Spiritfarer

 PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 180 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 138 out of 180
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 180
  3. Negative: 16 out of 180

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  1. mmrventricle
    Jan 30, 2021
    7
    While it does a lot of things right (most notably the art), the story in Spiritfarer is just so soul destroying (ironic) that I grew to dislike it.

    Contrary to what the game might like to tell you, the real story of Spiritfarer is: "you are an errand girl". That sums up every character arc in the game. You find the character, sometimes pass a trial for them to deign to board your ship,    While it does a lot of things right (most notably the art), the story in Spiritfarer is just so soul destroying (ironic) that I grew to dislike it.

    Contrary to what the game might like to tell you, the real story of Spiritfarer is: "you are an errand girl". That sums up every character arc in the game. You find the character, sometimes pass a trial for them to deign to board your ship, then you satisfy their every demand, which they have a considerable amount of: feed me, build me a house, furnish my house, fulfill my life's calling for me, etc.. The earlier characters are at least friendly and thankful while you help them, but two of the later ones will just mock how much of a sucker you are while bossing you around (and I don't care that they probably have redemption arcs, I just want to kick them off my ship, preferrably in the middle of the ocean). Then after you've completed their story you send them on their way to the underworld. Which honestly is a pretty emotional affair, I have to admit I was sad for some time after the first character left (the next few were significantly less impactful), but that's not really due to the writing or the story; the art is pulling ALL the punches here.

    And what a beautiful game this is. The drawn art is fine, nothing spectacular, but the particle effects certainly are. When the first eclipse occurred my jaw dropped.

    The game also doesn't sufficiently tell you what you need to do. At first this is a good thing, it's fun to learn new things without being hand held, but at some point you will need certain resources in order to progress. This happened to me twice already: turns out that resource only appears at one location on the entire map, you just have to find it yourself, and until you do you cannot progress further in the story. This also breaks the pacing of the story; I had a favorite character, until his next request is an item that's so far from reach that for hours he only had lines asking for that item (including reminding me of his need whenever I pass by) and I ended up hating that character.

    The more I write, the more I feel like dropping this down to a 6 or even 5. But in the end I decided not to. Any game that can make me play 5 hours in one sitting has done something right, and for Spiritfarer, those are the visuals, the unique setting, and the progression of upgrading the ship.    … Expand
  2. RetroSharky
    Aug 28, 2020
    6
    So after playing through the game, I'm thrilled and disappointed at the same time. The first 10 hours are great, amazing story. But then it quickly fades away, until the story is no longer there. The game builds on a climax, only to let it fall. The first characters are brilliant, the rest are irrelevant.

    The building and gameplay is unfortunately only a time waste. The tinkering exists    So after playing through the game, I'm thrilled and disappointed at the same time. The first 10 hours are great, amazing story. But then it quickly fades away, until the story is no longer there. The game builds on a climax, only to let it fall. The first characters are brilliant, the rest are irrelevant.

    The building and gameplay is unfortunately only a time waste. The tinkering exists only to slow you down. The jump gameplay works, but hardly exist in a meaningful way.

    Conclusion: Not a bad game, but it clearly should have stopped after 10 hours, instead of focusing on quantity. Much wasted potential and fans of stories are more and more disappointed at the end. Wouldn't buy it again or only reduced. Most positive reviews unfortunately didn't play through the game and don't describe how much it is losing on story side. Still not a bad game, but would not buy it again.

    The whole gameplay is pretty boring. The animations and the story are the reason to keep on playing, if the story gets worse and worse in the end the developers have definitely done something wrong. I really wanted to like it, but then it should have been over after 10 hours and at a cheaper price.    … Expand
  3. stardusty
    Aug 20, 2020
    5
    Does not spark joy. While it is beautiful to look at and listen to, it’s riddled with current trends and cliches. This is kind of a game for Tumblr kids. Nothing is particularly deep, the characters ramble on, and the player character is obnoxious and of course she has a cat. *eye roll*
  4. Leo_Manzano
    Mar 4, 2023
    5
    Working.....................................................................
  5. Underpants158
    Feb 18, 2021
    7
    I had a lot of fun crafting, improving my ship, and talking to the characters for the first 10 hours or so. The send offs however didn't hit as hard as I would have hoped and the the tedium got to be a little grating. Still a fun game. Especially while listening to podcasts. Would recommend if you like Stardew/Animal crossing gameplay and slightly sad stories.
  6. Tomle1202
    Jun 18, 2022
    7
    All Spiritfarer's drawbacks became less noticeable every time I escorted a passenger to the end of their journey.
  7. gabrielsrc
    Aug 30, 2022
    6
    Spiritfarer is a beautiful game, but it gets away with many flaws and shortcomings because of the exquisit art style.

    Least of all, graphics don't scale up well in 4K. Platforming is lame and with very questionable collision detection. Minigames get repetitive quick and progress is much slower than with Stardew Valley and similar games. Also, most of the exploration areas felt very    Spiritfarer is a beautiful game, but it gets away with many flaws and shortcomings because of the exquisit art style.

