Ori and the Will of the Wisps

I will go ahead and say that this: Ori 2 (Ori and the Will of the Wisps) is a great game. Not finished with it yet, but it has my vote. With that said, listen lol. I love Hollow Knight, even played through it twice. This game, to me, is extremely reminiscent of it. Online there are some posts where people got pretty aggressive saying it was a clone or plagiarized or something like that, look, there are obvious similarities, but this has more of a positive vibe to it, and does have some carry-over from the first game. Now I don't think it was plagiarized / meant to have this many similarities on purpose, but they definitely do exist. Really, play HK first and then Ori 2 and you'll see. HK similarities - oh yes, I'm going there ;) : * There is some kind of corruption that has spread, making friendlies become aggressive / insane * There is a mapmaker that you can find in each zone of the map, which sells you maps. In HK this is also true, although imo better-executed. * There are mosquito-like bugs which dart directly at you, which take multiple strikes to defeat. I realize other games have this, just another similarity * There are slow-moving explosive flying enemies * There are fast-moving explosive enemies which fall from the ceiling * There are creatures which explode after a bit when defeated * Your main weapon is a long, white blade. In Ori 2 you don't need to use it, but it is clearly intended to be your main weapon. * There is a downward main weapon strike which bounces you off of enemies, though in Ori 2 it only works the first time while in the air for some reason * There is a bash-the-ground mechanic which can break breakable floors * There are a number of townspeople / NPCs which make verbal noises, maybe even words in another language. This was not the case in Ori 1 - only your guide ever spoke. * There is a double-jump mechanic (triple-jump in Ori 2 as well if you can pay for it). Again, no, not unique to HK. There is also a continuous wall-jump mechanic. * There is a dash / dash-mid-air mechanic * There is a lantern / light mechanic, used in a spider's dark lair level, with spiders crawling down the screen in the foreground at times * You collect money from enemies defeated. Ori 1 did not have this mechanic. The same thing by name was used as experience points where you could purchase abilities in an ability tree, which I liked better * And other similarities with spoilers that I'm too lazy to format correctly Just saying, it's not one or two similarities, so I see where people are going with that. But also of note is that things changed so dramatically from the gameplay mechanics of the first game, it tends to raise an eyebrow a bit more. I honestly liked the first game better, and imo, Ori should have been able to keep at least some of his skills when you start this game, it just seems a bit monotonous to have to find basic skills all over a again. I realize this is also the case with other metroidvania-style sequels. But really, Ori 2 is a great game by itself, a really solid platformer, of course the artistic style matches the first game, with some good changes. It has its challenges. Music is really great, character development is ok. One of those titles which is difficult for me to put down :D

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a breathtaking masterpiece that elevates the metroidvania genre through its stunning visual artistry, emotionally charged narrative, and finely tuned gameplay mechanics. Developed by Moon Studios, this sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest expands on the original’s foundations, delivering a more expansive and immersive world that feels alive with wonder and danger. From the very first moments, players are drawn into a richly detailed fantasy landscape teeming with vibrant colors, fluid animations, and a hauntingly beautiful orchestral score that perfectly complements the game’s melancholic yet hopeful tone. The seamless blend of hand-painted backgrounds and dynamic lighting creates a living canvas where every environment—from lush forests to eerie caves—is meticulously crafted to evoke awe and emotional connection. Gameplay in Will of the Wisps refines and deepens the series’ hallmark platforming and exploration, introducing new movement abilities, combat options, and a more open-ended skill tree system that allows players to tailor Ori’s progression to their preferred playstyle. The platforming feels precise and responsive, with carefully designed challenges that strike a perfect balance between accessibility and satisfying difficulty. Combat encounters are more varied and engaging than ever, requiring players to think strategically about timing, ability upgrades, and resource management. Additionally, the game’s save and checkpoint system is forgiving enough to encourage experimentation without removing the stakes that make each success rewarding. Narratively, Will of the Wisps tells a poignant and beautifully woven story of loss, hope, and resilience. The game’s characters—silent yet expressive—communicate volumes through their design, animations, and environmental storytelling. Themes of friendship, sacrifice, and healing resonate deeply, supported by a narrative that unfolds naturally through exploration and subtle world-building rather than heavy-handed exposition. Emotional moments are heightened by the evocative soundtrack, which swells and softens in perfect harmony with the story’s beats, making the player’s journey feel profoundly personal. One of the game’s most impressive feats is how it marries its technical achievements with emotional depth. The fluidity of movement and transitions between exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving create a sense of flow that few games can match. The world of Niwen feels vast yet intimate, inviting players to linger and discover its many secrets, hidden paths, and side quests that enrich the main storyline without ever feeling like filler. The seamless integration of upgrades and ability enhancements within the world encourages continuous discovery and rewards curiosity. While Ori and the Will of the Wisps is nearly flawless, some players might find certain platforming sections challenging, especially those unaccustomed to precision-based gameplay. However, the game’s generous checkpoint system and adaptive difficulty options make these moments less frustrating and more satisfying to overcome. The only minor critique might be that the narrative’s subtlety requires patience and attentiveness, which could leave players seeking a more straightforward story feeling a bit adrift. In conclusion, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a triumphant sequel that surpasses expectations by blending exquisite art, compelling storytelling, and polished gameplay into an unforgettable experience. It stands as a shining example of what the metroidvania genre can achieve when creativity, technical skill, and heartfelt narrative come together. For anyone willing to embark on a journey through a magical, poignant world filled with wonder and challenge, Will of the Wisps offers an emotional and exhilarating adventure that lingers long after the credits roll. Rating: 9/10

