![]() You would expect an intimate experience like this to be a brief, story-driven game, but Spiritfarer is dozens of hours long. It’s a message that anyone can be touched by. It hurts to know these people are gone, and it can be sad to think about that, but in working through these things slowly and softly, Spiritfarer develops a message about comfortably embracing the inevitability of death. Instead, the tone of Spiritfarer is more like that of a loving family member resting their hand on your shoulder as they explain a loved one’s passing to you. For a game that is about nothing but death and dying and the afterlife, Spiritfarer never once adopts that kind of atmosphere. ![]() So many games focus on the grimness of death, or use it as a shocking twist or plot device. Eventually, you’ll need to bring them to The Everdoor, allowing them to pass on to the great beyond once they’ve fully come to terms with the end of their life. As you meet and bond with them, they’ll reveal more of their backstory to you and open up further as they begin to come to terms with their own death. There’s a minor overarching story throughout Spiritfarer concerning the newly appointed ferrymen Stella and Daffodil, but most of the game’s narrative meat revolves around the journeys of each of your spiritual companions. It was always a delight to see what kind of creature each spiritual companion would reveal themselves to be. All of these spirits were once human, but in the in-between-world of Spiritfarer their physical forms are a variety of adorably designed animals. One might reveal themself to be a meek little anthropomorphic snake in a robe, while another might be an armadillo with an adorable church hat. Speak to them and develop enough trust with the wayward spirit, and they’ll join your ship, transforming into their true form. Some of these four-cornered friends have a whispy aura hovering above them in the shape of something else. ![]() Imagine a Shy Guy that’s swallowed a PS4, and you’re there. Almost every inhabitant of these little pockets of civilisation is an identical block-shaped buddy with a silky cloak draped over their entire body. As you across the unmapped regions of the game, you’ll come across new towns, settlements, and islands to dock at and explore. The only thing that the curtain of the night puts a halt to is your ability to sail the spiritual seas, which is how you make most of your progress in Spiritfarer. If you want to play music to your carrots or cook delicious apple pies long after the sun goes down, nothing is going to stop you. Crops can’t go bad and there isn’t any sort of stamina meter or time-limit forcing you to stop playing. Spiritfarer eliminates all of these sweat-inducing road-blocks, though. While life-simulation games are usually laid-back and cheery affairs, the time limit that these micro-management elements put on you can usually be a little stressful or nerve-wracking. You’ve got gardens to tend, fabric to thread, houses to build, ore to mine, and even mouths to feed as you begin bringing spirits aboard your ship. This translates to a healthy amount of management-style gameplay not unlike something like Stardew Valley or Story of Seasons. As the newly appointed ferryman, Stella (and her fluffy cat Daffodil, who was also granted the spiritual powers of Charon) must assemble their own sea-faring vessel to serve as a temporary home to the various spirits they’ll encounter and recruit during their time as spirit farers.
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