15. Ori and the blind forest
This is a game that I have been meaning to play FOREVER. I have heard nothing but amazing things about this game and generally really enjoy hardcore platformers. I tend to enjoy linear ones over metroidvanias, which is probably why it took me so long to play this game, but this game is so smooth and well done that the metroidvania aspects never get in the way of your enjoyment of the high quality platforming, but I will get to that later.
The story is simple enough and told in a very minimal way. I am the type of person who tends to get annoyed by stories in platformers as they often are fairly bad and just get in the way of the platforming. Ori handles this aspect remarkably well, outside of the intro, the story segments are so short that they never feel intrusive, and much of the story unfolds through gameplay. While the story telling is minimal, the game also does a very good job of telling a pretty heartwarming tale and I surprisingly found myself attached to all the silent characters and got misty eyed at several points throughout the game.
The graphics have a very nice and unique look, all the environments are varied, but I do feel the game can be a bit on the dark side at several points. I found myself dying several times due to being unable to see an environmental hazard, but once I turned up the brightness to its maximum setting this happened far less often and I enjoyed the game a lot more. I would recommend anyone who wants to play this to crank the brightness up to the max before you play, it will save you a lot of early game headaches that almost initially turned me off from this gem.
The gameplay in this game is silky smooth, at the start of the game you have nothing more than a jump, and like any good metroidvania, you gradually unlock new abilities that help you fight and traverse the environments. The progression in this game is perfect, the upgrades are given to you at just the right frequency, that always gives you time to get used to your new abilities, but never leave you for too long without unlocking a new ability, this keeps the game fresh as you are always getting new abilities and using your old abilities for new things.
A big issue I have with metroidvanias is the abundance of backtracking that frequently takes place in them, and how easy it is to lose your way and then be left wandering aimlessly wondering where you need to go next. This is literally never a problem in Ori, every objective is highlighted on your map in a big way and the environments are laid out in a way that backtracking is rare, and even when you do need to pass through an old area you are doing it with a new ability, and the speed of your character means you will get through these areas very quickly. There is no fast travel in this game, and the only time I missed this option was on the trek to the very last level, on the way to the last level you need to trek through a very large portion of map. A fast travel would have been nice, but honestly, I still found myself taking the scenic route because I wanted to explore darkened portions of the map for hidden upgrades.
Aside from the large overworld there are also 3 dungeons that you have to enter, each of these are unique in their own way and a lot of fun to play, the last level in particular was one of the best dungeons I have ever played and was both very creative in its design and a blast to play.
Ori has a reputation for being very difficult. Personally, I did not think it was as hard as people make it out to be, in fact I would say the difficulty of this game was perfect. You will die, but you will learn from your deaths, and you will get better, and quickly progress. The game has instant respawns so you jump right back in to the action, and the game has the best save system of any game I have ever played in my entire life. By holding the B button Ori creates a soul link that acts as a checkpoint. It does consume some energy to use, but I don't think I was ever in a position where I did not have energy. This system allows you to save just about anywhere, there are a handful of spots where you cannot save, but for the most part you can save anytime you want. This system keeps the frustration level extremely low, because even if there is a tough spot you can create enough checkpoints to get through it without having to play long sections of it over and over.
Overall, Ori and the blind forest is an absolute must play, and easily one of the best metroidvanias of all time.
