I think Spiritfarer's greatest strength is being able to wield the specificity of its characters' lives and the real life stories of grief that they take inspiration from whilst also remaining quite universal. Though, in a rather morbid way, I think one's mileage with Spiritfarer will vary mostly by one's life experiences with the subject matter. That's not to say that the storylines are hollow without being able to relate to them, some of my favourite characters in Spiritfarer are meant to serve as catharsis for a particular type of grief I'm simply not familiar with on that level.
This is all to say, one story in particular has had a more profound impact on me in a way that I think would simply not work quite as well if I hadn't lost a loved one in the way that I did.
I am going to put a spoiler warning here, though first of all, I obviously recommend the game if that wasn't clear; and second of all, go and read Drax's Excellent piece on the game, which is genuinely my favourite write-up about spiritfarer on the site, and maybe even the entire web.
I want to talk about Atul. A few days ago a friend of mine @MrCanilla finished his playthrough and wrote a thoughtful piece on it which I enjoyed (and the shoutout was nice too, lol). I then reflected on my original piece on the game and I wasn't very happy with it. So I replayed Spiritfarer and quickly dispelled the idea in my head that there was no way the emotional impact would be as effective on a second go. But the main reason Im writing this is because I never talked about Atul, and that surprises me, because it sat on my mind for a while when I originally played Spiritfarer in 2021.
Atul is a jolly Frog spirit you pick up as one of the first spirits you can ferry to the afterlife. He's the world's least picky eater, he's a handyman who runs the sawmill and breaks out into song, one of my favourites : thunder harvest. He asks you to go on a pretty long and arduous quest to feed him various foods which remind him of memories of his family, which he misses. As you get to know him you realize that behind his jolly facade is a real void, a void that he may be filling with food, judging by his appetite.
The real turn comes when his quest advances to organizing a big dinner for everyone on board, another set of food quests to make a big feast. Then as you go back to the ship and go to sleep, you realize the next morning that Atul is simply not there anymore. And I may be misremembering, because originally I played a much earlier version of the game, but I think originally that was it, you went to his room and found the spiritflower, the symbol left behind by the spirits in their quarters after they are ferried to the everdoor. On replay though, it seems there is a bit more clarification, with characters confirming quite plainly that Atul simply left. I am rather conflicted on this "QOL?" decision for reasons I will explain at the end.
You see, up until that point in the game (and they made damn sure that Atul's quest cannot be finished before sending at least 3 or 4 spirits I think to the everdoor) the game had established a sort of routine. Relating to the main thrust of the game being essentially the experiences of a palliative care nurse who would take care of patients in what little time they had left, all of the spirits follow the pattern of seeing off a dying relative, the spirits gathering around when taking their fellow to the everdoor analogous to gathering around a deathbed, as Drax pointed out. It doesn't get easier but it does follow a pattern; you take the spirit to the everdoor, they have some parting words somewhat concluding their storyline and then you cry and they leave forever.
Atul, however, simply leaves, utterly subverting the established pattern brilliantly. My reaction and many others was that of utter confusion : "What? What the hell? Where did he go? I didn't even get to say goodbye! That's not how it was supposed to go?" to anger "how could he leave without saying goodbye! How could he do this to me?". I simply couldn't believe it. In the case of Atul, there is some implication given his character arc that he simply didnt want to make Stella sad and went to the Everdoor himself, characteristic of his personality, but there is also an implication in my mind that this may well be Stella and by extension the audience trying to make sense of that which has none. And sometimes our loved ones will leave us without the chance to make peace or say one final goodbye, and we kind of just have to live with it and make what time with them count.
The reason this was all so devastating is that with a simple upending of established mechanics, spiritfarer pulled me back to 2018 and the exact emotional reaction I felt when my father unexpectedly past away. Without getting into needless details, it was simply an accident, one of tragically countless which happen every day. I was studying abroad at the time and got a call from my mother on an evening that was until then utterly mundane, I think I was planning on playing skyrim and procrastinating on work as I always did back then. Unbeknownst to me my Father had already passed when I received the call, but I was just told he was in the ICU and to get home ASAP. I hurried to the airport as fast as I could to take a late night flight back home. Looking back I am almost thankful for the eventful trip which took my mind off it all, getting lost and without battery in central london until some helpful people pointed me in the right direction, talking to a tourist on the plane, etc.
