Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition

Game completed at normal difficulty, 97% The cons Map, backtracking and area teleports The first hours feel a little dull: Ori cannot reach many areas as the movement options are limited. This is intended, as the game would like you to backtrack previously explored areas with newly acquired skills to get that energy globe or that skill boost. I would be ok with backtracking, but sometimes a single power up is strategically placed just for me to re-run the whole level to get it. The warp system, while allowing to travel great distances, fails to clearly tell the player where he's going to be teleported. Reaching a particular zone or level is more of a trial and error chore, as the map doesn't clearly show the names of the various areas. Skills Some areas feature destructibles parts. In the early part of the game, it's suggested you lure enemies into crashing them. Later on, you find similar looking walls and no enemies around. It's hard to understand that you need a specific skill you'll acquire later. Again, Ori can stomp on buttons to press them and open secret areas, but such buttons often blend with the environment and again, it takes a while to undestand how to spot them. The last two skills felt lackluster: early in the game, Ori learns how to climb walls by using the jump button. Close to the end, Ori learns how to climb and cling to walls. It's sort of an upgrade of the previous skill and it doens't make sense to have them as separate skills. Same goes with the "bash" skill and the charged jump: they serve the same purpose and they should not be separate skills. The pros The cons being said, the overall flow of the game is absolutely enjoyable, also thanks to the clever level design (especially the boss "fights"). The team said art is inspired by the good old Rayman, and it shows. That by itself is worth the journey: very few area are not worthy of a careful look. Some are plain jaw dropping. Animations and music are solid. Overall 9/10, recommended.

Its a pretty okay and fun metroidvania style platformer, but not amazing. Pros: The art is great to look at The movement of the character is fun and fluid, especially when you unlock more of the abilities Cons: The game is quite short The level design is very samey, with the "dungeon levels" being all the same in the sense of being a seperate area from the map where you reach one point in the level then have to complete an auto scrolling section The enemy variation is abysmal The interaction with the enemies consists mostly of just spamming the attack button since your attacks auto lock on. (It gets mixed up somewhat though halfway through) Overall I'd say pick it up on sale if you can. If you are a big fan of this style of platformer than its probably worth it for you even at full price

At first glance Ori is little more than an enjoyable game for kids, but it's something more. It is, above all, a diabolically intelligent metroidvania where cleaning the map from absolutely everything is a ton of fun. And under the hood of a fairy-tale-like graphics and music there is a story not just about parenthood, but also about loss. There are few cutscenes but they're not only wrap their fingers around your heart. They almost crush it in a vise. I recommend it, not only to children.

Smooth controls, beautifully crafted world and a heart melting story. But i f****** hated the escape sequences (which are basically the bosses) after the dungeons.

+ Eye-popping visuals, great score, supercool mechanics, metroidvania-type level design - Sometimes too hardcore and grindy, could be truly inaccessible for people with poor button-smashing skills I have completed 100% of Ori and the Blind Forest on ‘Normal’ (mostly) in 27.5 hours. Actually I began playing almost a year ago, got stuck on the infamous Ginso Tree level, and had abandoned it for good…. Until now. After a year of practice with Xbox One controller and some other action-packed games, such as DmC; Devil May Cry, and other platformers (though none so hardcore), I have tried again. Additionally, I figured out that on ‘Easy’ difficulty most of the escape sequences have one or two automatic save points. Consequently, I have finished the game in several intensive playthroughs. It has been a wild ride! Full of joy, anger (about my poor platforming skills), sadness, and envy for those who are yet to discover the beautiful world of Nibel. Technically, I cannot give a perfect score to a game that initially was so frustrating that I had completely abandoned it. So 9/10.