Review: Ori and the Will of the Wisps is sensational, mind-blowing, rough
Source: Windows Central
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a heart-wrenching game in numerous ways. Hypnotic visuals, enthralling soundtrack, and meticulously precise gameplay meet some truly incredible subversive storytelling.
Make no mistake, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a true work of art, a hallmark of excellence for the medium, and an example to be followed. That said, a bit more polish would have gone a long way to put the icing on this very glorious cake.
A work of art
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Bottom line: Ori and the Will of the Wisps triumphs despite some rough edges, with what might be the most satisfying and evocative platformer ever made.
Pros:
- Stunning visuals
- Rewarding, infectious gameplay
- Incredible soundtrack
- Great value
Cons:
- Some frustrating bugs
- Performance needs improvement
Ori and the Will of the Wisps Art, music, and sound
Source: Windows Central
Category | Spec |
---|---|
Players | Single-player |
Xbox Play Anywhere | Yes |
Game Pass | PC and Xbox |
Genre | Action-platformer, Metroidvania |
Developer | Moon Studios |
Completion time | 13 hours (Normal difficulty) |
Price | $30 |
Launch date | March 11, 2020 |
Every single scene looks like it was stolen from a high-end art gallery, regardless of how mundane the sequence might otherwise be in a gameplay context. Every pixel looks as though it was born of love and affection.
One thing Will of the Wisps does far better than its predecessor is creating uniqueness in its biomes. From forests of magical coral, dank, mould-infested caverns, and ice-blasted mountain climbs, Will of the Wisps intersects complex gameplay setpieces with its connective level structure, often with large stunning backdrops that set the tone of each area.
Source: Windows Central
Every pixel looks as though it was born of love and affection.
There are countless times where the art and sound design intersects directly with play, rather than being merely incidental. For example, the way Ori uses HDR lighting and shadows to evoke fear in the Mouldwood Depths, while also playing a huge part as a gameplay mechanic. The way Ori’s powers in combat make the flora in the foreground and background shift and sway. It’s all a testament to close relationship Moon Studios maintains between its artists and its gameplay designers. This is often something that even larger, Hollywood-budgeted studios often seem to struggle with.
Source: Windows Central
For anyone who came in from Ori and the Blind Forest, exceeding the incredible audiovisual work Moon Studios did with the first game was going to be a tall order. Moon Studios not only exceeds the first game, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find any game that delivers such an assault on the senses as consistently, as beautifully, as this one.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps Story (no spoilers)
Source: Windows Central
Trust me when I say tears will be shed.
Without giving too much away, Ori and the Will of the Wisps tells an incredibly moving and relatable tale, of friendship and family. Ori travels to the four corners of the land to fight back the encroaching darkness, meeting an eclectic cast of ancient forest spirits and hulking abominations that lurk in the game’s darkest climbs.
Will of the Wisps’ world feels a lot more “inhabited” than the first game, with various cute (and not-so-cute) NPCs scattered throughout the land, some travelling with you as you move through the different areas.
Source: Windows Central
Like Ori’s music and presentation, the story delivery weaves seamlessly into the rest of the game as you move through it. And truly moving it is. I won’t give away much more, but trust me when I say tears will be shed. This is one of the most memorable, haunting, and bittersweet stories you will experience this gen. It is simply sublime.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps Gameplay
Will of the Wisp’s combat system is pure ecstacy.
The first thing to note here is the gargantuan improvement to Ori’s combat mechanics. You’d sooner expect the design here to be the product of a veteran action RPG studio, given how tight, precise, and fulfilling it is. Like much of the rest of the game, it also weaves seamlessly into the progression of the story, with Ori unlocking new abilities along his quest, while also intersecting nicely with the platforming mechanics that return with confidence.
Ori’s toolkit now includes ranged attacks such as a magic fireball, a bow and arrow, and a spirit spike that can impale and do large amounts of damage. Ori also has a sword attack, which has numerous moves, and a heavy spirit mace that can smash through larger enemy’s defences. You can weave these attacks into Ori’s platforming skills too, as each swing resets Ori’s double jump meter.
Source: Windows Central
Joining the combat system is a range of other new and returning tools that make the platforming gameplay even more gratifying. Returning players will recall bash, which lets you rebound from objects, with improvements to jumping and dashing that help you unlock new areas and obtain more collectibles along the way. It takes a fair bit of practice to learn all of the best ways to battle certain enemies, but by the end of the game, you’ll be a bounding, bouncing ninja felling several enemies without once hitting the ground.
Expanding on combat is a new progression system, which lets you purchase ability upgrades and passive bonuses at various vendors. Obtaining spirit containers can be spent like currency, and includes things like maps and markers for finding additional collectibles as well.
Perhaps the most exciting thing Ori and the Will of the Wisps does can be found in its setpiece boss battles, which are jaw-droppingly epic and often intertwined with major story beats. Without spoiling, one boss battle in particular is especially emotional and somewhat disturbing, and will stick with me as one of my favorite boss fights in recent memory.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps builds on virtually everything it set up in its predecessor, elevating the very idea of what a modern side-scrolling action platformer can be. It is then, a bit of a shame they couldn’t squeeze a bit more polish into the finished product.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps Bugs, and performance issues
Source: Windows Central
With the day one patch, many of the outlying problems I faced have been resolved.
The performance could still be improved, particularly while moving more quickly through an area, the engine seems to have issues streaming textures, with large areas of assets blanked out until they load in. The frame rate nowhere near maintains its target 60 frames per second on the Xbox One X in many areas too, particularly with multiple enemies on screen. None of these are potentially game-breaking problems, though, save for this one.
The biggest problem I encountered towards the final third of the game was a totally broken save system. Ori and the Will of the Wisps has an automated checkpointing system, ditching the manual system from the previous game.
Source: Windows Central Even with the day one patch, I’ve encountered instances where large areas of foreground and background assets were blanked out, loading in a few seconds later.
However, in the final few areas, the save system became stuck on specific points, without warning. This resulted in me losing anywhere up to 45 minutes progress at times, which was painfully frustrating. A workaround is reloading the game once the bug becomes apparent, but in the final area I found myself having to reload the game every 15 minutes to get rid of it. Moon and Microsoft says it’ll be solved permanently in an upcoming patch, but that won’t be much consolation for you if you’re hit by it.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps A labor of love
Source: Windows Central
It’s quite honestly almost absurd that this game costs just $30. Simply put, Ori and the Will of the Wisps has more of a soul than many $60 “AAA” titles I’ve played in recent years, and is a cherishable experience I’m sure I will return to repeatedly for many years to come. There wasn’t a single moment throughout Will of the Wisp’s powerful campaign that I felt bored, or fatigued, and the ending left me with an immediate sense of longing for more of Ori’s enchanted world.
You may want to wait a little while after launch to see if the issues I encountered get smoothed out to get the best experience, but the issues did little to stop me having an incredible experience. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a true joy.
Must-buy
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
A work of art.
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