Spiritfarer A Beautiful Journey

 I was intrigued by the concept of Spiritfarer when it was described as a cozy time management game about death. The story introduces Stella with her cat Daffodil who is taking over the job of Spiritfarer from Charon. This means Stella is the new ferrymaster and her job is find spirits and fulfill their last wishes before taking them to the Everdoor, a gate to the afterlife. 

Stella and Daffodil meet Charon. 

Spiritfarer is clearly inspired by the mythology surrounding Charon and the river Styx. Charon's explanation is that he's retiring and it will be up to Stella and Daffodil to sail the sea exploring each island looking for spirits and helping them on their journey to the Everdoor. This begins Stella's journey as a Spiritfarer. One of the first spirits she meets is Gwen who acts as a guide for the tutorial of how to do things on her ship such as building things like a guest room, crafting materials for the ship, or cooking food for spirits. I love Gwen. She is one of my favorite characters in the game because of her fierce sass and quick wit as well as her genuine love and respect for Stella. Gwen's epic take down of a merchant raccoon named Theodore who is clearly trying to rip off Stella is hilarious and the small nod to Tom Nook in Animal Crossing makes it even funnier.

Gwen shows the raccoon who's boss. 

Each spirit that Stella meets has their own unique personality and story about who they were and who they are. They also teach Stella different things like growing crops in a garden and playing beautiful music to make the plants grow faster. Each spirit will also give Stella hints on what kind of food they like and you can click on the character to check their stats. This shows you if a spirit is hungry, their current mood, and what their favorite foods are. I loved the cooking in the game. It was nice creating different recipes, giving the spirits their favorite dish, and seeing how happy it made them. 

Of course as Stella picked up more spirits on each island, they began requesting things such as their own room and workshops. This is where upgrading the ship and building come in. This introduces a shark that loves silly puns and the ship building yard. There are certain materials that need to be crafted, ores to be mined, and certain items to be found in order to get these upgrades. You will also need glims which is Spiritfarer's currency to upgrade the ship. 

Purchasing upgrades for the ship. 

I enjoyed exploring the islands and the areas on the sea. The world of Spiritfarer is beautiful and charming. Each island has its own style and a variety of things that make it stand out. One island had sheep that Stella can put on her ship and she can shear the sheep in order to make wool thread. There are of course ingredients on some of the islands too such as strawberries which Stella can use for cooking. There is fishing that can be done too and I liked having Stella sit down on her ship and catch fish after fish while traveling all over the sea. 

Stella enjoys some fishing. 

There are mini games in Spiritfarer as well that are so much fun. These mini games give Stella materials needed for the crafting in the game. Stella has various abilities that help make it easier to accomplish. Standing outside a storm to catch lightning in a bottle or running around in a meteor shower to get comet rocks add to the whimsical beauty of this game. 

Running around in a meteor shower. 

As the ship gets bigger and as more buildings are added, you can move everything around with the build command. It plays like a game of Tetris moving each building around and stacking them on top of each other. It adds to the happiness of the spirits as well depending on where you put the buildings as well as adding the crafting rooms they ask for such as a lumber mill or a loom. 

Moving buildings around on the ship. 

Exploring the world of Spiritfarer is wonderful because of how detailed each area is with the artwork. The music in Spiritfarer is pretty and fitting for the various places Stella visits. The map is detailed and you can fast travel via a bus stop managed by a cute magical seal named Alex. I preferred sailing because you can find a lot of interesting things and new locations that way, but the fast travel option was convenient when I wanted to get where I was going quickly. 

Checking the map. 

With all of these wonderful things in the game, it's easy to forget that Spiritfarer is about death. We are reminded of it with each conversation that Stella has with the spirits on her ship. Stella doesn't talk so the spirits talk to her constantly and we get to hear their perspective about decisions they made in their lives as well as their hopes and fears. Each spirit is connected to Stella in some way and I appreciated the thoughtfulness that was put into the story of each one. There was one spirit character that reminded me so much of my grandmother it brought a smile to my face remembering her. 

Spiritfarer does such an amazing job of talking about death in a gentle manner showing that while it's understandable to be scared, that it doesn't have to be scary. For one spirit it's about accepting that their life may not have been perfect, but they did everything they wanted to do or for another finding love and peace after a difficult time. Stella is their guide through all of it, being a kind and caring presence during their time with her. I cried many times during Spiritfarer because I genuinely appreciated the beautiful journey that was shown in the story and getting to know the characters. While it is never easy to say goodbye, the lesson that people live on in our hearts and memories is a good one for each of us to learn. I appreciate the love, thought, and mindfulness that went into this game and it was clearly a labor of love for everyone at Thunder Lotus games. Spiritfarer is a true gem of a game. 

Stella says goodbye. 

*Spiritfarer is available to play on all platforms: Windows, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo   Switch

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