Spirit of the North Reviews
An oftentimes-gorgeous game whose shifts in gameplay focus make way for a dispiriting experience as time goes on.
At the end of the day, despite the faults of the core gameplay, Spirit of the North is redeemed by the amazing sense of wonder its environments, score, and story deliver. Many of its issues lie on the technical side, and quite a few will be impossible to ignore. But, if you’re able to look past that, you‘ll surely find an experience that you won’t soon forget.
Spirit of the North is a contemplative indie adventure, which tells of a civilization lost through the wonderful lands inspired by Iceland and Nordic folklore. In addition to constant drops in frame-rates, the real sore point is gameplay. From a technical point of view it is impossible to ignore their big inaccuracies, but it would be a shame not to be able to put these problems aside and look beyond. In fact, the game has a lot to offer from other points of view. First of all, let yourself be enchanted by the loving journey of a fox and her friend, through fascinating and evocative landscapes.
Review in Italian | Read full review
GREAT - Despite the indie background, Spirit of the North feels like a master class in atmosphere and just how much you can do with it. Even with some noticeably rough edges, the world we get a glimpse into is beautiful, bold, and begging to be explored.
Sadly the lonely experience of Spirit of the North is only a transparent, albeit beautiful, imitation.
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.
I cannot argue that Spirit of the North isn't a beautiful game on the surface. It is spectacular in certain areas ways and because there are a number of good points, I rate Spirit of the North at a 7 out of 10. The story of the fox and his spirit companion needs a lot more reason to play to keep puzzle aficionados like me interested beyond the first couple of chapters.
Spirit of the North offers a novel and charming adventure, but there were a few too many annoyances to be found within its gameplay to make it essential playing. Whilst the puzzles were clever in design and the environments both stylish and vibrant, the awkward controls and some dull gameplay mechanics just held things back a bit too much. Despite these flaws, I did have fun with Spirit of the North – I just wish that some aspects of its design were a bit more streamlined and accessible to make the experience that bit more enjoyable.
Spirit of the North may have its fair share of flaws, but is ultimately a success in spite of them. In the end it won me over, and will be a game I’ll revisit when I need a warm hug from an old friend.
Spirit of the North is one of those games that had everything to be a good success story. After all, in addition to having an interesting premise and being visually attractive, it is the debut title of a developer with only two people. However, going beyond its appearance, there is a frustrating title, with confusing design, problematic controls and boring missions. The hope is that Infuse Studio will take all the experience gained from this debut title and further improve its development for future games. The graphics technique, apparently, they already have. All that remains is to tighten the loose screws on the gameplay side.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Spirit of the North remains a beautiful but hollow experience on PS5. The 4K 60 frames upgrade is glorious to behold, but the lack of DualSense integration in a game that’s crying out for it and hangups from the last-gen version makes it difficult to recommend.
When it comes to presentation, Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is a treat and a real step up from the other versions of the game. It’s just a shame the visual overhaul doesn’t do much to offset the monotonous gameplay and abundant bugs that plague the experience. I really wish Infuse Studio spent a little more time ironing out the kinks because it would make it easier to recommend the game to more casual players who may not mind the game’s lack of challenge and unimaginative puzzles. Sadly, at least in its current state, Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is a bit like finding yourself trapped in a public bathroom without any toilet paper: it’s a frustrating and lonely situation that you’ll probably want to avoid.
Spirit of the North has moments where it can wow you by its simple beauty and sweeping score, but other moments where it fails to live up to the games it was inspired by.
Generally, I would describe Spirit of the North as a nice and easy, low-pressure game to play. It’s also a great tech demo for next-gen open world games. With the winter coming and indoor time inevitable, I recommend picking this one up.
Aside from the graphical upgrades, there’s not much else new to find here. If you’re hoping for great use of PS5’s unique UI and controller, this is absolutely not a showcase title for that. But if you’re interested in a PS5 game on the cheaper end of the scale that will leave you with some lasting memories, Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition will certainly tug those heartstrings, occasionally tax the gray matter, and even give you a few reasons to smile.
Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition takes cues from other adventure games like Journey, but it doesn’t offer the same level of replayability. However, it does have a super cute fox.
Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is a relaxing, atmospheric adventure title that benefits from a gorgeous visual style and musical score. In terms of content and gameplay, it doesn’t offer up a lot of depth, but what is here provides a worthwhile distraction for those looking for a slightly slower paced adventure game.
Spirit of the North is a work of excellent quality, which is worth playing on both PS4 and PS5. Its Enhanced Edition is an excellent opportunity to enjoy the gaming experience on next gen, and in addition to giving credit to the work of the developers, it greatly improves practically every part of the adventure, with particular results in the graphics sector. The goal is therefore centered and whether it is your first trip, whether it is the umpteenth time that you find yourself traveling through the snow-capped mountains, Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is an opportunity to be seized immediately, and now everyone has the possibility to do it on next gen thanks to the work of Infuse Studio. The mountains will be cold and the valleys will be lonely, but following the fox is a great way to make sense of the journey.
Review in Italian | Read full review
When I go to PAX I tend to book my days to the brim with appointments but that doesn't mean I lose the opportunity to uncover some additional gems along the way...
Spirit of the North may have been a noteworthy game if it released a decade prior but it's far too uninspired in today's gaming market.