But of course when I landed I got the news. It was quite surreal, in a way. Now, I don't think anyone is fully prepared to lose a loved one ever, but when someone young and healthy leaves in such a fashion it makes you question a lot of things. And my Dad was not all that similar to Atul, personality wise, but much like the sawmill he used reminds you of Atul even when he's gone and you miss his supply of planks and all the other helpful activities he would do like most spirits in the game, I realized a few weeks later when I started to cycle again, that I was going to finally have to learn how to change tyres by myself. A sad reminder of who I lost but also an important lesson to move on and to let life's hardships as well as its good times serve as lessons. Its been 5 years now, and though this replay may have resurfaced a few bits, I am doing well, And I can confidently say that Spiritfarer is still a great game which accomplishes with its mechanics what couldnt be accomplished in a different medium. Its personally inspiring to me genuinely.
I must say, playing Spiritfarer in 2023 makes me think we should mandate Minecraft's version history system into every single game, because I think Spiritfarer 2020 was a great game which was a little padded and could have ended a bit earlier than it did, and lo and behold that's even more so the case now. In principle, I understand why they clarified a bit more on Atul, even if it robs it of the full impact of the utter confusion and shock it was originally intended to convey. However, if you are one of the people who complained enough about it that they added the option to turn off the Bus stop music, we cannot be friends; and I will see you in hell. And I have the sneaking suspicion that the new spirits were always supposed to be there in the original version but were cut due to time constraints and later added in, in which case I can see why they were chosen to be cut out of all of them, I'm sorry. They're not awful, but y'know.
Anyways, I don't know If I have much of conclusion beyond the obvious plea to love those closest to you and live a life you won't regret, so let's idk share our favourite spiritfarer tracks in the comments. Have a good one
This is all to say, one story in particular has had a more profound impact on me in a way that I think would simply not work quite as well if I hadn't lost a loved one in the way that I did.
I am going to put a spoiler warning here, though first of all, I obviously recommend the game if that wasn't clear; and second of all, go and read Drax's Excellent piece on the game, which is genuinely my favourite write-up about spiritfarer on the site, and maybe even the entire web.
I want to talk about Atul. A few days ago a friend of mine @MrCanilla finished his playthrough and wrote a thoughtful piece on it which I enjoyed (and the shoutout was nice too, lol). I then reflected on my original piece on the game and I wasn't very happy with it. So I replayed Spiritfarer and quickly dispelled the idea in my head that there was no way the emotional impact would be as effective on a second go. But the main reason Im writing this is because I never talked about Atul, and that surprises me, because it sat on my mind for a while when I originally played Spiritfarer in 2021.
Atul is a jolly Frog spirit you pick up as one of the first spirits you can ferry to the afterlife. He's the world's least picky eater, he's a handyman who runs the sawmill and breaks out into song, one of my favourites : thunder harvest. He asks you to go on a pretty long and arduous quest to feed him various foods which remind him of memories of his family, which he misses. As you get to know him you realize that behind his jolly facade is a real void, a void that he may be filling with food, judging by his appetite.
The real turn comes when his quest advances to organizing a big dinner for everyone on board, another set of food quests to make a big feast. Then as you go back to the ship and go to sleep, you realize the next morning that Atul is simply not there anymore. And I may be misremembering, because originally I played a much earlier version of the game, but I think originally that was it, you went to his room and found the spiritflower, the symbol left behind by the spirits in their quarters after they are ferried to the everdoor. On replay though, it seems there is a bit more clarification, with characters confirming quite plainly that Atul simply left. I am rather conflicted on this "QOL?" decision for reasons I will explain at the end.
You see, up until that point in the game (and they made damn sure that Atul's quest cannot be finished before sending at least 3 or 4 spirits I think to the everdoor) the game had established a sort of routine. Relating to the main thrust of the game being essentially the experiences of a palliative care nurse who would take care of patients in what little time they had left, all of the spirits follow the pattern of seeing off a dying relative, the spirits gathering around when taking their fellow to the everdoor analogous to gathering around a deathbed, as Drax pointed out. It doesn't get easier but it does follow a pattern; you take the spirit to the everdoor, they have some parting words somewhat concluding their storyline and then you cry and they leave forever.
Atul, however, simply leaves, utterly subverting the established pattern brilliantly. My reaction and many others was that of utter confusion : "What? What the hell? Where did he go? I didn't even get to say goodbye! That's not how it was supposed to go?" to anger "how could he leave without saying goodbye! How could he do this to me?". I simply couldn't believe it. In the case of Atul, there is some implication given his character arc that he simply didnt want to make Stella sad and went to the Everdoor himself, characteristic of his personality, but there is also an implication in my mind that this may well be Stella and by extension the audience trying to make sense of that which has none. And sometimes our loved ones will leave us without the chance to make peace or say one final goodbye, and we kind of just have to live with it and make what time with them count.
