Spirit of the North Reviews
It's visually quite stunning and features a solid but overplayed soundtrack. There are moments of brilliance sprinkled in with an otherwise thoroughly mediocre experience. I wouldn't say I hated my time with Spirit of the North, but I'd certainly have rather spent it elsewhere.
Some players might be put off by Spirit of the North due to how heavily it relies on its players to figure things out, but that’s also its biggest charm.
Spirit of the North almost nails it.
Red fox in mysterious landscapes of Iceland. Sounds good, but gameplay is not very adequate, as well as controls.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Spirit of the North's enchanting journey is magnificent on the Nintendo Switch Lite's screen, as played on for this review, and is even better on a large TV screen. The, at times, challenging game, has collectibles that add to the replay value, and playing as an unlocked snow fox in the snow magnifies the immersion of the game, with levels that beg to be experienced again simply for the fun of enjoying their beauty.
What you should take away from this, then, is that Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition isn’t a great game. I’d even struggle to call it good. It’s overly simple at times, and when the puzzles do ramp up, they quickly become repetitive or let down by the game’s stilted controls. But it’s not all bad. You’ll no doubt enjoy taking in the picturesque scenery and listening to the game’s wonderful soundtrack, and there are some pockets of fun to be found. If you’re after something a little bit different and have a lot of patience, give it a try, especially if you like foxes. If not, steer clear, or maybe pick it up in a sale.
Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is a short adventure game that does a great job of telling an emotional tale without words thanks to some great visual and audio design. The game doesn’t offer much to those who already played it though so unless you really want to play with a couple new skins and better visuals and performance you may want to pass on it. Those who have yet to play it and are looking for a more tranquil experience will likely enjoy exploring these beautiful vistas as a fox for the few hours that it lasts.
Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition is a beautiful remaster of an average game. 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. Add on some frustrating bugs and the lack of meaningful improvements over the last-gen version beyond visuals, and it isn't a must-buy for anyone who has played the original title. It's worth experiencing if you haven't played it before, but you should perhaps wait for a price drop, since the $35 price tag isn't worth it when you can purchase a last-gen copy for $20.
What Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition does, it does well. Essentially, what is on offer here is a beautiful relaxing experience accompanied by a haunting and fitting soundtrack. Occasionally some sort of gameplay element and extremely light puzzling will be experienced, although this is often hampered by janky controls and glitching. The sheer gorgeousness of the world old red inhabits is worthy of admission alone, and the overall style and presentation of the package is what elevates this from "leave well alone" to "give it a lazy Sunday try." If already owning the original release, there's nothing here to justify jumping back in for, but for newcomers looking for something a bit different, certainly consider giving this fox a fumble.
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.
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