Throughout the game, there are murals that give the player insight into what happened in the past that made the world around them the way that it is. It was a lot of trial and error on the level design side of things and just the visual style in general. What’s the process been like to get that aspect of the experience just right? Having backgrounds as Game Environment Artists we were naturally drawn to this style of game and wanted to create something of our own.Įnvironmental storytelling can be hard to nail down, especially when a game relies on it as absolutely as Spirit of the North seems to be doing. We were big fans of Journey, Abzu, and Rime for how they could capture people’s interest without ever having any dialogue. When Taylor and I first started seriously thinking about making our own game we knew right away we wanted something that people would remember but something that was actually possible for us as a small team of two to create. Having backgrounds as Game Environment Artists we were naturally drawn to this style of game and wanted to create something of our own."ĭid you look at any similar games for inspiration while developing Spirit of the North? From what I’m able to sense, the game does seem to evoke games like Journey in style and tone. "We were big fans of Journey, Abzu, and Rime for how they could capture people’s interest without ever having any dialogue. We recently sent across some of our most burning questions about the game to the developers, hoping to learn more about the game, its goals, some of its mechanics, and its development process, and our conversation with Infuse Studio’s Jacob Sutton revealed some interesting stuff. Infuse Studio – a team of two developers with a passion for such games – are taking a crack at that space themselves, and their upcoming PS4 title Spirit of the North is looking like an interesting prospect. For me, the game just wasn’t memorable enough.Narrative-driven adventure titles that lean more toward a thoughtful meditative experience have really emerged as a major sub-genre in the industry in recent years- and it’s a good thing, too, because it’s a space in the market that keeps on delivering. If, however, you are looking for a beautiful atmospheric puzzler that isn’t too difficult you might want to check it out. 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. So, while the scenery is spot on, it just dragged on too much for me. And to meanwhile enjoy the surroundings and the wonderful places you travel through. The aim of the game is getting from place A to place B, while doing a few things on the side. I like the fact it’s simple, it reminded me of Journey and Abzu. I found Spirit of the North to be quite simple and I think that’s intentionally. The combination makes for a good, calming time spent playing Spirit of the North. The music is soothing accompanying you on your journey. The different areas are very well designed. Because of the lack of dialogue it makes you feel like your fox is all alone in this strange world. The graphics of the game are stunning, even with the lower resolution on the Switch, it is so beautiful. At various points you find the remains of 28 hidden Shamans, long ago deceased, that you aid in bringing closure to their lives. ![]() You gain new powers as you continue, as to what, I’ll let you find out for yourself. ![]() 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. 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. The game opens up when you meet your spirit friend. 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. This means it takes awhile to transverse such a large landscape. You can run and jump to start with but most noticeable, the fox is quite slow. ![]() GameplayĪfter 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. As you journey over the mountains and under red-stained skies, you’ll discover more about your companion and a land left in ruin. 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. Review code used, with many thanks to Merge Games! System: Nintendo Switch (also on PS4 and PC)ĭeveloper|Publisher: Infuse Studio | Merge Games
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