When I first saw the trailer for Spiritfarer a while back, I knew it was going to be something that I'd be interested in. But at the time, my expectations of what the game waa going to be like just didn't line up with the $30 price tag. I just didn't have any intentions of paying that much for a game that looked comparable to some of the amazing $10-20 games that I've played.

Even when it went on sale for like $18, I was still pretty hesitant but then one day I got a chance to buy the game for $11. I knew that if I passed on that, it would be a very long time before the retail price ever reached that long and it would be a missed opportunity, so I grabbed it. I was pretty happy with what I ended up with as well.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

Normally, I'm not a huge fan of 2D games because of the way they look, but Spiritfarer really changed the way that I thought about how they look. The game is beautiful and incredibly charming. There's so much color and life everywhere and the art style is something that I really enjoy. In fact the art style makes me think back to some of my favorite cartoons of the 2010's and how charming they were.

The animation and movement also works really well and the character designs and backgrounds can be gorgeous at times. I would obviously say that there's lots of 3D games that have better graphics, but for a 2D game, this is just beautiful. My grade for Graphics is going to be a 9 out of 10.

SOUND: 7/10

I know that Spiritfarer is pretty big in terms of music and sound, but the soundtrack didn't really speak to me much. The entire soundtrack features more than an hour of tuned and there are a few times where the sound is fairly integral to the gameplay or story. There's also a couple times where everything just feels calm and peaceful. I did like these points in the soundtrack and some of the generic gameplay sounds but it just wasnt really a genre of music that I fully enjoy. For me, Sound gets a 7 out of 10.

ADDICTIVENESS: 10/10

You might not feel like playing Spiritfarer over and over again, but this is definitely one of those games where you won't be able to sleep easy until you've beaten it. I've played a couple games like that in the past, where you just feel so invested that you have to keep playing until everything wraps up, and then you somehow keep stressing over what happened.

This is definitely one of those games. It's not one of those games where you can't put it down because it's fun or good. This is one of those games where even if it was so bad, you would force yourself to finish because of how invested you are. You get invested in the story, you get invested in all of the characters, you just need to know what happens next, and until you do, your brain will not let you stop playing. That's a good thing too, it means the game did its job. I don't even half to talk about the things you can do because how invested you are in the game after an hour or two proves how addicting the game is. Addictiveness gets a perfect 10 out of 10 from me.

STORY: 9/10

The story of Spiritfarer is pretty straightforward and simple. You play as Stella, who is a ferry person. You have this boat that you turn into a giant yacht and you find spirits who basically aren't ready to die yet. You pretty much help the spirits come to terms with things, reminisce about their past, or help them with different tasks before they can move on.

The plot of Spiritfarer can quickly get heartwarming and there will be plenty of times where it's charming and full of detail. This game has a couple things going on that are really good but to me, the story is easily the best part and this aspect gets a 9 out of 10.

DEPTH: 8/10

In addition to finding and helping iur spirits, there's a decent amount if stuff to do in Spiritfarer. I think the biggest thing to do is upgrading your boat. You start off with a small boat but by the time you're done upgrading it, you're going to end up with multiple levels and a bunch of different sections. One thing that I really like about the boat is that there's no set structure and everything can be changed and rearranged so your boat would end up looking very different than someone else's.

Other than that, there's a few different shops where you can buy things and there's a large cast of characters that have unique and endearing personalities, behaviors, and charm. Depth gets an 8 out of 10 from me.

DIFFICULTY: 1

You can't underestimate how easy this game is. There's no way to really fail because the game is meant to be calm anx relaxing. There aren't supposed to be any puzzles or areas that you struggle, as long as you put the time into playing Spiritfarer, you will complete it.

OVERALL: 8.8/10

Before I talk about the game as a whole, I need to make two things clear. Firstly, if you like a challenge and puzzles, then a game that's this easy will not be for you. Secondly, and along similar lines, if you're not a fan of slow paces gameplay, you'd be better off elsewhere. But if neither of those are a detriment to you, then you've come to the right place and you'll probably end up loving this game.

I know there's lots of people who will say that paying full price for the game is worth it, and you shouldn't worry about getting less than 20 hours out of it if you do pay full price. But I would personally recommend waiting for a sale, especially considering that it's already been on sale at least once before. Overall, I think it's a great game and deserves an 8.8 out of 10.