And anyone who fails to fall in love with Daffodil and her adorable antics probably has a heart of stone. If they make a happy discovery, she claps her hands in joy. While a spirit is describing house improvements they’d like, she turns the Everlight into blueprints and begins sketching. Stella’s reactions to different facets of conversations are wonderfully charming. The animations are so intricate and expressive with every scene. Vibrant hand-drawn character animations mix beautifully with backgrounds channelling the essence of ancient Japanese tapestry. Every time I think I’ve seen the heights of graphical greatness, the bar is raised ever higher Spiritfarer is off the scale. Games with striking visuals will never fail to work their illustrative magic on me. Illustrative magicĪnd of course, I saved the best for last. You are being invited to become an important and integral part of a deeply personal story. Ancient mythological elements are illustrated with a modern twist, reminiscent of Studio Ghibli movie scores in its heartfelt nature. From evocative piano and acoustic guitar to delicate flutes, bombastic trumpets and Southeast Asian sounds, the tracks punctuate every aspect of Stella’s journey as the Spiritfarer perfectly. Calming, sweeping, adventurous, heart-warming, this score by Max LL has it all. This is all the more poignant with the game originally released during the throes of a pandemic, when people were isolated from those they felt closest to and robbed of connection and companionship–and developer Thunder Lotus delivered warmth in exquisite fashion.Ĭomplementing this is a first class soundtrack. Spirits have a variety of different memories and emotions and, despite their animalistic appearance, their responses are unabashedly human. You get genuine joy out of cooking their favourite foods and giving them a big hug to pep them up when they’re feeling a little low. There is an almost tangible sense of purpose and fulfilment as you talk to spirits and complete quests for them, you feel the multifaceted warmth of developing a close companionship. At times the emotional impact can take a toll on you, but Spiritfarer doesn’t just immediately go for the gut punch. Given the subject matter, it’s easy to think that the journey will be filled with heart-wrenching tear-jerkers at every turn. And if you ever do start to feel a little management pressure, you can give your feline follower a cuddle and feel rejuvenated. The atmosphere is still effortlessly cosy and it’s unbelievably easy to spend an unearthly amount of hours on it. So you take to your navigation map, plot your course and get sailing! Like any management sim, maintaining balance can be sometimes tricky, but never does it become overwhelming or off-putting. To accomplish this, you need to sail to different island locations in the spirit world and acquire various items for crafting and cooking. It’s also one that’s spot-on! The game revolves around building up and customising your ship to accommodate your spiritual guests, as well as learning more about them through conversation, quests and even food. Using the ‘Everlight’-a magical orb that can transform into any desired object-and your sturdy boat, you must welcome spirits aboard and help them discover what they need to move on before finally ferrying them through the Everdoor to the world beyond.ĭuring its marketing campaign, Spiritfarer was dubbed as “a cozy management sim about dying” a statement that carries both a warm light-hearted air and an undertone of incredible weight. As Stella, along with fluffy sidekick Daffodil, you are the new blood entrusted with said duties. Spiritfarer by Thunder Lotus Games dived in headfirst and became one with the waves in a wonderful way.Ĭharon, the legendary ferryman of the Dead, has decided to retire and pass on his underworldly duties. So when a game comes along that tackles the complex emotional sea surrounding it in a sensitive and unique way, it immediately stands out. Death is such an inevitable part of life that there is certainly no shortage of it in games, usually in bloody and violent fashion.
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