Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition review

Exceptional

by Conti

Ori and the Blind Forest is a thing of wonder. It was almost like reliving my childhood when I would wait my turn to play Super Mario Bros. at my friend’s house. Ori captured my imagination like Mario did when video games were this amazing new secret thing. (Coincidentally, my son beat the original Super Mario Bros. as I was finishing this game. Nice parallel and memory for me.)

The art direction and level design are undeniably top notch. The environment is just gorgeous and every piece of scenery fits together organically. It’s like discovering a lost world and finding joy in exploring every part. The tempo of the story and unlocking skills to open more parts of Ori’s world kept me hungry for more. The map seems massive but in reality is contained and I felt empowered to go back to previous areas. Equipped with new skills, it was a thrill to unlock earlier mysteries.

The game outdoes itself throughout, especially with the major levels where you have to restore balance to the world. Each is unique and an adrenaline rush in its own way. I was in awe of the deliberate change of playstyle you’re forced to make based on each of these areas. In a word, the three big final areas make you 1-run, 2-take it slow-and-steady, and 3-rely on all your wits and use your skills in concert.

Ori as a protagonist is quite remarkable – from the character’s stature, behavior, exclamations, and skills, she’s a pure joy to play as. No spoilers, but my heart got pounding knowing the adversary I was going toe-to-toe against. Great bad guy and phenomenal storytelling. This game is ultimately about life, love, and loss. BTW, I got a 100% on the game, which I never have time to do, and it’s a credit to the game’s designers for making it a challenge I wanted to try (I only googled two things, I swear!)

If I were to replay a game, this would be it, and that’s the highest praise I can offer. 5/5 stars

Ori and the Blind Forest used to be the best Xbox One exclusive title, until it was ported to other platforms. While some Xbox fans would certainly feel as if they got cheated out of an exclusivity title, this does bring something even more important and, in return, beneficial to the conversation: anyone with a video game console of this generation can enjoy this masterpiece of a game. Ori and the Blind Forest is a metroidvania with incredibly tight, responsive controls for it’s stellar, well weighed movement. Areas are not overflowing with collectibles and unnecessary fodder, like other games of the metroidvania genre; instead, Ori and the Blind Forest’s areas and all of their collectibles all feel as if they are essential to your character. Experience point capsules in various sizes are laid out across the map, a lot of them locked behind skill walls that are later accessible thanks to having gained new abilities. Speaking of, the abilities in Ori are not only the core of how magnificent the movement and the in-game combat are, but they’re also extremely well paced, with each ability having a bit of a back story to go with it. Story overall doesn’t feel like the main focus in the game, instead, it takes a second focus, picture storybook approach, with the gameplay and moveset evolution taking center stage. The music in the game is also absolutely fantastic, with a huge focus on wind instruments, which gives the game and its mystical forest setting life. With Black Friday just around the corner, I highly recommend anyone who was mildly interested in this game to pick it up.

Concise Review:

Very vibrant and unique art style that looks fantastic.

Medium quality platforming and gameplay. It isn’t bad and there are fun sections and the occasionally “holy shit” moment. But for the most part it was just mild casual entertainment. I rarely disliked my time with Ori, but I also wasn’t ever having a blast.

Pretty minor RPG elements that didn’t really affect my play that much.

Journal Style Review:

The art style and use of colour is pretty nice looking. The depth to the environment looks very cool as well. Visually I am impressed. Gameplay wise, early on at least, I’m less impressed. But we will see if it gets better. The upgrades are an interesting idea. Not sure how they will play out.

I need to sit down and understand the flow of the game. My biggest complaint in the first hour and a bit is that I can’t tell when Im unable to get to an area because I am missing an unlock, or if I’m just not figuring out how to do it. I hope I figure out the lay of the land better soon so I can enjoy the gameplay more rather than just try to figure out where to go next.

I was getting super lost a lot at the beginning which was annoying but once I started to actually figure out where to go then I started doing a bit better. I’ve been too focused on killing enemies I think and less focused on platforming. I’m playing on the series X now tho and it plays very well and everything is so fast. This game looks so cool too. It has such a cool vibe to it. I just need to start liking the platforming more.

I’ve unlocked double jump and it’s made the game better. This game is a lot better when I actually know where to go.

That water tree level was pretty good. So far I still don’t really feel captivated yet. I like the art style, the upgrades seem cool, and the gameplay is casual and fine. But idk. Something is missing.

Pretty great podcast game though. I had my best game session which was also my longest. I’m at a little more than 4 hours and with each new ability I’m liking the gameplay a bit more. 

The ice gravity level is pretty cool. It took me longer than it should to figure out how the mechanics work. The game is getting better the more I play. The final section of the ice level was very difficult.

The wind level is pretty good too. I’ve been enjoying my time more since gaining new abilities. The gameplay has improved. It’s a lot less about killing enemies and more just about progressing through the map. I try to get all the light I find but I’m less concerned if I miss some. I’m also getting better which helps my enjoyment.  It’s sitting at a low B+ now.

Beat the game. The final lava level and the final owl chase scene were all pretty good. I liked this game more the more it went on but I’m also happy to move on now that I’ve beat it at 7.5 hours. Final ranking is a low B+.

Final Score: B+