Review: Spiritfarer

Spiritfarer is a captivating game with exploration, crafting, and platforming elements, woven around the moving stories of its characters.

Undoubtedly, it’s the visual style that initially attracted me to Spiritfarer. I’d been following this game’s development for some time, so I was delighted when it announced during Nintendo’s Indie World Showcase in August. The 2D hand-drawn, cartoon style is reminiscent — to my eye, at least — of Japanese animation studios such as Nippon Animation or Studio Ghibli.

Much of my early time with the game was taken up simply sitting back, enjoying the spectacular visuals.

Set primarily on board a boat, your initial task is to populate this vessel with both the souls of main character Stella’s past acquaintances, and buildings that will support the voyage. Typical early-game structures include a kitchen, in which you can conjure up all manner of dishes, and a sawmill which converts logs into planks for further crafting. The overarching task is to care for those souls as you accompany them on their journey into the afterlife. It’s a setup that provides for plenty of plot development and moments of deep emotion.