Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Negative: 1 out of 23
  1. Sep 15, 2020
    100
    Perhaps the best thing of all is how Spiritfarer builds, grows, and ends. Not only are the souls you helping growing and accepting and your boat building, but Stella herself is developing. The story creeps up around you while life is happening, which is incredibly apt. There are highs and lows, as these moments will constantly hit you and make you chuckle or perhaps cry.
  2. Aug 23, 2020
    100
    Spiritfarer is a finely crafted piece of artistic commentary on what it means to let go, and it's far and away one of the best games to come out of 2020.
  3. 95
    Overall, I really enjoyed this game and all the time I spent devouring it. I came into Spiritfarer very excited, and it did not disappoint. It even surprised me with how much I loved it. Spiritfarer has everything relevant to my interests: the afterlife, crafting, crystals, making friends, getting up in other people’s business, fixing (?) problems, and a cat best friend. If you are looking for a beautiful game with some more serious, and sometimes mystical, subject matter, I highly suggest giving Spiritfarer a try.
  4. Aug 29, 2020
    95
    Spiritfarer is a unique and special game. A management sim that manages to blend its various systems with a poignant and bittersweet look at life and death.
  5. Nintendo Force Magazine
    May 13, 2022
    90
    If you haven't heard anything about Spiritfarer and you enjoy amazing narratives filled with varying emotions coupled with light platforming and farming/crafting simulation, then drop everything and go buy this game! [Issue #58 – March/April 2022, p. 20]
  6. 90
    Spiritfarer is a fantastic title that runs like a dream and firmly delivers on its warm aura interlaced with emotional weight. Beautifully executed in its approach to complex subjects, players will be thoroughly engrossed and immersed in the nautical spirit world Stella and Daffodil inhabit, and the carefully built (if inevitably fleeting) friendships of unique spiritual companions. Step through the Everdoor and see what’s on the other side.
  7. Aug 31, 2021
    90
    Spiritfarer is a real treasure. It’s rare to find a game that hits the homerun of being fun to play and gorgeous to look at, while also having a touching narrative to tie it all together. The crafting and exploration gameplay elements are by no means revolutionary, but they are executed superbly to be both compelling and satisfying, whilst complimenting the story structure of the game. If my word and the screenshots alone aren’t enough to convince you this is one of the best looking games around, check out some videos of it in action to see what I mean. Overall, Spiritfarer is an easy recommendation for anyone reading this article; pick it up and allow it to wash over you like an emotional detox for your soul.
  8. Aug 3, 2021
    90
    Spiritfarer on Switch is an unforgettable, moving experience that offers up a deeply emotional narrative, stunning visuals, heartfelt characters, and a message that will stay with you forever.
  9. Mar 5, 2021
    90
    The game provides a beautiful experience for those who enjoy thought-provoking themes, adorned with gorgeous colors and incredible music. If you enjoy great writing, crafting, and building relationships with other characters, it's a great buy.
  10. Sep 28, 2020
    90
    Spiritfarer's journey fulfills from start to finish. No matter how sad its premise is, it is something you must experience, especially for its premise that recognizes that there is a beginning and an end, but what matters is what happens along the way.
  11. Sep 21, 2020
    90
    Spiritfarer was a pleasantly surprising and joyful experience. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in other management games, or anyone with a Switch. Apart from not finding enough challenging platforming, there's hardly much to say that I didn't enjoy. Everything from the characters and world, to the mechanics and story was wonderfully crafted. Spiritfarer is a highly underrated indie that I'll never forget.
  12. Sep 10, 2020
    90
    After everything I've mentioned so far, it's not a surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed Spiritfarer. What initially looked like an eerie combination revealed itself to be a thoughtful, relaxing, and enjoyable journey that deals with loss and caring in heartwarming ways. It's not a flawless masterpiece or a crowd-pleaser, but it knows what it's good at and executes it to an incredibly satisfying degree. If you vaguely enjoy titles like Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley, be sure to pick up Spiritfarer.
  13. Sep 8, 2020
    90
    Balancing several different gameplay elements deftly while providing a lighthearted yet emotional take on death, Spiritfarer is a long and satisfying adventure that kept me more engrossed than any other game this year. It’s truly a special title that deserves all the attention it gets.
  14. Sep 4, 2020
    88
    If you want a unique videogame experience and aren't afraid of showing your emotions, Spiritfarer is a title that you should try at least once in your lifetime.
  15. 85
    Regardless of these minor quibbles, Spiritfarer is a journey I wholeheartedly recommend taking, even if management sims are not your thing. The main lessons of accepting loss and the importance of leaving something behind are important to learn. The heavy topics your colleagues discuss with you are also necessary to navigate and leave a lasting gut punch. The title is also wonderfully animated and the music is superb, with its main theme receiving a number of variations throughout the experience that well up deep feelings inside of you. Give it a go if you are ready to ugly cry and smile at the same time!
