Review – Spirit Of The North 2

In 2020, I wrote about the emotional and silent experience of, a game that won me without using dialogues, but with visual and sound sensations. Now, with the launch of the long -awaited Spirit of the North II, return to this etheric universe on an even more ambitious and deeply touching journey.

What was once a tour guided by lush scenarios and accompanied by a brilliant guardian, is now a great crossing of a vast world, open and full of stories buried under the ruins of war. It remains to be seen if all the news adds positively to the universe that was already very well established.

The Journey of Light in a wounded world

This time, the developers of, expanded the map for about ten times: there are six distinct regions. The environment keeps secrets, puzzles and unique elements that enrich the experience. Freedom is huge, and although we can go almost anywhere, understanding and skills will not always follow curiosity – this makes each discovery more significant, but it requires dedication.

You will find dungeons, crypts and submerged regions that reveal more elaborate challenges. These places, more linear and focused on puzzles reward with cosmetics, relics or scrolls that expand the story.

Besides serving as a good counterpoint to the open world. Even the climate cycle affects the environment and its atmosphere, encouraging the return to areas already visited from new perspectives and can also generate good catches in photo mode.

Traditions, memories and spirituality

Spirit of the North II’s mythology is more dense and engaging, although it is still linked to the previous context. The game features a narrative where people worshiped their animal guardians: fox, crow, deer, ram, moon wolf, sun wolf and bear. With Grimnir’s war came the plague, hunger and corruption, where all the guardians and their respective worshipers fell except the fox – our protagonist.

The mission now is to restore these guardians corrupted by the past, and it is not about defeating them, but of saving them. The meetings yield extremely symbolic challenges. In practice we must solve puzzles to conduct the clash, at the same time, it is difficult not to reflect on the scenes that happen. Honestly, it is a simple but powerful communication.

Exploring the northern islands is a contemplative experience, although the absence of clear goals requires attention and patience. Luckily, we have the company of Crow, he who leads us to fulfill this purification prophecy, warning, at a time or other, as to ways to follow.

Once again part of history is written through rock rock arts, finding them guarantees good times of observation and contemplation, as they are very beautiful but also ask for their own understanding. It is worth trying to connect to each of these murals, because discreetly you can even have tips for puzzles or places of interest.

A Fox, many faces

One of the most beautiful additions to the game lies in the diversity of Raposa coats. There are at least 25 styles inspired by real, mythical and legendary species. We even have coats that are the result of a contest promoted by the Infuse Studio developers, directly honoring fans and community artists with two exclusive models. It is a touch that reinforces the team’s care with their fans.

It is worth mentioning that the game has a type of currency represented by crystals and they will be useful in the acquisition of items, such as the new visuals for the Fox, for example. There is also the fature fire, an item that can be used to restore the energy of some places. However, if you perish, your values ​​have stayed in this place – a souls like feature. Although it is easy to rescue what has been lost, it will also be possible to keep your things in a kind of particular deposit.

There are characters that can be found and help our fox on your journey. The raccoon is one of them, he sells cosmetics and runes that give new techniques to the player (besides the beautiful tattoos through the character’s body).

There is also an upgrades tree for the fox and the crow, allowing to improve points such as life, resistance, load capacity, skill time such as planning. These are aspects that will make exploration even more fluid and that instigates to look for a new discovery in each corner as its characters evolve.

Sound, silence and contemplation

Composer Pav Gekko presents a soundtrack that is more than music: it is atmosphere, it follows the landscape, reinforces the mystery and knows when it should give space to silence, transforming the void into contemplation. The sound environment of the game is supernatural and emotional, reinforcing the idea that Raposa’s journey is more about healing than about combat, so there is no difficulty in this regard. It would be even better if there were sounds of the footprints and somehow the breath of our fox.

As in the first game, Spirit of the North II avoids direct messages. He lets you reflect – on the guardians, about the suffering of that world, about the journey of the fox itself. Each player will interpret events in their own way, according to their knowledge and sensibilities, which makes the experience unique and subjective.

Despite its beauty and ambition, the game does not escape some technical stumbles, which are similar to the first title. There are problems of collision with the camera and difficulties in the accuracy of aims to the heels, and sometimes the game crashed for a few minutes when I enable photo mode.

Another curious point was the absence of vibration throughout the journey, fortunately I felt some differences after the release patch. The tactile sensations of the DualSense would make a huge success, given the immersion proposed by the game, perhaps in a future update. And although the PS5 has plenty of potential, transport portals result in loading screens – well it could go straight to the point as in Ratchet and Clank – in another dimension.

Spirit of the North II is not a game to be run or extremely challenging. He is a trip through a silent, beautiful and desolate world, with stories where each guardian calls for understanding rather than judgment. The fox is a symbol of hope, so walking through these lands will be an attempt to heal what was destroyed.

Good thing the technical problems do not prevent a good experience and if the previous story has enchanted me for simplicity, emotion and folklore, it arrested me by vastness and depth. And just like before, I leave this journey with a new reflection on what can (and should) be saved inside and outside the screens.