Review Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori and the Blind Forest is one of my favorite games of the past decade. I understand that the new decade has just begun, but I wouldn't be surprised if its sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, becomes the favorite game of the current decade for many.

Will of the Wisps was released on PC and Xbox One on March 11, 2020. As in the case of the original, this is a metroidvania (non-linear action-platformer), the developers of which use an amazing world and, through a professional play of colors, tell a sweet and touching fairy tale story.

First of all, a colorful and cute platformer

Will of the Wisps is the best 2D platform game I've ever played. Imagine that someone watched all the Studio Ghibli films and then decided they needed to do something more... and decided to create a similar video game. Sure, Blind Forest looks just as great, but the sequel has a lot more variety in terms of levels and setting. You will mainly explore many corners of the colorful forest, but you will also visit desert, ice and water biomes.

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But Ori is no ordinary spectator who comes here to admire the beauty of nature. An invigorating platformer awaits you. Ori has a huge arsenal of abilities that will help him overcome various obstacles. So?Living all the traditions of metroidvania, you will open these skills gradually, as you progress through the game. Each new discovery or action will help you get into a completely different area, where you simply could not get before. After you immerse yourself in the game, collect different skills, you will be happy to replay previously explored locations to get to each secret. As a result, Ori will turn into a real superman, able to swim under water, move through sand, reflect projectiles, soar in the air, and so on.

Combat system and bosses

Compared to Blind Forest, Ori has a lot more combat abilities prepared in the new game. Previously, it was enough for you to press one button to attack the enemy with energy. There was no need to aim or demonstrate your dexterity. I liked it because it allowed me to focus on the platforming elements. In Will of the Wisps, Ori has a large offensive arsenal, including an energy blade and a bow. In the future, you will be able to unlock other skills (for example, a spear)

By focusing on the combat system, the creators of Will of the Wisps have added a lot more boss fights to the game than was the case in the original. And all these collisions will be memorable. Are the boss fights cinematic and epic??, as if you are not playing a cute metroidvania, but some regular Dark Souls title.

Don't expect Will of the Wisps to have as much metroidvania as Hollow Knight or Symphony of the Night. Although this game has a lot more combat than the original, the main focus is still on platforming. But the addition of a deep combat system allowed for a much richer game world. These battles against normal enemies or bosses allow you to pause in a long and intense sequence of platforming elements. Yes, intense battles are used as a way to take a break.

Incredible ending

Of course, I will not spoil, but Ori and the Will of the Wisps has one of the best endings I have ever seen.

Minor technical issues

Bugs and other technical problems are the only mine of the game. Sometimes there are freezes for a second as the game tries to load something. A small, sometimes annoying delay occurs when opening the map. There will also be a few graphical glitches, and upon death, a character can occasionally be trapped in a texture. Some areas take longer than usual to load (when teleporting), and will occasionally drop FPS.

However, after the release of the first?atcha most of these problems have been eliminated.

Conclusion

Being a huge fan of Ori and the Blind Forest, Will of the Wisps was everything I could expect from a sequel. This is a long adventure with fantastic innovations and incredible boss battles. And the final sequence will be remembered for a long time to me. Periodic technical failures can be annoying, but in the case of such a masterpiece, you can endure.

Will of the Wisps is a metroidvania that can be placed on a par with Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night.