User:Sploosh95/Spiritfarer

Spiritfarer is an indie management sim and sandbox action game developed and published by Canadian studio Thunder Lotus Games and released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Stadia on August 18, 2020. The main character, Stella, becomes a "Spiritfarer" whose job is to ferry spirits of the deceased to the afterlife through completing their final requests. It received generally positive reviews from critics praising its slow-paced gameplay, detailed animation, orchestral musical score and unique themes.

On February 21, 2021, Thunder Lotus announced they were developing new content to be released throughout the course of the year, adding four new spirits to the game.

Plot
The player takes the role of Stella, accompanied by her pet cat Daffodil, who takes over from the mythological Charon as the new Spiritfarer, a ferrymaster who must sail the sea to find spirits and grant their last wishes and finally take them to the Everdoor, a gateway to the afterlife. In order to assist with her journey, Charon gifts both Stella and Daffodil with the magical Everlight.

After Charon passes through the Everdoor, Stella procures a ship of her own and begins travelling the world, picking up spirits and helping them fulfill their last wishes while befriending them along the way. As she picks up more spirits and collects resources, Stella expands the ship and its capabilities further. However, eventually, Stella must begin sending the spirits to the Everdoor, with each of them giving an emotional send off as they thank Stella for everything she has done for them and leave her a spirit flower to remember them by. As Stella sends off more and more spirits, she soon begins occasionally encountering Hades, in the form of a giant owl. Hades shows Stella images of what are apparently her past life as a palliative care nurse, taking care of terminally ill patients before falling terminally ill herself. Hades then questions Stella's motivations, wondering whether her desire to help spirits is truly altruistic or simply a selfish means to ease her own insecurities.

Eventually, Stella sends off the last spirit through the Everdoor and she has one final confrontation with Hades. Hades reveals that Stella's real body is on the verge of death in the real world, and it is now her time to pass through the Everdoor. With her purpose fulfilled, Stella sails back to the Everdoor with Daffodil one last time. She passes through the Everdoor with Daffodil and they both become a constellation in the sky.

== Characters ==

Stella
The main character of the game who works as the new Spiritfarer. Her duty is to help wayward spirits through the Everdoor by fulfilling final requests. She is a positive thinker with a bright and happy personality and a desire to help others.

Daffodil
Stella’s cat companion who helps her with tasks and retrieving materials. Daffodil is playable in co-op mode.

Charon
The Spiritfarer who preceded Stella and gave her the position before he passed.

Gwen
A deer spirit that Stella meets first. She helps Stella get adjusted to her new role. Gwen has fourteen requests to fulfil before she can enter the Everdoor. She likes comfort and fine dining food, with black coffee as her favorite. Her dislikes include shellfish and fruit. The mini game Stella plays with her is catching jellyfish. The spirit flower she leaves behind is an Asphodel.

Atul
The second spirit Stella meets and the first through the “The More, The Merrier” quest. He is a large frog who is laid-back and enjoys the rain and excitement. Atul likes all food and does not have a single dislike, but his favorite food is pork chops. The mini game he has for Stella is catching lightning in a bottle while he plays his flute. He has seventeen requests to complete. Atul’s spirit flower is a White Lily.

Summer
Summer is the third spirit Stella meets and the second from the “The More, The Merrier” quest. She is a snake that wears a cloak and has a love for plants and music. Summer likes salad and desserts and dislikes non-vegan food. Grain salad is her favorite food. Quartz and Aluminum Dragon is her mini game, which gives Stella resources to craft. Summer has seven requests to fulfil. Her spirit flower is an Oxeye Daisy.

Astrid
Located on the island Bottom Line Corps. Astrid is a large brown lynx with a skill in mining, smelting, and fishing. She likes plain food and soup with noodle soup being her favorite food. She dislikes sugary food and fine dining food. Astrid introduces Stella to the Turtle sisters, where she can plant wood, rocks, and ores to grow trees or rocks of the planted type. She has eleven quests to complete before venturing through the Everdoor. Astrid's spirit flower is a Bright Mallow.

Giovanni
Giovanni is a black lion who is husband to Astrid. He is found in Loneberg during the "Humble Abode" request. Giovanni likes stimulants and fine dining food and dislikes eggs and carbs. His favorite food is beef fondue. He has three requests to complete before leaving through the Everdoor and his spirit flower is a Common Borage.

Alice
Alice is a hedgehog who has skills in cooking and harvesting fruit. She likes old-fashioned food and desserts. She dislikes foods that are acquired taste, stimulants, and exotic. Veggie-pot-pie is her favorite food. She has a total of eight requests to complete and her spirit flower is a Peace Lily.

Gustav
Gustav is an owl with skills in gifting valuables and making sushi. His is found in Furogawa during the "Five Views of Mount Furogawa" quest. Gustav likes acquired and exotic food and dislikes fried and sweet food. Surstromming is his favorite food. He also has eight requests and his spirit flower is a Red Poppy.

Bruce and Mickey
Bruce is a hummingbird that does all the talking and Mickey is a water buffalo who silently partakes. They are found at Southpoint Docks. They like pub food and dislike one ingredient meals. Both are allergic to crustaceans and love garlic bread. The duo have a total of nine requests and their spirit flower is a Fennel Flower.

