Ori and the Blind Forest (2015)

Ori and the Blind Forest has been in my backlog for years; so long that it's existed on the backlog before my backlog even existed. I finally got around to playing this gem, and it was worth the wait. I wanted a simple casual game that I knew wouldn't take me long to beat since I've been busy with work and life, and this did the job. I got to 99% completion in the game in roughly 10 hours. I just put the controller down, and I will think of Ori for years to come.

I've always been a fan of platformers. They're something easy to pick up and I usually pair them with a larger game I'm playing so that they can act as a break from that game. Ori's platforming was something I'd never encountered before, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's simple to understand, and easy to master in my opinion. The bash mechanic was really fun and unique, and the platforming flowed so well throughout the entire game. I loved getting new abilities and then returning to older parts of the map so that I could unlock their secrets. I don't have a ton of experience in Metroidvania's, but if they're anything like this world and this map, I'm sold. This was a fun map to explore, and my oh my so beautiful. One of the best looking games I've played hands down. The art direction exceled. The OST was also really good. I felt immersed in nature, and it was serene. Overall, my favorite things have to be the platforming/abilities available to Ori, the art direction, the map/world design, and the music.

These aren't super negative gripes, more so that they didn't feel as refined as the previously mentioned concepts. The reason this game doesn't earn the whole 5 stars for me is due to the story and the combat. Story is compelling but nothing special. Cute and simple. It does a fine job, just doesn't blow me away. The combat is the bigger issue for me. It pretty much boils down to mash X to spirt flame enemies. Gets boring fast if I'm being honest. I had a lot more fun bashing off of enemies, but that was usually as a result of wanting to move past them rather than fighting them. I've heard this gets better in the sequel, which I also plan on playing.

One more thing I've seen a lot of people online complain about is the save system. I personally didn't have a problem with it at all and actually found it to be pretty fresh. You can save at almost any time and it sets a checkpoint in the area you save. The only times you can't do this are in the three escape segments, but those are meant to test your skills. I really liked the escape segments as they were challenging and I felt so nimble and agile when I finally got through them.

As I said, I plan on playing Ori and the Will of the Wisps next. I don't know if I'll go straight into the sequel, or play something else in the meantime. I don't want to get Ori'd out (even though I really enjoyed The Blind Forest) lol. If you're looking for a casual game that you can just pick up and play throughout your busy week, I can't recommend Ori and the Blind Forest enough. It took me a little over a week to beat the game and I completed 99% of it. I'm satisfied in my playtime, but couldn't force myself to go back and get all the extra abilities points; especially since I've already maxed out the ability tree.

P.S. I was browsing the achievements on steam and some of them look insane. Mainly the one that requires you to beat the game without dying. Yikes. Definitely gonna have to look that one up on YouTube.

After seeing it listed time and time again as one of the best modern platformers and after having quite a good time playing Celeste, I decided to get it on a sale and play it. Can't say anything against visuals or music, it is really good in that aspects, but I did find the controls quite clunky. Not because of having to master many different powers (which sometimes contradict each other, like wall climbing and wall jumping), but because I found some of the action boxes and movements odd. Trying to jump from the side to the top of a floating pillar was always a nightmare and I had a few issues with combining floating and wall climbing in tight areas as if the switch between the abilities (triggered all by the same button) was faster on the sprite than on the game itself. Those issues, that can be easily solved with the progression tree and focusing on getting the triple jump to have more air time, and the really lackluster combat -just mashing one button- made the progression itself, which was meant to be a full range of options, as a chore to get the final step in mobility.

Something that really doesn't click with me either is saving as a game mechanic, more so when the game is intended to have you dying over and over again. That could be resource management and maybe it's a hit with a lot of people but for me it was a huge miss.

What I loved were the boss stages that weren't bosses at all, just skill tests. That was a nice touch that also fitted with the narrative because obviously you won't beat whatever boss there is as a little cute catlike creature. And the narrative itself was quite cute as well.

Overall, a good game that was probably victim of my high expectations and being almost 10 years old.

Huge Metroid fan all the way back from Super Metroid. Also love Metroidvanias, though I feel I'm way too critical when it comes to them. I didn't really like Guacamelee because of its easy gameplay, and I absolutely loved Hollow Knight for the sense of discovery, the huge world and the atmosphere.

Ori is a beautiful game, I'll give it that. Moving feels fluid, platforming is fun. So why don't I like it? Instant deaths.

I got to Forlorn Ruins pretty easily but I just wasn't having fun. Platforming usually equaled to abusing the save system so you don't lose big amounts of progress if you happen to stub your toe to even the tiniest spike. As much as I know the combat isn't the focus, I felt it was worse than it could've been. At one point I stopped bothering and just bashed through every single one and just kept going to my objective.

Ori is a Metroidvania in the general sense that you reach new areas by acquiring new power ups. I feel like that's the only part Ori gets right, and before fans of the game attack me, this is just my opinion.

Overall, the game is worth a try if you're interested in the genre, but it might not be for everyone, so don't feel bad for disliking something that is almost universally loved.