this game is a love letter to both metroidvanias and platformers, and everyone who enjoys either genre should play it. the first game is already great, but will of the wisps improves upon the formula in just about every way

Great single player experience. Very satisfying to play after a hard week of school/work and you don't want to spend time with anyone. Bought this game because I was trying to learn about the Unity Engine and now, I'm addicted to it.

Amazing game! This sequel keeps the general flow of the first game, but improves and adds new features. Sometimes, that is all it takes to make a great sequel! Also, the OST is just as good if not better than the first game.

play if you want an engaging game with a story that will make you cry! well, it made a rat cry every single play-through. game is very relaxing and has puzzles that make your brain work a tiny bit :) squeak! - rat •<3O~~

Game is beautiful but far too difficult to enjoy comfortably. The key sequences are too much to enjoy in any comfortable way.

nice story and music. love ori so much

Well designed game, really fun + looks amazing on HDR. Prefer it to the original

Gameplay was fun and challenging. Good story line and phenomenal soundtrack.

My first try of this kind of genre. This game makes me feel really emotionally sad but happy in the end.

Tough mechanics in this games, especially on PC with M&K, but I've never used controllers, so had no choice. Had to cheat at many points :P

Ori is a character that 36 year old me loves as much as 10 year old me loved Crash and Spyro. Cinematics, story, soundtrack, gameplay... simple but challenging. 10/10 across the board for this series.

Absolutely gorgeous game. The graphics are timeless. Platforming is immaculate. A perfect sequel in my eyes, nothing from the first game is taken away, only improved upon.

fun game, some parts are difficult, combat is relatively easy on regular mode. Its fun to move around especially after you have unlocked all the abilities. You don't really need to play the first game to understand this one; like ori and the blind forest, the plot is pretty simple not a lot of depth but if you do play the first game there will be a few moments when you'd be like "thats a call back to the first game." Anyway overall fun game

Like its forefather, 'Ori and the Blind of Blind Forest', this Ori Game is of very high quality both in terms of graphics and also gameplay. However I do have several criticisms, firstly the controls which made actually using many of the abilities much more difficult compared to the first game, Especially the swimming and tunneling abilities, the control scheme for them, made the game many times harder than it had any rights to be. There is also the addition of the 'charm slots' and 'weapons types' which should be very familiar to those who had played Hollow Knight. The problem being is that this game, unlike Hollow Knight, had very few boss fights, to justify all the complexity added, which is a great shame, given that I prefer the auto scroll sections as substitutes for boss fights found in the last game, to the much more convential boss fights of this game. This game had auto scroll sections, yes, but they did not hold a candle to the first game. Still this game was enjoyable, and had arguably even better graphics to the first game

10/10, absolute masterpiece. Beautiful and tragic game, with an incredible story. Ku is the best character ever

[u][b]TLDR :[/b][/u] good metroidvania, better than the first game, grab during sale -------------------------------------------------- [u][b]Pros & Cons :[/b][/u] + Gorgeous pure eye candy just like Ori 1 + Level design is less trolly / much improved + Moveset is slightly improved / more enjoyable + Ending is great, legit well played bravo excellent - Controls / movement are still floaty / imperfect / inaccurate - No button to cast from power wheel & too few hotkeys - Still too many time trials / chase segments ( albeit easier ) - Music is less impactful / memorable ( no leitmotif spam ) -------------------------------------------------- [u][b]Personal Verdict :[/b][/u] 8/10 I held a grudge against the studio for a LONG time due to customer treatment. Half of the Ori 1 Definitive Edition features were fixes we expected in a free patch. Yet they did NOT give it out for free, they asked us to buy the game again! ( and they did not patch the OG game with those "features" ofc ) Anyway, finally gave this a chance when it was on *very deep* discount. ( no way was I going to sponsor them at full price again after what they pulled ) And yeah, it's good, if you like Metroidvanias, recommend playing it at some point. I still find the controls a bit too floaty / inaccurate to name it a genre classic. But it's definitely worth a playtrough. LOVED the ending GGWP.

