Hello everyone!
First off, I would like to apologize for not being able to upload any posts for some time. The reason for this is because my laptop had finally died. How it happened was that I tried to charge it one time and then BOOM... Nothing happened. It would not charge of power on at all. So, I will be making posts using my mobile phone until further notice. Hopefully it doesn't bail on me too...
Also, it has been a while since I last did an indie game review so I though about making one once again. I actually thought about making this review some days before my laptop gave up.
And now, on to the post.
Management simulation games... This is a game genre that I don't explore very often, or even at all. One of the few games of this genre I played was Stardew Valley and that was a long time ago. This time, I'll be trying out another management simulation game called Spiritfarer.
Spiritfarer is a management simulation game that was developed by Thunder Lotus Games and released in the year 2020.
To be honest, I never expected to be so hooked after playing this game for a few minutes. From there, I somehow managed to spend more than 20 hours playing this game.
In Spiritfarer, you play as a character named Stella who is well... A Spiritfarer, which is like a ferry master to the dead. You are then able to care for spirits, help them with requests and build relationships before completing their passing away.
As a management game, you are also able to gather resources through farming, mining, fishing etc. These resources can then be used to craft items, upgrade your ship, build stuff and also cook.
Item crafting, especially cooking, in the game is really experimental. You can just pop in random items to cook with in the game and you'll discover something new. Luckily, there is no way to create some kind of mess, so you can combine different food items to your heart's content. However, it doesn't mean that you can combine anything with everything. When you select an item, it shows only the other items that it is possible to cook with.
I really appreciate the art style and animation used for the game. The game uses a rather simple art style but has so much to offer. The animation is really nice and is just a satisfying experience to look at.
Along with being a management game, it also follows along the line of being a platformer. While this is not a main area of focus, the platforming mechanic feels really good.
There are shrines in the game which improve the platforming experience by granting various abilities like being able to double jump, glide in the air, zipline along wires and others. However, these abilities can only be gotten from the shrines using items called Obols which can be gotten by inviting more spirits on to your ship.
Since the game's over world is based on sailing across a sea, there are various islands scattered around which you can sail to for either resources, or just to explore. On the islands that are occupied by NPCs like cities and a few nomadic areas, I like to talk to some of them mostly because I find some of their statements to be hilarious.
As the explored area on the sea becomes much wider later on in the game, areas known as bus stops become available which are basically fast travel way points. I also really like how they were placed on the map, they are placed in a way that it is possible to get to multiple locations from one bus stop.
On another note about sea exploration in the game, one thing that fascinates me was how they were able to implement the sailing mechanic. Even though Spiritfarer is completely a 2D game, I was really amazed by how they made the sea exploration in the game to feel completely like a 3D experience.
On the sea, there are also encounters that you can face while sailing which gives you certain resources. For instance, if you sail through a thunderstorm, you can catch lightning in a bottle (as long as you have an empty bottle of course); you can also go through a comet shower and get comet rocks. But if you don't really feel like facing any of these things, there is a safe travel option that you can activate to sail to your destination peacefully.
The game allows you to build various buildings on your ship. Upgrading the ship increases the building area while upgrading the drawing board allows you to build different buildings. After a while, you'll then find yourself playing a game of Tetris, trying to fit the buildings within the available space.
You can also add other upgrades to your ship which allows you to sail faster, or an icebreaker or stone breaker that allows you to access other areas in the game filled with ice or rocks.
And now for my favorite aspect of the game: Character interactions.
The characters in Spiritfarer are very memorable and I can see how easy it is to get attached to them. Interacting with each of them feels unique as each character has different behaviors, interests, and hobbies. Sometimes, you could even get a glimpse of the character's past life. I also noticed that some of the characters had a close relationship with Stella (the main character) before they died.
The characters in the game also have moods which can be raised by meeting the character's needs and can also be affected positively or negatively depending on the interactions of other characters on the ship. Depending on how good their mood is, they can help out in gathering resources, processing items or give Stella items. Some of them can even play music which boosts the mood of other characters.
For a game that deals with such a dark topic, it manages to deliver it in a wholesome manner. It makes you realize that relationships with people won't last forever and you should cherish it while it lasts.
In conclusion, Spiritfarer is a game that I would definitely recommend to casual and experienced gamers alike. It really managed to make a great execution of it's main theme. Even though I'm not much of a fan of these kind of games, I really enjoyed playing this one.