[ENG] Beauty of Ori and the Blind Forest

(Polska Wersja Dostępna Tu! - [PL] Piękno Ori and the Blind Forest)

(Spoiler Warning – from around the halfway of this article there are story reveals necessary to talk about the topic. It's highly recommended you complete the game before going further... Or if you don't care about spoilers – go ahead!)

I'm not the biggest fan of platforming games out there, quite the opposite – until few years ago, I wouldn't even look at the platformers. I just didn't like them; sucked at them and felt like I shouldn't even touch them, and probably it would still be like this if not for two games – Hollow Knight and Cuphead. Thanks to these two, I realized the beauty behind the genre I have despised for so long. And thanks to that realization, I gave another platformer a shot – Ori and the Blind Forest.

For those who still somehow don't know the game or haven't heard about it – Ori and the Blind Forest is a game released in 2015 for PC and Xbox One by Moon Studios and... Well, the game was and still is loved by both players and critics (5 years after it's release, the game still has over 95% positive reviews on Steam). It's an indie game, but I'd risk saying that it could and still can stand toe-to-toe with triple A titles. Ori and the Blind Forest is an example that games can be art – in more than one way.

(Animation of getting a new skill is gorgeous)

It's a MetroidVania style of game, theoretically you can go everywhere from the start, but a lot of paths will be closed unless you have a certain ability or achieved certain moment in the story. The game gently guides you where to go next (often learning new ability on the way), but at the same time encourages exploration – with a lot of paths branching from the one you're walking and secrets hidden around just waiting to be discovered!

Of course you are welcome to try and get to many places, but you won't be able to without some mandatory skills (like Double Jump). You also won't be able to get a lot of secrets without some non-mandatory skills (like Light Burst or Triple Jump). There is one particular mechanic that sets this game apart from other platformers or MetroidVanias is that... You create checkpoints. Of course, there are few instances of auto-save, but for the most part you are the one to create a respawn point. A clever mechanic that can really backfire if you get too cocky with your last checkpoint several minutes ago. Plus, the game automatically backups few last saves for you, so you don't get stuck with a badly placed checkpoint.

(The self-made checkpoint. You respawn here after death, you can also purchase skill upgrades here)

The game takes roughly 6-8 hours to complete (at least that's what it took me), but with amount of secrets, backtracking and sheer curiosity the playtime can easily peak 20-30 hours on a single playthrough. But if you look for a bigger challenge after completing everything a single playthrough has to offer – you have a 'one-life' difficulty setting which... Do I really need to explain what does it mean?

The controls are pretty precise (I was playing on keyboard) and the game itself is fair for the MOST part, sometimes the game will force out a much harder segment to play through, but... Everything is doable with enough effort and patience!

(Here are my endgame stats. As you can see I missed quite a lot of things; 2 non-mandatory skills and I've died over 300 times. Oh, and it shows 5 and a half hour whereas on Steam I have 8 hours so... Yeah)

The soundtrack makes the overall product even better. If you aren't going to play the game – just give a shot to this calming, soothing and sometimes intense soundtrack. Who knows – maybe you will find yourself new, chill songs to study or work.

The deep, echoing voice of the narrator is also really contributing to the overall sound design of Ori and the Blind Forest – it's both powerful, but soothing; strong, but calm.

Okay, granted – no game is perfect, there always will be smaller or bigger things that impact the overall product and Ori is no different. Though... It's really hard to find something big that breaks the entire product – story is a bit cliche, but it's told pretty well; graphics and sound design are borderline ideal. Sometimes the controls aren't that precise (sometimes you will jump from the exact same spot 3 times for example and ultimately land in 3 different spots... That may be a tad bit annoying on a one life setting) or the game will force a much harder segment straight out of nowhere. Yes, there are moments that can fill you with unspeakable rage and fury, but at the same time satisfaction afterwards can be just as intense.

(Even the corruption looks beautiful)

[SPOILERS START HERE]

The story follows a cute, little, white creature called Ori. It lives peacefully in beautiful, vast Nibel Forest, but... The Forest is dying, it's light is slowly fading away and it's up to Ori to restore it's home back to life. It's the story of sacrifice, how important balance is and a tale of mutual understanding. Our main antagonist is a giant owl called Kuro, she hunts Ori since it's the embodiment of the light, she purely hates. Though she seems evil, there is a reason behind her behavior; reason that's quite sad.

You see, Kuro hates light for one reason - it's the very same light that took away her children. Kuro's heart filled with hate, sorrow, grief and anger. In effect, she tried to destroy the light of Nibel Forest. Ori is one of, if not the last physical embodiment of said light in existence, when Kuro realizes that – she hunts our protagonist with great anger and ferocity. But... Eventually she realizes, that it's the very same light she hated that keeps Nibel safe and alive. In a last, desperate effort she gives light back to the very heart of the Forest – The Ancient Tree. She did this, knowing that light will take her life, but she sacrificed herself to keep others alive. This ending is both somewhat tragic but at the same time very heartwarming to see the creature that tried to kill us from the get-go, doing one last effort to try and atone for her sins.

In return, Ori and friends took care of last egg that Kuro laid down. She did everything she could do protect her last child and now, Ori and friends were going to continue her motherly mission.

(Kuro. Ferocious hunter and our antagonist)

The story of a game may be a bit cliche – after all it's typical Light vs. Dark formula, but it's not the formula that matters – it's the execution of said formula. Ori and the Blind Forest is not only mesmerizing in terms of breathtaking graphics and fluid animations, but the storytelling and small, hidden details that create a genuine masterpiece in all – design, graphics (I think the screenshots are more than enough for that) storytelling – everything.

By 'small, hidden details' I mean that... Well, look – we're in a large Forest, right? And there are a ton of other animals and creatures inhabiting this land. Due to Nibel's current state, we are kind of forced to venture far away from our 'territory' let's call it. And I think that enemies – animals and creatures that attack us – aren't necessarily bad, they may be just like Kuro – protecting something, in that case – their territory. (Okay, but let's exclude here 'corrupted tentacles' suddenly rising from the ground and spewing orbs at us – they can't be natural, a'ight?).

Ori and the Blind Forest is simply amazing, I will probably come back later to complete the game on higher difficulty; collect every single thing available in the game and maybe even scratch the one life difficulty, despite sucking at platformers. This game is just really well-made and honestly quite refreshing nowadays. Who knows, maybe one day I'll check the sequel – Ori and the Will of the Wisps to see... Well – more Ori, this beautiful world and heartwarming story. It's just that type of game that goes straight into your heart and makes itself at home.

Go and save Nibel from the corruption and decay!

Kind Regards,

Wing.