The reason this was all so devastating is that with a simple upending of established mechanics, spiritfarer pulled me back to 2018 and the exact emotional reaction I felt when my father unexpectedly past away. Without getting into needless details, it was simply an accident, one of tragically countless which happen every day. I was studying abroad at the time and got a call from my mother on an evening that was until then utterly mundane, I think I was planning on playing skyrim and procrastinating on work as I always did back then. Unbeknownst to me my Father had already passed when I received the call, but I was just told he was in the ICU and to get home ASAP. I hurried to the airport as fast as I could to take a late night flight back home. Looking back I am almost thankful for the eventful trip which took my mind off it all, getting lost and without battery in central london until some helpful people pointed me in the right direction, talking to a tourist on the plane, etc.
But of course when I landed I got the news. It was quite surreal, in a way. Now, I don't think anyone is fully prepared to lose a loved one ever, but when someone young and healthy leaves in such a fashion it makes you question a lot of things. And my Dad was not all that similar to Atul, personality wise, but much like the sawmill he used reminds you of Atul even when he's gone and you miss his supply of planks and all the other helpful activities he would do like most spirits in the game, I realized a few weeks later when I started to cycle again, that I was going to finally have to learn how to change tyres by myself. A sad reminder of who I lost but also an important lesson to move on and to let life's hardships as well as its good times serve as lessons. Its been 5 years now, and though this replay may have resurfaced a few bits, I am doing well, And I can confidently say that Spiritfarer is still a great game which accomplishes with its mechanics what couldnt be accomplished in a different medium. Its personally inspiring to me genuinely.
I must say, playing Spiritfarer in 2023 makes me think we should mandate Minecraft's version history system into every single game, because I think Spiritfarer 2020 was a great game which was a little padded and could have ended a bit earlier than it did, and lo and behold that's even more so the case now. In principle, I understand why they clarified a bit more on Atul, even if it robs it of the full impact of the utter confusion and shock it was originally intended to convey. However, if you are one of the people who complained enough about it that they added the option to turn off the Bus stop music, we cannot be friends; and I will see you in hell. And I have the sneaking suspicion that the new spirits were always supposed to be there in the original version but were cut due to time constraints and later added in, in which case I can see why they were chosen to be cut out of all of them, I'm sorry. They're not awful, but y'know.
Anyways, I don't know If I have much of conclusion beyond the obvious plea to love those closest to you and live a life you won't regret, so let's idk share our favourite spiritfarer tracks in the comments. Have a good one
Second game a hedgehog made me cry with sadness.
A relaxing and beautiful game.
A relaxing and beautiful game.
A few years ago, I played a part of Spiritfarer, and after 12 hours of gameplay, I gave up. I decided to replay it to see if I had quit for some silly reason or something like that. At the beginning of this attempt, I fell in love with the game again, enjoyed the dialogues, read them carefully, and appreciated every moment. However, unfortunately, I ended up understanding my past self.
Spiritfarer is a game that heavily focuses on narrative, addressing how farewells are never easy, making you develop some affection for the passengers, and bringing a subjectivity that initially captivated me. I wanted to know the cause of the passengers' deaths, wanted to take them to the portal, but the magic wore off too soon.
For a game with not many appealing mechanics, it lasts a long time. In pursuit of a platinum trophy, I had to spend a lot of time doing tedious and repetitive actions, which became repetitive too early. Fishing, sailing, planting, grinding, weaving... and all the other actions are variations of waiting or clicking the action button at different rhythms.
Honestly, I was very interested in knowing the characters' stories in life, and after I read about them, I lost much of the temptation to play while paying attention to the dialogues and the story, as they are either clichéd stories or ones that didn't captivate me.
In summary, it's a game I would recommend someone to read the story or watch a video about, as playing it is not the most enjoyable thing in the world. You'll spend a lot of time repeating dull actions, doing generic missions like going from point A to B or collecting items for the characters. Also, maxing out everyone's mood doesn't bring any significant benefit, so ignoring them throughout the game is possible.
The game is responsive, the graphics are beautiful, and the sound effects are very good. The only weak points are the gameplay itself and the story, which, despite being clichéd and straightforward, may captivate some people.
Spiritfarer is a game that heavily focuses on narrative, addressing how farewells are never easy, making you develop some affection for the passengers, and bringing a subjectivity that initially captivated me. I wanted to know the cause of the passengers' deaths, wanted to take them to the portal, but the magic wore off too soon.