Stanley
Stanley is a mushroom that is grown in a garden from mysterious seeds that are fished out of the ocean after bringing four spirits through the Everdoor. Stanley is skilled at drawing and gifting useless items. He likes breakfast food and desserts and dislikes fruit, veggies, and stimulants. French fries are his favorite food. Stanley has eight requests and his spirit flower is a Fly Agaric Mushroom.

Elena
Elena is a dog that is found at Crow's End Inc. She is a strict-teacher figure to Stella. Elena likes plain and healthy foods and dislikes fine dining food, meat, and fried food. Green salad is her favorite. She has four requests and her spirit flower is a Cypress.

Buck
Buck is a Basilisk and can be found at the top of Hikarishima Lighthouse. He likes comfort and old-fashioned food. He is lactose intolerant and dislikes fruit. Tomato pizza is his favorite food. Buck has four requests but is the only spirit who cannot go through the Everdoor and is with Stella to the end of the game. Because of this, he does not have a spirit flower.

Lily
A new spirit added in the spring 2021 update. Lily is a collection of butterflies that manifest into Stella's younger sister, Lilly. She only forms at night, the butterflies fluttering around the ship during the day. Lily enables Stella to fast travel at night and her quests can only be completed at night.

Beverly
A new spirit added in the summer 2021 update. Beverly is an owl that can be found in Oxbury. She likes exotic and old fashioned food and dislikes food that are acquired taste and stimulants. Beverly's favorite food is Laksa. She has six requests and her spirit flower is and Anemone.

Hades
A large spiritual owl that is introduced after the first spirit ventures through the Everdoor. He reappears after the third or fourth spirit and again after the eighth. Hades represents how close Stella is to death.

Alex
Alex is a seal that runs the buses that enable fast travel in the game.

Francis
Francis is an onion monkey who works as a wandering merchant who sells various items and the only merchant that will buy any item in Stella's inventory. Alex also offers up to thirty different errands Stella can complete for rewards, most being able to be done more than once.

Albert
Albert is a shark that runs the shipyard where Stella can upgrade her ship. Upgrading is necessary to advance the story and meet new spirits.

Theodore
Theodore is a collection of racoon brothers who sell goods for Racoon Inc to Stella. Every worker legally changes their name to "Theodore".

Susan
A walrus who runs Susan's Museum, where Stella's collectables are documented and rewarded.

The Turtle Sisters
Irina, Masha, and Olga are three large turtles that can be found in various points on the map.

Gameplay
The gameplay aspect of Spiritfarer has been compared to that of the Animal Crossing franchise, where the player must meet the needs of the spirits aboard their ship with foods and boat additions. This leads to the player collecting materials while on their journey to build kitchens, gardens, and other home amenities to help the spirits feel more at home. These new sections that are added to the ship are placed like a game of Tetris, stacked up on top of one another in any way that fits. The character that Stella meets along the way also give the player mini-games to play for materials and in-game currency that are relevant to the spirit's character. The game also has venders that sell items such as seeds for the player's gardens and furniture to decorate their ship, giving the game a more personalized experience.

Game Development
Creative Director, Nicolas Guérin, mentions that the game's stories are based off of the creators at Thunder Lotus's own experiences of loss. They wanted to make a game that handled death in a way that felt more personal and intimate, referencing the loss of family and loved ones. The original concept had the game take place on a train instead of a boat but the team decided that it did not really fit what they wanted. Changing seasons were also discussed but then scrapped because the scope of putting that into the game was much too large and served little importance to the game as a whole. Farming sections were much larger too, putting the original concept closer to competing simulation games like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley so Thunder Lotus made the decision to tone it back, making the resource collecting portions not as time consuming and setting it apart from those competitors. The game is also padded with stories from the spirits that measure up to 90,000 words at the time Gamespot published the interview with Guérin on July 28th, 2021. Guérin also mentioned doing research at end-of-life care facilities for a month as well as asking staff for Spiritfarer personal stories of loved ones to help flesh out the characters that were already in the works. The characters were designed first and then given raw personality traits, such as being attuned with their inner animal or more human in nature. The game itself is described as a construct of Stella's mind and how she develops her views and understanding of death. Guérin mentions that this is also shown in the landscapes of the islands as the game flows and Stella travels the map.

Reception
Spiritfarer received "generally favorable reviews" for the PC version, according to review aggregator Metacritic.

IGN's Tom Marks rated the game 9/10 and gave it the Editor's Choice award, comparing the game to a combination of Animal Crossing and an action platformer. He stated that, while the game "tackle[s] the heavy topic of death and those left behind in its wake", it is nonetheless "colorful" and "feel-good". He called the campaign "full of charming characters with somber, touching stories", though stating that "not all the characters are as impactful as others". He stated that the backtracking got "tiresome" and the formula of the game became predictable, with mundane tasks becoming "repetitive fast" if the player attempted to optimize their efficiency, but that the game forcing beloved characters to leave was emotionally affecting.

Rachel Watts of PC Gamer rated the game 85/100, saying that it is a "wholesome life-sim" that "deals with the topic of death and compassion with masterful balance". However, she criticized the "purposeful vagueness" about the nature of the afterlife and its inhabitants as "muddl[ing] the clarity of the characters' intentions". Eric Van Allen of USGamer rated the game 4/5, saying its writing is "warm, funny and charming", and the game is "best enjoyed in small pieces".

It was nominated for Games For Impact and Best Indie Game at The Game Awards 2020. It is also a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Game Writing and the Hugo Award for Best Video Game.