Hands down one of the Best MetroidVanias out there... Beautiful Story and level design, nothing short of a 9 out of 10

Satisfying little platformer with an emotion-filled storyline to carry you through the game's phenomenal art direction. If it is under $10 I'd say its worth the price for the visuals alone. Controls are tight and there are many interesting game mechanics. No, I didn't beat it. But I will one day.

I actually liked the first game better, having played them back to back knowing very little going in. I think a lot of what made the first one so impactful was its ability to tell a moving story with very few words. This game, while still executing the story well, had a more of an RPG feel, with formal side quests and NPC dialogue as a rule. Mechanically I think this game is an improvement over the original, but I think it has a little too much telling instead of showing narratively for it to have the same effect. It's still good, it was just kind of jarring and not AS good.

Amazing game! Loved everything about it, loved the graphics, loved the controls, loved the story. I found some parts a bit tricky, but nothing I couldn't overcome. Highly recommend for someone looking for a great platformer/metroidvania gamer.

Somehow this game has surpassed the first one. Beautiful graphics, really cool new mechanics and very smooth movement.

As it’s the second instalment of the series I was sceptical to whether it would live up to the impact the first had on my teenage years, and I’m so happy my scepticism was wrong. Will of the wisp was way better then I ever could imagine from greatly increasing game play to the plethora of characters and side stories, I know its not the best and greatly follows the structure of the first with its progression and game play, the second game Gave a new move set and, in my opinion, a more fleshed out world. The games ending will forever be in my heart as amazing as I’m unable to even finish a play through now without crying within the first few minutes. Love Ori, greatly recommend, but play blind forest first.

More than a worthy successor to Ori and the Blind Forest. The combat, platforming, chase sequences, boss battles, music, story - it takes everything that was good in its successor and improves the formula. Most importantly, the story and characters, augmented by the beautiful and evocative soundtrack, will easily win a place in your heart. Highly recommended for any Metroidvania lovers.

The game is well crafted in every aspect I can think of, amazing art, music etc... Really held up to the first game, kept the good stuff, and added even better stuff. The keyboard controls are good but the game is clearly controller oriented and I found my hand crumpled up after a few sections with dashes and what not. Overall awesome game would recommend.

Relaxing.... Fun And Unique puzzles and platforming. First game ([h1]Blind Forest[/h1]) also highly recommended..

Really enjoyable journey from start to finish. Also the most screenshotted game in my entire library because of how beautiful the environment is.

For me, this is a perfect metroidvania. Not as sadistic as Hollow Knight, but as enjoyable to explore. A bit too easy if you unlock all upgrades (bonuses to damage and health etc), but it's better than the other way around.

I am by no means a metroidvania fan at all, and i'm still not. but this game with its movement and abilities is so smooth it just reels you in like crazy. PLEASE give this one a shot, just for the gameplay alone it's absolutely worth it esp if it's on sale.

One of the most beautiful experiences you can get with OLED-HDR. It was the game I didn't even want to finish because of how charming the story was ;_;

An extraordinary game. I love everything from music, environment and the story. The movement gradually becomes more and more fluid as you keep on unlocking more abilities. **Spiler ** Sandworm escape sequence was a bit tricky for me and I believe a checkpoint in between could have helped. I muted the music after few failed attempts, heart was beating at 100+ bps in this escape sequence. Game has moments of happiness, sadness and i cried a bit at the end. I recommend everyone to play it.

Okay. So first of all, this game is amazing. This is definitely the most detailed game i have ever played in my life, the graphics, the secrets, the puzzles, the enemies, the mechanics, it's all perfect. The Music is also very good althought i do think the music from the first game is better. As for story, i came to this game with something i wanted, something like the ending for the first game, and i just didn't get it. One thing i can really point out is that it tries so hard to impress you that it ends up becoming forced, some parts of the story seem like the devs had an idea and then thought "but what if we do the opposite of expectation for absolutely no reason?" its not bad story by any means, but it could have gotten a little bit bigger focus in it so that the things that happen in it didn't seem like they came out of nowhere, just expanding the story and adding some in-betweens would have fixed this. Overall, i give this a solid 9 out of 10.

A great game I ended up speedrunning. A fairy tale story, good platforming, solid challenge on Hard and a lot of cool exploration.

