New game sticks to Ori-ginal formula
Enjoyable sequel fails to build on Xbox predecessor’s energy, however
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the sequel to one of the more vibrant platformers of the last decade. Like its predecessor, Ori and the Blind Forest (2015), it marries inviting, cartoony visuals with robust platforming challenges that make the most of the game’s responsive controls. The new game hasn’t cast the same revelatory spell on me as the first Ori, but I’ve enjoyed criss-crossing its large map in tried-and-true Metroidvania-style.
The Will of the Wisps opens with Ori, a floppy-eared forest spirit, and its closest companions, Naru and Gumo, doting on an owlette named Ku. Because of a malformed wing Ku is unable to fly more than a short distance, which leaves her feeling dejected and her friends at a loss. That is, until Ori remembers that among its possessions is a wing from Ku’s mother, Kuro, Ori’s deceased, one-time adversary from the first game. After Gumo ties the wing onto Ku, the owlette takes to the skies with Ori on her back and falls into the company of a flock of birds. As the two travel they spot in the distance a dark, foreboding, wooded landscape. A vicious storm flings the pair apart.
Players spend the first part of the game searching for Ku. Ori must travel through a shadowy, overgrown forest full of thorny vines and eager foes (flies with long, stinging proboscises) — fighting, cavorting, and solving puzzles with the usual means: throwing switches, finding door keys. Early in the game, ability upgrades are dished out at a fast pace so one doesn’t feel hamstrung for long. Ori has a wider variety of skills at its disposal than in The Blind Forest. I’ve yet to discover any that make The Will of the Wisps feel radically different, but there are things that I’ve yet to discover in this game, which is much bigger than the original.
Though I’ve been impressed by the breadth of its level design, the game’s visuals have left me feeling ambivalent. I loved the art style of The
Blind Forest, which drew inspiration from the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki; however, The Will of Wisps has struck me as sometimes beautiful and sometimes overblown like a fantasy calendar from the analog days.
While the artwork has been hit or miss, I’ve found the story to be altogether negligible thus far. Given that The Will of the Wisps is such a challenging game, one might hope that the writing wasn’t exclusively geared to tots, but I’ve yet to come across a good quip or a nice turn of phrase over the 20 or so hours I’ve spent helping Ori cleanse the forest of “Decay.”
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a traditional video game sequel. I hoped to see a touch of subversion to its formula instead of straitlaced augmentation, but it’s easy to make peace with such complaints.