For a game with not many appealing mechanics, it lasts a long time. In pursuit of a platinum trophy, I had to spend a lot of time doing tedious and repetitive actions, which became repetitive too early. Fishing, sailing, planting, grinding, weaving... and all the other actions are variations of waiting or clicking the action button at different rhythms.
Honestly, I was very interested in knowing the characters' stories in life, and after I read about them, I lost much of the temptation to play while paying attention to the dialogues and the story, as they are either clichéd stories or ones that didn't captivate me.
In summary, it's a game I would recommend someone to read the story or watch a video about, as playing it is not the most enjoyable thing in the world. You'll spend a lot of time repeating dull actions, doing generic missions like going from point A to B or collecting items for the characters. Also, maxing out everyone's mood doesn't bring any significant benefit, so ignoring them throughout the game is possible.
The game is responsive, the graphics are beautiful, and the sound effects are very good. The only weak points are the gameplay itself and the story, which, despite being clichéd and straightforward, may captivate some people.
Spiritfarer is wonderful and heartfelt cosy management game about having a wonderful adventure, the connections we form, the grief and loss we face when the time comes to let go.
Spiritfarer still hasn’t left my mind even after completing it awhile ago and I’m happy about that,
Dealing with Grief is a hard, inescapable thing we all have to bare at somepoint in our lives, it’ll never get easy and a life without it is a more sadder one.
Spiritfarer brought me along this adventure and hugged me tight and told me that while difficult, its nothing to be fearful of and it’ll be ok in the end :’)
Thunderlotus have made spiritfarer become more than just a “Video game”, its pure art and I fully recommend it
Spiritfarer still hasn’t left my mind even after completing it awhile ago and I’m happy about that,
Dealing with Grief is a hard, inescapable thing we all have to bare at somepoint in our lives, it’ll never get easy and a life without it is a more sadder one.
Spiritfarer brought me along this adventure and hugged me tight and told me that while difficult, its nothing to be fearful of and it’ll be ok in the end :’)
Thunderlotus have made spiritfarer become more than just a “Video game”, its pure art and I fully recommend it
'Spiritfarer' was put in a hard spot for me, since I had played Outer Wilds earlier this year and it might have just been a bit emotionally stretching to play two hearty games about death so close together, sure enough, this game really got to me, so I'll talk about the easy stuff first.
From a structural standpoint, Thunder Lotus has provided a very systemically sound game here. Forgive the pun, but the onboarding in this game is fantastic, resource acquisition has its tutorialisation tied to the spirits you bring to your ship, which accomplishes two important things; First is that it paces out the rate at which the player progresses both in narrative beats via questlines as well as acquire upgrades—the gatekeeper for making ones way around the map—to most designers in the room, this sounds obvious but it's worth celebrating since this ensures that its almost impossible to get overwhelmed even with all the mechanical uncertainties found in the first 8-odd hours, something games of this ilk struggle to get right. From an accessibility standpoint, this is superb, and means almost anyone can get into the addictive tertiary progression loops which make up the addictive slice of the game. The second accomplishment is the small ludonarrative punch, each avenue of resource gathering or what-not—key components of the progression loops which make up the focal point of the game's design hold—becomes intrinsically associated with a character. That's not just the crusher you got so you could make so and so dust to unlock such and such upgrade or item, that's the crusher Bruce and Mickey made you get! That they taught you how to use. This weaving of progression paths into character relationships is further informed in some more creeping ways—upgrading your ships size because it can't hold the weight of the homes for those you've lost as well as acquiring the new things you need to move on your present vocation—and some other less subtle ways, like activation points for certain previously tutorialised travel events being at the doorstep of the corresponding characters house after they've passed. It is, of course, important to put this praise of Thunder Lotus' work in the proper context, especially as we examine the gameplay loops themselves! Granted, 'Spiritfarer' is far from being as diverse and rich with progression loops as say, 'Stardew Valley', but it's also a significantly more concise game; shorter, with more integral narrative imperatives which would make anything other than it's present level variety feel inappropriate. For you see, this is the balance 'Spiritfarer' must hold, having mechanics deep enough that players will be willing to get sucked into it's day-to-day grind whilst not completely game-ifying it's core concept, therefore failing to treat the subject matter in the way it deserves. This isn't to suggest that depth = immediate 'gameification', but the relationship the player has with any given system can't be blown out of the proportions which the NPC characters related lay down, lest the game lose the balance it has. Perhaps this is why some refer to 'Spiritfarer' as 'boring' but I prefer the term 'restrained', I think the game is good for it. It does however, make the game drag a bit toward the end. I played the game to it's fullest, doing all the update content and it certainly made the time stretch with alternate design avenues for attempts at gameplay depth—like a weirdly tricky platforming section, thanks Daria?—but I was invested enough in the characters at that point that it was no deal breaker for me. Important to emphasise characters there, mind, since the plot itself is pretty on the nose, and I was able to see the ending coming from a continent away but hey, it still made me well up so I won't throw any shade.
