Ori and the Will of the Wisps

[Dog-amoto]

Nice to see a sequel to this beautiful game. Loved the first one.

 

[Ronnie]

This, the original and Cuphead are tempting me to pick up and Xbox One S. Shame they didn't seem to show much gameplay though

[Ganepark32]

It's been a long, long road since this was announced but today, the game is finally out and its reviewing well across the board.

 

I've been excitedly waiting since it was announced to get my hands on it. I picked up my copy of the collector's edition this morning and I have to say that as someone who doesn't normally pick up collector's editions, what they've put together for this is really nice. For the £39.99 price tag, it's a good edition with a piano arrangement soundtrack CD, a digital copy of the entire soundtrack, a steel book which is black with the gold coloured logo for the game on the front and a really nice art book that's surprisingly thick (was expecting a smaller sized one so this was a pleasant surprise). Sure, they could've stuck some kind of figure/statue in there (that would have been awesome, especially if they made it with Ori, Ku, Gamu and Naru all together) but for the price, it's great and I'm glad I picked it up to support the devs.

As for the game, I've played a little over 2 hours and I love it. They've clearly taken some inspiration from the likes of Hollow Knight here and there with the spirit badges you can get that give you additional abilities and with the starter weapon being a blade. The addition of weapons definitely makes combat much better this time around. I've been zipping about slashing with the blade, jumping to the side and using the bow to throw in some shots while my soul sentry acts like the spark from the first game and attacks enemies automatically for a short period of time. It feels great and it's a definite improvement over the first game.

The platforming is still a strong component of the game. It still feels a little bit floaty to control but it feels somewhat tighter here compared to the first game and it very quickly starts throwing abilities to make your traversal much easier. I'd unlocked the dash and double jump within the first hour or so so it doesn't drag its feet about getting you going.

I'm also liking the addition of NPCs in the form of animals in the locations that you can help with small side quests. Some of these feel right out of other metroidvania titles, like the map maker who disappears after you purchase the map of the area you're in. I'm looking forward to seeing how this is fleshed out later as I'm only just starting to meet more and more NPCs.

As expected, the game looks phenomenal and the soundtrack is downright beautiful. That was to be expected as the first game was top notch in these departments as well. My only gripe is that with playing on an OG Xbox One, the backgrounds look quite low resolution, like playing handheld on the Switch low resolution. It's as if someone smeared vaseline on them in places and in others you can literally make out the pixels because of how low resolution they are. I'm wondering if this has been done in the day 1 patch to stabilise the performance issues that reviews had noted. Hopefully it'll get sorted as it, along with the remaining stutters when entering new areas or when going from the map screen to play.

So yeah, first impressions are great from the 2 hours or so I've played. It's a sequel in all the right ways so far and I can't wait to play more. I'm glad loads will get to play it thanks to Game Pasa but I do hope it sells well enough as it and the original are two of the best games that Microsoft have given the go ahead to this generation.

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

Yet another amazing reason to have Game Pass; I'm starting to slow down on my time in The Division 2 now I've beaten the DLC and hunted down alot of achievements, this is downloaded and ready to go for me, can't wait!

[Hero-of-Time]

6 minutes ago, Kaepora_Gaebora said:

Yet another amazing reason to have Game Pass; I'm starting to slow down on my time in The Division 2 now I've beaten the DLC and hunted down alot of achievements, this is downloaded and ready to go for me, can't wait!

Did you play and enjoy the original game? When I did have my One S for Gears 5 I never got around to playing it. I'm still tempted to pick it up on the Switch at some point.

EDIT: Also, get Yakuza 0 played. It's on Game Pass now, right?

Edited March 12, 2020 by Hero-of-Time

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

35 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Did you play and enjoy the original game? When I did have my One S for Gears 5 I never got around to playing it. I'm still tempted to pick it up on the Switch at some point.

EDIT: Also, get Yakuza 0 played. It's on Game Pass now, right?

I did, late last year and thanks to Game Pass again, absolutely amazing game, so much so I gifted it via the Xbox to a friend for his birthday and he fell in love with it too! Such a beautiful game musically, artistically and design wise too, would thoroughly recommend.

Haha it's on my download list, but I'm not sure if I'll start it before it disappears...