    Least of all, graphics don't scale up well in 4K. Platforming is lame and with very questionable collision detection. Minigames get repetitive quick and progress is much slower than with Stardew Valley and similar games. Also, most of the exploration areas felt very empty, with just some tree you had to cut down.

    I was carrying on for the story, but the only likable character in my ship left and I was left with a detestable cast.

    It might be for you if you're into artsy and cutesy games enough to overlook bland gameplay.    … Expand
  8. Bloodnes
    Nov 10, 2020
    5
    Игра на любителя, дальше охоты на медуз не пошла, сидеть и часами выискивать нужный предмет из рыбалки, не моё. Графика приятная, история не о чем, геймплей уверен надоест быстро. 5/10
  9. Sarahphim
    Nov 2, 2020
    6
    A good game on the cusp of being great. Gorgeous art and compelling characters are bogged down with confusing progression and an uncomfortable feeling that you are messing something up.

    It's easy to waste days and weeks in game not being able to progress because you haven't completed a not yet found ore-requiste mission yet.
  10. Goldacre
    Dec 9, 2020
    5
    Spiritfarer is a beautiful game with incredible hand-drawn visuals and music as you casually explore and manage your ship. The spirits in the game are very well written characters that you grow attached to and can generally feel heartbreaking when they have to go. However, unfortunately in the latter half of the game, the cozy chill management gameplay starts to feel like a grind as everySpiritfarer is a beautiful game with incredible hand-drawn visuals and music as you casually explore and manage your ship. The spirits in the game are very well written characters that you grow attached to and can generally feel heartbreaking when they have to go. However, unfortunately in the latter half of the game, the cozy chill management gameplay starts to feel like a grind as every task comes equipped with a prolonged animation making every fetch quest feel like a drawn-out chore. Most of the spirits in the late game are also not particularly likable and kind of makes you hope they would just hurry up and accept death.… Expand
  11. stupidopinion
    Jul 10, 2022
    7
    In some ways this game feels incomplete. It has a lack of polish, (even if it does look pretty), where animations don't fit together fluidly and npcs will get stuck, or in rare cases even phase through the ground. There is an aspect of padding, animations take an unnecessary amount of time and can't be sped up. You'll oftentimes find yourself uncomfortably waiting for the next event toIn some ways this game feels incomplete. It has a lack of polish, (even if it does look pretty), where animations don't fit together fluidly and npcs will get stuck, or in rare cases even phase through the ground. There is an aspect of padding, animations take an unnecessary amount of time and can't be sped up. You'll oftentimes find yourself uncomfortably waiting for the next event to occur. There is a distinct lack of automation for repetitive mundane tasks on the boat, so you manually supply yourself with resources using the exact same methods you used 30 hours ago with little variation. Finally, there is a distinct lack of text-skipping options, so you'll find yourself talking to random npcs who rattle on and on quite often. All these negative aspects make it sound like I dislike this game, but despite its flaws I would still definitely recommend it. Amassing a little town of animal spirits on your boat is really a delightful experience, and listening to their stories and how they tie into a broader narrative of the nature of moving on, both in a literal and metaphorical sense, is quite fascinating. The characters are memorable and the story is well put together, being the main reason for my recommendation. The story itself is certainly predictable, but it's worth seeing to the end just for its execution. The game is still definitely too long though, should have been 30 hours tops. (The game took me 52 hours get 100%)… Expand

Awards & Rankings

30
#30 Best PC Game of 2020
64
#64 Most Discussed PC Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. CD-Action
    Nov 16, 2020
    90
    With the way it combines genres, Spiritfarer simply shouldn’t work – and yet it works perfectly! It offers a varied and engaging gameplay, introduces you to fleshed-out characters, sounds and looks really good, and has plenty of content. While the story of a girl who takes up Charon’s duties of carrying souls into the afterlife tackles death without needless pathos and affirms life, it does not lack touching moments. [11/2020, p.66]
  2. RPG Fan
    Nov 3, 2020
    73
    Spiritfarer is a perfect example of a game where one has to keep their expectations in check. I honestly feel the trailers have misrepresented what the majority of the game is, and I wish the developers had actually cut the content in half or found a way to speed up the entire process. What’s here hints at the depth of quality that could have been, but the designers seemed more concerned with giving their audience their money’s worth rather than packing ten hours with high-quality content. Or maybe I should have engaged in more meditation over the 25-hour experience. Regardless, Spiritfarer has moments of beauty that will resonate with many players, while others, like myself, will be left wondering what could have been.
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  3. Hey Poor Player
    Oct 29, 2020
    80
    Spiritfarer has the body of a seafaring exploration game, the mind of a management sim, and the soul of an emotional journey depicting love, loss, and grief. With gorgeous visuals and a soundtrack to match, Spiritfarer is pleasing to the senses while providing a core loop that’s easy to get lost in. If you like crafting and crying, take a voyage with Spiritfarer, with fair warning to the completionists that this journey may cause more suffering than intended. For smooth sailing, be sure to choose the Switch version of Spiritfarer over anything with achievements enabled. Regardless of the conduit, you should absolutely play this cozy management sim about dying — just be sure to keep the tissues nearby.
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