...to me.

I was scared to replay it. I wanted to, but something just... scared me. It wasn't just the emotional aspect of it, but it was something else, too. This is a game about goodbyes, death, life, living and losing, but above all it's about how death is forever. How, once someone dies, all you have is the memory of them. I was scared to replay it for that reason, under the logic of "if death is permanent, why start a new save and bring everyone back?" After all, it's not permanent when I can just... bring them back via doing a new playthrough.

I'm making this post as almost a PSA, and to see if others agree, that replaying it actually further emphasized the message. The message only gets strengthened. If you're wondering if you should do a second playthrough, do it.

The very second I stepped foot onto the boat... I wasn't reviving anyone via a new save file.

I was revisiting memories.

Not to get too personal, but I've lost family. When they were gone, I'd relive the memories I had with them, and I still do to this day. Replaying Spiritfarer... feels so much like that. Gwen and all the other spirits have reached the Everdoor/died. Even if I ever erase that save file, the fact they still died remains the same. They died.

While I am playing Spiritfarer differently on account of I know the story, it never escapes the fact that they are dead. In my first ever playthrough, they went to the Everdoor, and while they aren't there yet in this current playthrough, it never stops feeling like I'm merely reliving a memory and maybe imagining what I'd do differently had I known when and how they die (especially with Atul's death).

I find myself mourning what's coming up, akin to how I mourn when I remember the moments before members of my family passed away. I mourn the loss of Gwen even when she's here. Hearing Summer talk about the dragon, knowing what the dragon truly is, stings. Knowing Atul's love of family and food makes it hard for me to even accept his request for popcorn knowing what it means for him and me. Hearing Alice talk and making new memories, while I know her condition brings a new emotional experience all its own.

This is probably the first game that feels like the first time I play it when I play it for a second time, while not changing the gameplay. There's no pacifist or neutral or genocide route like Undertale to transform the game. Spiritfarer is the same game. It's always the same game, but playing it a second time is still just as new as the first.

Tl;dr: play the game a second time. It's so different in a good way the second time around.