Ori And The Will Of The Wisps Connects You To Its World In A Way Its Predecessor Didn't - MW

Ori and the Blind Forest 2015 is an excellent imaginative Metroidvania, focusing strongly on one element of the often unexplained subcategory: isolation. After its tragic prologue paving the way for the journey of a lonely forest spirit into a dangerous world, the game connects you to its magnificent melancholic world and pushes you to face potential dangers.

With the upcoming follow-up from Moon Studios, the lush world and the modest sense of scale of the original expand. Ori and Will of the Wisps rely more on the protagonist's inner journey, but this time he feels much less alone. Instead of a small group of characters struggling to survive in a fallen world, Will of the Wisps helps you connect with residents outside of the Nibel Forest and learn how Ori fits into the larger world. . I took the time to play during the opening hours of the next Ori adventure and I spoke to Moon Studio about the unexpected success of the original game that paved the way for the next adventure.



Resuming almost immediately after the original game, Will of the Wisps sees Ori and his friends, including Naru's keeper and scavenger Gumo, come together to feed the owl of Kuro - The only heir to the previous villain. As their collective relationship developed, Ori and the little owl were suddenly separated from their homes and found themselves in new land outside the Nibel forest. Lost in a strange country, Ori will have to gain new powers and friends to help them defeat a growing evil force and find their families.

From the opening hours of Will of the Wisps, it is clear that the sequel follows closely the style and tone of the original. This whimsical feeling resembles animated films like The Secret of NIMH and Princess Mononoke which returned in force in Will of the Wisps, and its atmosphere is more pronounced in various environments. and more colors to explore. There is also more attention to detail when creating legends and introducing new characters, including the monkey-like Moki tribe who helps Ori along the way. The game first took a gentle approach to its storytelling, but with the sequel, there is more time to introduce new allies and establish a larger world, in which the Nibel Forest only is a small part.

According to Daniel Smith, lead producer at Moon Studios, the team wants to stick with what has been done and gradually help players prepare for the greatest adventure to come.

"It was interesting that we were able to capture many emotions in the first game with only four characters," said Smith. "We decided to go much deeper into the cast. Not only is there more in the game, there are more contexts, but they also have their own stories to tell. By all means, we can think. " , maybe, we're trying to grow and give people more information about Ori Will of the Wisps, in particular, is three times the size and scale of the original. a lot more and I think that's one of the things people will be excited about. "

In the usual way of Metroidvania, you will start with a limited set of skills. This lack of power, or elimination of the aforementioned power, is a common trope associated with the subcategory, in which the ascent of force is the last thing that makes exploration of the world satisfying. Will of the Wisps quickly brings you back to speed, and within the first hour I had a double jump, some of the original and most iconic skills from the original game. - Bash - relatively quickly. Will of the Wisps maintains a familiar combat, platform, and exploration loop that the original possesses. However, the sequel now focuses more on allowing you to shape your own game with Ori, especially during fights.

With the result, the basic fight has been completely redesigned, now feels less repetitive and more satisfying. Instead of a single dedicated attack and a variety of support movements, the sequel gives you greater ability to equip the spirit of the forest. With the widest range of Wispy Willpower, there are many other ways to develop and modify your own power development, including many stores to buy new skills and upgrades to increase Ori's abilities. . Eventually, you will gain skills that will allow you to create energy swords, a bow, guards to attack nearby enemies and other support movements that can be customized at any time. . In addition, the Hollow Knight-style upgrade system, focused on manageable abilities and improved spells, complements Ori's core abilities by focusing on combat, passing and exploration. break.

Although the Ori and the Blind Forest have an automatic save function at key moments, your progress is mainly in the hands of players at certain dedicated save points or with Soul Link. Forgetting to leave a Soul Link after an extended game can often result in a long return to a previous save. It was an unusual approach like Soul to further test the ethereal melody of the original, but in my experience, I was frustrated with easily forgetting the tempo and scale recording of the game. However, Will of the Wisps has a more traditional backup and recording system, which eliminates the need to keep track of Ori's precious savings and energy.

What I really like about the original game is exploring its colorful and exotic world. This is particularly evident in the greater local diversity to visit and the events to explore. One of my favorite after-hours moments is exploring Wellspring, a large tower-shaped dungeon that spins from the inside - to reach the top you have to dodge the balls and complete the trade. profane. It was a fun part, and a lot of the things that made it interesting to join were the presentation of the game. According to the composer Will of the Wisps Gareth Coker, the images and the music helped to convey the feeling of growth that you will feel while throughout the adventure.

"The challenge of making the soundtrack of something so big is that you don't want to feel like it sounds repetitive," said Coker. "In such a big game, you have to make sure that the players always feel like they are progressing. We have given you new possibilities and new things to see and cut to make you feel like yourself." "Why can't music do that? One tendency in these types of games is to have one piece of music for each environment, maybe two if you're lucky." There are little things that help players feel like they're progressing, you never feel like the music is just random, it's familiar. different music that gives the impression of being together. "

While there is still an element of loneliness to the game, which is inherent to the Metroidvania-design, I was surprised and pleased to see that you are, in fact, not alone in your journey. As Ori is more capable of facing off with the new world's threats, he'll come to know and rely upon the forest's tribes. This storybook approach to unraveling its story and the world was such a delight to see, and I'm excited to see where it goes after its fantastic opening hours.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is set for release on March 11 for Xbox One and PC.

MW