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Ori and the Will of the Wisps review
Exceptional
by Darragh

A buoyant joyful experience from start to finish, I had a blast navigating Ori through dozens of unique combinations of domains to a story akin to Pixar movie. The adventure I had I already know I will never forget and the genuine sense of adventure and childlike excitement I will struggle to find again in another game for a long time. In an ecosystem where games are valued for their length it is short games that deserve our attention. Games that choose to go against the grain in a restrained focus manner that you cannot help but respect.

14 hours later having explored every cranny of Niwen for fear of missing out on some platforming challenge or hand painted vista. Having played through dozens of setpieces that rival Uncharted and doing it all to a soundtrack so expertly crafted so that each tune became an individual piece representative of each area. And every deep chilling tune was offset by triumphant ballads as you overcome spectacular challenges. It is nothing short of a masterpiece, The best Xbox exclusive, And one of the greatest games ever created.
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
«Underrated»
«That ending!»
«OST on repeat»

Other reviews16

Beautiful in every facet.
Stellar artstyle, stellar soundtrack, solid Metroidvania gameplay and a very emotional story.
«Blew my mind»
«OST on repeat»
Same as the first, this game looks amazing. It’s very relaxing and nice to play because of it. It’s also not hard. I’m enjoying it I think more than I enjoyed the first. But I need that to settle in because I’m still early. I also might just enjoy this style of game a bit more these days. Maybe. 

This is a Saturday morning coffee kind of game. Update: this also became an after work kind of game or anything in between.

That side quest where you tell that lemur father his kids and wife are dead was savage. I didn’t expect that.

Then the fucking baby owl gets killed! This game is a lot darker than I expected. I’m into it.

I’m actually loving this game. Definitely better than the first. Once you have the dash and the glide you can really fly around the map and I saved money early on to buy triple jump really soon so now I can reach so many places. The combat is pretty easy but I’m enjoying it for now. This game is very similar to hollow knight. Worse combat but better traversal I think. Both have great visuals in their own way but I prefer Ori’s. 

I’m having so much fun since the game opened up, and with each new ability. I’m on the final area now and I have all the abilities. This game isn’t too hard. There are some semi tough sections and the speed trials are tough but overall it’s not a super difficult game and sometimes I wish it were a bit more challenging but overall this has been super fun. The different biomes are awesome. It’s probably the best looking 2D game I’ve ever played? I’ll have to think about that.

I didn’t think this would pass hollow knight in my rankings but it’s really close. Hollow knight has better combat, it’s more challenging, and I played around with different “builds” more which I enjoyed. But I also found hollow knight much more frustrating. It was more cumbersome getting around the map which I didn’t enjoy and I found myself getting lost and frustrated more often in hollow knight. I haven't found Ori frustrating at all. I haven’t gotten lost or stuck very often. And because the traversal is so fun, and the fast travel system is decent once unlocked, I don’t have that cumbersome feeling of constantly going over the same areas that I did feel during parts of hollow knight. But, if there is an area where it could be improved it’s the combat. I think the combat is decent but it’s pretty easy and it’s kind of button mashy if you want it to be. I wish it was more challenging and I was forced to try to experiment more with different abilities, builds and strategies. Also the enemy variety is a bit light I think. I wish there were a few more unique enemies. Again not bad, but could be better.

Beat it. What a sad final scene for shriek. This game is really going for the emotional tear jerkers. Great game though. Really liked it. The story was unexpectedly actually pretty good. 

Final Score: B+
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The music/sound design, art, and gameplay mechanics kept me playing until 100% completion. The story is decent and the game is overall a huge upgrade from its prequel. Would highly recommend this game to anyone.
«Blew my mind»
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
One of the best if not the best platformed i have ever played

It has it all
- interesting mechanics
- very touching and nice story
- fast paced combat system
- nice progression of skills with every new skill that you get meaningful
- much much more 
The game is insane in some aspects. Art direction, sound design, graphics etc. But one thing hold me back and made me quit the game: level design fragmentation.

I feel like almost all areas needed something i didn`t have to proceed. 1 time for area is okay, but 2/3? I just lost my will to play because of thad (i played 6 hours)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps does the near impossible and tops Ori’s first adventure, which was a near flawless gaming experience. Recapturing the magic of the first and building on it, Ori 2 creates a familiar setting but the entire experience is enhanced in new important ways. There’s the addition of multiple attack options and upgrades, side quests that lead you to achieve 100% of unlockable items, an amazing poingnant story, and so much more. Highly recommend!
MASTERPIECE
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
Most epic design I saw in a game yet.
«Blew my mind»
Beautiful. The first Ori game was perfect and this one is also very close to that.
«Blew my mind»