Spiritfarer

With the way it combines genres, Spiritfarer simply shouldn’t work – and yet it works perfectly! It offers a varied and engaging gameplay, introduces you to fleshed-out characters, sounds and looks really good, and has plenty of content. While the story of a girl who takes up Charon’s duties of carrying souls into the afterlife tackles death without needless pathos and affirms life, it does not lack touching moments.

Spiritfarer is a perfect example of a game where one has to keep their expectations in check. I honestly feel the trailers have misrepresented what the majority of the game is, and I wish the developers had actually cut the content in half or found a way to speed up the entire process. What’s here hints at the depth of quality that could have been, but the designers seemed more concerned with giving their audience their money’s worth rather than packing ten hours with high-quality content. Or maybe I should have engaged in more meditation over the 25-hour experience. Regardless, Spiritfarer has moments of beauty that will resonate with many players, while others, like myself, will be left wondering what could have been.

Spiritfarer has the body of a seafaring exploration game, the mind of a management sim, and the soul of an emotional journey depicting love, loss, and grief. With gorgeous visuals and a soundtrack to match, Spiritfarer is pleasing to the senses while providing a core loop that’s easy to get lost in. If you like crafting and crying, take a voyage with Spiritfarer, with fair warning to the completionists that this journey may cause more suffering than intended. For smooth sailing, be sure to choose the Switch version of Spiritfarer over anything with achievements enabled. Regardless of the conduit, you should absolutely play this cozy management sim about dying — just be sure to keep the tissues nearby.

Even though it touches upon the themes of death and saying goodbye to your loved ones, Spiritfarer feels warm and upbeat. It also doesn’t feel like work, which is a rare thing for management games.

Spiritfarer is a poignant bridge between Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley and a ferryman of the dead simulator. It’s lovely, sad, full of emotions, death and management.

Spiritfarer is a wonderful take on the management sim. It creates a profoundly fulfilling loop by rewarding character interaction far more than micromanagement. The stellar production values and writing balance the game's realistic, death-positive message with abundant empathy. Thunder Lotus has really hit the nail on the head with Spiritfarer, achieving its artistic goal with simplicity, style and remarkably few flaws.