It's not hard to see why people would want more Ori action after Ori and The Blind Forest. Moon Studios' first title hit it out of the park by combining a beautiful, Hasao Miyasaki-inspired art style with a difficult but fun platforming Metroidvania. Thus, the announcement of a sequel was a welcome surprise.
So now, after five years of waiting, we finally have Moon Studios' latest dip into this brightly colored fantasy world that they're created. Ori and the Will Of The Wisps continues to stun and challenge gamers with its incredible visuals and platforming. Although the biggest threat to Ori this time isn't an ominous owl, but a mess of bugs and glitches lurking under the surface.
Please, Stop, My Heart Can Only Break So Much
The story of Ori and the Will Of The Wisps takes place not too long after the events of Ori and The Blind Forest. Naru has adopted Ku, the owlet child of the first game's antagonist, Kuro. Along with Ori and Gumo, they serve as a foster family for the hatchling until it feels ready to leave the nest and fly away. Unfortunately, Ku has a broken wing that prevents her from flying. Luckily, Ori turns out to be a great problem solver and attaches a large feather taken from Kuro to her which is enough to have the two soaring through the air in no time. Of course, neither Ori or Ku actually prepared any kind of flight plan, leading to them flying directly into a horrendous thunderstorm and getting separated in the corrupted land of Niwen. Now, Ori not only has to find and save Ku, but also try to heal this ruined forest from an infliction known as The Decay.
Ori and The Blind Forest managed to tug at your heartstrings with its simple yet effective story. That continues with Will Of The Wisps as the animations and characters are so unbelievably charming that you need veins running with ice water to not squee with delight. Ori goes even bigger with the story-telling this time as there are many more characters to meet and give you side quests to complete.
The obvious standout is the massive frog Kwolek, who serves as a guide and leader in Niwen. His every movement is breathtaking, and that's just par for the course for character design in Will Of The Wisps. There's also the Moki - which are weird, lizard cat things that mainly serve to pull levers for you - and the white-haired monkey man Orpher who levels up your offensive skills and gets you out of a few jams. They're all adorable and full of life, which makes the various tragedies or hardships that befall them feel even worse. It's like Moon Studios has some sort of sadistic grudge against cute creatures.
It's probably not a shock to hear that this game is absolutely gorgeous to see in motion. Flowing water, the bounciness of plant life, the way that enemies attack by lunging or leaping at you, it's all stunning, colorful, and smooth. It's almost a shame that you eventually have to kill the things that are hurling projectiles at you. On top of the awe-inspiring visuals, there's also a wonderful soundtrack that only helps to make this feel even more like a playable Miyasaki film.
He's Cute, But He Will Cut You
Much like its predecessor, Ori and the Will Of The Wisps is a platforming Metroidvania where you need to gain new abilities or weapons to progress. Considering that you'll be doing a whole lot of jumping, running, rolling, and gliding all over the place, it's a good thing that Ori feels fantastic to control. The movement feels fluid and fast, and as you obtain more and more abilities you'll be zipping across the screen like the magical embodiment of parkour.
The movement feels refined and improved, but the combat feels even better. Ori is handed a big ol' honking spirit sword and is allowed to slice any decayed baddies that stand in his way. Much like the platforming, fighting requires some quick reflexes to survive the onslaught of enemy attacks. The combat is surprisingly hard and it's not uncommon to get wiped out by a tough boss or a group of foes all ganging up on you. It gets so tough that players with a low threshold for 2D combat-related frustration might want to consider the easy difficulty setting. However, Will Of The Wisps seems to be pretty generous with its checkpoints so you normally don't start too far away from your last death.
Another change from The Blind Forest is the upgrade system, which seems to have taken a cue from another excellent Metroidvania, Hollow Knight. Instead of an upgrade tree, Ori now equips shards that give him an assortment of buffs, such as getting more life or being able to stick to walls. These shards can also level up by paying a merchant named Twill to improve them. This effectively lets you create different builds of Ori so you can tailor the gameplay to your own tastes.
The Least Adorable Part Of The Game
Everything in Ori and the Will Of The Wisps feels magical and wonderous. Except of course for the shockingly frequent bugs and glitches that can suddenly take you out of the adventure and make you wonder if your Xbox or PC is on the fritz.
While playing Ori on my computer, I experienced some unusual audio glitches where the game would make a strange buzzing or screeching sound. This seems to be a common issue and that's pretty upsetting since it can ruin the music during a pivotal scene. That might also be related to the stuttering and framerate hitches that often occurred right before a cutscene or transition to another part of the map.
It's quite disheartening to have all the whimsy interrupted by constant technical problems. Judging by a cursory glance at the Internet, it seems that there are several bugs that have yet to be worked out with Will Of The Wisps. There was never a bug that completely ruined the experience, just some that caused some mild annoyances. Still, when a game like this is trying to draw you into a fantastical world, nothing takes you out the moment more than your PC audibly fighting to keep the software running. Here's hoping that a big patch is on the way.
Prepare For Whimsy!
Even with a litany of bugs, there are still several reasons to recommend this excellent title. Moon Studios took everything they learned and created an adventure that improves and builds upon Ori and The Blind Forest. The platforming and combat are top-notch and offer players a challenging yet rewarding experience that will have them both swearing and cheering at their TVs. And while the game never gets quite as heartbreaking as the opening minutes of The Blind Forest, there will be plenty of moments where you will find yourself teary-eyed from the fates of the lovable woodland creatures who just can't catch a break.
If you're the kind of person who can't stand bugs ruining your games then maybe you might want to wait a bit until this is good and patched. But even with the glitches, Ori and the Will Of The Wisps is undeniably a captivating, marvelous game that makes us hope that we won't have to wait another 5 years to see Ori in action again.
A PC copy of Ori and the Will Of The Wisps was purchased for this review. Ori and the Will Of The Wisps is available on Xbox One and PC.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
A gorgeous platformer from Moon Studios, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a sequel to the hit indie game. This time, the action takes place in Niwen, where Ori must locate the lost Ku.