Saying I'm not a big fan of metroidvania games is a bit of an understatement; I've just never really been fond of being lost and confused, as well as trying to navigate this large map that seems almost endless. But that's where Ori surprised me, it has all of these qualities, yet I still enjoyed the hell out of it.
The story was nothing special to be completely honest; it was cute and heartwarming seeing the "friends forever," type of ending, but that's about all I could take away from it. The gameplay on the other-hand? Phenomenal. Getting all the upgrades to your arsenal is one thing, but using them in the game and challenging your platforming abilities throughout the entire journey was super rewarding. It felt like there was no power-up that went unused.
There were some, hiccups though to say the least. Or hiccup if you want to be precise. There's a ton of trial and error in some parts which can be exceedingly frustrating, even the fast respawns couldn't save me from getting a little hotheaded at times. This trial and error gameplay is especially bad in the "escape" sections, which I won't go into too much detail about considering it could be delving into spoilers; but it's a timed escape section which is the bane of my existence.
And last but not least, the world. Now as I said at the beginning, I'm not a fan of getting lost or not knowing where to go, but in Ori it felt like the world was just waiting to be explored. It benefited in many ways as well, rewarding you with health upgrades, ability points (which I'm not gonna talk about the abilities that you can unlock cause they're not too special), and upgrades to the little blue ball things that are right next to your health that help you save your game and use a powerful AOE explosion attack.
Overall, Ori was a BEAUTIFUL game to witness and I highly recommend purchasing it if you're even the slightest bit interested; especially because it's marked down to $5 permanently on steam which is a steal. Persevere through the difficulty and the slight hiccups at times and you'll experience a magnificent and well crafted game that'll keep you entertained.
The story was nothing special to be completely honest; it was cute and heartwarming seeing the "friends forever," type of ending, but that's about all I could take away from it. The gameplay on the other-hand? Phenomenal. Getting all the upgrades to your arsenal is one thing, but using them in the game and challenging your platforming abilities throughout the entire journey was super rewarding. It felt like there was no power-up that went unused.
There were some, hiccups though to say the least. Or hiccup if you want to be precise. There's a ton of trial and error in some parts which can be exceedingly frustrating, even the fast respawns couldn't save me from getting a little hotheaded at times. This trial and error gameplay is especially bad in the "escape" sections, which I won't go into too much detail about considering it could be delving into spoilers; but it's a timed escape section which is the bane of my existence.
And last but not least, the world. Now as I said at the beginning, I'm not a fan of getting lost or not knowing where to go, but in Ori it felt like the world was just waiting to be explored. It benefited in many ways as well, rewarding you with health upgrades, ability points (which I'm not gonna talk about the abilities that you can unlock cause they're not too special), and upgrades to the little blue ball things that are right next to your health that help you save your game and use a powerful AOE explosion attack.
Overall, Ori was a BEAUTIFUL game to witness and I highly recommend purchasing it if you're even the slightest bit interested; especially because it's marked down to $5 permanently on steam which is a steal. Persevere through the difficulty and the slight hiccups at times and you'll experience a magnificent and well crafted game that'll keep you entertained.
Reviewed on Feb 12, 2021