  16. Aug 9, 2021
    80
    While the game is definitely hopeful and joyful overall, parting is such sweet sorrow, and you’ll have to do it time and time again as you play through the story. It’s a tough thing to balance, and yet Spiritfarer does so masterfully. It’s the kind of game that’s going to enrapture people, and already has too. It’s never too late to change, and it’s also never too late to jump into such a wonderful indie game.
  17. Apr 27, 2021
    80
    Spiritfarer is a unique indie title, that is impossible to put into one single genre. There's so much to see here - from exquisite style and great ideas, to a heartwarming and clever writing.
  18. Sep 2, 2020
    80
    Spiritfarer is a game that brightens death, a dark and touchy subject. When playing, you will learn to say goodbye to the ones you love, and to enjoy every moment with those around you.
  19. Aug 29, 2020
    80
    If you like resource management or want to live a great story about friendship and death, Spiritfarer is a recommended game for you. Its great background, despite being diluted a bit due to farming, is more than worthy and deserves to be played.
  20. Aug 27, 2020
    80
    A truly pleasant game, Spiritfarer balances undemanding platforming, gentle exploration and forgiving resource management with a beautifully-realised world with a cast full of charming, likeable, memorable characters. It's a pleasure to move around in with an evocative, endearing atmosphere and a succession of gameplay styles that gel superbly and never feel like padding. It's a long game, and you may find it becomes a little rote and repetitive before the end, but if it gets its hooks into you it's a game you'll want to go the distance with. Would it be distasteful to say it's dead good?
  21. Sep 18, 2020
    75
    Thunder Lotus Games clearly put a lot of love and heart into Spiritfarer. The whole experience is dripping with emotion, thanks to the engaging and memorable cast of character met throughout this adventure. While its main gameplay loop may become grindy over time, Spiritfarer‘s plot and rewarding upgrade system make the experience feel worthwhile. If you’re in the mood for a good cry or looking for an unforgettable voyage, you can’t go wrong raising the anchor and setting sail on Stella’s ship.
  22. Nov 11, 2020
    70
    Whether it's down to the sharp, intelligent writing, or fantastic hand-drawn style and animation, Spiritfarer has a charm that could be described as almost Disney-eque… well, maybe that would be true if the first passenger Stella encounters wasn't a chain smoking deer. That charm is without a doubt [i]Spiritfarer[i/]s best asset, and something that many will latch on to consciously or subconsciously when coming to their own judgement on its quality. Yes, it can be slow and repetitive, but that is also part of the point. The 2D take on a life-sim is a path less travelled for the genre, and unique in this instance. It creates an appealing world wherein the developer has gone to great efforts to flesh it out, and make it feel lived in. It all hangs together very nicely, indeed.
  23. Sep 23, 2020
    39
    The concept is great: A motivating management game with a very creative approach, great characters and an empathic story. But the major bugs that still (weeks after launch) are present, are unacceptable.
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 113 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 90 out of 113
  2. Negative: 10 out of 113
  1. May 21, 2021
    1
    At the beginning I was fully hooked, art style, the thematic, the music, the story!! Great Stuff! Yes! A lot of story between characters, slowAt the beginning I was fully hooked, art style, the thematic, the music, the story!! Great Stuff! Yes! A lot of story between characters, slow paced, a little bit of crafting to help the guys over the bridge, you meet and learn to know etc.
    I am so, so sad that it turned out to be a material gather-craft crapfest! I wanted to advance the stories of the characters in a pace where I would remember their stories, specially if you have a few in parallel. Nope. Guy asks for a new house, needs glass. WTF?! I haven't even seen glass after 10h!!!! I need to spend another 2 hours to find how to get to glass to here his next story line?
    Once this happened with all my characters on the ship I uninstalled, sorry. Could have been great by just cutting out that minecraft, stardewvally, terraria stuff. Ok, not cut out completely, but kept very low to not lose track of the story. I hate quitting on games and rarely do, I chew through. Here I just can't
    Full Review »
  2. Aug 27, 2020
    10
    this is a fantastic game Good story and good control
    Cool graphic and you can hug NPC!
  3. Aug 25, 2020
    9
    When Nintendo shadow dropped 6 (count em SIX) titles this week during the Indie World, it was going to be hard to decide which of them toWhen Nintendo shadow dropped 6 (count em SIX) titles this week during the Indie World, it was going to be hard to decide which of them to tackle first. But this one definitely spoke to me unlike any of the others. Spiritfarer is probably one of the most heartfelt, most pure games I have ever played that was a metaphor about death.

