Ori And The Blind Forest

Why Ori and the Blind Forest rather than Ori and the Will of the Wisps? I don’t have a strong argument for picking one over the other, both being all-time favorite games of mine, but since learning the conditions in which Will of the Wisps was created it’s hard to wave a flag for it.

Both Ori games are absolutely astonishing achievements (not least given the crap employees were putting up with), spellbindingly beautiful pieces of art, that also happen to be exceptionally good Metroidvania platform games too.

In both, you play as the fox-ish Ori, whose sublime movement makes every moment of both games such a pleasure to play. Combat is…wistful? Is that a way to describe combat? It feels right. And while the game offers a strong challenge, it has difficulty levels that can be lowered to a point where you can just breeze through and appreciate the animation and story if that’s your focus. Or cranked up if you want a more Hollow Knightly challenge.

These are astounding games, emotive and beautiful, and thankfully don’t reflect the attitudes of the team in charge of making them.