Reviews

This game introduced me to the excellent writing of Yoko Taro, at first I picked this because of the character design (which is amazing) ignoring that from the moment I see game play videos the combat seemed kind of dull and bad, to my surprise the combat was even worse, repetitive uninteresting combat and that can be said also for the side quests, also is note worthy that the English dub is terrible but you have the option of buying a pack with Japanese voices (which I strongly recommend if you have the extra bucks). Even tho' it has everything to let this game go, I just couldn't it has a very interesting story to tell and incredible well written characters, the soundtrack is just pretty much amazing. Be wary that you need to do a **** thing to get access to the real final boss (get every weapon and upgrade it to the max), which isn't hard but you need a lot of mindless repetitive grinding, and talking about hardness this game after 7 hours or so of trying the to beat the final boss I just couldn't and I have to quit, to this date is the only boss that I have to give up, a lot of people says that Is a **** boss but even after a I couldn't beat it I disagree, it's just brilliant but incredible hard nevertheless. Anyway I can't recommend this game to everyone because has a lot of bad design choices and maybe is a bad game, but if you're interested in kinda philosophical stories with anime characters and lewd design, maybe this can be for you.

For a game with a lot of personality as TMS#FE its main characters don't have a lot of it, but somehow or kind of #FE manages for you to feel for them, in the end, I kinda had a rush of nostalgia true the epilogue, like saying goodbye to true friends. If you like RPGs and Idols or at least anime style idols i think this combination is a made in heaven, but if you dislike at least one of those you better stay away. The story is as generic as a lot of the modern FE stories but what truly shines is the combat, is so addictive till it gets old at the very end, the customization of skills is pretty deep and you will invest a lot of time on this system (for the better or the worse), the thing is that this part of the game is clunky as hell, picture yourself in a dungeon then grind a lot, then go back to the main hub to upgrade your skills, then go to the dungeon and grind, then repeat, it would be great that you could do that on the go but no. There's a lot of grinding so if you mind that kind of thing also stay away, also the music was a hit or miss for me, not my kind of music but some tunes were really cool. As for the things that invested me aside of the combat system where the sidequests, every sidequest has a cinematic reward with like a performance about one of the main characters and some of them are amazing or hilarious, also the presentation is amazing, but I can see a lot of people hating it or loving it. In the end, it was a very fun RPG with some interesting turns on the combat formula and presentation but not much on the story and character department to really shine like a star.

The game gave me hours of terrific challenging gameplay dotted with emotional spikes of the story. I wouldn't lie if I said this is one of the best games I played this year, and I am both sad I haven't played it earlier and very happy that I played it only now, because Moon Studios is releasing the sequel soon—so it's not long to wait for it! The game is a must for Metroidvania lovers and those who like platforming challenge. If you are not really into this kind of stuff, I'll try to explain why you still need this game.
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Ori and the Blind Forest has a rather small scale, its story is epic, so to speak, but on a level of just one magical forest. You play as Ori, a small white spirit, accompanied by Sein, an even tinier spirit that helps Ori master new abilities and guides the protagonist through the murky woods. If I wanted to retell the story I would finish it in one minute and wouldn't be quite able to tell why it's so expressive and captivating. But when the story is matched with such great art-style with painstaking attention to detail—it's known that every object in the game is used just once—and a wonderful soundtrack, you won't notice when you need some tissues.

Random comments will give you the idea that many people were devastated by Ori and the Blind Forest. My favorite thing is to see how people change the title to make it more “accurate,” such as Ori and the Bucket of Tears, or Ori and the Onion Forest (Because onions make you cry. Well, it's a complicated one but still…), or just Crying Simulator (Stimulator, I say). And yes, it's a rather short game, I completed 100% of the Definitive Edition in 14 hours, and if you are better at platformers than me, you can beat it even faster.

You will fight forest inhabitants but you probably won't feel like they are bad, because they are just living predatory creatures of the forest, and you have to survive them. (Not the green-barfing pigs and stony fireballs, those guys are assholes.) When you progress further through the story, you will understand that Ori and the Blind Forest doesn't really have antagonists—both Kuro and Gumo, whom you oppose during the game, do what they can to save those who are important to them.

Gameplay-wise, it is a solid Metroidvania with tight platforming sequences. Platforming is a dangerous “enemy,” but the motion is fluid and buttery-smooth. Ori sticks to ledges, flips between platforms and glides in the wind just the way you want. Ori has one of the best feelings of being in control of the character—along with the controls scheme itself. If you, by any chance, have already played the game or completed Ginso Tree, enjoy this thoughtful video about the philosophy behind this level particularly and the special ability “Bash” which is the hallmark movement of the game that lets you gain speed from projectiles and enemies throwing them in the opposite direction.
Speaking of moves, the level design is top-notch for a Metroidvania, and when you gain a new ability, it doesn't just let you go to places you couldn't reach before, but entirely changes the way you move through most of the rooms. There's plenty of backtracking in the game, which some gamers found tiresome as I understood reading other reviews, but for me it was not an issue. On the contrary, the backtracking is quite enjoyable here! You get new moves, you can try a different approach to the places you've seen before, and also collect some power-ups and whatnot that were inaccessible before. Major alterations in some areas after you complete certain parts of the game make it even better. Finally, in Definitive Edition, there are portals that let you travel between them instantly—I used them only three times, if I recall correctly, but again, I saw that, for some, that was a real godsend after the base game.

Other differences in Definitive Edition is that you can get two more optional abilities, they are not too much to change anything dramatically in the gameplay, but are nice to have. Then, there are a couple more levels with some unique mechanics and puzzles where you get to learn Naru's past. People complained that it was too expensive on the launch day and the owners of the original game should have received it for free, but a few years have passed already, so I don't think this matters now. I can just say that I loved those additions and they didn't feel out of place, try to get this edition instead of the base game.
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All in all, Ori and the Blind Forest is a unique game, I doubt anybody will feel disappointed after playing it. It is on the same level with some of the best Metroidvanias of the recent years including Guacamelee! and Hollow Knight, and, in some respects, such as controls and motion or visual detail or music, one might say it even surpasses them.