[Hero-of-Time]

3 hours ago, Kaepora_Gaebora said:

Haha it's on my download list, but I'm not sure if I'll start it before it disappears...

 

[Ganepark32]

I finished this last night and after an additional hour today, I've now got 100% complete after just under 16 hours. I've got a small number of things left to do, mainly the spirit trial races and I need to upgrade the last 4 spirit shards but I think I'll leave those as they're not needed.

Off the bat I'll say that the performance of the game and that it got released in the state it is is shocking. The game had an additional month delay to iron things out yet I had frequent bugs and issues of frame rate drops, stutters and freezes and I ended my play through with 4 complete hard crashes to the dashboard during play (I had an additional 2 from simply trying to load up my save which bugged out, leaving me with a blue screen that had Ori falling down it repeatedly till it froze and crashed back to the dashboard. Thank god there are frequent back up saves made). The day 1 patch has also screwed up Achievement unlocks as despite finishing the game and having max health, these achievements haven't unlocked and I had several stacked up last night that didn't unlock but unlocked earlier today.

It's a bit of a sorry state for the game because the constant freezes when going between areas or in battles can really throw you off. I do wonder if it has something to do with how they've implemented the auto save system and needing to be on the ground for that to kick in. Even still, I doubt none of this came up in testing across any of the platforms (I know I played on the weakest one, the OG Xbox One, but these issues are apparent on the S, the X and on PC too) so how they put it out like this is beyond me. They're at least being open about trying to fix it the problems but I know some damage has been done going from forums elsewhere.

Even with those rampant performance issues, I absolutely loved the game. It took the original and improved on it in pretty much every way. The character movement and traversal felt even more fluid here compared to the original. Combat felt more of an active thing and not simply button mashing with a weak weapon set. The different moves and spirit weapons all added to the gameplay and allowed for so much experimentation in combat and in stringing them together to traverse dangerous scenery.

The game played so well and like the original, when things click its beautiful in motion. Managing to nail a tricky parkour section feels great and as I said, the addition of the new moves and how quickly you get them means there a really nice sense of progression and improvement.

The chase sequences did feel a little more easy going than the original but they were nonetheless still great moments that again showed off how well the level design and character movement systems work together. The boss fights as well, though few in  number, all felt unique and though they didn't throw anything new into the fray, they simply felt and looked great. None of these or any of the encounters throughout felt cheap and even when things got hectic and hard to keep track of Ori in amongst the flashiness, it always felt great.

The story was really nicely done and although I would have perhaps given a particular character the redemptive ending they deserved in light of their backstory, it was touching and the ending was beautifully handled, giving room to allow future games to grow from what's there and also closing this chapter nicely. Though there isn't much interplay between Ori and Ku, what's there in the beginning nicely teases with some of what you'll achieve later and it's enough to show their connection and propel you to reunite them in this strange land. And when events turn as they do, you really feel that gut punch which again, pushes you to resolve things with a nicely foreshadowed conclusion.

Just like the original, it's a visual and auditory delight. Even on an OG Xbox One, where the backgrounds are very low resolution at times, it looks beautiful in motion. Bright colours mix with dark and dank ones to really create an atmosphere and though a lot of the locations have been done before in other games, they still feel uniquely their own. The underground section with the spiders in particular looks haunting when its fully unveiled. I do wish some of the areas were a bit more distinct visually so they didn't blend but they still looked fantastic.

The soundtrack, as I said previously, is just straight up beautiful. Gareth Coker has done an incredible job with it to once again make a moving and evocative score, with some beautiful remixes of tracks from the original and some beautiful vocal work from both the woman involved. I downloaded the digital soundtrack that came with my collector's edition and I've listened to it away from the game and it's just brilliant. It hits the right notes to punctuate moments and builds up nicely during chase and battle sequences.

I loved the game and I'm sad that it's now over. The wait for it to release seemed like a lifetime and now it's over. I'm hopeful it foes well for Moon Studios as I'd love for more. As it is, it's a fantastic game that improves the formula of the original for the better and though it doesn't bring a lot be to the table, it still feels remarkably fresh and just a joy to play. If you've got access to Game Pass on PC or Xbox One (which I know isn't many on here) you should 100% play it. Even then, it's an easily recommended buy at the £24.99 price. Fantastic game.