Excellent, inventive gameplay! One of the most satisfying and unique puzzle games I’ve played in a while! Beautiful, stylized graphics reminiscent of M. C. Escher’s art. My only complaints are the unnecessary stealth sections which rather than breaking up the puzzle sections of the game with some variety, manage to dominate the game when present. At times they require a frustrating level of precision, and they almost always involve an annoying amount of waiting. Additionally the characters slow walk speed combined with the size of some these environments makes backtracking feel pretty tedious, especially once the novelty of the aesthetics has worn off. However, these flaws weren’t enough to bring down the experience for me, and this game is a masterpiece in my eyes. The simple story of the game felt pretty impactful by the I reached its conclusion, I think the way it seeded its themes throughout the game helped the climax feel natural and earned.

Not sure what can be said about this game that hasn’t already been said, but I’ll try.

This game is an absolute masterpiece, a perfect example of both the genre and the entire medium. This is a Pixar-level of quality adapted to a game. Not only is the story beautiful and told with minimal text, but the gameplay feels like a perfect match.

Ori’s movement feels fantastic, beautifully smooth and agile, only growing more expressive as you unlock more abilities which manage to play off one another. The game’s “spirit flame” mechanic is unique, giving you bonfire-like save point that can be placed almost anywhere at anytime, at the cost of resources. I wish they had kept more of Blind Forest’s unique spins on the genre when they went on to make its sequel Will of the Wisps.