That was a huge surprise, and now you're telling me that, at one point, y'all were planning to put even more into the game, like changing seasons. I distinctly remember talking to you about Spiritfarer before its launch and thinking to myself, "This is a small team and this game sounds like a great 10, maybe 15-hour at maximum experience." And then PR sent over the code with a note that the game is 35 to 40 hours long. For the game, it didn't really serve a purpose that much. So we dropped it for both scope and metaphorical reasons. Also, crafting islands and places in four types of biomes and environments was kind of nightmarish. Then it sounded like the clock was going forward, and at this time, you had no choice but to say, "Boom, this is where someone dies." It wasn't that great. You had the four seasons-so spring, summer, fall, and winter-and then you had a death season. The train itself is interesting in a fantasy, but for Spiritfarer, it just didn't click.Īlso, we had the concept of seasons. You had to place tracks on the map and then-oh man, I probably am a boat person much more than I'm a train person. That's going to be cool to find." Whereas Spirit Tracks was mainly boring as hell. It was on the DS, and it was right after Phantom Hourglass, which was an awesome game, because you're on a ship and could basically use your map to pinpoint places. It's a really chill vibe, yet melancholic, beautiful, and poetic.įun fact is that I'm a Zelda game fan, and one of the Zelda games that's least appreciated is Spirit Tracks. There is that scene in Spirited Away where Chihiro, she's basically taking the train with the faceless stranger, and the train travels on the ocean. Yeah, the original train idea was directly inspired from Spirited Away, which had a big influence with the game's inception. You mentioned something really interesting in that answer: Spiritfarer wasn't always set on a boat? Of us passing away, and our relatives passing away, and connections passing away, in a much more intimate, personal angle. I knew that it was something that worked, because it allowed us to create a game in which death is talked about from a common-people point of view. Like, "Let's talk about death from a radically opposite perspective, from an almost antagonistic view."Īnd that clicked. Early on, it didn't have any type of death positivity or wholesomeness or tenderness, but those themes were there as a meta concept. Jotun and Sundered had a pretty much head-on approach to this, whereas Spiritfarer didn't really have that. was a game on a train at first, and then morphed into being on a boat.īut the through-line, the common point between all those games was, of course, death. The concept of death was there in Jotun, was there in Sundered, and was of course there in Spiritfarer. So when you were brought onto the project, what did Spiritfarer look like? Was Thunder Lotus already leaning toward a game that explored aspects of love and loss in relation to death, or was it in a more general state?įrom a creative standpoint, the company was still pretty much in the hands of Will Dubé, the CEO and co-founder. There is another spoiler warning further down in the text right before we go into spoilers, but I wanted to give y'all a heads up upfront. We discussed the ending of the game after that. If you still haven't beaten Spiritfarer (which you should- Spiritfarer was one of GameSpot's Best Games Of 2020), don't keep scrolling when you get to the part of the interview where Guérin asks me whether I've beaten the game and I tell him I did. ![]() Now Playing: Spiritfarer - Game Of The Year 2020 NomineeĪs a final note before jumping into the interview, the last question of our conversation goes into spoilers for Spiritfarer. Not only is the boat a space for the spirit animals to live on until they are ready to pass, but it is also the player’s spot to do daily chores and prep for adventures to come, therefore, optimizing the space on the boat is crucial.By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's ![]() ![]() By expanding and upgrading the boat, Stella will have room to build plots of land to grow vegetables and fruits, along with a spot to cook meals and craft items. Spiritfarer does not have a plot of land like some life-sim out right now, but a boat that will help players travel across the map to complete errands for each spirit. Related: Indie Games That Are Impossible To Beat Without A Guide Players will play as a ferrymaster, Stella, whose mission is to help all spirits find peace to move on to the afterlife. It combines befriending animals, talking about the heavy topic of the afterlife, as well as having all the mechanics of fishing, cooking, foraging, and growing food. For the fans who enjoy Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, or Cozy Grove, Spiritfarer is perfect for them.
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