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Spiritfarer (PS4)

Status: Stopped playing - Got Bored
I started playing this game on Sunday 6 November, 2022  //  I stopped playing this game on: Wednesday 18 January, 2023
Current opinion of this game
No comment, yet.

January 18, 2023 05:54:06 PM
Ok, so I "shipped" a few people but, the more I played the more tired I became. While I enjoyed the relaxed and cozy vibe of the game, after a while it just started to feel like busywork to move the story along. Collect 10 of these and find 5 of those to upgrade this. It's not that the collecting and upgrading bothered me, it's just that it started to feel like it was taking longer and longer to get any of it done. Even the fast travel option didn't feel fast enough because you still then needed to sail to the next town or whatever.

So, I decided to put the game down.


December 12, 2022 05:33:23 PM
I've been playing this on the weekends and it's starting to feel a little slow. Like it's dragging. I had sort-of decided I'd play until I "shipped" my first spirit. And, it felt like it took forever to get to that point... and I was honestly starting to feel a bit bored. Also, I felt like I wasn't making any progress since the upgrades and new options were gated behind a resource I did not have access to.

Also, while the little mini-games you do on the ship in order to create new materials (the loom, the smelter, the one where you saw logs into planks) while engaging, do get old after a while - especially the ones that take a long time (smelter is the worst). So, while I was enjoying the slow pace of the game and the lack of pressure, now it feels like it's just dragging too long. Even the fishing takes forever! I wish there were ways to automate some of that stuff (like the cooking, you just fire and forget)...

So, while I've since shipped my first spirit (and then another shortly after), and I'm curious about the new materials and building out the ship - I'm also starting to tire a bit of the game. Which seems a shame because the character stuff is interesting enough?


November 13, 2022 05:29:52 PM
This game has a curious dichotomy: it's relaxing to play and not stressful in setting a tone of urgency, while it is also a game where I feel I'm busy all the time always with something I need to tend to next or worry about. Either the plants are going dry, or someone on the boat wants to talk, or whatever is in the kitchen is ready, or something needs harvesting, or I forgot to set the destination and get the boat moving, and so on.

I guess that makes sense with the official website's tagline "a cozy management game". I mean, I have to manage stuff - but I'm not sure there's a fail state you can paint yourself into? So, just manage until you're ready to continue. I wonder if nighttime is when I'm supposed to be all about getting catching up? The ship doesn't move, and the game lets you advance time pretty easily (you go to bed and wake up next morning). I wonder if you can work all night? I don't even know if time passes at night? Oooh! I guess I want to try this out...

So far it's pretty linear in the progression - boatmates make requests that usually align with the next thing to do in terms of progression (build me this room, which you need to get some resources for, and the next room unlocks more resources, and then you make the boat bigger, etc.).

I've currently got three guests on the boat and I've built some stuff and even upgraded the kitchen so I can make some new recipes.

It's pretty relaxing actually, slow paced, no urgency, and - so far, no real sense of having to grind stuff out. I'm surprised it's taken this long to get a character off to whatever the afterlife place is.

I'm guessing I won't finish the game - but will play enough to see a few characters depart?
Also, the 2-player mode is quite fun, the cat becomes playable and can interact with stuff - so, you can collect resources, cook stuff, and more.


 
kudos for original design to Rodrigo Barria