It's Like Uber for Spirits--Spiritfarer

Lately I've been feeling a desire to play something new and not just re-play some of the ol' tried and trues.  I've been keeping a keen eye on my wishlist to see when something goes on sale and trying to grab it.  I managed to grab Spiritfarer on sale and have been mostly enjoying its indie charm.

What is Spiritfarer?

It's a casual game about taking over the spirit-transporting reins from Charon--yeah, the creepy boatman has decided to move on to other opportunities in the spirit world.  Your character, Stella, a young girl, and her cat friend, Daffodil, are now in charge of tracking down and transporting lost spirits to the great beyond.  Not every spirit is ready to move on though, and part of your/Stella's task is to get to know the spirits and fulfill their last wishes.

What is the gameplay like?

It's a blend of light platforming and management.  Stella is fortunate that she receives a new ship rather than Charon's rinky-dink boat, and trying to locate lost spirits means exploring the various islands and locations in the spirit world.  The platforming comes in when you navigate the world and also for certain events and in traversing your own ship as it grows much larger.

Once Stella locates a lost spirit, he/she will agree to join the crew of the Spiritfarer.  Each spirit has their own story and requires a certain level of care--they still have to eat and they need a place to live while they're aboard.  The management part of the game involves building resource producing structures aboard your ship and also gathering materials from the various islands that make up the spirit world.  Stella is constantly busy with cooking food for passengers, trying to fulfill their requests, and also upgrading the Spiritfarer.

I've been playing for around 30 hours and I still have a few spirits to find, so you can count on playing for a decent chunk of time (if you're wanting to be somewhat completionist).

Over the course of the game your ship gets quite...enormous.

Pros:

+ It's a relaxing game with only mild pressures to worry about--a good choice for someone looking for a casual game.  You can't really die and even if you mess up and forget something (like feeding your sheep) there aren't any serious consequences.

+ Getting to know each spirit is fun.  They each have their own personality and backstory--some are fun and goofy and others are sadder and much more poignant.  Each has their own food preferences and it's enjoyable to figure out their likes and dislikes.  When it comes to housing, each has their own style and seeing the final product helps provide some insight.

+ The music is pleasant and fits the game well.

+ It deals with a heavy topic (death) in a touching way.  Once Stella has helped each spirit accomplish his/her final wishes, they decide when they're ready to go through the Everdoor.  The same sequence of events plays out--the ship arrives near the Everdoor, all the spirits aboard will wait near the life boat while Stella accompanies the spirit travelling to the door (it's like everyone is saying goodbye), and then Stella rows the spirit to the door.  During the short boat trip, the spirit will discuss their life and struggles--many of them are very relatable.  Once they arrive at the door, Stella will give the spirit a final hug and then the spirit will head off to the other side.  The music, the discussion, and the sense of sending them off is very well done and you do get a sense of sadness and loss (many reviews describe it as tearjerking--I didn't find it to be quite that strong, but if you have experienced loss recently, it could be very emotional).  ADDED 9/13/21:  Okay, so I hadn't played fully through the story...and wow, did cry...a lot at the ending.

+ There are several different categories of collectibles for those people who like to 100% stuff.

+ Exploration is a key part of the gameplay.  Many of the islands have chests and hidden areas which are only accessible once you've acquired various upgrades for Stella.

+ Building and managing structures aboard your ship is a bit like playing Tetris--maddening and fun.  You start off with a relatively small amount of buildable space but can upgrade your ship to add more.  The crazy part about adding more space is that only a small amount of it is horizontal--much of it is vertical.  Toward the late game, your ship is unrealistically stacked with structures (it's the spirit world though...so who cares about reality.)

+ Side missions and shenanigans offer up other opportunities for exploration and activities.

+ Special resources are gathered through random activities located at multiple places around the map.  These activities usually involve a short bout of platforming to catch flying jellyfish, bottle up some lightning, or many others.

Cons:

- Can feel grindy and repetitive at times.  You're often doing many of the same activities to gather resources and take care of the spirits aboard your ship.

- I had moments of feeling lost and not sure what I should be doing.  The game does give you a mission log, but there are times when you might need a resource that you haven't encountered yet and you have no idea how to find it (Google-ho, basically).

- Keeping track of required materials can be a bit of a pain.  Many of them require multiple steps to make a finished product (like smelting ore into ingots or cutting wood into planks) and it's easy to forget all the materials--this can get annoying as you have to return to the blueprint table to check and then back to the crafting building.  I mostly wrote things down, but I wish there was a slightly better system for tracking the needed materials.

Recommendation:

Spiritfarer is a cute, relaxing indie game that can feel a bit grindy at times.  It's good for players looking for something they could play in shorter bouts or for something that's not high-pressure.  It deals with death and loss in a touching way that anyone can relate to.