(A testament to how much of a baby I am. Oh yeah, and to how well written and designed the game is otherwise.)
So yes, the game systems are addictive and engrossing as far as day-to-day management games go and the dialogue thoroughly weighty and poetic, even if not breaking any new ground, but what most recognise from this game is the presentation and I've really got nothing more to say than what has already been gushed... its fucking fantastic. 'Spiritfarer' is easily one of the most beautiful looking games I've ever played, the animation is so silky and elegant, the character designs so endearing, every inch of the world profoundly majestic. I do not stop playing a game to look at them often, so, fantastic work Jo-Annie Gauthier, Marie-Christine Lévesque, Mathieu Choquet and Simon Nakauchi-Pelletier. The medium's best talent for visuals right here. Oh, and of course, the sounds of whom I listen to as I write this review, Max Lacoste Lebuis, an excellent score so well fit, with spacey production so apt in moments near the everdoor that it will send cosmic chills down all your body's bones.
Alright,
As I was making my way to completion of this game, my grandfather passed away. He was a pretty damn fantastic man, all the way until the end. He had a brief, sharp battle with leukemia, and after hearing the limitations that his life would undertake to treat it, he chose to take his rest instead at 82. He was in no condition to answer questions when I visited him before the end, and so I may never know fully how he felt and thought but I do know that he spent his last day laughing, sitting with and holding hands with his sons, in-laws, friends and grandchildren. My father told me that every time he visited he was "great", sitting in the hospital bed nothing short of satisfied with what he had done. He had accomplished amazing things with his love, and I think he knew that truly when he was surrounded by it's recipients. I've had a lot of time this year to really consider death beyond its base components, and sometimes, in that process, you'll find a piece of art at the exact time you need to. If you've played 'Spiritfarer', I don't think I need to finish that sentence. Death is the contextualiser and the meaning-maker of all the love which we should be choosing to exercise, when we desire to leave things behind, sometimes its so much more than just a 'legacy', and so much easier. Love is the choice we should all be making, life is a journey and death is just us pulling up to port, it's all good. It's all good.
Yeah. Yeah, alright this game is pretty good, eh?
From a structural standpoint, Thunder Lotus has provided a very systemically sound game here. Forgive the pun, but the onboarding in this game is fantastic, resource acquisition has its tutorialisation tied to the spirits you bring to your ship, which accomplishes two important things; First is that it paces out the rate at which the player progresses both in narrative beats via questlines as well as acquire upgrades—the gatekeeper for making ones way around the map—to most designers in the room, this sounds obvious but it's worth celebrating since this ensures that its almost impossible to get overwhelmed even with all the mechanical uncertainties found in the first 8-odd hours, something games of this ilk struggle to get right. From an accessibility standpoint, this is superb, and means almost anyone can get into the addictive tertiary progression loops which make up the addictive slice of the game. The second accomplishment is the small ludonarrative punch, each avenue of resource gathering or what-not—key components of the progression loops which make up the focal point of the game's design hold—becomes intrinsically associated with a character. That's not just the crusher you got so you could make so and so dust to unlock such and such upgrade or item, that's the crusher Bruce and Mickey made you get! That they taught you how to use. This weaving of progression paths into character relationships is further informed in some more creeping ways—upgrading your ships size because it can't hold the weight of the homes for those you've lost as well as acquiring the new things you need to move on your present vocation—and some other less subtle ways, like activation points for certain previously tutorialised travel events being at the doorstep of the corresponding characters house after they've passed. It is, of course, important to put this praise of Thunder Lotus' work in the proper context, especially as we examine the gameplay loops themselves! Granted, 'Spiritfarer' is far from being as diverse and rich with progression loops as say, 'Stardew Valley', but it's also a significantly more concise game; shorter, with more integral narrative imperatives which would make anything other than it's present level variety feel inappropriate. For you see, this is the balance 'Spiritfarer' must hold, having mechanics deep enough that players will be willing to get sucked into it's day-to-day grind whilst not completely game-ifying it's core concept, therefore failing to treat the subject matter in the way it deserves. This isn't to suggest that depth = immediate 'gameification', but the relationship the player has with any given system can't be blown out of the proportions which the NPC characters related lay down, lest the game lose the balance it has. Perhaps this is why some refer to 'Spiritfarer' as 'boring' but I prefer the term 'restrained', I think the game is good for it. It does however, make the game drag a bit toward the end. I played the game to it's fullest, doing all the update content and it certainly made the time stretch with alternate design avenues for attempts at gameplay depth—like a weirdly tricky platforming section, thanks Daria?—but I was invested enough in the characters at that point that it was no deal breaker for me. Important to emphasise characters there, mind, since the plot itself is pretty on the nose, and I was able to see the ending coming from a continent away but hey, it still made me well up so I won't throw any shade.
