Ori and The Blind Forest brings the beauty back to platforming (Review)

In an industry that churns out faceless bad guys to massacre behind your ever-loaded weapon, a truly heartfelt, beautiful game is something to admire. The last time I felt the love and loss presented to the player in Moon Studios’ Ori and the Blind Forest I was playing Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, which is to say Ori and the Blind Forest feels like a Hayao Miyazaki film come to life.

While Ori is a classic sidescrolling platformer at its heart, it’s that very (big) heart weaves the game into a gorgeous tapestry marrying sound gameplay, beautiful visuals and sublime wrinkles in the age-old 2D run and jump gametype. Throw in a healthy amount of Castlevania and Metroid-inspired gameplay, and you have something worth holding up at the end of the year as one of the best in class.

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Metroidvania games (as they’re lovingly referred to) are revered when done well, but living up to those legendary examples in the genre’s namesake is usually a fool’s errand. That’s why we see too few games in this sub-category, and the lot of them kind of suck. That’s why Symphony of The Night is still being played and people played ungodly sums of cash for the GBA iterations back in the day. I remember making a back-alley transaction straight up Castlevania: Circle of the Moon for Aria of Sorrow. Some serious business went down that day.

Digital distribution has changed the way we buy games and now a true collaborative process between game creators is possible through telecommuting team members. Moon Studios is headed by former Blizzard artist Thomas Mahler and worked to perfect Ori over four years with a collaboration of artists all over the world. It’s impressive and liberating to know that great work is no longered hindered by walls, cities, states, countries… You would think that after playing Ori this team had been creating titles for years together, but instead Moon Studios is like The Traveling Wilburys except there is absolutely no traveling involved.

The gameplay is tight and intuitive, exactly what you want in a game like this. The maps are set up much like Castlevanias or a Link to the Past, wherein you will have to backtrack a lot whenever you unlock a new major ability, such as the genre-smashing double jump unlocked an hour or two into the game (irony button off). In addition to the standard abilities you’ll use to traverse the stunning world, you’ll kill enemies and gather orbs to unlock new attacks, treasure hunting perks and health upgrades. This probably sounds like a been there, done that type of scenario, and you’re right. You’ve played this game before, but Ori and the Blind Forest is done really, really well.

Oh yeah, and the game looks friggin’ superb:

Running and jumping through the always beautiful, sometimes scary forest is a treat. The dirt kicks up beneath your feet as you run jump and climb through one of the most alluring destinations in modern gaming. The forest feels like a real place. I feel like I’m playing the first good Pixar-licensed videogame. It’s without hyperbole that you’ll look at Ori and the Blind Forest and be hard pressed to think of a more visually appealing title in recent memory.

The sound lives up to the visuals, with sweeping orchestral scores pushing you along your emotional journey every step of the way. And let it be known: you will feel feels. I had to go through the extremely well done but somewhat long intro twice just to grasp everything that was going on. It’s a touching story that has more heart than the usual fare seen on Xbox Live, so you have to applaud Microsoft Studios for getting behind this title. It’s a breath of fresh air.

It must be said that Ori does differ from its predecessors by putting the ability to save in the player’s hands. You can save up energy that can be used to possibly destroy walls, open doors or allow you to save your game and access your abilities. Personally, while the idea behind this is interesting and somewhat liberating for the player, the idea of saving is kind of trite in this day and age. I never liked having to work my way back to save points back in the day, and I found myself constantly forgetting to set up an advantageous save point for myself. I get the gameplay mechanic, but it kind of seems like a chore. It’s taking a necessary feature from games past and making it into a needless mechanic, even if you go down the ability tree and get some perks for opening a “save point.” This doesn’t hurt the experience too much at all though. Few things could negatively affect a game this brilliant.

Simply put, Moon Studios makes the old new and wraps a perfected gameplay experience in one of the most stunning locations you may ever see. But what does it do that’s new? Ori has polished a known gameplay experience into a streamlined experience that is deep and rewarding if not a little quick. I would rather not put down any spoilers, but I wanted more as soon as I finished Ori. I guess that’s a good thing.

If the words Metroid, Castlevania or Link to the Past mean anything to you, you know what to do. You’ll be downloading this off Xbox Live today. If you’re interested in a great platformer with RPG elements and an immersive world, play Ori and the Blind Forest. It’s pretty close to perfect.

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