GameClub - What did you think of Ori and the Blind Forest?

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the game. On a quality level, it sets a new high water mark in terms of visuals, sound, and music. The world also feels much larger than other Metroidvania games. I don't want to make the argument that better technology makes for better games all the time, but the scope of Ori compared to what game developers could do with Super Metroid, Symphony of the Night, or even Aquaria is noticeable. Speaking of those games, Ori moves so fast that it makes the protagonists of those two games seem slow by comparison. I thought it was refreshing! That said, I had a hard time picking up the game again for some reason. It's probably because I've been too busy with work, but I found myself drawn to continuing or trying games other than Ori. Maybe I'm not being fair to the game by not going farther than the first major area. What are your thoughts?

Megabyte01

Didn't play it for Gameclub, but one thing that grabbed me was the story, and the way it felt like I was playing a Pixar film. Not a lot of games made me feel like those films would, and I definitely think that's one of the main attractions for Ori. Hopefully they'll be able to keep it up in the sequel.

Will_WMGC

Overall the game was good. The visuals in particular were incredibly impressive, although I feel like they made a couple sacrifices to the gameplay in service to the visuals. The story was also pretty solid, although Gumo's arc seems a bit weird. You chase him around to get an item back, and after he finally gives it up, somehow the plot treats it as an act of mercy on your part? Was the alternative for Ori to kill him for no reason? It's weird because that act of "mercy" seems to influence him do take a lot of actions that are important to the plot. As one example, there was a moment or two where I was frustrated by having to do some precise platforming, when the hitboxes weren't super clear. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure most of those cases where times when I accidentally tried to access areas too early, before I had certain abilities. So maybe I was supposed to give up when the wall-jumping was getting too tricky. The combat bothered me. As I mentioned in another comment, the combat has a weird middle ground between melee combat and ranged combat. It's ranged but with an incredibly small range. I think it would have worked better if they just either did melee combat, or had ranged combat where you could actually distance yourself from enemies. The way it is now, it's a bit tricky to figure out how close you need to be, and it's hard to avoid damage because enemies don't get knocked back by your standard attack, and the flashy visuals make it hard to see well enough to dodge attacks. I also thought the energy system was a good idea, but I'm not sure it was always implemented well. I like being able to choose when to make checkpoints, but I think it was a mistake to tie it to the game's only resource pool. It meant that I really didn't want to use most of the combat options the game gave me, when I could just use my basic attack and conserve energy to use for saving and making light grenades to bounce off of in tricky platforming segments. Speaking of the light grenade as well as the dash move, those moves were so incredibly useful that I honestly wonder if they change the difficulty curve of the game. I became incredibly reliant on both of them. So I wonder if the platforming was more difficult in the original release, before they added those. One final thing I liked: I enjoyed how the world changed as you progressed. Clearing the first element cleans the water in the world, and clearing the second element adds wind to the world. It's a bit of a shame we didn't get to see what fixing the fire element did to the world, though. Metroidvanias usually have the player character change, while keeping most of the world the same throughout. It's nice to see big changes to the world itself, especially when the changes make the world map easier to traverse. (I've mostly listed criticisms of the game because most of the other elements were done well, so there isn't much to say. Like I said I enjoyed the game overall. I'm definitely going to play the sequel)

Tom T

I'm not familiar with Metroidvanias, and unsurprisingly I'm bad at them. The movement was great, and the graphics were lovely, of course. Despite that, the gameplay was just too frustrating for me to enjoy. I finished the game, but found some sections to be extremely annoying. The water escape when the tree flooded, and the final escape sequence from the owl were both incredibly frustrating at times. I also hated the fog in the woods, as it made navigation next to impossible. Oh, and the story was awful. So many plot holes. I was cheering for the owl most of the time, because the big tree was clearly the bad guy.

Alex Moffatt

I played the definitive edition last year, and I'd say it's overall one of the best Metroidvanias I've ever played. The navigation makes good use of the abilities Ori learns along the way, and it's rewarding to visit earlier areas, something I feel others in the genre pull off usually to more middling results. And yeah, the graphics are gorgeous and the music has its own distinct identity--when I saw the trailer for the sequel, familiar feelings came back right away. I do think the endgame falls a bit short. While it's probably better the game had no final boss (the combat was serviceable for me, but it was never the game's focal point), I do think things crescendo a bit too soon. I thought there'd be some final trial after the third "dungeon," but ... that was pretty much it.

I'll be a little negative but I thought each part was better than the sum of them together. The art is superb, the soundtrack is wonderful the map design is great, but I felt unfulfilled by the end. Maybe it was the abrupt ending, or maybe it was the fact I found nothing new with the combat/platforming. I felt the non-gameplay aspects were given a lot of care, and the checkpoint system was a great risk:reward solution to an important mechanic in exploration games. Don't get me wrong, I loved the game for what it was, but I just wanted a bit more depth mechanically. Hopefully this will be looked at in the sequel.

Dingle Dee

By the way, if you want a Metroid-type game (no, I'm not calling it a metroidvania) that's also amazing but more focused on combat, try Strider or Outland.

cptnoremac

Definitely a 10/10 game. I downloaded it on Steam the first time it went on sale, and when we finally got a physical (and definitive?) version on Xbone I bought that, because screw digital games. Probably the thing about it that sticks out the most is the movement. You move so freely. You can control yourself in midair pretty well, the wall jumping and triple jumping make you feel like you can go anywhere, and the launch ability you get has to be one of the best mechanics ever made. It's not like a Zelda item that only works on specific targets in very specific places, basically acting like a key; you can use it on any projectile and almost any enemy. Having to use it on those guys who roll into a ball and fire them into switches and stuff is so great, but I just love that you can use it when you please. It goes without saying the visuals and music are top notch. The story is simple but effective. I don't get the complaints about combat. It's not a combat game. I absolutely love Super Metroid, but look how awkward the combat is in that game. You fire in only 8 directions, your movement is a little clunky, and there's no way to run from a boss and shoot at it at the same time. This game kindly auto-locks your shots onto enemies, so it's really all about avoiding damage while staying close enough for your shots to land. I can't think of any way to improve that.

cptnoremac

Agreed on the combat. As for warps, the original version actually didn't have any. It was apparently added in the Definitive Edition.

Tom T

Beside the incredible overall quality of the game, the checkpoint system is one of the best i've seen thus far. It has a real impact on the difficulty, making some section easier just by placing intelligently your save point.

I thought it was a lot of fun overall, except for the combat, which I honestly think the game would've been better without. There just really was nothing to it, it didn't flow well, and felt more awkward than anything else. But the platforming was great, it looks and felt exceptionally fluid, the "Bash" ability in particular was a high point, and is honestly a fun enough mechanic that it could have carried the whole game for me. Other than that, I wasn't a fan of the save system, and the warp system might as well have not been in the game because I didn't use it even a single time. (For further expanded thoughts, I did a podcast-style video about the game after I finished it; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HAOdT4rZpM)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HAOdT4rZpM)</a>

Nicole Carter

I played it when it released, and I firmly believe it's one of the best games of this console generation so far.