INDIE GAME REVIEW
WRITTEN BY JD ESTRADA
It’s not every day you’re thankful that a video game makes you cry, let alone that it makes you cry multiple times. Yet that’s the reality about Spiritfarer. And I’m not talking “cry because controls are so bad it’s frustrating” cry. I’m talking reading, watching, and experiencing something super heartfelt and beautiful cry.
Let’s say it from the get-go, this is not a barn-burner gaming. This is as chill as a game gets and to progress you’ll need to harvest, mill, grind, build, forge, smith, weave, saw, fish, and cook a variety of things to get all the achievements. Music is beautiful and relaxing, and gameplay is easy, responsive, and only mildly challenging (seriously, perfectly sawing happens but isn’t the norm). There are also a variety of mini-games where you catch floating jellyfish, trap lightning in a bottle, and more. All in all, there are about 15 different mini-games on the boat, not to mention side quests to hunt down resources, materials, ingredients, and even distribute a debut album.
In a nutshell, you are briefed by Charon, you go on the hunt for spirits that need help transitioning, you get to know them and their relationship with you as you farm, you salvage, you search, and you help souls cross over. You do this a total of 13 ish times and I add the ish because there are some twists with some characters, which of course I will not spoil.
So why even play a game about death?
Answer: because it’s stunning.
The artwork of characters and animations are fluid and lovely and the expressions of the characters in their different shapes and forms are also something to truly enjoy. Often it looks like you are playing an anime.
But hey, how much did I enjoy this game?
Well I kept pushing to finish any and all sidequests I could find, and trust me there are plenty, and I probably banked 50 hours into the game. Was I delaying the inevitable at times? Of course, I was, though I also really wanted to continue losing myself in little tidbits to learn more about the story, reveal more of the map, and climb, jump, and explore any and all things I could. It was that enjoyable to me and in a game with a bunch of mini-games, I also need to highlight how well controls work in most times, though more than just being responsive, just how FUN it can be to run, jump, glide, bounce, dash, and ESPECIALLY, zipline. I don’t think I’d played a game in years where I just enjoyed the basic mechanics of the game once Stella was fully powered up.
Regardless of all these triumphs of different sizes, what’s amazing about this game is how they approach the topic of death in such a beautiful way with more than one character tugging at your hearts strings as they reveal who and how they are, their shortcomings, the way in which they passed away, and how they cross over.
I wanted to share this review for Day of the Dead because although it’s more closely related to Mexico, other countries like Columbia, Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela also celebrate this tradition and while playing it, I did remember Pixar’s Coco. Like that movie, death is at the center of the plot and the driver behind what you do in everything in Spiritfarer but like Coco as well, it shines a light on something that’s inevitable for all of us and does so with grace, beauty, and a kind heart, and I can’t help but think it’s a game that can help people of all ages come to term a bit better with those loved ones that are no longer here with us.
As I mentioned, this game got to me four times because the characters reminded me of someone I love, their quirks, their supposed shortcomings, but also their humanity. That a videogame has that sort of power is an amazing thing and shows that healing comes in many ways, shapes, sizes, and gameplay styles.
YOU CAN GET IT ON GOG.COM RIGHT NOW FOR $9.89 HERE
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