty. You aren’t playing against an opponent. The tower doesn’t adapt or play against you. The only obstacle is your skill and determination once the cruel reality of your trial settles in, absorbing defeat after crushing defeat.

Failure is guaranteed with Jump King. Across the infinite span of possible dimensions and timelines there remains one constant. You will suffer defeat at the hands of this game.

But this is where the beauty of the game blossoms. Negativity and frustration has to take hold in order to savour victory. As impossible as the weight of your own failure seems to become, success through personal grit and determination is completely unmatched. No other game captures the feeling of achievement when reaching a new personal height. Not solely because it was difficult and took you a great deal of time, but because it was you that got you there.
You might have been given advice, you could have received moral support (and by Christ you’ll need it) but only you can perform the jumps. Nobody can get you there but you.

Cresting a new horizon and seeing sights that were previously beyond you always feels like a monumental victory. For a moment all of your past failures and grief are washed away and you can bask in your own sublime success. Even if you know that there are more arduous jumps ahead of you, more inevitable falls where you will have to fight and claw your way back up again. You know that you can do this. By now you have tasted defeat, you know it all too well. It has become a familiar companion to you on this pilgrimage. So comfortable in its company that it no longer scares you. It might even help you get back to your feet, to dust yourself off and once again ready yourself for the leaps you know you can accomplish.

So be prepared to feel the bitter sting of hardship. You will be wounded. You will falter. You will fall. But you know what it feels like to rise above it all. You know what you must do.
Jump