Ori and the Blind Forest was a game I wanted to play from the moment I saw the trailer. Between the wonderful audio/video presentation and the exciting-looking gameplay, the game has been a large, glowing blip on my radar since 2015 when the game originally debuted. I played through Ori and the Blind Forest on my PC using an Xbox 360 controller, which is my controller of choice when it comes to playing platformers on Windows. The game’s difficulty was set to Normal, and I completed the main story in approximately nine hours, leaving plenty of secondary collectibles untouched (more on those in a bit).
Ori and the Blind Forest features a story about the importance of loving and nurturing, and how the slightest fallacy can quickly become a blight in our lives. Playing as the orphaned tree spirit, Ori, I found myself easily attached to Ori and the quartet of characters that she comes across in her journey to restore the forest after a devastating event (keeping things spoiler free, of course) decimates her forest home of all but the most vile life forms.
The game’s Pixar-perfect intro propelled me into a whirlwind experience where I found myself quickly skittering from the grasping claws of the nefarious, black owl, Kuro, who serves as the game’s primary antagonist. In between bouts of intense cat-and-mouse chases with Kuro, I was exploring the ruined forest, looking for the answers as to what caused the cataclysm and how, if possible, Ori could restore life to the forest.
Beneath the mesmerizing visuals is a platforming experience that requires precision. Ori and the Blind Forest always pushed the limits of my ability to maneuver throughout the levels in innovative (and fun) ways with the abilities that are gradually unlocked. Whether I was gliding from enemy to enemy, using them as living platforms, or power-jumping across chasms filled with lethal obstacles, the game was always pushing me forward and giving me just enough ability power to keep the momentum going.
The difficulty curve was challenging and enjoyable. Until it wasn’t.
The jarring, abrupt difficulty spikes I encountered came at two points throughout the game. The first problematic area I ended up going to YouTube to figure out, because I just could not wrap my head around the mechanics of that portion of the game. This segment required me to utilize some magnetic-like mechanic in order travel across magnetic boxes. The magnetic force would pull me towards the other block, but only if I jumped to it at a very strange angle. The only way I got through that section was through memorizing the jump patterns I observed in the walkthrough video. I’m still not quite sure how those mechanics work.
The second difficulty spike came, almost understandably, at the final scene of the game. Again, spoiler free: The final scene was essentially a race against time, lingering for too long would result in Ori’s instant death. Everything in this final level had a pre-determined timing to it, so even if you knew where to jump if you were off by even a half-second from what you were used to, you might not make the jump. After what felt like one hundred tries I eventually finished the game.
In the end, these were two minor moments in my 9-ish hour experience. I almost feel silly for even bringing them up because the rest of the game was so good.
It’s almost an issue itself: how good Ori and the Blind Forest is makes it hard to review. Ori and the Blind Forest was one of the best platformers I ever played. Running, jumping, climbing, gliding, attacking…it did not matter what I was doing, it was always smooth. The controls were tight, responsive and I was able to pull off some impressive acrobatic feats with ease. Even the few frustrating parts were not due to any lack of quality.
Ori and the Blind Forest is one of those games where, “It’s just good, go play it,” could serve as an apt, less-time-reading-more-time-playing review. The game appeals to so many types of gamers: casual players, speedrunners (the smooth gameplay and flowing level design almost seem made with speedrunning in mind), masochistic max-difficulty-level players, and completionists (lots of hidden caves and nooks filled with collectables) all can find something for them in Ori and the Blind Forest.
Simply put, it’s an amazing video game.
A retail copy, purchased independently, was used for this review.
