Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition

Wholesome to play with your partner. Grinding materials is real.

i'm normally not much into management games, but spiritfarer managed to marry your typical stardew valley mechanics with some truly emotionally gut-wrenching character development and writing. steer well clear if you don't want your feely parts poked.

This game is a stunningly beautiful, meditative, moving experience with masterful storytelling and "real" characters with unique personalities and compelling narrative arcs. I wept, feeling a real sense of loss as each was guided off the ship. At the end, I sat for some time, unable to “let go” of the experience. (I suspect a “vintage” gamer like me will likely experience the game differently than a much younger player). Spirit Farer is an "open world" management game but with a semi-linear plotline and a definitive end. Most people will end up encountering game play in roughly the same order and, in fact, deviating from that order can cause some problems especially with pacing near the end. Some game sections may prove challenging for non-platform gamers (like me). I clocked in at 90 game hours (more than most). My advice? Don't rush, and interact with all the NPC "spirits", but mostly relax and be transported, rather than play to finish. Some minor faults: gameplay can be tedious and the pacing awkward depending on the order that you encounter the spirits. The last ¼ of the game dragged on as most of the frenzy of activity took place in the first part of the game. Many of the actions became repetitive.Important note: I almost missed a vital character because I wasn't in the habit of fishing regularly, or buying things from Francis. (Don’t want to say too much more because of spoilers). Also, pacing varies greatly depending on the order you encounter and transport the characters, which can leave long sections of the game where nothing happens. Mainly, however, the most major criticism is that the game dragged in places, especially at the end where I had little to do while waiting for the next progression of the story. Still, these criticisms are minor, and unimportant. If you love cozy management games, beautiful animation and meaningful storylines, You won’t regret your purchase.

... you will be faced with a big variety of them and cry a lot. I learned something from it - no better review than that.

i have played a fair share of artistically/musically/narratively beautiful games, in my day; but Spiritfarer has taken me by surprise! the level of effort and talent on display is quite apparent. The game does not shy away from strangeness, either... the subject matter being what it is (the afterlife)-- the visual, writing, and music designers have taken the opportunity to bring together a heartwarming experience full of weird but tangible characters, a mysterious story reaching into the past and future of our main character, and somehow, a rather robust platforming/farming gameplay engine. i am enjoying the game quite a bit, and expect to continue doing so. [my one gripe/warning, would be that while this game seems to be for all ages, there is some infrequent mild swearing, which i personally would like to be able to turn off in the settings... its not a big deal, but id like to share this game with my kids someday, and let them connect to the story and characters without having to feel at odds with the characters, because of a different set of standards]