Ori and the Blind Forest

 
Developer: Moon Studios GmbH

Steam Release: Mar 2015

Hours Played: 10.6

Similar To: Dust: An Elysian Tale /  Guacamelee / Hollow Knight / Outland / Trine

Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

Deciding on whether or not to purchase the critically acclaimed Ori and the Blind Forest should be one of the most easiest decisions you make. Go ahead and believe the hype, for it is one of the most engrossing platformers you can buy, putting it on a parallel with the great Trine for magical goodness. It is the epitome of the Metroidvania style and the standard by which others should be measured by. Trapped within a dangerous forest you are a small glowing sprite left to fend for yourself following tragic circumstances. Armed with just a basic attack, you explore the forest by mainly leaping about while zapping the enemies who stand in your way. As you explore, uncovering more of the map, increasingly more useful skills and abilities are conferred upon you allowing you to reach previously closed off areas.

BALANCE & PACE

So far, so standard... but this explanation does the game a disservice for it's the fluid movement of your character, the wide cast of enemy types, the gorgeous environments, the sheer variety of moves and the ingenious ways in which the game reveals itself that combine to make it the modern day classic that it is. Innovation after refreshing innovation will come at you, marking it out as the best of its kind... and it's all this plus the way it drip feeds you those satisfying moments - all perfectly timed - that naturally drives the player forward. Although I haven't quite finished the game, the final escape sequence from the Gizno Tree is its only frustrating moment (fifty deaths and a good 75 minutes of trying) while sitting through its 10-minute cheesy intro was the only dull moment.      
 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN 

OATBF clearly wants you to be spellbound by its magical world and while it's certainly a compelling world to inhabit, I found the music (similar to Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons) to be a little over-dramatic and over-the-top for my taste. The voice-acting of the hidden spirits was also a little cliched and twee. Of course, this did nothing to take anything away from its excellent gameplay where you zip around the lush environments with smoothness and grace. A particularly interesting innovation was the way you collect health (green orbs) and the way you instantly created soul-links or checkpoints (using a glowing blue orb of energy). Orange orbs could also be collected as ability points and used as upgrades (only if you rest upon a soul-link) to boost health and energy as well as firepower.

   

PROGRESS SYSTEM

OATBF does an excellent job in keeping the player informed. For one, there is a cavernous map that shows you all the areas you have uncovered as well as those yet to be explored (if you've found the necessary map-stone). For completionists, each area displays how much of it has been found by way of a percentage. As well as this, there is a stats-page that reveals a ton of info regarding your travels through Nibel. Here you can see how many of the 9 skill-points, the 12 green life-cells, the 15 energy cells and the ability cells that have been discovered. In addition to the total playtime and the total area covered (by percentage) you can also see total deaths and how many of the 6 world events have been unlocked. All are accessible and can be seen at-a-glance from one convenient and well-presented page.  

CONCLUSION

Anyone who knows the Metroidvania style will be suitably impressed with OATBF for it eschews the bland and the pedestrian by pulling off every facet of that game-type with beauty and subtle elegance. Rewarding the player for perseverance with skills is part of it of course but you're not only left immensely enjoying your new-found skill but, because everything is shrouded in mystery and not immediately obvious, left wondering when and how you're going to be able to break through into that next tantalizing phase of the game. Furthermore as there is absolutely no repetitive tile-sets used, making all environments rich and unique, the process of exploration becomes all the more fascinating. You may rage-quit and become frustrated at times but all those overwhelmingly positive reviews are most certainly there for a reason.