There were two things I knew about Ori and the Blind Forest when I booted the game up for the first time: (1) it had been compared to Hollow Knight despite the fact that it was released two years prior and (2) the main character was a white rabbit-esque creature named Ori. Everything else about the game - the mechanics, the story, the lore, the crushing difficulty - I learned during this first playthrough, and I was completely unprepared.
Ori and the Blind Forest is a Metroidvania released in 2015 for Windows and Xbox One and later in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. Developed by Moon Studios, the game tells the story of the titular character Ori, a guardian spirit of the Nibel forest, who fell from the Spirit Tree during a terrible storm as a newborn. Ori is fortunately adopted by a creature named Naru, who raises the spirit as her own. A cataclysmic event, however, soon causes Nibel to wither and die, leaving Ori to save it from impending doom by recovering the light of three main elements: Waters, Winds, and Warmth. To complete this task the player takes control of Ori and must jump, climb, bounce, bolt, and dash their way around the game's treacherous and unforgiving world avoiding boiling acid, incendiary lava, falling debris, crumbling bridges, sharp spikes, and other deadly hazards. To combat enemies, break obstacles, discover secrets, and fully explore the forest of Nibel, player’s must find, unlock, and master an assortment of abilities like the Spirit Flame, Charge Flame, Bash, Stomp, and Light Burst. Along the way, the player can also discover health cells and energy cells to upgrade Ori’s health and abilities to make this difficult game less of a challenge.
As for my time with Ori and the Blind Forest, I couldn’t have been more pleased. The art style of the game is impeccable; the story is tear jerking and beautiful; the gameplay is fluid, intuitive and constantly evolving with each new ability; and the character designs and the forest of Nibel as a whole are unique. While I could spend several more paragraphs gushing over the positives of this game, there are few gripes that keep Ori and the Blind Forest from achieving a perfect 5 out of 5. First, while the game world and backgrounds therein are expertly crafted, they may just be slightly too perfect. What I mean by this is that several times throughout the game it is near impossible to tell what is a platform to land on and what is part of the background. In a game heavily dependent on expert platforming, this small issue can have huge downsides. Second, Ori’s movement is a tad too floaty for my liking. I obviously got over this during my playthrough, but, again, in a platform heavy title it is incredibly important to be able to adequately gauge the length of a character’s jump. When that character’s jump has an unknown weightlessness to it, however, any estimations of where you may land after any given button press is near impossible. Third, while not something I really knock off any points for, it’s important to state just how difficult and unforgiving Ori and the Blind Forest can be. One wrong button press, one slightly off the mark jump, one misjudged landing, or one unavoided enemy attack can immediately lead to a death. While this typically wouldn’t be an issue with modern auto-save features, Ori and the Blind Forest takes a different approach to save mechanics. Where most modern games auto-save a player’s progress at certain checkpoints or after certain actions are taken, Ori demands that the player manually save their game by holding down a button. While this feature does allow a player to save nearly anywhere, it can also inadvertently lead to several minutes lost of game time. This loss of progress is, of course, the player’s fault for failing to save, but in such a fast paced game as Ori and the Blind Forest, stopping mid adventure to save seems nearly counterintuitive. I bring this up alongside the discussion of difficulty and not as its own negative because I believe the difficulty and the saving feature go hand in hand. A difficult section, boss fight, or escape sequence encountered after several minutes of carefree and saveless gameplay can lead to a slew of lost progress. Therefore the difficulty and the save feature inadvertently causes players to lose progress that a modern auto-save feature in the most difficult of games would have saved them.
Despite the negatives listed here, it should go without saying that Ori and the Blind Forest is a fantastic game. I hope these negatives don’t put anyone off from experiencing this game, as it is truly one not to miss. From the adventurous story and beautifully detailed worlds, to the deadly and crushing obstacles, enemies, and overall difficulty, Ori and the Blind Forest is a masterclass in video game storytelling and design. I can’t wait to try the sequel.
Ori and the Blind Forest is a Metroidvania released in 2015 for Windows and Xbox One and later in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. Developed by Moon Studios, the game tells the story of the titular character Ori, a guardian spirit of the Nibel forest, who fell from the Spirit Tree during a terrible storm as a newborn. Ori is fortunately adopted by a creature named Naru, who raises the spirit as her own. A cataclysmic event, however, soon causes Nibel to wither and die, leaving Ori to save it from impending doom by recovering the light of three main elements: Waters, Winds, and Warmth. To complete this task the player takes control of Ori and must jump, climb, bounce, bolt, and dash their way around the game's treacherous and unforgiving world avoiding boiling acid, incendiary lava, falling debris, crumbling bridges, sharp spikes, and other deadly hazards. To combat enemies, break obstacles, discover secrets, and fully explore the forest of Nibel, player’s must find, unlock, and master an assortment of abilities like the Spirit Flame, Charge Flame, Bash, Stomp, and Light Burst. Along the way, the player can also discover health cells and energy cells to upgrade Ori’s health and abilities to make this difficult game less of a challenge.
As for my time with Ori and the Blind Forest, I couldn’t have been more pleased. The art style of the game is impeccable; the story is tear jerking and beautiful; the gameplay is fluid, intuitive and constantly evolving with each new ability; and the character designs and the forest of Nibel as a whole are unique. While I could spend several more paragraphs gushing over the positives of this game, there are few gripes that keep Ori and the Blind Forest from achieving a perfect 5 out of 5. First, while the game world and backgrounds therein are expertly crafted, they may just be slightly too perfect. What I mean by this is that several times throughout the game it is near impossible to tell what is a platform to land on and what is part of the background. In a game heavily dependent on expert platforming, this small issue can have huge downsides. Second, Ori’s movement is a tad too floaty for my liking. I obviously got over this during my playthrough, but, again, in a platform heavy title it is incredibly important to be able to adequately gauge the length of a character’s jump. When that character’s jump has an unknown weightlessness to it, however, any estimations of where you may land after any given button press is near impossible. Third, while not something I really knock off any points for, it’s important to state just how difficult and unforgiving Ori and the Blind Forest can be. One wrong button press, one slightly off the mark jump, one misjudged landing, or one unavoided enemy attack can immediately lead to a death. While this typically wouldn’t be an issue with modern auto-save features, Ori and the Blind Forest takes a different approach to save mechanics. Where most modern games auto-save a player’s progress at certain checkpoints or after certain actions are taken, Ori demands that the player manually save their game by holding down a button. While this feature does allow a player to save nearly anywhere, it can also inadvertently lead to several minutes lost of game time. This loss of progress is, of course, the player’s fault for failing to save, but in such a fast paced game as Ori and the Blind Forest, stopping mid adventure to save seems nearly counterintuitive. I bring this up alongside the discussion of difficulty and not as its own negative because I believe the difficulty and the saving feature go hand in hand. A difficult section, boss fight, or escape sequence encountered after several minutes of carefree and saveless gameplay can lead to a slew of lost progress. Therefore the difficulty and the save feature inadvertently causes players to lose progress that a modern auto-save feature in the most difficult of games would have saved them.
Despite the negatives listed here, it should go without saying that Ori and the Blind Forest is a fantastic game. I hope these negatives don’t put anyone off from experiencing this game, as it is truly one not to miss. From the adventurous story and beautifully detailed worlds, to the deadly and crushing obstacles, enemies, and overall difficulty, Ori and the Blind Forest is a masterclass in video game storytelling and design. I can’t wait to try the sequel.