Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori and the Will of the Wisps may not feel as vital as the original did when it debuted, but fans of the genre would be foolish to overlook the sequel. Its visual style, themes, and engrossing score distinguish it from others in its space. Its fluid sense of movement and fast-paced combat make it a blast to play, with plenty of hidden challenges to uncover. Ori and the Will of the Wisps will please fans of the original and anyone looking for an engrossing adventure steeped in natural mystery and wonder.

I actually haven’t played the first Ori so I can’t compare the two nor do I have a bias based on how much I enjoyed the previous installment. I would wait for some patches before attempting this game. It’s excellent, there’s no doubt about it, but when things don’t work you become robbed of the experience. Still, it’s better than most platformers out there, even with the issues.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is everything you could want from a sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest. It isn’t a revolutionary new step forward for the series by any means, but it does an excellent job of building upon all the core concepts that made Ori and the Blind Forest so fantastic, whilst also adding enough new features to justify its title as a sequel, rather than an additional DLC expansion. If you haven’t played through Ori and the Blind Forest (you should), Ori and the Will of the Wisps is worth jumping into regardless, as it polishes the Ori formula to a shine and is an incredible experience in its own right.

To no one's surprise, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is visually and audibly beautiful. Once you get the hang of Ori's abilities, the platforming is fluid and satisfying, the combat is cool, and the game rewards your exploration even when said exploration is a result of getting lost. Through it all lingers a feeling of accomplishment that makes it so easy to keep playing, even through the frustrating parts.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a bold and ambitious sequel and I really did not want to put it down when I was done. You owe to yourself to give it a try.