Inspired by Zelda: The Simple Charm in Arietta of Spirits

Welcome to another installment of Inspired By Zelda, the series of articles looking at games new and old that take inspiration and create a foundation based on some of the classic Zelda titles we know and love. Our aim is to spotlight the games that Zelda fans might enjoy adding to their catalog. Up today is Arietta of Spirits by developers Third Spirit Games, available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam.

 

While playing Arietta of Spirits, I found myself reminiscing on the early days of PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). Many modern independent titles are so confident and robust as to surpass their inspiration material (see: Metroidvanias), but during that infant stage, indie games often needed to rely on unique presentation to obscure the fact that they were simplistic facsimiles of the game’s they attempted to emulate. Shoestring budgets and a lack of established design principles limited their scope and complexity, and for many developers these were their virgin forays into the industry. Such is the case for Third Spirit Games’ debut release Arietta of Spirits, a Zelda-like adventure game stripped down to the essentials, but with a very compelling foundation.

 

A Surprisingly Somber Story

Arietta of Spirits opens with the titular hero and her parents arriving at her grandmother’s cabin on an unnamed island. As they approach the vacation home, it is clear that this visit takes place under unhappy circumstances. Before long, it’s revealed that this is their first trip to the cabin since the grandmother’s passing. The events of the game take place over the course of this outing, with major progression events sometimes separated by a passing day. On the first evening, Arietta has a disturbing nightmare in which she is attacked by ghostly figures and rescued by Arco, a companion spirit who resembles an otter. After awakening, Arco proves himself to be real, and explains that this was not merely a dream, but a premonition of invasion by evil spirits known as “Roamers”. With Arco as her companion, Arietta sets out to help other friendly spirits, discover the island’s sinister secret, and turn back the Roamer menace.

Fans of Majora’s Mask may see some narrative parallels in Arietta of Spirits. Many of the more amenable spirits are unable to find peace in death, haunted by their lack of fulfillment in life. A cataclysm constantly looms over the events of the game. A major focus is placed on the themes of loss, grief, and acceptance throughout. There’s even a progression of days that change certain scenarios and areas, though these are linear and cannot be returned to. Like in Majora’s Mask, players vacillate between the completion of seemingly mundane tasks, and unraveling the dark mysteries of the world. Characters like Arietta and her parents are arguably even more compelling than those found in the Zelda series, as they exist in a contemporary setting and are more relatable. As someone who isn’t generally too concerned with narrative in video games, I found myself invested in the plight of these characters and wanted to see their arcs resolve.

 

A Link to the (Not So Distant) Past

Most of the comparisons I’ve seen, both before and after Arietta of Spirits‘ release, were to SNES classics like A Link to the Past. However, I got much stronger GBA vibes. The game’s presentation and progression are far more similar to The Minish Cap. Visually, the sprite art evokes that game almost directly, with familiarly oversized heads and prominent eyes. The game is also paced similarly to The Minish Cap (and other Zelda titles of that time). It begins with a heavy dose of dialogue and set up before slowly opening new areas one by one. Typically, either a key item must be found or a critical objective must be completed before another area will become available. Arietta of Spirits is technically an open-world game, but it reveals itself to the player in a linear, incremental fashion.

Combat will also be familiar to The Minish Cap players and for a game with such simple controls, Arietta of Spirits has surprisingly thoughtful enemy encounters. Arietta can attack with her sword, perform a dodge roll, and later gains the ability to generate a forcefield, as damage from endgame enemies is sometimes impossible to avoid and must be blocked. While this limited repertoire may not grant Arietta much flexibility, the enemy designs are varied and often compliment one another. Early enemies like birds and insects have attack patterns that players have seen in a thousand games before, usually just charging directly at Arietta. After a few encounters, they began to be paired with the low-level Roamer enemies. These don’t attack directly, but leave a trail of damaging sludge behind their movements. Coupled with the palpable delay on Arietta’s attacks and dodges, these encounters quickly demand significant thought from the player before committing to actions. On harder difficulties, the bosses epitomize this design philosophy, becoming brutal endurance challenges.

 

Zelda-Like or Zelda-Lite?

The biggest criticism I’ve seen during Arietta of Spirits’ brief existence is that the game doesn’t have enough content to justify its $20 USD price tag. While this is more of a problem with standardized pricing than the game itself, it’s understandable that players want to feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. Arietta of Spirits is undeniably a short, small game. I was able to %100 the game on my first playthrough, without a guide, earning all but one trophy (I played on PlayStation), in about four hours. I then played the game on the unlockable “Extreme” difficulty to wrap up that final trophy, and that took about three hours, but keep in mind that much of that playthrough was spent retrying late game bosses. Finally, I did one last playthrough where I set the text speed to instant and only completed critical objectives. It took barely over an hour.

Arietta of Spirits is also fairly sparse on truly optional content. The sword cannot be upgraded and most of the inventory consists of static, mandatory items. Health upgrades are found exclusively after boss battles and the forcefield can only have its duration improved twice toward the end of the game. While there is a decent amount of collectibles, almost all of them can be found along the game’s primary progression path and very few require significant backtracking. I make a point to mention these shortcomings because it’s only natural for people to compare Arietta of Spirits to the Zelda games it’s so obviously influenced by, the most primitive of which boast more robust optional content than is found here. If you adhere to a “value=hours played/money spent” function, this game will probably feel like it isn’t worth its cost. I’d still recommend trying to get it on sale. As an experience, Arietta of Spirits is an enrapturing tale of pain and affirmation, with a combat system worth taking the time to master on higher difficulties.

 

Hopeful For the Future

The conversation surrounding a video game’s “value” could go on forever, but there’s something very special in Arietta of Spirits that I want to see iterated upon. First attempts are rarely perfect and Third Spirit Games has created a strong foundation to continue building from. Arietta’s journey deserves to see a second chapter (a post-credit sequence suggests that the developer agrees). The content that exists here is all terrific, my only complaint is that I want more. My hope is that fans of Zelda and Zelda-like games play and enjoy Arietta of Spirits. Hopefully, Third Spirit Games will have the opportunity to make a more ambitious follow-up that really feels like Zelda by another name, rather than just the first half of a Zelda game.

Arietta of Spirits was released on August 20, 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (PlayStation 5 compatible), Xbox One, and Steam.

 

Mike Midwood is a writer for ZeldaDungeon. He loves video games, especially the Zelda, Resident Evil, and Dark Souls series. Mike also enjoys horror movies and books, football, and spicy foods.

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