Developer: Moon Studios GmbH
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
RRP: £14.99 (Gog.com and Steam)
Released: 27th April 2016
Available on: Gog.com and Steam
Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control Pad
Approximate game length: 14 Hours
I remember watching the announcement for this game at 2014’s E3 (on my computer not at the actual event) and marvelling at how beautiful it looked. I also remember my healthy sense of scepticism when it came to believing that the game would look that good. Bear in mind the controversy with Watch Dogs’ graphical downgrade was still very clear in my mind, so I felt it was best to doubt everything that is presented to me at gaming shows, a policy that has served me quite well. Now I finally own it (yep, late to the party as usual) and I have to say it really lives up to the hype aesthetically speaking.
Of course just because something is aesthetically pleasing doesn’t mean that its actually any good or even competent, this goes doubly when it comes to video games. These days it’s not actually all that difficult to throw together something that can look graphically pleasing now that both the Unreal Engine and Unity are easily accessible. Why do I mention this? Because Ori and the Blind Forest was made using Unity, showing what the engine can really do in the right hands.
Ori and the Blind Forest is a metroidvania that was originally released exclusively for the Xbox One and Microsoft Windows (unsurprising considering who the publisher is) but has now been also released for the Nintendo Switch. Lately I’ve been played a lot of metroidvania’s and I can definitely stacks up well with the likes of Axiom Verge and Yoku’s Island Adventure. However what makes this one different from others within its general is that you can save at almost any moment by creating a ‘soul link’. The soul link doesn’t only allow you to save your game but also to spend your ability points (more on that shortly) on unlocking and upgrading your skills. Soul links aren’t the only place you can save your game though, there are also ‘soul wells’ scattered around the world that allow you to do so and act as fast travel points.
Creating a soul link isn’t free though, doing so requires you to expend a resource called energy. Regenerating this isn’t overly difficult though as it can be found in crystals that grow around the world and some enemies will drop energy when defeated. Energy isn’t only used in creating soul links, its also used for performing special moves and unlocking gates that appear around the world.
If you die the world (and your progress) are reset to when the game was last saved be that via a soul link, soul well or a rare checkpoint. One of the nice things about this is that the reload time is near instant allowing your to pick up right where you left off.
Enemies once defeated will drop ‘light containers’ which, when enough are collected, give you an ability point. Larger light containers and ability points can also be found hidden around the world.
It must be mentioned that the game, especially the definitive edition, can be completed without unlocking all the skills. Not because of speedrunning strategies (though I am sure those exist) but because some of the obstacles can be gotten around and with the definitive edition there are two skills that are entirely optional.
Honestly this game is well worth the time, I do think that perhaps I’ve been a little spoiled by Hollow Knight because I was expecting more post game content. That isn’t a slight on the game, in fact it might be better to say I’m calling myself out for expecting more when it’s abnormal for a game to offer such things.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Yoku’s Island Express
Axiom Verge
Hollow Knight
