izigame.me

It's a multi-color, super-cute game with side-to-side viewing.

Note: Spoilers ahead. Also, this review shouldn’t be treated as a “letter of recommendation,” as it should be more than obvious (from the myriad of positive reviews) that this game is worth your time and money. Instead, I want this review to serve as an expression of my heartfelt appreciation for Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps (with some emphasis on the latter).
Words alone cannot express how much I love this game. I could spend hours discussing what is exceptional about this game, and its predecessor, Ori and the Blind Forest. Though, I mainly want to focus on how this game impacted me personally and why it takes such a special place in my heart.
To begin, let me put this bluntly: There are few things that bring me joy anymore. I live with a very busy schedule, so I spend most of my time—on a typical day—completing college coursework or helping my family with routine duties. Although these are important things with their own purpose, they are not activities that I am “enthusiastic” about. Thus, I often have very few opportunities for leisure time or time to enjoy with friends. This makes the activity of playing games a luxury to me, and I look forward to the times when I can take a break and play something I enjoy. It also means that my choice of a game to play is quite serious, because I likely will need to wait weeks before getting the chance to play again.
I like playing a variety of games, but there are few that I truly love playing. Not many games are engaging enough for me and my emotions to make me excited—excited enough that I anticipate the next time I will be able to play. Both Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps qualify as some of the limited games that I earnestly love with all my heart. I am forever grateful that I had the chance to play and enjoy them both.
Despite buying both games on Christmas of 2022, it took until now (April, 2024) for me to finish them both. I started playing Ori and the Blind Forest on Christmas and finished the game over the span of three days. I quickly moved to the second game, immediately noticing that it would be equally as wonderful as the first. I made the choice to delay finishing the game, because I wanted to preserve the joy brought to me by it.
As with all the characters—from Ori’s family to every Moki in Niwen—Ori was a beacon of light for me. For more than a year now, I have intermittently hopped on Ori and the Will of the Wisps and advanced the story. Each time I played, I grew closer to the resolution of the story, but with it, even nearer to the feeling of dread as this joyous feeling came to an end.
The anticipation of being able to play Ori and the Will of the Wisps is largely what made this game so valuable to me. Merely knowing that I had more to complete in this game kept me enthusiastic for the next period of leisure time. It was, simply put, something to always look forward to. Some reason for me to keep going.
What Are Some Things That Make Ori so Special?
The game design. I could go in length describing the excellence in the mechanics, enemy and boss design, progression, and so on. All these facets, and much more, were designed masterfully. However, I want to focus on how the design of this game is rewarding to me, specifically.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps feels especially rewarding for my time, a function that is absolutely necessary for me to feel engaged with a game. With every minute I put into Ori and the Will of the Wisps, I uncover more of the story and watch Ori grow and mature. Every section of the game presents new challenges, new skills to learn, and new information about the world. This contrasts with most shooter or PvP games, where I’m used to the same regurgitated cycle of endless fighting, an unending fruitless endeavor where more time does not lead to more progression. You may unlock new “characters” or “skills” in such games, but there does not appear to be an “ultimate destination,” something that each minute brings you closer toward—something that you, also, eagerly want to reach.
(I want to mention this though: Not all PvP games are bad, and playing them with friends seems to obscure these drawbacks. They just aren’t games I feel motivated to play, especially by myself.)
I’m sort of comparing apples to oranges here, but I feel like this comparison was necessary to describe just how unique both Ori games are to me. I come from a position where not many games I’ve played provide me the same gratification as Ori does. It should seem obvious why I treasure Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps so much: It is one of the few games that fit the criteria of a “rewarding” game for me.
The ending. The ending of this game was done so incredibly well, in my opinion. Although this ending is not the one I wanted, I believe it’s the ending the story needed. This is my interpretation of it:
In a selfless act of heroism, Ori sacrifices their material body—their strength, their memories, and their only connection to their family and friends—for the safety and prosperity of Niwen. Without even the chance to say goodbye, and even the chance to see that Ku is finally well again, Ori proceeds to embrace the Light. This crystallizes Ori’s role as the next Spirit Tree, the defender of Niwen, even if it means that Ori must abandon their life prior.
While the Light of Ori lives on through the Spirit Tree, Ori’s “character” does not. Ori will not be able to enjoy the sunlight of the Wellspring Glades, the fresh streams of Luma Pools, nor the chilly breeze of Baur’s Reach, ever again. They will never be able to leap freely from ledge to ledge in Inkwater Marsh, nor tunnel around in the sands of Windswept Wastes. They will never feel the warm embrace of Naru at any point in the future. Ori has left behind all the sensations of living and committed themself to a role that demands a separation from those they love most. This, of course, is what I view to be the most painful part of this transaction.
Like Naru, Ku, and Gumo, I am also having to accept that Ori is gone. “Tree-Ori” just isn’t the same. Now that Ori must serve as the Spirit Tree to Niwen, they are essentially required to be distant from their family. They must value all life in a nonpartisan way: that means being willing to sacrifice their family “for the greater good” if it becomes necessary. Though Ori has always been portrayed as an altruistic hero, becoming the distant entity of “the Spirit Tree” conflicts with most of the love I had for them as the main character. They are less of the little heroic spirit they started as, and more of this ancient, mature spirit that the Spirit Tree embodies. This conflict is compounded by the fact that a “third Ori game” may never come to fruition. From what I’ve read online, it seems doubtful that Moon Studios will create a third game to the Ori series. If anything, the third game might be produced by some other game studio, and who knows whether they have the same enthusiasm and conscientiousness to accurately preserve the world both Ori games created.
Conclusion
It’s challenging to articulate how meaningful both Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps are to me. The least I was able to do in this review was narrate a fraction of my perspective. I am eternally thankful to Moon Studios for producing this game. Ori’s world and story have lived on for years within my head, and they will continue to live on for decades within my heart.