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Four years in the making Moon Studios releases their debut game with Microsoft backing it as the owner of the IP, Ori and the Blind Forest. At e3 last year many people were talking about the games shown like Destiny, Uncharted, Call of Duty, or the many other big AAA games. But the one announcement that blew me away was this title that plucked at my heart strings with its beautiful world, emotional characters, and music that can only be achieved by genius. And here I am almost a year later finally able to get my hands on this 2D Platformer Metroidvania like game.
When you first step in the world of Ori and The Blind Forest you are welcomed with a rich and powerful draw with the storyline, just prepare your tissues as you watch some of the most powerful animations I’ve seen in a long while. And when you look at this game, you aren’t thinking, “Hey I’m playing an indie” You think “Wow, the quality of this is amazing. The world is beautiful, the animations are astounding, and the movements are tight”. In fact if you compare this game to some of the biggest platformers in the industry like Rayman, Donkey Kong, or Mario, it can easily stand side by side with any of these games but with a lower price tag.
But let’s talk about the gameplay. When you first journey this world, you may think it is a simple platformer, but how you will be wrong. It doesn’t take long for you to figure out that this game is difficult and you will be dying on a regular basis as you jump off walls, shoot at enemies, or run from a sequence of collapsing ice. Luckily you have the choice to save at any point you want to give yourself a checkpoint, but doing so also costs you energy that can be valuable. Even the enemies can be difficult to kill as you have to get in a close proximity to them. To help you along the way you will be getting new abilities though if you put the work into finding orbs hidden across the open world of Ori. You can then pick and choose what you want to upgrade and this makes the game even more unique by throwing different twists at you constantly. You never feel like you’re just doing the same thing, you feel engrossed in new situations and new challenges, something that I feel can be rare in games anymore. And the thing that amazes me, is that it works, and it works well.
That isn’t to say that the game is perfect in every way. In reality there is a few frame rate issues from time to time. While it is rare, it does happen that may cause a quick stutter, but nothing major. The other issue is that once you beat the game you can’t go back to the world you’ve been in to collect the rest of the collectables. Luckily, there is a patch in the works to let you, as well as giving us a new game +. So the game will only be getting better from this point out. Besides those three very small nitpicks the game is almost flawless in every way, and with that your ears will be treated with one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard.
So in the end, Ori and The Blind Forest is not only a great game, its an instant classic and a game you should not miss if you like platformers. Moon Studios has announced that Ori has already become profitable and they want to expand the Ori universe with more plans for it in the future, so let’s hope Microsoft and Moon Studios continue to work with each other. Until then, move over Mario, because there is a new kid in town, and Mario has nothing on Ori.
Score - 9.3
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