Review: Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition – Stunning Visuals, Decent Gameplay

Review: Spirit of the North

Spirit of the North is an adventure game by Merge Games and Infuse Studio which was originally released last year in November 2019. Spirit of the North is a third-person adventure game that features the journey of a Fox through the beautiful landscapes of Iceland. As you journey through the landscapes, your story is entwined with the guardian of the Northern Lights who happens to be a female fox. This is our review of the Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition on PS5 in which we explore the pretty Icelandic scenery and learn some spirit moves.

In Spirit of the North, you play as a playful fox who is exploring a beautiful world set in the white snowy landscapes of Iceland and is filled with puzzles and Nordic folklore. The game features a very subtle story and is not very evident from the very beginning of the game however Spirit of the North wants you to experience the story on your terms. When you take Spirit of the North and compare it with other similar titles, your best options are Journey and Abzu, both of which are some of the best titles of their times and even today. Spirit of the North follows the same path where the environment and story are entangled, and you must figure it out piece by piece.

Review: Spirit of the North

Your controls are pretty basic in the game. You can jump, sprint, and move around like a fox. You can also swim in the game, but you cannot dive down into the water. From the very beginning of the game, you are on your quest to follow the northern lights in the sky and thus you meet the spirit form of another fox who seems to be guiding your path and opening up different blockades for you. Due to certain circumstances, you become part of the spirit of the fox and thus you are able to get new powers and use this power to open up new paths for yourself.

While the levels in the game appear to be large and open, the progression system is pretty linear and you will normally have a small path leading to the next area. There is minor platforming here and there in the game, but nothing is too different. Your main quest in the game is to open up the path ahead by using the spirit powers and some of the advanced spirit abilities that you continue to unlock for yourself as you progress in the game. These abilities are super-helpful in various tasks apart from simply helping you progress in the main story of the game.

Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition PS5 Gameplay - First 28 Minutes

There are a few extra tasks for you in the game as well such there are different dead shaman bodies lying here and there in hidden areas. If you bring their magic staff to them, you can release their spirits who will thank you and leave the world in peace. Free enough spirits and you will nab some new skins for your fox to wear and travel the world in. Apart from this, there is not much to do in the game. Puzzles involve opening a path with spirit power by inserting the power into obelisks that consume this power. Sometimes they open the path and sometimes they will open up paths to more obelisks before you can actually open up your path and move on with the game.

The gameplay is pretty simple and linear and controlling the fox is not too hard as well. However, when compared to titles like Abzu and Journey, the controls are not as crisp. Sometimes the fox will simply bounce back instead of landing on the platform and sometimes it will just jump on the same spot instead of moving forward where you have your left joystick pushed. These are not game-breaking mechanics, but these could have been better and made crispier to offer a much more immersive experience. These mechanics fall short in the platforming section of the game.

Review: Spirit of the North

For the Enhanced Edition, it comes with a few tricks up its sleeve to make the game prettier and smoother than its previous releases. Starting, you now have a 4K option where you can play the game in 4K. The game certainly looks beautiful in 4K, but it is worth mentioning here that the game still could have looked even prettier as even now, it is not fully utilizing the full potential of the PS5 hardware. We do not have many indie benchmarks on PS5 at this moment, but it looks marginally better than the PS4 versions of Abzu and Journey. Some of the locations in the game look marvelous however some of the places especially inside caves still look like they could have used a little more bling.

Apart from this, from the technical side, despite the PS5’s UI having some bugs here and there, the game ran flawlessly for us at a flat 60 FPS. There were no bugs or visual hiccups in the game, and it ran perfectly. I do not remember a single instance where the game even dropped a little frame even in open areas. There is not much action going on in the game however the few explosions that we do have in the game, looked good and smooth. For a near-launch title on a brand-new U.I., Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition is optimized very well, and it makes the gameplay extremely smooth on the console.

Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition - PS5 - Teaser

Final Verdict:

Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition is a soothing experience set in one of the most beautiful places found on this planet and with the increased visual fidelity of PS5, it has become even more pretty. While I already loved the game, revisiting all of the beautiful sceneries and locations in stunning 4K and exploring the game in silky smooth 60 FPS was indeed the best way to experience this title. It is worth noting here that apart from a few new skins and visual fidelity, there is not much to offer here so if you have already played the game before, you will not be missing much here. However, if still had to play this brilliant adventure, I will recommend that you now experience it on a PS5 console with prettier visuals and smoother frames. While PS5 certainly offers much better power and the game could have been even better on the next-gen console, still, it is the best looking version of the game and if you want to experience it, you can do so on your brand-new PS5 this holiday season.

Final Score: 8.0/10

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About the Author: Umair Khalid

Founder of GamesHedge, Umair enjoys a wide variety of video games ranging from RPGs to racing games. Currently busy with The Crew Motorfest and Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance.

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