- Nov 16, 2006
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I entered the Metroidvania genre from the Metroid side, both the original NES Metroid and far more importantly the seminal SNES Super Metroid. Super Metroid went down as one of my top games of all times, to the point where I made it a mission much later in life to track down an SNES cartrige of the game so I could fire it up from time to time on my old OG SNES system. I never owned a Playstation, never got to experience Castlevania Symphony of the Night, which in my understanding is the high watermark for the "vania" part of the genre.
Ori and the Blind Forest is a Metroidvania. Its a damn good Metroidvania. It really took me back to that place as a kid playing Super Metroid, getting new powers that opened up new areas and new secrets, overcoming challenges that were tuned just right to get to that point where I wanted to turn the game off. Except that the challenge was fair and I wasn't beating it because of silly errors on my part not the game. Relax, take a deep breath, then just power through and overcome with focus and skill.
The art direction, the music, the melancholy tone that is almost a staple of indie games nowadays are all there on spectacular display. I'm so happy to see this modern rejection of that old early 2000's mantra of "everything has to be 3D" that fully embraces that 2d side-scrollers are their own thing, not something less because its lacking a dimension.
The platforming is tight and responsive, the upgrades are fun, the level design is fantastic. The game does not have much combat depth, but then the game really isn't so much about fighting enemies as it is about movement. There are no bosses in the traditional MetroidVania-BulletHell sense, but rather end of instance escape events that require tight timing and a complete mastery of the movement skillset to complete. They are pulse pounding and intense in a way a traditional boss battle could never be, and I appreciated the game more for it.
Not a long review, not a lot to really write about Ori other than that it is an excellent game that will really bring out the nostalgia of simpler times for older gamers, while also giving modern gamers a much needed respite from the state of the AAA game industry writ large.
Its dirt cheap, runs well on most anything, has already had a sequel released, and is best played with a controller. Enjoy.
Ori and the Blind Forest is a Metroidvania. Its a damn good Metroidvania. It really took me back to that place as a kid playing Super Metroid, getting new powers that opened up new areas and new secrets, overcoming challenges that were tuned just right to get to that point where I wanted to turn the game off. Except that the challenge was fair and I wasn't beating it because of silly errors on my part not the game. Relax, take a deep breath, then just power through and overcome with focus and skill.
The art direction, the music, the melancholy tone that is almost a staple of indie games nowadays are all there on spectacular display. I'm so happy to see this modern rejection of that old early 2000's mantra of "everything has to be 3D" that fully embraces that 2d side-scrollers are their own thing, not something less because its lacking a dimension.
The platforming is tight and responsive, the upgrades are fun, the level design is fantastic. The game does not have much combat depth, but then the game really isn't so much about fighting enemies as it is about movement. There are no bosses in the traditional MetroidVania-BulletHell sense, but rather end of instance escape events that require tight timing and a complete mastery of the movement skillset to complete. They are pulse pounding and intense in a way a traditional boss battle could never be, and I appreciated the game more for it.
Not a long review, not a lot to really write about Ori other than that it is an excellent game that will really bring out the nostalgia of simpler times for older gamers, while also giving modern gamers a much needed respite from the state of the AAA game industry writ large.
Its dirt cheap, runs well on most anything, has already had a sequel released, and is best played with a controller. Enjoy.