Spiritfarer is a cozy resource management/base building game. The animations are gorgeous and the music is calming, if a bit banal. The game centers primarily around the characters, all of whom are well-written but forgettably inoffensive. Maintaining good relationships and progressing the character arcs requires numerous resources, which are gathered and processed by completing mediocre minigames. Traveling while balancing these tasks is initially a fun juggling act, but it's easy to get stuck with grinding for a particular resource or traveling to a distant location without being able to progress other goals. Depending on the level of complexity or difficulty a player is looking for this could be worthwhile, but I found myself hitting too many tedious road bumps.
This review contains spoilers
Trying to review this game has been difficult, and has taken me quite literally hours to get the right words without explaining every detail of this game in great detail, and why I love them. Spiritfarer is a game about Stella, a woman who we're led to believe is inheriting the role of the Spiritfarer of the Afterlife, but is rather a story of a healthcare worker slowly coming to terms with her own demise from the same diseases the people she cared for used to suffer from.
This game changed my whole view of death, it didn't make me see it as purely a negative or a positive, but rather seeing the beauty in the end, and that death is just the end of life, not the end of someone. Characters will need you to help them with unfinished business in their lives before they pass, and in most cases are delaying the inevitable. The cast of characters have as much personality in them as real people, it reminds me of other "cozy" indie games, such as Stardew Valley for example. With characters such as the innocent child Stanley, or the harsh teacher in Gustavo, or the womanizing lion Giovanni, everyone manages to be memorable, and everyone succeeds at tearing my heart out of my chest when their time comes to pass.
The number one thing I can say about this game is that it is an absolute must play for anyone who enjoys games similar in genre to Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, it will not fail to disappoint. The pace of the game is slow to its detriment, but every other aspect of the game makes up for it.
This game changed my whole view of death, it didn't make me see it as purely a negative or a positive, but rather seeing the beauty in the end, and that death is just the end of life, not the end of someone. Characters will need you to help them with unfinished business in their lives before they pass, and in most cases are delaying the inevitable. The cast of characters have as much personality in them as real people, it reminds me of other "cozy" indie games, such as Stardew Valley for example. With characters such as the innocent child Stanley, or the harsh teacher in Gustavo, or the womanizing lion Giovanni, everyone manages to be memorable, and everyone succeeds at tearing my heart out of my chest when their time comes to pass.
The number one thing I can say about this game is that it is an absolute must play for anyone who enjoys games similar in genre to Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, it will not fail to disappoint. The pace of the game is slow to its detriment, but every other aspect of the game makes up for it.
A cozy little game that wrestles with death and regret whilst letting you soar the oceans in a soothing and sublime fashion. The game is incredible relaxing and the art style is just gorgeous. The gameplay loop is very satisfying and if you like management typ games, then you'll always have stuff to do. The writing is really good and all the lost spirit passengers you encounter throughout your journey are really memorable as each explore different aspects of pain, sorrow, regret, acceptance and ultimately, death itself. The game manages to create a very special feeling of sadness and emptiness whenever a spirit is brought to the great beyond. You genuinely do start to miss them while at the same time being happy that you got spend time with them at all. Which is kind of the point of the game, really. To cherish the time you have with friends and loved ones, while you have it.
The only complaint I have is that it does start to drag a bit in the late game when you're inventory is set for ten lifetimes and you're pretty much just killing time to activate the next quest. Otherwise this game is great and I would highly recommend that you give this a try. I miss it already, and I finished it just mere minutes ago.
The only complaint I have is that it does start to drag a bit in the late game when you're inventory is set for ten lifetimes and you're pretty much just killing time to activate the next quest. Otherwise this game is great and I would highly recommend that you give this a try. I miss it already, and I finished it just mere minutes ago.
A fantastic idea that ultimately results in a game with a lot of repetitiveness, half-baked plotlines, bugs, annoying minigames, boring moments, unlikeable characters, and a tonne of wasted potential. I'm genuinely really confused by all the positive reviews for this game, there are so many frustrating elements of the game that could be made infinitely better with little effort. Sure, the visuals and music are nice, but it takes a lot more than that to make a good game. It seems that most of the positive reviews are centered around that, though.
2.5 stars as I think the idea is really great and once or twice the game pulled at my heartstrings, but it really left me wanting more and feeling that the game could have been so much more.
2.5 stars as I think the idea is really great and once or twice the game pulled at my heartstrings, but it really left me wanting more and feeling that the game could have been so much more.
Top 10 game of mine. At first it takes awhile to advance but once you do you get to focus on the story. It's made me have a whole different view on death. Made me cry countless of times and gives another view on life and the feelings you have when someone passes away. Love you Stanley. ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