In 2016, I played a little video game called Journey for the first time. Not knowing what to expect other than it being voted as one of PlayStation 3's best games, I had high expectations for this unassuming indie game. Little did I know it would go on to almost change my life, and give me an entirely new perspective on the impact and sheer brilliance of the indie gaming world. Sure, we've had games like Abzu come along to carry the mantle, but for the most part, Journey always remained the magnum opus of its own unique style. Spirit of the North from Infuse dares to replicate the same minimalist style introduced in Journey, and while it doesn't quite hit all those same high notes, there's still plenty of wonder and beauty to behold.



Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition puts us in the role of a red fox with the backdrop of Nordic folklore. Right off the bat, the setting alone caught my attention. Using this mythical template as a means of transporting us to an imaginative world steeped in real-world folklore was a smart choice, especially considering how rich and dense Icelandic folklore is. Set in Iceland, you explore a detailed world filled to the brim with creativity and some of the most breathtaking vistas I've seen in an indie game. You'll be taken on an adventure with The Guardian of the Northern Lights, a spirit fox with a backstory that slowly unravels as you explore the ruined land.

It's easy to lose interest in the story when it becomes so intentionally vague for dramatic effect...

As far as story goes, Spirit of the North is a show and don't tell affair. Much of its story and narrative is driven forward by its visuals, whether they're environmental or told via shrines and clever puzzles integrated into the world. Most of your time is actually spent exploring and interacting with your canine friend as they guide you to places of importance. It's easy to lose interest in the story when it becomes so intentionally vague for dramatic effect, especially during its earlier portions when you're given little to no context and are kind of just thrust headfirst into the world. It doesn't hold your hand, which is a double-edged sword as it rewards the attentive player, but alienates those who want a little more linearity in their narrative.



To make the obvious comparisons about its world design, yes, it has a lot of striking similarities to Death Stranding. Then again, Kojima Productions' epic world is also largely modelled after Iceland too, but I couldn't help but notice the similarities to the point where it almost felt like an inspired indie replica of Death Stranding... with a fox. Granted you'll be doing a lot less box-lifting, but the sense of wonder and exploration in Iceland's eerie and mystical landscape is compelling, creating a truly magical experience. Since this isn't a AAA title like Kojima's game, the visuals are far more tamed but nonetheless well-realized when it comes to the world design. Fans of Death Stranding will immediately find these landscapes familiar, but at the same time, Spirit of the North does enough to distinguish itself as its own entity.



Exploration is wonderful and the visuals are often jaw-dropping, but Spirit of the North also fails to keep your attention for stretches of time. Your objectives are never completely clear-cut, so you'll be doing a lot of wandering or following the spirit fox to figure out your next course of action. These paths will often lead you to distant points of interest or environmental puzzles to solve, but they seldom feel like they're a natural part of the world. Instead, it's laid out in a bizarrely checkbox-styled list of points that you need to visit, uncover the mystery behind the location, make sense of its vague story, rinse and repeat. Unlike Journey's more focused and simplistic narrative - with a clear beginning-to-end path to drive along the story - Spirit of the North shades its more interesting story beats behind a shroud of ambiguity. It can leave you feeling exhausted and confused, especially if you aren't paying full attention to all that it has to offer.



That said, I was able to digest a good portion of what Spirit of the North offered in terms of narrative. It just occasionally slips when you're tasked with zooming from one point to another with no sense of each location linking into the next, unless you really stop to think about it. It finally clicked after a few hours: Spirit of the North isn't meant to be a story-heavy game or one that aims to surprise you with one revelation after the next. Instead, it's a meditative, relaxing experience that takes its time guiding you across its wondrous landscapes. Some might find this to their liking, but it also creates the problem of not really having much beneath the surface, both narratively and gameplay-wise.

...it's a meditative, relaxing experience that takes its time guiding you across its wondrous landscapes.

Spirit of the North's Enhanced Edition on PlayStation 5 doesn't do much to justify its existence, sadly. There's little attempt to integrate the DualSense controller's best features, and apart from fast loading times (which also happen on the PS4 version), there's not much "enhancing" actually going on. It's a game best experienced on PS5 if it's your first time, but beyond that, if you've played it on PS4 already, you won't find a compelling reason to revisit the experience on PS5.



Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition echoes some elements of Journey and Abzu successfully, while struggling to contextualize its often vague and ambiguous narrative. There's plenty of wonder and scenic beauty to find in the game's world design, but it comes at the expense of much excitement. The Nordic folklore serves as a great way to get invested in its mythical aspects, and much of it will make sense to you if you're familiar with your legends. Overall, Spirit of the North is beautiful, relaxing, and boasts an incredibly immersive world, but stumbles trying to keep you engaged between its loosely interwoven story moments and par-for-the-course gameplay.

*PS5 Review code provided by Infuse Studio