Infuse studio has partnered with publisher Merge games (publisher of Sparklite) to bring the puzzle adventure game Spirit of the North to Nintendo Switch and PC in spring 2020. You play as a fox which has been popular in the world of indies recently with games such as lost ember releasing(coming to switch in 2020 according to nintendo smash). The focus is very much on the landscapes and the player’s exploration through them and from the trailers it looks like a lot of effort has gone into bringing both beauty and variety to the environments.
The game was previously self-published by Infuse in november last year on the PS4 for the price of $24.99. On the playstation store page now it can be purchased for £16.99 which is just over $22. According to the page the game is only in english, has a 16GB minimum save size and supports the dualshock controllers vibrations. It will be interesting if in this new edition they decide to take advantage of the Switch’s (but not Switch Lite’s) HD rumble feature. One would hope that the save size is optimised somewhat for the switch edition because if not it wil take up half the default 32GB storage.
Tayler Christensen, one of the game’s creators, said on the PS4 page: “The mellow pace of the game is intended to encourage players to slow down and ponder their environments. Only then can they come to understand their spirit companion and discover their own purpose in the mysteries of the past.” The trailer certainly supports this as you can see below.
I’m always one for game music so I’m excited for the 14 original compositions we’ll get to listen to while on our travels. In terms of story you follow a ghostly fox and learn, presumably from the environment, about an ancient civilisation which is now in ruins. Most players of the PS4 version said the length was around 3-4 hours.
The PS4 version received slighlt over 4.5 stars from 196 ratings on the playstation store as well as a generally favourable user score of 8.1 on metacritic. The game’s critic reviews were more disappointing on metacritic at only 67 with reviewers citing clumsy controls and repetitive puzzles. It will be interesting if they manage to sort out the controls for the switch edition of the game.
Overall this game is looking visually great and as long as they iron out a few glitches and control problems (this is Infuse‘s first game) Spirit of the North should make a great addition to any Switch library.
