Jivana

About

Jivana is a single player action adventure game with fantasy and drama themes. It was developed by Team Jivana and was released on January 21, 2022. It received positive reviews from players.

Jivana is a story-driven adventure game. Embody Aelis, a water priestess who uses her powers to open the path for her community, forced to flee after the appearance of a huge cataclysm. Explore the enchanting landscapes of Jivana, use your ability to manipulate water and lead your people to safety.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

89%

Audience ScoreBased on 378 reviews

story77 positive mentions

optimization13 negative mentions

The game features a gorgeous art style and beautiful environments that enhance the overall experience.
The core mechanics, especially the water bending and traversal, are fun and engaging, providing a unique gameplay experience.
The soundtrack and voice acting are well done, adding depth to the story and atmosphere.

The game is very short, taking only about 30-40 minutes to complete, which leaves players wanting more.
There are several technical issues, including performance problems and bugs that can disrupt gameplay.
The story feels incomplete and rushed, with some dialogue and subtitles not aligning properly, making it hard to follow at times.

story
175 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
51%
5%
The game's story is generally described as short but engaging, with many players expressing a desire for a more extended narrative and deeper character development. While the visuals and sound design are praised, the abrupt ending leaves a sense of incompleteness, suggesting that it serves more as a prologue to a larger story. Overall, the potential for a more fleshed-out storyline is recognized, with many hoping for future expansions or sequels.
- “The story and graphics are amazing for a free game.”
- “This is the first time I have been so immersed in the story of a game.”
- “A short platforming adventure with a huge focus on its story and a few interesting gameplay mechanics combined with a really good visual style.”
- “The story was a bit too short, but given the background of the game, it does make sense.”
- “The only downside I have is that it's very short, so the characters don't have time to develop and the story in itself is lacking further explanation other than the intro.”
- “Kind of disappointing the story was incomplete; it feels like a prologue to a full game that just never happened.”
gameplay
138 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
46%
2%
The gameplay is characterized by its fun and engaging mechanics, particularly the water-based interactions, which many players found enjoyable and unique. While the game offers a short experience with around 30-40 minutes of playtime, it features a beautiful art style and smooth movement, though some mechanics can feel clunky or buggy at times. Overall, players appreciate the potential for expansion and refinement in future iterations, highlighting the game's charm despite its current limitations.
- “The art style is really great, the platforming mechanics feel really nice, especially the water surfing and waterfall running.”
- “The gameplay itself was quite simple, but fascinating and really fun.”
- “The mechanics of this game are refreshing and entertaining; it has a lot of potential.”
- “The technical flaws are pretty pronounced: main character disappearing from the screen, cut scenes missing text or blacking out completely, stuttering during gameplay, progress not saving, and a chase scene with camera angles - which you cannot control - that make it difficult to see your character or your path.”
- “The mechanics of growing stems from flowers could be greatly improved as the way it is now it feels kind of glitchy.”
- “My only complaint, as far as gameplay is concerned, is the general clunkiness of how it feels, especially when it comes to growing branches.”
graphics
121 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
38%
4%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning art style and vibrant visuals, which enhance the overall experience. However, many users report issues with optimization, leading to performance problems on various hardware setups, including frame rate drops and stuttering. Despite these technical drawbacks, the game's aesthetic appeal and artistic design are frequently highlighted as standout features, making it a visually captivating title, especially for a free game.
- “The art style is really pretty, and it fits the overall theme of the game.”
- “The visuals and soundtrack are stunning, drawing from rich cultural influences that make the world feel unique.”
- “Graphically stunning, easy quick heart breaking 30 minute story I love it.”
- “Sadly, the graphics are pretty low.”
- “Only downside for me is the graphic optimization; my PC will start screaming even on medium quality. I have to use low quality so that my PC won't cook itself with the heat.”
- “Performance is quite bad considering that not many things are happening which requires processing power, yet alone the graphics aren't anything special to even ask for graphics processing power.”
music
65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
77%
18%
5%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its beauty and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many reviewers noting its emotional depth and cultural influences reminiscent of Studio Ghibli. While some found the soundtrack occasionally overpowering during dialogue, the majority praised its fittingness and quality, contributing significantly to the game's immersive experience. Overall, the combination of stunning visuals and a captivating soundtrack makes it a standout feature of the game.
- “The music is beautiful and appropriate.”
- “The visuals and soundtrack are stunning, drawing from rich cultural influences that make the world feel unique.”
- “The soundtrack is lovely and gets real dramatic.”
- “Not very optimized, short, froze a couple of times, backgrounds are poor, music is generic and the main character design is clearly based on some water bender from Avatar.”