Ori and the Blind Forest is a Metroidvania game that leans hard into extremely demanding Super Meat Boy style platforming. This means that you will die. Often. Really, really often. Here were my stats after the credits rolled:

Luckily, the game gives you a chance to save almost anywhere. And also, luckily, you can immediately get back into the action after you die. There are a few extended escape sequences at the end of each major level where the saving is disabled. In these sections, don't be surprised if you beat your head against a wall for an hour or so until you finally clear the sequence. But it's super-satisfying when you do.

There are enemies to fight (mostly amorphous blobs), but the combat takes a distant backseat to the precise, puzzly platforming. While this platforming is difficult, it's fair; and it really comes down to memorizing patterns you need to complete a section. Only one small puzzle in the lava level near the end stumped me enough that I had to look up the solution.

The story is a relatively standard "save the forest" scenario, which manages to tug fairly hard on the heartstrings from time to time.

The graphics and music are outstanding, and have a fluid, animated style. Sound effects are okay, and character speech takes the form of a Simlish-like made-up chattering.

This was a fun game. I can't wait to play the sequel.

Read safely, spoilers are blurry. Image's descriptions may appear when you hover over images and may contain spoilers, beware.

Total time played: 10.5 hours.

Difficulty: Hard

I'm not the kind of guy who plays a lot of platformers, I usually find them repetitive and kind of uninteresting, but this one, just wow!

It was my first Metroidvania game ever and I can assure, this genre has come into my lists of favorite ones from now on. A whole new genre to discover awaits!

PROS

• Visually stunning, graphics are amazing and redefines 2D (or 2.5D?) games.
• Fluidity in-game mechanics are awesome
• The more you play, the more tools and learned things you acquire, and the more you want to finish it
• Ambients are well crafted and you feel in a deep forest full of life and experiences to offer.
• Kuro's chase is just f*cking amazing
• Lights and animations are amazing
• An emotionally attaching and interesting yet simple storyline

CONS

• Requires some button bashing, especially when playing in Hard Mode as I did
• Lots of trial and error can be frustrating for some players
• Collectibles may play a part in how you excel when fighting bosses and mini-bosses.

Can't wait to play Will of the Wisps, and you know what, I'm starting now!

I loved this game.

The platforming is some of the best I've played in recent years. I really appreciated the upgrade tree which allowed me to pick how to improve Ori's abilities to match what I needed at any given point during the game. The special abilities that you obtain throughout the game are also always fresh and interesting in such a way that the platforming is always getting deeper and is always building upon the previous areas of the world that you've already explored. And the story was the icing on the cake that brought the whole thing together which is often hard to do with straight-up platformers.

I'm now very much looking forward to the sequel.

Pros:
-- The game is beautiful, visually and emotionally
-- Pacing is spot-on, neither feeling dragged or rushed
-- Considering all of the abilities you accumulate, controls are tight, responsive and easy to navigate

Cons:
-- A few difficulty spikes may deter some from experiencing the later parts of the game
-- You are locked out of your save file upon finishing the game, disallowing you from collecting the rest of the abilities
-- PC/XBOX exclusive, so those with only Playstation or Nintendo consoles will not be able to enjoy this game

Check out my full review at TheKlotzNet

Note: I did not finish the game. I played to the beginning of the sequence that is the first point of no return (the water filling up the tree part.)

Pros: It is beautiful, just like everyone says it is, both in graphics and music.

The platforming controls are VERY tight and somewhat intuitive (though not as intuitive as I'd like them to be; many hours into the game I was still reversing the controls for Charge Energy and Make a Save Point, but maybe that's just me).

The platforming is quite challenging and varied.

It is very Metroid-y in that there are lots of goodies to find, and they're tricky, but not frustratingly hard.

Cons: Everyone talks about what a great story this has, but actually, I felt like the storytelling was mediocre and lazy after the intro. The intro was wonderful storytelling. I was SO excited for the rest of the game. But then, it suddenly dropped into "Ori is going and doing the thing because . . . old tree voice speaking in a foreign language told him to? Because reasons?" It wasn't deep at all, or particularly engaging.

The music is beautiful, but there are no times to rest in it. It is just STRAIGHT UP EMOTIONALLY INTENSE, ALL THE TIME, which I guess I felt like was . . . immature? Overdramatic, I guess. I found it overwhelming and it wore me out. Same with the gameplay.

I found some of the platforming tedious to the point of being frustrating. Hard, but not in a fun way, just in a "WHYYYY' way.

And what actually made me stop playing is that every time you take damage or die or anything, Ori makes a loud, sharp, sudden, human/animal - like, VERY REALISTIC, cry of pain. And this is a game where you're seemingly designed to die a LOT. Over and over and over again. In quick succession. So having to hear sharp pain cries that actually made me flinch OVER and OVER and OVER again in sections that were already frustrating was just too much. Maybe that would actually be good for some seasoned gamers who have a higher emotional pain tolerance than mine; maybe it helps some people engage. I could totally see it being helpful for some people. But for me (I'm very, very sensitive and very, very empathetic), it was just too much, and it wasn't worth it to me to keep playing.