Ori and the Will of the Wisps

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Tim)

The sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest, this one takes all the things that make he first one great and makes them better. The platforming is the real standout here, with very fluid and satisfying movement. The puzzles are incredible here too, really taking the skills you learn and putting them to the test.

The game looks amazing as well, with an improved world and more distinct and memorable regions. The music sounds beautiful again, and the world in general is just more filled out, with some other characters to interact with and side quests.

My main complaint is the combat. There are many more options than the first one, but the creatures you fight are all pretty repetitive, and it felt a bit hack and slash. Never could get a good grasp on how to dodge certain attacks, and the damage they did was never enough to really cause any problems anyways. The best bosses are actually the platforming ones, where you are running away from them in high octane chase scenes.

I played this on the Switch and had occasional couple frame rate drops, as well as noticeable and inconsistent load times to open the map, which is a critical action in an exploration based game like this. The game also crashed probably 3 times during the course of my 15 hour play time, which is not great. That's another minor complain - I like games that take a bit more time to 100%.

Anyways, I am complaining a lot but that's because the bar was so high for this game. It is very charming, with a great world and satisfying levels and a more fleshed out storyline than the first. Wish it could be a 10 but still a very solid game.