At one specific point, as I was bidding farewell to a soul, I remember specifically regretting not hugging that character enough. I can’t think of another mechanic in any game that I have taken so much time or thought over, or had such an impact on my mood. It is a purposelessly slow animation, an action that is centre to the game and shouldn’t be rushed. A simple “hug” mechanic – initially just to improve their mood – was one I found myself using a lot as they, or I, needed cheering up. A lot of what you hear can be quite dark, but they are important issues to address, and there is plenty of light relief littered to stop things becoming too mawkish. You explore their past, hear of or meet important characters, and find out just what they think of the life they have lived. You discover their lives, their regrets and their joy. Each soul you encounter has a back-story that unfurls gently as you steer inevitably towards that Everdoor. This wonderous mish-mash of genres is set inside a world, and story, teeming with emotion and sweet sentiment. This progression is unlocked gradually, and there is always enough in currently available areas to stop you from becoming impatient for abilities before they are ready. She must also improve her boat – in size, speed and ability – to unlock new areas of the map by smashing through rocks and ice or navigating through previously impenetrable mist. ![]() Stella improves her own abilities, unlocking new areas of exploration, as she finds new souls. Again, each of these is short enough, fun enough, and infrequent enough to not become boring but an interjection into your adventure. You must jump between dragon’s tails to get the minerals for smelting, catch lighting strikes in a bottle or follow the lines while chopping wood. It is a collection of mini-games, with each resource collection or creation requiring a short exercise to complete. ![]() ![]() The loop is well balanced and mixes things up just enough to keep things from going stale.īeyond a farm-sim and platformer, other genre stereotypes can be thrown at Spiritfarer comfortably. I wasn’t constantly worrying about having to do my morning “chores”, but merely checking what I needed to do next on my task list. You don’t have to keep your orchard, chickens or kitchen working at all times – but merely find and make what you need for your specific objectives. Unlike many examples of this genre though, it never gets chore-like or grindy. To help the souls on with their journey you must collect and utilise resources from across the world, found in shops and on islands and crafted on your boat. This is one-part action platformer as you explore islands and find the souls (and secrets) and one-part farming sim. This is where the two main genres (though Spiritfarer stubbornly refuses to be pigeon-holed) collide. It is on this boat that you cook up food to keep the souls happy, build them houses, grow crops, smelt ore, ferment cabbage – I mean the options are nearly endless. To help you on your way you have your trusty vessel which carries these souls and provides a base to complete your objectives. This gateway to whatever comes after this life sits at the center of the map as a constant red reminder of the end goal of all of your mini-missions, and ultimately your over-arching one. Set on a Wind Waker-esque archipelago you must collect the souls of the departed and help them complete their unfinished business in this world before escorting them to the Everdoor. Spiritfarer sees you embody Stella, along with her incredibly cute cat Daffodil, and take on the role of the titular Spiritfarer. Every part of what makes Spiritfarer great, and there are so many parts, is a joy and I didn’t want to rush any of it. ![]() It will take me five-minutes to sail to that point? Great, that’s five-minutes I can spend fishing, planting, slicing, cooking, or fermenting. I didn’t want to skip any specific part I was enjoying everything about it. As with Breath of The Wild, I think I only fast-traveled twice. Spiritfarer, the gorgeous multi-genre tale released last month across platforms, achieves something that only one other game in my collection has.
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