Ori and the Will of the Wisps
In the first part of a platformer series about a small but very brave forest spirit, