Ori and the Blind Forest – A platformer that looks and sounds like a dream

Ori and the Instant Feels; Ori and the Invisible Onion-Cutting Ninjas; Ori and the Thing in My Eye. This game could be called so many other names, but they would obviously be stupid. Truthful, but stupid.

Ori and the Blind Forest is a true classic of the action-platformer genre. It’s also one of the very few games that can make a grown man cry during the few minutes that the intro sequence lasts. It’s almost magical, the way that developer Moon Studios managed to evoke such strong emotions right from the start, and the way that the game characters feel sincere and kind like very few games manage to convey.

With the sequel in development – Ori and the Will of the Wisps –, this is the perfect time to revisit such an accomplished game. As far as action-platformers go (Metroidvanias, if you like that label), this is one of the best ever created, mixing all the speed, upgrades and death-defying jumps with the look and feel of an actual fable. I’m not overstating it, Ori and the Blind Forest truly looks like a dream and sounds like heaven, with a soundtrack that is as beautiful as it is haunting. This game is a delight to your senses.

Well, except taste and smell, technology hasn’t gone that far yet.

There is no secret recipe for how the game unfolds. Your character, Ori, is a spirit guardian that despite looking like a fluffy, ethereal rabbit, has quite some fight in him. In his quest to save the forest of Nibel from dying at the hands of a powerful foe, Ori will earn new abilities and discover just how combining them will provide new options for combat and exploration. Some areas are initially inaccessible, and it’s only when you acquired the right upgrade that you’ll be able to explore even further. This is far from a linear game and fans of collectibles will have plenty of additional hours of gameplay on top of the dozen or so that should take to complete the main story.

Of course, you must be careful with the abilities that you unlock, as the ability tree has three very different paths for you to choose. You can focus on survival, exploration or offensive abilities, but if you’re like me, a good mix of the available options is always the best route. Choose wisely.

Platforming in Ori and the Blind Forest can be a bit frustrating now and then, I won’t sugarcoat it. It’s very likely that you’ll struggle with the wall jumping, and in certain areas where death is looming, failing a jump means that you’re in for a bit of backtracking. The controls aren’t perfect, but they’re damn fine for such an elaborate game, and in a few hours, you’ll be mixing jumps with dashes and stomps and whatever. The map design is nearly brilliant, and the only thing that I must criticize is the occasional blind jump. Practice makes perfect, however, and knowing the ins-and-outs of the areas will go a long way.

Apart from the traditional platforming, Ori includes a handful of escape-or-die sequences that are going to wreck your nerves. Forget everything you know about difficulty curves and whatnot, in these escape sequences you don’t have time to think – you almost don’t have time to blink. Miss one jump and you die, either drowning or engulfed in flames, among other things. It’s trial and error taken to the extreme, there is no saving during these sequences, and it’s back to the beginning of the course when you die. It’s frustrating, it requires the best of you for a considerable time, and it is proof that Ori and the Blind Forest isn’t for the weak; toughen up, or you won’t reach the end of this amazing fable.

And I wholeheartedly recommend all of you to play Ori and the Blind Forest. Initially you will be amazed by the lovely hand-painted artwork, touched by the emotional beginning of the story and bedazzled by the incredible orchestral music. Then you’ll discover that there is a damn fine platformer behind all the eye candy and it’s also one with a lot of depth, a lot to see and do. It’s a very deep, beautiful game, with cutscenes that are a thing of beauty and I kept wishing that there were a lot more of these.

Ori and the Blind Forest may be occasionally frustrating, but the whole experience is so rewarding, so magical, that any respectable fan of platformers with beating hearts must play it. I can’t wait to see what the developers have in store for us with Ori and the Will of the Wisps, but I can bet that it will be a tale to remember.

Final rating: 9.5 heartstrings pulled out of 10

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