Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition

Another rare serious review from me....I played spiritfarer on console, but I'd like to write another review for steam since it is one of my favourite games of all time. I'll try to make it as spoiler free as possible. How do you let go? How long should you cling to your past? These are all the questions that are present in spiritfarer. The game starts off simple, a management sim where you house spirits that still linger in the world. You learn their favourite foods, what they like, what they hate, their hobbies, and their pasts. Slowly but surely, you come to learn all about these spirits. Who they were when they were still alive, what caused them to be the way they are, and you start seeing them not only as your passengers, but companions you care about (execpt for one character i hate you). I've come to love every character (except one) in this game. Even characters that I initially hate, or have really difficult demands/annoy my other passengers, their stories always make me cry in the end. The way this game delivers the character development makes me feel personally attached to them. As heartwarming this game is, it's also incredibly bittersweet and melancholic. The theme of death is the main focus that looms over the entire game. Death is inevitable, death can be sudden, and death can be beautiful. There are things that the characters cannot let go of, there are things that me and you, the one reading this, cannot let go of. But throughout our lives, we learn that we cannot hold on to these lingering ties forever, and sooner or later we'd all have to let go the things that hold us down. Whether by resolving a regret, or coming to terms with something you've trapped in the back of your mind. The game depicts the characters with lingering wishes even after death, so what is true death? When does it end? And is it worth hanging on, just to exist for the purpose of existing? Spoilers: sometimes I didn't even want to send off certain characters because I just wanted to spend more time with them. Talk to them more, feel their presence in my ship. But at the same time, it's cruel to let them stay when they're ready to leave you know? Seeing their empty rooms with their signature flowers always made me so sad. Reminiscing the times when they were still on my ship, doing their signature activities. But it also makes me so incredibly happy knowing they're finally at peace, their light forever shining in my sky. Especially Stanley...I wanted to keep seeing him jump around, excited to show my his drawings. But overall, please please please play this game. It changed my perspective on life and death, and made me realize what I need to do to find peace with myself. It make me realize how to let go, and not hold on to things that are futile to hold onto. It made me realize that goodbyes are not always painful. Thank you for teaching me how to say goodbye.