Anyone else emotionally damaged by this game?

[PillarOfSaltShakers]

I'm only about halfway through, but I just now realized what this game is.

Your job is to find people, house them, feed them, run errands for them, listen to their stories, then be with them while they die.

You're a hospice worker.

You do everything for these people, and your reward is... they leave you. I realized this while helping Alice walk to the boat to take her to the next life. I'm not sure my heart can take another one.

[SirPhoen1x]

Think more of... the reward is gratification. You are helping people through the toughest times. You allow them to leave happily and without (most) regrets. They are so glad you are helping them. You do not need a physical reward but how you made their life more peaceful.

[PillarOfSaltShakers]

Originally posted by Phoen1x:

Think more of... the reward is gratification. You are helping people through the toughest times. You allow them to leave happily and without (most) regrets. They are so glad you are helping them. You do not need a physical reward but how you made their life more peaceful.

It honestly makes me feel a little guilty when I use the flowers they leave behind to upgrade my ship.

[Uta]

Another character says something to you at the everdoor that stuck with me: the greatest lesson they can give is that everything must change. Everything must end. Even Stella will go through the door someday.

There's another way to look at it as well. I've only helped 3 to the door, but in these three you're not just standing by their bedside, you're helping them process the memories and emotions that are holding them back. A a passive Therapist as well as a hospice worker, in some ways.

Some spirits seem to be just living their lives in this liminal world, but others seem... stuck. Waiting for something, or running from the end until you help them work through their issues. For this reason i'm not really thinking of the world of the game as the true afterlife but more of a waystation for people who are not ready to move on yet. I don't think the everdoor is truly the end as Charon said, but the passage to the next place whatever that might be. And perhaps those that are living full lives here are people who's baggage is that they didn't get to live a normal life on earth.

Alice doesn't start with dementia. She only gets lost in memories after having her last adventure. After fulfilling her baggage and starting to let go.

But yes, it's horribly sad. Every time I plant a coffee plant it reminds me of how I miss the character that loves coffee.

[‽]

I was emotionally damaged by Jackie verbally abusing you, and physically & mebtally abusing Daria, only to have to say goodbye to Daria and welcome him onboard.

I replayed the game 3 times before thr Jackie update. Promptly uninstalled.

[brian]

Originally posted by ‽:

I was emotionally damaged by Jackie verbally abusing you, and physically & mebtally abusing Daria, only to have to say goodbye to Daria and welcome him onboard.

I replayed the game 3 times before thr Jackie update. Promptly uninstalled.

i didn't think of it that way, but i get why you would uninstall it for that

to summarize: he's broken and trying to help someone who's broken, but he sees it as just a job he got when he was desperate for work and the hospital was desperate for help. something i heard in therapy once was that hurt people hurt people, and that feels especially relevant with him

jackie recognizes that he's really troubled, and he hates himself for it
he keeps lying to stella about his childhood being bad, and blaming why he is the way he is on his upbringing, then admits that he made it up to escape accountability
just like elena, people like this exist irl, and in a lot of cases they don't own up to their mistakes the way jackie does

if jackie was an a-hole all the time, he'd suck as a character, but he helps out on the boat and other passengers that hated his attitude at first ended up liking that he helped them

tl;dr he's messed up, but he's self aware, and that makes him special imo

[AugustsEve]

Your reward is getting all these whiny folks who keep eating all your food off your damn boat so you can finally have some peace yourself!

[So Cal Old Man]

I mean if driving two old people around for a few weeks means you get to trade their whatever-the-hell to be able to double jump it's a good deal

[BlackWater]

While I really like the game, I get what your saying, it doesn't help when you have to reflect on the loss of parents, a beloved pet, your partner, etc.

[rmsgrey]

Originally posted by BlackWater:

While I really like the game, I get what your saying, it doesn't help when you have to reflect on the loss of parents, a beloved pet, your partner, etc.

This varies from person to person - some people (but far from all) report that the game helped them process bereavements.

[BlackWater]

Originally posted by rmsgrey:

Originally posted by BlackWater:

While I really like the game, I get what your saying, it doesn't help when you have to reflect on the loss of parents, a beloved pet, your partner, etc.

This varies from person to person - some people (but far from all) report that the game helped them process bereavements.

Right, I'm not saying i hate the game because of this, far from it, i wouldn't put myself through these reflections on real life if i didn't enjoy the game. Hardest part for me atm is whenever I notice Daffodil playing or meowing, makes me think of a cat we just had to put to sleep last Thursday. It got so bad I had to quit and switch to prey just to take my mind off it for awhile. But I'm the one playing Spiritfarer so thats on me.

[Katzenspiel Solutions]

The game was gorgeous and the ending was so very sweet.

[SOUS CHEF HELLDAVE]

Originally posted by rmsgrey:

Originally posted by BlackWater:

While I really like the game, I get what your saying, it doesn't help when you have to reflect on the loss of parents, a beloved pet, your partner, etc.

This varies from person to person - some people (but far from all) report that the game helped them process bereavements.

I've dealt with some amount of loss in my life that I thought I took well, and this game made me realize I didnt take it well and needed to process some stuff I've been putting off.

[Averagedog]

This game made me realize I have far more in common with Giovanni and Atul than I previously thought, not because I did anything that they did to other people, but because I am deeply flawed, afraid, and not ready for the end. I am also getting a strong indicator of what this game actually is... and I'm not sure if I can go through with it either. It also destroyed any hopes of a sequel game to Spiritfarer even though the world seemed so interesting to me.