Ori and the Blind Forest
Developer Moon Studios
Publisher Microsoft Studios
Platform Xbox One & PC
Release Date 11th March 2015
Reviewed By Cian Crowdy
I have been waiting to play “Ori and the Blind Forest” since I first saw the gameplay at E3 2014. Finally after a long wait I got that chance when Ori released on March 11th for Xbox one and PC.
The Story follows Ori, due to the nature of the game we will tread lightly across the story points, after a particularly devastating event in the opening ten minutes (that will pull at your heart strings of even the stoniest of players) Ori is left all alone.
In her task to restore the stolen light back to the forest Ori will have to journey to the far corners of the land to retrieve the missing elements required to revive the tree of life and restore the forest.
Despite the early events leaving Ori all alone you are joined throughout by Sein, Sein helps guide Ori on her adventures through the forest and acts as the only means of attack. With this new partner, Ori is capable of attacking the monsters that plague the lands. Defeating these enemies’ nets you experience which develops your abilities.
There are no spoken words in Ori and the blind forest, with story being told through emotional cut scenes of love and loss. With any narrating by the Tree of the Forest and his partner being supplied via subtitles the only thing you will hear in the game is the beautiful soundtrack that pulls you into the heart of the game.
Each section of Ori and the blind Forest requires you to use the abilities and skills that you have learned up to that point. At the start of the game the only thing you can do is walk and jump, but later on you develop abilities to wall run, double jump, boost and glide. The controls are sublime allowing you to control Ori with after touch via the analogue stick and manipulate your trajectory midair. This is crucial in a platformer that requires such a high level of skill and timing.
As with all puzzle platformers there is a certain skill to practice ratio being applied. You will die quite often so saving is important. They have handled this well; you can save at any point provided you have enough spirit energy. This is plentiful in the game environment but it is a nice feature to balance the options of saving anytime versus using check points.
Ori and the Blind forest’s visuals look amazing, for a 2d puzzle platform it has multiple layers that create a stunning living world. Environments such as the Ice glaciers, under water sections, the forests itself are truly gorgeous and really draw you into the world. On top of the background beauty the action in game just magnifies the spectacular.
To proceed through the game you will need to level up, this is handled by picking up experience from killing enemies. This can be used to build your strengths, improving your health and developing new skills. It is essential to develop your skills as progression is blocked without certain abilities.
Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed Ori and the Blind Forest, it is a really good 2d platformer with amazing visuals and a heartbreaking narrative that really connects you with the character and drives you forward.
You can boost the time spent with the game by searching for the extra secrets and we recommend doing this to ensure you get to spend as much time as you can with this incredible game.
SCORE 4/5
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