This game shows exactly how you're supposed to create a sequel. It's an improvement from ori and the blind forest in pretty much every aspect. Combat is fun. There's a lot of variety with weapons, shards, abilities. Story is much better, with less simplicity behind it. There are lots of characters in here that are way better designed than in the prequel. And, you know, they actually have dialogues. Parkour is still just as fun, if not more, thanks to many new abilities. Art, animations, and music are also all improved, which is quite an achievement, since in the first game they were already amazing. Only criticism I can think of is that the game seemed to be way too easy, even on the hard mode. Besides that tho, it is pretty much flawless. Definitely can recommend. Shame however that the studio behind it is so toxic towards its employees, and that its co-founder is such a bigot. I guess nothing can be truly perfect. Still, congratulations to the dev team for pulling this off so well in such terrible conditions.

The best platforming/puzzle game i've played, complete with an amazing story as well

It's a beautiful game with an amazing soundtrack and solid gameplay but I couldn't bring myself to like the story as much as the first one.

Its just as beautiful as the first, I cannot wait to see what they do next

Unexpected Masterpiece. 9.0 / 10 overall - great level design and art direction - phenomenal musical score - simple yet profoundly touching story - friendly difficulty options and fantastic autosave checkpoints, much better than Hollow Knight's - balance of amazing boss chases and fights - no death penalty is actually important - fluid and engaging Ori's abilities I encountered a couple of minor issues: a crash when first entering a gate in Wellspring, and a brief portal bug that caused Ori to clip into a wall, though it reset just a few seconds later. The physics around collectibles and puzzles could still see some refinement. [spoiler] The limitation of only being able to use "flap" to reveal Spirit Light, rather than other logical approaches like "burning" it, feels somewhat arbitrary. Similarly, the available methods for "waking the bear" interaction can feel constrained. [/spoiler]

Like its predecessor, it is extremely visually beautiful, has wonderful music and an excellent level of difficulty.

This game and its predecessor are adorable 2D side-scroller games with an impressive soundtrack and emotional story. I recommend this game to kids and adults alike.

Wow. just wow. this game has been one of the best ive played. the story? it was an emotional rollercoaster. the visuals? INSANELY GOOD. the gameplay? i raged a lot cuz ori wont cooperate with me (its my skill issue) but its extremely rewarding and im always up for the challenge. music? HOLYY not a single moment of my play time was ever boring because of the music that always fits the environment and boy was the music god tier during cutscenes and boos fights. overall, a fantastic game and a big applause to the devs for making such a beautiful game

this video game has an sad and beautiful story. it is really fun to play it. i really recommend this. but sometimes it is a little bit hard to find the next place you have to go. hoping for a third game (:

I just want to say, I love games, I love this world. A must play plat-former before you die type game. Absolute cinema, insane soundtrack. Speechless 10/10.

This game... this game is so good, like i cant even describe it with words. I got it for a discount and boy im glad that i bought it. The story, the graphics and everything about it is so good, i thought it was gonna be like a stray situation for me because i tried to download stray and even in the lowest performance my laptop wont let me play it. But even in the lowest settings i put Ori in, it sill captured the beauty of the world of Ori. And the animation, just perfect, the boss fights, the world building, just everything about it is really good. I would recommend to anyone to play Ori anytime, ill give this a 100000/10 for me

I loved this game, its mechanics, and the story it told. The art is beautiful, and the characters made it feel like the player was actually helping and restoring their home. The one complaint I have is that the burrow skills can be difficult to control, especially on keyboard. The struggle to control Ori in the dirt becomes really annoying when dealing with the sandworm chase sequence.

This game freezes whenever I open a map, warp, or move to particular areas of the game/go through a door. The storyline and music are so good that I play it anyway. I only wish there were options to decrease graphics or disable some of the statistics tracking in easy mode to see if that would make the game move move smoothly on a potato computer.

Very challenging but equally rewarding tactile gameplay, backed up with lush visuals, a beautiful soundtrack and very touching story beats. Highly recommended if you like Metroidvanias/action-platformers.

Great time, great story line for the series, beatiful art, fun.

This game has my heart. I am dearly in love with it. I got to play Ori and the Blind Forest on Nintendo Switch many years ago, and I loved that game to pieces as well. But like Portal, the first game is great! But the sequel is genuinely such a masterpiece that it kind of blows the first one out of the water. The gameplay? Incredible. The world design? Incredible. The combat? Oh, so good. The music? GOD. One of my favorite soundtracks of all time. The story? Ehhh, your mileage may vary. I personally loved it. This game is ranked #6 on my most favorite games of all time, and even though it's not perfect, I'm still giving it a 10/10 because of how much it resonated with me.