If you enjoy wandering around pretty environments and solving some light puzzles, then this is a fantastic "chill out" game, but anything beyond that is somewhat forgettable. ![]() Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is a beautiful remaster of an average game. Thankfully, the game has a chapter selection screen, so it's easy to retry. It felt like if I quit the game anywhere except at the beginning of a chapter, I might need to redo entire segments. ![]() I encountered a number of bugs during my playthrough, including objects not spawning that prevented the game from advancing, some serious camera issues, and a checkpoint system that is either broken or very poorly designed. The visuals and pacing polish don't quite extend to the entire experience. The developers clearly worked within the limitations of their engine, and for the most part, that is exactly what they needed to do. It feels like this works in its favor because the controls and the camera are a little too finicky for anything too complex. Spirit of the North is not a game that's interested in challenging you so much as keeping you engaged. They start off simple and grow more complex, but rarely do they present a roadblock. The puzzles are firmly in the brainteaser category. You can probably finish the whole game, including the optional stuff, in a lazy afternoon. There are optional staves you can collect and return to their owners, but they're for flavor (and trophies) more than anything else. If anything, it feels like it could have fit in a few more gimmicks and puzzles. The short length of the game means that this works in its favor, as you get new gimmicks and more complex puzzles at a pretty steady pace. You might be an ordinary fox, but as the game progresses, you get some spiritual powers to solve puzzles. Your overall goal is to defeat the corruption spreading through the land by solving a variety of puzzles. It's more of a game where you enjoy the sights and animations as you play through the adventure. There is some simple platforming, but nothing is too punishing. The core gameplay involves you running and hopping around while you follow a spiritual fox through a variety of environments. The music is also quite nice and does a good job of setting the tone of the story without being overbearing. There are some hints to its limitations as an indie title, including some distracting poor textures, but they're easily overlooked for the stronger whole. By and large, it is a pretty game with lovely environments to wander around. The game looks better and runs smoother than the last-generation releases, including smooth 60fps and support for higher resolutions. The biggest selling point for Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is the updated visuals. ![]() This is absolutely a game you play for the exploration, not the backstory. Spirit of the North avoids both narration and dialogue to mostly let the visuals do the talking, which helps with the atmosphere but also means the story isn't particularly complex. The land is dotted with corruption that turns the sky red and rots the land, and the two of you need to work together to solve that problem. The concept of Spirit of the North is that you're a fox from Iceland who becomes entwined with the titular Spirit of the North, who appears as a ghostly female fox. It is a pretty title based around exploration and simple puzzle-solving, and its primary gameplay feature is guiding an adorable fox through snowy lands.Īdmittedly, that is a very strong selling point. Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is one of the more modest successors. Since then, a lot of games have followed similar molds, and they usually lead to interesting experiences. It wasn't complex, but its gameplay grafted with beautiful visuals to enhance their depth and meaning. One of my favorite games of the PS3 era was Journey. Buy Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition
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