(A testament to how much of a baby I am. Oh yeah, and to how well written and designed the game is otherwise.)
So yes, the game systems are addictive and engrossing as far as day-to-day management games go and the dialogue thoroughly weighty and poetic, even if not breaking any new ground, but what most recognise from this game is the presentation and I've really got nothing more to say than what has already been gushed... its fucking fantastic. 'Spiritfarer' is easily one of the most beautiful looking games I've ever played, the animation is so silky and elegant, the character designs so endearing, every inch of the world profoundly majestic. I do not stop playing a game to look at them often, so, fantastic work Jo-Annie Gauthier, Marie-Christine Lévesque, Mathieu Choquet and Simon Nakauchi-Pelletier. The medium's best talent for visuals right here. Oh, and of course, the sounds of whom I listen to as I write this review, Max Lacoste Lebuis, an excellent score so well fit, with spacey production so apt in moments near the everdoor that it will send cosmic chills down all your body's bones.
Alright,
As I was making my way to completion of this game, my grandfather passed away. He was a pretty damn fantastic man, all the way until the end. He had a brief, sharp battle with leukemia, and after hearing the limitations that his life would undertake to treat it, he chose to take his rest instead at 82. He was in no condition to answer questions when I visited him before the end, and so I may never know fully how he felt and thought but I do know that he spent his last day laughing, sitting with and holding hands with his sons, in-laws, friends and grandchildren. My father told me that every time he visited he was "great", sitting in the hospital bed nothing short of satisfied with what he had done. He had accomplished amazing things with his love, and I think he knew that truly when he was surrounded by it's recipients. I've had a lot of time this year to really consider death beyond its base components, and sometimes, in that process, you'll find a piece of art at the exact time you need to. If you've played 'Spiritfarer', I don't think I need to finish that sentence. Death is the contextualiser and the meaning-maker of all the love which we should be choosing to exercise, when we desire to leave things behind, sometimes its so much more than just a 'legacy', and so much easier. Love is the choice we should all be making, life is a journey and death is just us pulling up to port, it's all good. It's all good.
Yeah. Yeah, alright this game is pretty good, eh?
LINDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
DEMAISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
DEMAISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Great story
Great music
Great visuals
Cozy gamepla
What a game
Great music
Great visuals
Cozy gamepla
What a game
MDS que jogo sensacional, jogue, jogue e jogue cara, muito bom, é a melhor animação que ja vi num jogo, tem otimas mecanicas, otima gameplay, vai te fazer entrar de luto por cada cidadão e vai te iluminar como uma pessoa melhor, e a soundtrack cara, que incrivel, é muito divertido, eu sinceramente amo esse jogo do fundo do meu coração
I am so Cool and Normal about this game.
ouch my feelinmgs
Você vai chorar TANTO, mas vai valer a pena
Comfy. Really unique game about coming to terms with death and letting go. The crafting/farming part is whatever but the characters are great. My one issue is that I don't think the game benefits all that much from having the protagonist be silent. Considering they know the actually characters i'd rather they have dialogue with them as the moments between story beats (sailing the seas) get kinda dull because the rest of the cast doesn't have fun interactions with eachother
Great characters that you’ll learn to love. I love rhythm based gameplay, so I found creating materials to be addicting and satisfying. The gameplay got a little rote near the end, so I was happy I reached its conclusion. The ship journeys were especially difficult to endure after many hours playing.
I haven’t gotten a lump in my throat for quite some time playing games and this is a genuine tear jerker.
I haven’t gotten a lump in my throat for quite some time playing games and this is a genuine tear jerker.
Esse jogo é incrível, e fica melhor quando você sabe que são acontecimentos baseados na vida do autor, as pessoas, a família. Me fez chorar muito com cada história (principalmente a do Stanley), um jogo tranquilo e profundo que vale a pena para quem gosta de história enquanto viaja. Enfim, recomendo muito para o público certo.
