Join me in my review of Ori and the Will of the Wisps...
As a sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest, Moon Studios' Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a beautiful, fast-paced game full of atmosphere and plenty of heart-warming characters. If you’re a fan of Hollow Knight and metroidvania games in general, you’ll definitely want to give this one a go!
Back in 2015, Ori and the Blind Forest captured the hearts of many with its heart-wrenching tale of love and loss. This year (2020), Moon Studios released the equally compelling sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Both games have been met with huge success, gathering many fans, and even earning themselves a port on the Nintendo Switch.
Below is my list of top reasons why I loved this highly anticipated sequel:
The Characters
The characters are all so adorable! You play as Ori, a small, cat-like ball of light, as you work to save the land from a deadly corruption and find your lost friend, a tiny bird named Ku.
Along the way you’ll meet tons of other creatures from a giant, fatherly frog, to a skittish map-maker, to a sleepy boar full of wisdom. But my absolute favourite group of NPCs has to be the Moki. The Moki are a race of cat creatures that help you along the way, and my God are they cute!
How It Looks
The world design, art-style and music score combine to make a beautifully atmospheric game.
You'll know if you read my review of Hollow Knight that I'm a huge fan of atmospheric games. So, similarly to Hollow Knight, the aura of this game is intense and totally draws you in, making the world incredibly immersive. However, where Hollow Knight was dark and eerie, Ori is bright and playful. True to the franchise, the themes in Ori and the Will of the Wisps continue to surround happiness, joy, love and light which honestly, I don’t think we can have too much of! Especially these days.
The Gameplay
Personally, I found the gameplay in the sequel to be a lot better compared to the first game. There’s more variation in attacks and weapons/abilities, so you can find a style that suits you.
One thing that didn’t change, however, is the speed of it all. Both Ori games are incredibly fast, which can be disorienting at first (especially during the intense acrobatics sequences) but that's what I really love about the games! It feels very invigorating to watch Ori slash with their ethereal sword so fast they stay airborne.
There’s a load more to love about both Ori games, but I will leave that for you to discover.
Let me know in the comments what you thought if you’ve played! Did you think the sequel was better like I did?
