Spirit of the North 2 Review (namipew)
This game is really cozy and a pure joy to play!
I personally highly recommend it if you enjoy a casual single player experience in a big beautiful world to explore.
The setting and the world is so beautifully created that it's easy to immerse yourself and naturally feel like you want to explore more and more. It often rewards your curiosity too so you want to look around for little rewards, lore scrolls and other secrets.
The game has a very fitting and wonderful soundtrack that helps set the tone for the different areas that you visit. It flows so well with the exploration. Goes from harmonic in the green sunny areas and isolated and uneasy in dark and eerie areas.
The combat is minimal in this game, I don't want to spoil anything in this review, but there is not too many instances where you fight enemies. But the times you do, it's engaging and interesting. I enjoyed it.
The story is being told silently, but it's easy to come to your own conclusion what is going on by looking around, the different areas have lots of silent stories to be told for those that pay attention to detail.
You can choose to engage with it as much or as little as you want which is really nice. For additional lore you can search and find written lore scrolls in the game that tells you a little more without telling you everything, it's still up to you to come to your own conclusion.
NOTE: You don't have to have played Spirit of the North 1 to enjoy this game. But if you played the first game and liked it, you will love this one!
The puzzles in the game aren't generally difficult but they start out being easier and they gradually raises the bar for how creative the solutions are. Often it comes down to just looking around and exploring while paying attention to your surroundings. The different abilities adds a fun way to engage with the world and solve the puzzles. Once you get into the flow of them, it makes it even more enjoyable.
The art style and the graphics are good. And it really makes the world look truly stunning and rich which fits the theme of the game so well. The nature and sky is so pretty at different times of the day. Although the game can be a bit on the heavier side if you have an older machine. Just make sure your system meets minimum requirements for a smooth experience.
The game has some cosmetic items as well as abilities you can find and collect in different ways, Finding them all might need a keen eye!
All in all I would give the game a 10/10.
Because I often find myself just opening the game and just enjoying being in the world, running around and exploring.
Not a lot of games makes me feel like I wanna do that these days. The experience is really calming and immersive!