It got too emotional i needed a break fr.
LordDarias already defined this game in the perfect way. It's extremely impressive how a game about the death can emanate so much joy at the same time. It provides all sides of the spectrum as it can make you cry, smile and even laugh some times.
It's able to convey all of these emotions while presenting a very fun 'farm simulation' type of game with a gradual and rewarding system for obtaining resources. However, instead of managing animals you're doing so with spirits with unique and endearing personalities, and your farm is a boat which you're free to tune.
Then there's the visuals which are absolutely beautiful. Its nothing exceptionally innovative or artistic but in a way it's perfect for what the game is trying to portray. The same can be said about the music which fits in perfectly.
Life is all about memories and the older you get the more you realise about this. Spiritfarer understands that life is fragile and that's why it encourages the player to cherish each special moment with the people you most care about; whilst comprehending that people have ups and downs, and the best way to go through this is with the company of each other. Death can be scary and terribly damaging, but it's inevitable and can help us get perspective on appreciating the people you love.
This game is a charming experience which is true that it might drag out a bit longer than it should of, but it always hits the right note so it has to be a 5/5.
It's able to convey all of these emotions while presenting a very fun 'farm simulation' type of game with a gradual and rewarding system for obtaining resources. However, instead of managing animals you're doing so with spirits with unique and endearing personalities, and your farm is a boat which you're free to tune.
Then there's the visuals which are absolutely beautiful. Its nothing exceptionally innovative or artistic but in a way it's perfect for what the game is trying to portray. The same can be said about the music which fits in perfectly.
Life is all about memories and the older you get the more you realise about this. Spiritfarer understands that life is fragile and that's why it encourages the player to cherish each special moment with the people you most care about; whilst comprehending that people have ups and downs, and the best way to go through this is with the company of each other. Death can be scary and terribly damaging, but it's inevitable and can help us get perspective on appreciating the people you love.
This game is a charming experience which is true that it might drag out a bit longer than it should of, but it always hits the right note so it has to be a 5/5.
god i wish i loved playing this as much as i love its aesthetic
this game is super fun and interesting for the first 10/15 or so hours and i really like getting to know the area and the premise of being a traveler among the dead. everything looks nice and is honestly animated beautifully with a unique style that initially drew me towards this. stella controls and moves very nicely and above all else a ship building/management sim is a great idea! i can see someone sinking a hundred hours into this game if they click with it! i just really wish that hypothetical person was me
unfortunately the gameplay loop here doesn't grab me and leave me wanting to play for more than an hour at a time. going from place to place is a drag ESPECIALLY on long travels, quests feel inconsequential, getting new shipmates feels like just another mouth to feed (which is really the only interaction you have with them while travelling from place to place), and although there technically is it never feels like there's a tangible-enough reward from maintaining good friendships with them. i love this game's whole vibe so much that i tried to get over these things and see what was next but at a point i stopped having the drive to keep playing and doing the things the game wanted me to do
this game is super fun and interesting for the first 10/15 or so hours and i really like getting to know the area and the premise of being a traveler among the dead. everything looks nice and is honestly animated beautifully with a unique style that initially drew me towards this. stella controls and moves very nicely and above all else a ship building/management sim is a great idea! i can see someone sinking a hundred hours into this game if they click with it! i just really wish that hypothetical person was me
unfortunately the gameplay loop here doesn't grab me and leave me wanting to play for more than an hour at a time. going from place to place is a drag ESPECIALLY on long travels, quests feel inconsequential, getting new shipmates feels like just another mouth to feed (which is really the only interaction you have with them while travelling from place to place), and although there technically is it never feels like there's a tangible-enough reward from maintaining good friendships with them. i love this game's whole vibe so much that i tried to get over these things and see what was next but at a point i stopped having the drive to keep playing and doing the things the game wanted me to do
O jogo começa bem bom, com uma progressão e personagens que me prenderam bastante, junto com uma trilha sonora cativante.
Mas quanto mais o jogo avança, mais tudo começa a ficar desinteressante, principalmente com os conteúdos de DLC no end game. É cada missão mais chata q a outra, com personagens que não são possíveis ter uma conexão legal com eles.
Não deixa de ser um jogo bom, mas se perde no caminho.
E a versão mobile é bem mal otimizada, com performance não tão boa e alguns bugs.