- “The voice actors are pretty average, and the music felt a bit heavy-handed.”
- “The one problem I did notice was that the music would overshadow the characters speaking.”
optimization
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
56%
36%
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting performance issues such as stuttering, freezing, and poor graphics quality, even on capable hardware. While some users managed to improve performance by adjusting settings, the overall consensus is that the game is poorly optimized and requires substantial improvements to enhance the gameplay experience. Despite its potential, technical flaws and unresponsive controls detract from the enjoyment, leaving players hopeful for future updates.
- “It has room for improvements around optimization.”
- “Gorgeous graphics, need some optimization though.”
- “Being honest, the game has some little performance issues when loading the level, some minor bugs and falls in quality in some small 'details', but overall it's a solid game that you are surely going to enjoy playing.”
- “Alas, the optimization issues made it unbearable.”
- “It has potential but is very poorly optimized.”
- “The technical flaws are pretty pronounced: main character disappearing from the screen, cut scenes missing text or blacking out completely, stuttering during gameplay, progress not saving, and a chase scene with camera angles - which you cannot control - that make it difficult to see your character or your path.”
stability
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
90%
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with many players reporting various glitches and bugs, particularly related to gameplay mechanics and visual elements. While some users experienced significant issues, others reported smooth playthroughs without major problems. Overall, the game is described as "buggy" but not game-breaking, with some players appreciating its free-to-play model despite its technical shortcomings.
- “Gameplay was nice and bug free.”
- “However, there are some comments that said the game was bug-free for them, so it could just be glitching on my specific type of computer.”
- “Cannot get past the first point with 2 buds to grow; glitches through and falls down on the first branch if I manage to even get on it.”
- “Besides this, it is full of glitches and has been abandoned by devs, but on the plus side, it is free-to-play.”
- “There were some glitches within the game, and sometimes the branches were hard to grow.”
character development
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
14%
29%
The character development in the game is praised for its beautiful designs and strong visual appeal, reminiscent of "Avatar: The Last Airbender." While the character animations may feel somewhat stiff, they effectively contribute to the overall sense of wonder and adventure in the game. However, some players noted a lack of combat mechanics, which limited the depth of character engagement.
- “The art style is very beautiful and the mechanics very much remind me of Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra (both in animation and character design, in a good way of course).”
- “Character designs are on point, and while Aelis's gameplay animations are a bit stiff, they do the job just fine.”
- “Sorry to compare it to Avatar (the Last Airbender kind), but it very much reminded me of that, even the character design.”
- “The world building, the terrain, the character designs, and gameplay all had a sense of wonder and adventure that you don't find in most games.”
emotional
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its emotional depth, featuring a touching story and well-developed characters despite its short length. Players report a strong emotional impact, with some expressing that it nearly brought them to tears, while the beautiful visuals and engaging gameplay enhance the overall experience. However, some technical issues, particularly for keyboard and mouse users, were noted, but they did not significantly detract from the heartfelt narrative.
- “This game almost made me cry.”
- “Well made, emotional story, I hope there is a continuation someday.”
- “Graphically stunning, easy, quick, heart-breaking 30-minute story. I love it.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The atmosphere in Jivana is praised for its beauty and calmness, enhanced by enjoyable music and decent 2D character art. However, some players found the top-down view challenging during intense moments, as obstacles can obscure visibility and affect controls. Overall, the game offers an engaging atmospheric experience, particularly in its puzzle-platforming elements.
- “Jivana is a beautiful and atmospheric game with great puzzle-platforming elements.”
- “Around half an hour of gameplay in an atmospheric world.”
- “The puzzles are okay, the atmosphere is calm and the 2D character art/dialogue is decent.”
- “Despite that I really appreciated playing the game, I was a bit surprised by the 'chasing moment.' The top view makes it hard to clearly see what is happening due to rocks in front of the camera, the night atmosphere, and the controls that change when the camera view changes in the middle of the run, which does not allow for failure.”
- “The puzzles are okay, the atmosphere is calm, and the 2D character art and dialogue are decent.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express that the grinding aspect of the game is excessively time-consuming, often requiring a significant investment of effort akin to having a second life to fully engage with it.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The grinding feels endless and tedious.”
- “It's a chore to grind for hours just to progress.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
Players find the game to have high replayability due to its hidden content, making it infinitely replayable and encouraging multiple playthroughs.
- “✅ Infinitely replayable.”
- “It has some replay value since the game has hidden content.”