Ori and the Will of the Wisps (PC / Xbox ONE)

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21 April 2020

Review by UnitedGamers (read 72 reviews)

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a platformer Metroidvania game developed by Moon Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game was first announced in E3 2017 and served as the direct sequel to the 2015 title Ori and the Blind Forest. It finally released on March 11, 2020, for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One and has very positive reviews on Steam.

Gameplay:
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the perfect blend of classic Metroidvania games and concise puzzle platforming mechanics. The game picks up almost immediately where the Blind Forest left off. It opens with the birth of Ku, the last offspring of angry-owl boss Kuru. Ku grows and flourishes under the loving care and affection of the white forest spirit Ori and his family. When Ku comes of age, his time to fly is hindered by a damaged wing. Ori patches the weak limb with Kuro’s feather, and the pair take off into an inspiring flight sequence. They follow a group of birds across the ocean into a new land, directly into a mighty thunderstorm, the fury of which separates the pair, plummeting them to the ground in different directions. Lost and alone, Ori searches for Ku bringing the saddest of sequences enough to make a grown man cry.
Compared to Blind Forest, the world is vast, the list of abilities and items Ori can collect is bigger; in addition there is more speaking characters, hence the emotional moments are even deeper. This new world of Nibel becomes your playground to find your owl friend, which looks hand-painted, colourful and chaotic all at the same time. Every inch of the map is designed to test your powers. If a spot seems unreachable, then Ori probably hasn’t acquired the power to get there yet. Ori’s movement controls are remarkable, double jumps along with complex combos of dashing, leaping, vaulting, burrowing & grappling feels as quite natural. These abilities can be used to uncover secret challenges, sidequests and additional power-ups. Just the movement and exploring is gratifying enough that uncovering hidden secrets are just as compelling as following the narrative.
While Blind Forest was a more lonely and contemplative sort of adventure, Wisps’ world is inhabited by chatty creatures eager to aid Ori’s quest or unknowingly sidetrack you from the search. Moki are adorable cat-monkeys; Tokk hangs in the hub world, selling special attack abilities in exchange for shards; Grom is a dwarf who collects ore and adds new decorations to the area. A mysterious wizard in a cave that sells and upgrades spirit shards and unique items that can influence the game, making Ori more powerful. The game also features ancient animals who serve as Ori’s guides, but sometimes obstacles, on their journey. These massive, and dazzling beasts make Ori feel very small, which in turn makes gameplay even more impressive with their exquisite art style.

What’s new?
Unlike its predecessor, the game now relies on autosaving rather than manually saves in the form of soul links. The older upgrade system is replaced by the shard system that allows players to upgrade Ori in various ways and can be equipped and changed on the fly.

Combat
The game features combat shrines, specialised areas that challenge players with waves of enemies, that reward Ori with new slots for power-enhancing shards. Although the combat has been enhanced, Ori is still a series that’s more about exploring than battling, so skipping optional battles can be considered based on your taste.

Conclusion:
Though the game has massive technical woes when it initially launched, the day-one patch solved almost all of it, and the game no longer hangs, or frame drops and all bugs and glitches will undoubtedly be squished in near-future. Nevertheless, the game is worth playing till the end with its bittersweet moments and its gorgeous art style. I extremely recommend it for every platformer puzzler fan ever!