Game: Spirit of the North
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch (also on PS4 and PC)
Developer|Publisher: Infuse Studio | Merge Games
Age Rating: EU 7+| US E
Price: UK £19.99 |EU € 20,99| AU $ 25.50| CA $ 26.45| US $ 19.99
Release Date: 7th May 2020
Review code used, with many thanks to Merge Games!
In Spirit of the North you play as an red fox who’s story becomes entwined with the guardian of the Northern Lights, a female spirit fox. As you journey over the mountains and under red-stained skies, you’ll discover more about your companion and a land left in ruin.
Gameplay
After the opening you get thrown straight into it: see the world through the fox’s eyes, you are in a Nordic area and you need to move forward! You won’t find dialogue in this game aside from the text in the Main Menu.
You can run and jump to start with but most noticeable, the fox is quite slow. This means it takes awhile to transverse such a large landscape. It has only a small stamina pool, which is invisible by the way, so you can sprint for a while, but then it’s back to a stroll.
The game opens up when you meet your spirit friend. A series of events unfolds where the fox gets enlisted in the fight against corruption and you gain the ability to absorb spirit power from flowers and statues. You only need to walk above a glowing blue flower and bark and the flower’s energy will flow through your body and cover it with runes.
You gain new powers as you continue, as to what, I’ll let you find out for yourself. At various points you find the remains of 28 hidden Shamans, long ago deceased, that you aid in bringing closure to their lives.
Sound and Graphics
The graphics of the game are stunning, even with the lower resolution on the Switch, it is so beautiful. Because of the lack of dialogue it makes you feel like your fox is all alone in this strange world. The different areas are very well designed. The music is soothing accompanying you on your journey. The combination makes for a good, calming time spent playing Spirit of the North.
Conclusion
I found Spirit of the North to be quite simple and I think that’s intentionally. I like the fact it’s simple, it reminded me of Journey and Abzu. The aim of the game is getting from place A to place B, while doing a few things on the side. And to meanwhile enjoy the surroundings and the wonderful places you travel through.
So, while the scenery is spot on, it just dragged on too much for me. The gameplay fell a bit flat, and later on in the game, when there’s a bit of platforming to do, the controls aren’t accurate enough.
If, however, you are looking for a beautiful atmospheric puzzler that isn’t too difficult you might want to check it out. For me, the game just wasn’t memorable enough.
Final Verdict: I’m not Sure 