Mas quanto mais o jogo avança, mais tudo começa a ficar desinteressante, principalmente com os conteúdos de DLC no end game. É cada missão mais chata q a outra, com personagens que não são possíveis ter uma conexão legal com eles.
Não deixa de ser um jogo bom, mas se perde no caminho.
E a versão mobile é bem mal otimizada, com performance não tão boa e alguns bugs.
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˗
A beautiful game. Much longer than i thought it would be. Made me cry a couple of times which I wasn't prepared for. Could be less repetitive but that's honestly a nitpick. Very very good.
This was a wonderfully emotional game that explored life beyond death. I played this shortly after losing someone that just made it hit a little harder. The characters are unique but many of them remind me of people in my own life which makes the story relatable. The game was a bit long, and I didn't finish all the characters, but I did play far enough to complete the game. Once further into the game, it did get a bit more difficult to get what you needed for passengers/upgrades. I wasn't expecting to have to grind so hard to get the many kinds of resources I needed, which I think took me out of the game a bit. I think the devs could have easily reduced that a bit and made a much more enjoyable game.
Very in love with a lot of things about this game. Just to start out with, I love the premise. The afterlife and dealing with our own immortality is one of my favorite themes and mixing that with a sim game on a boat is such a cool idea. And it executes on that premise well. Each passenger made me think about life and death and what a life well spent is. It also made me think about grief and what it means to help someone in their final days. It is charming to the nth degree. The art direction is fantastic, especially in the aspect of character design. I love the characters in this game. Makes me wake up every day ready to make their dreams a reality. Stanley, Atul, Giovanni, Gwen, I mean come on, they got someone for everyone. The main character, Stella, is also super well-designed and I like pretty much everything about her. The Tetris piecing together of houses, buildings, and farms on the boat is just plain cool. Anyone who has played this game knows how amazing the hug button is as well. Those final hugs at the Everdoor as Stella runs at the spirit and they fade away hit me in my core like prime Ray Lewis. I personally like chore simulators, so I enjoyed the gameplay as well. I especially like balancing and managing this game requires. You are constantly making decisions on the best way to maximize your time and ship's course which I thought was a lot of fun. Exploration is neat too. It was always exciting to go to this island or that island to pick up a new spirit, finish a questline, or collect a certain ore that I needed. The music is good too. Nothing too crazy, but I like the main theme and the character themes fit like a nice pair of slippers.
As far as weaknesses go, I do think at a certain point the exploration gets a lot less exciting. A lot of the islands feel pretty similar to one another and you start to realize that your boat is a whole lot more exciting than Old Central District or Sandwich Lane or whatever. Also, I wish there were more reliable ways to find recipes and favorite foods as I felt I kinda had to look them up in order to find out some of them.
Overall, Spiritfarer was a great time that made me think about life and death and even shed a few tears
As far as weaknesses go, I do think at a certain point the exploration gets a lot less exciting. A lot of the islands feel pretty similar to one another and you start to realize that your boat is a whole lot more exciting than Old Central District or Sandwich Lane or whatever. Also, I wish there were more reliable ways to find recipes and favorite foods as I felt I kinda had to look them up in order to find out some of them.
Overall, Spiritfarer was a great time that made me think about life and death and even shed a few tears
No começo pensei que fosse velejar alegremente como um caronte, mas acabou que eu mesmo criei um novo mar com minhas lágrimas
Lowkey ugly sobbed the entirety of this game.
i’m not crying it’s just sweat
This is a super charming game that has very calming and healing energy to it. The developers did a phenomenal job at getting me attached and feeling it whenever I took someone through the Everdoor. The bittersweet feeling I got from the first spirit to the ending is a testament to the writing. Alice and Stanley definitely hit the hardest. This game absolutely deserves more attention.
One of the most repetitive games I've ever played that still managed to make me burst into tears at the end
A pretty simple and straight forward game with a story that absolutely wrecked me. Rearranging the ship was fun and I didn’t mind some of the repetitive stuff that I know would annoy some people. If you want to cry and get cozy I recommend this one.
estou sem palavras, esse jogo é uma maravilha artista com sua história sensível além dessa jogada meio mórbida e meio infantil, a gameplay é muito boa se você tiver uma wiki por perto (sim é um jogo de wiki), a trilha sonora é 8 ou 80, ela vai ser a pior música que você escutou ou uma das melhores músicas que você escutou nos mundos dos video games, a direção de arte é fantástica, as animações são boas, sinto que os dois únicos problemas é o farm intenso e o ritmo das histórias de alguns personagens, definitivamente um GOTY
jogo fofo mas ainda naoa cabei