Spiritfarer

Developer: Thunder Lotus Games
Rrp: £23.79 (Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam)

Bittersweet. That is definitely the word that best encompasses my feelings when it comes to Spiritfarer. Each passenger that boards your boat has a rich backstory that slowly fed to you over time, you grow connections to these people and care for their well being and then eventually… they leave. After a while you notice that the boat feels empty, even more so as it’s almost a certainty that you expanded the boats size to accommodate all your passengers.

This game has had me in tears both from joy and sadness. I didn’t want to let go of some of these characters but I also felt that forcing them to stay for my own benefit was cruel, even though I knew that in reality they aren’t real I still couldn’t do that.

It has to be said that once again Thunder Lotus have made something special, the animation is fluid, expressive and very beautiful. They’ve also paired the music up brilliantly as it really pulls the whole game together giving the whole experience a sort of ethereal feeling.

If there is a flaw that I had to pick with this game its that it can be quite repetitive. However I actually think that’s in part down to how you play. I can’t say with any certainty but I get the feeling that Spiritfarer wasn’t designed with long play sessions in mind. I certainly found that when I changed from playing it for several hours at a time to half an hour here and there made a huge difference on how I viewed the experience.

Honestly I want to write more on this game but I think it would only detract from my central point, the feelings this game provides. I urge you to give this game a go, at least give the demo a try, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.