izigame.me

Ignore the playtime. My old laptop was a potato. I have it on PS4, I have it on Switch, and it's very likely my favorite game of all time. I've played this game. And apologies for the following wall of text. tl;dr: It's good. Buy it.
Let's get into the basics: Spiritfarer is, at its core, a game about service. Where most management/life sims are about the accumulation of more and better and bigger, the general end result of all that effort is money. You don't need to put your veggies in preserve jars in Stardew, but you have an entire basement filled wall to wall with preserve jars anyway, because you get more money that way. Spiritfarer approaches things completely differently.
You don't build the mill because flour is worth more money. You build the mill because someone said their favorite food was a type of pie and it's the easiest way to get flour. You don't feed your passengers because you're punished otherwise, you do it to make them happy. You hug them, and listen to their troubles, and build them homes and places to work and play, because the point of the game is service. There is no tangible benefit to doing something if it's not going to make one of your passengers happy. You can stick to selling the valuables you find that are meant for selling. You can even grow valuables in your garden, if you like. But you will likely never feel any pressure to grind for money; rather, it serves more as a measure of time played for upgrade rollout purposes, and I completely forgot there was even a currency system near the end of my first playthrough.
Here's the bad: This may sound like there's not a lot of things to do. On the contrary, it's easy to get overwhelmed. My typical day early game consists of waking up, watering all the plants and replanting, gathering food from the kitchen and setting the next meal in the oven, shearing the sheep, passing out food and hugs to all my passengers, realizing it's the late afternoon and I forgot to set a destination and have been sitting idle, plotting a course to my next destination only to veer into some rainfall so my plants will get watered overnight. I didn't reach my destination. I didn't move the story forward, or accomplish anything of note. And it took a lot of effort to not accomplish these things.
In most life sims, this would absolutely drive me nuts. But in Spiritfarer, I actually succeeded that day. All my passengers were fed and happy. Job done. Some people may not like the lack of a tangible reward from this kind of gameplay loop, but generally the drive to see the passengers happy will keep the player moving forward. The endgame can become something of a drag as a result though; for reasons that become apparent once you begin understanding the story, the later passengers just aren't as enjoyable as the early ones. As a result, I found myself at the end having missed two spirits, neither of whom I liked in the least, and running across the map not really enjoying their company while I finished up my completionist needs. The end of the game is beautiful; but the endgame, depending on who's left on your boat, can feel like a grind.
Now the good: The music is beautiful. The characters are well-written, with a surprising amount of depth behind the game's lore. The progression path is simple, easy to understand, and sufficient to drive the player forward. The emotional moments vary from neutral to profound. One of these spirits will remind you of someone you've known and lost, and that spirit will break your heart. The gameplay is solid, with a wide variety of things to do, places to explore, skills to unlock. And due to the nature of the game, it will always have replay value so you can hang with your favorite spirits again.
And it's good hanging with them. Interactions aren't in-depth, but you have just enough daily activities to deal with that you don't really find yourself wishing for more. Sidequests are generally enjoyable, with a dry and simple tongue in cheek sense of humor that never feels inconsistent with the tone of the game. There is no combat, and no failure condition, but that lack of stress over dying is made up for by the constant need for new materials, meals, ingredients, fish, ores, lumber, berries, spirit activities, and all the work that goes into service.
The game has co-op, and is Remote Play compatible. One player will control Stella and can do everything that can be done in singleplayer. The co-op partner will control Stella's cat, and can work the foundry, sawmill, kitchen, loom, etc.; but cannot advance the story or talk to NPC's. It's an awkward experience for two people who are both new to the game, but an experienced Daffodil helping a first playthrough Stella can significantly reduce the amount of game time spent on things like lumber, planting, and smelting. In a sense, Daffodil's player is simply adding onto the game's overall theme, providing yet another layer of service.
I want more games like this. Games where being good consists of doing good. Where the end goal is a better, happier world, achieved through something other than exploding the bad angry people. Where we can be proud of being unproductive because it made our virtual friends happy, and where the generation of happiness in and of itself is the thing which makes us feel good. This game is not perfect, but I will love it to the Everdoor and beyond.