Ori and the Blind Forest actually reminds me a lot of Metroid Fusion in terms of how it's not really a Metroidvania as the game is very keen to push you down a clear linear story-driven path, but the Metroidvania-style exploration is still there in the late-game for those who want to engage in it to go find some more collectables and see a bit more of the world. Ori's story-beats aren't quite as compelling to me as Metroid Fusion's so this structure doesn't work quite as well for me as a result, but the game has enough going for it in other regards that I'm still largely on-board with what the Ori and the Blind Forest is trying to do.
The main thing I kept hearing about Ori before going in was how pretty it is, and gosh it really is. I think this can sometimes be to the game's detriment weirdly, the number of times I didn't notice the spikes that kept killing me because they just blended into the aesthetic was, uh, many. Being so pretty definitely helps contribute to the game world being generally pleasurable to exist in though, and the way the movement develops over the course of the game leads to the feeling of there being multiple solutions to a lot of the late-game platforming puzzles, and ends up feeling fluid and just a ton of fun (when you aren't colliding into the same enemies you've been killing the exact same way for the past few hours whilst dashing around).
That's the thing, everything great about Ori and the Blind Forest comes with a heap of caveats. Sure the escape sequences are intense, inventive and even majestic at points, but they're also just very frustrating at points as you repeat the same sections over and over just to get to the same unpredictable trial-and-error moments for the nth time. The platforming as you proceed from one area to the next is incredibly solid, and presents some enjoyable moments and challenges, but the way that checkpoints work looms over you ready to make you feel bad if you use them too aggressively and don't have enough left, but also invoking those same feel-bads when you don't use them aggressively enough and are forced to repeat sections over and over as a result.
I've heard the sequel iterates effectively on all of this and I'm very excited to check it out as I love a lot of what is going on here but gosh there's a bunch that bugs me too and it's so close to being much, much better.
The main thing I kept hearing about Ori before going in was how pretty it is, and gosh it really is. I think this can sometimes be to the game's detriment weirdly, the number of times I didn't notice the spikes that kept killing me because they just blended into the aesthetic was, uh, many. Being so pretty definitely helps contribute to the game world being generally pleasurable to exist in though, and the way the movement develops over the course of the game leads to the feeling of there being multiple solutions to a lot of the late-game platforming puzzles, and ends up feeling fluid and just a ton of fun (when you aren't colliding into the same enemies you've been killing the exact same way for the past few hours whilst dashing around).
That's the thing, everything great about Ori and the Blind Forest comes with a heap of caveats. Sure the escape sequences are intense, inventive and even majestic at points, but they're also just very frustrating at points as you repeat the same sections over and over just to get to the same unpredictable trial-and-error moments for the nth time. The platforming as you proceed from one area to the next is incredibly solid, and presents some enjoyable moments and challenges, but the way that checkpoints work looms over you ready to make you feel bad if you use them too aggressively and don't have enough left, but also invoking those same feel-bads when you don't use them aggressively enough and are forced to repeat sections over and over as a result.
I've heard the sequel iterates effectively on all of this and I'm very excited to check it out as I love a lot of what is going on here but gosh there's a bunch that bugs me too and it's so close to being much, much better.