    You play as Stella who has been appointed as the new “Spiritfarer”, a modern retelling of Greek Mythology and the River Styx. According to legend, Charon would ferry souls across the river who had fare with them at their passing. Payment was provided by a coin placed in the person’s mouth at their burial. This game opens up though with Charon declaring to you his retirement and your cat Daffodil rummaging through his robes.

    Spiritfarer, the cozy management game about dying, sets sail today ...
    You acquire a large boat of your own and picking up lost souls to join you on your journey through the afterlife, all of who are represented by giant animals, from there you can navigate across the sea and expand your boat. The game promotes itself as “a cozy management game about dying”. As you are constantly attending to your passenger’s wants and needs, these could be something like hunger or having their own place or something as simple as a hug.

    The world is full of little islands to explore, some are full-on towns, while others are simple places full of materials to gather, you will need to gather all the wood, minerals and food you can carry as you will constantly be making upgrades and building new sections to your ship. Like a kitchen to prepare everyone’s meals, to which all your passengers will have various likes and dislikes, expect the frog who will just eat anything. Setting up Gardens to grown vegetables and seeds and places that will take care of all the wood, metal and fabric you come across

    I will say that Spiritfarer’s art style and 2D sprite animations is probably the best I have ever seen in a video game, where every motion you make, every hug, every strike with your pick ake is amazingly fluid, but sometimes it can be a bit frustrating, as the game plays a lot in real-time so having to go through the whole saw animation to cut down a tree can be annoying. The game also has you travel to each destination in real-time, this gives you more time to attend to everyone’s needs, rearrange the buildings and do fishing, like…..a lot of fishing.

    The comparisons with a certain other title that came out this year are obvious from the start, while it can prove daunting at first very soon you find yourself getting into a real groove attending to everybody’s needs and planning out where you are going next. The game really does play like a condensed version of New Horizion with a truly relaxing ambient soundtrack making you just want to sit back and watch the waves go by. While your passengers will get hungry and whinge at you to build them their own place, this is no way to fail in this game with the creators wanting you to take it all at your own pace.

    You get to discover the stories of those who join you on your boat, a journey that sadly has to eventually end. It can be truly devastating after spending all that time getting to know them, feeding and hugging them that they will eventually move on, leaving behind a single flower and an empty room.

    But as Dr Seuss once said “Don’t Cry Because It’s Over, Smile Because It Happened.”, there is something truly magical about Spiritfarer, it is very easy to just while away the hours. Although there were times I felt completely lost on how to progress next, like needing a certain type of wood or mineral with no way to find it and being unable to afford a necessary upgrade to the boat to progress further. But it is during these moments that you take a breath and you are able to find the solution.

    You will find yourself coming back to the game over and over again, just to spend time with everybody and explore the islands. The lack of any kind of rush or failure allows for a serious relaxed approach that I can definitely appreciate at the moment. There are also some truly entertaining moments like catching lightning in a bottle during a storm, musical mini-games to help your plants grow or saving a giant serpent by driving a pickaxe into their skull.

    I wish my time with Spiritfarer could have been longer, but like in the game, everything must come to an end…..and that’s ok.
    Full Review »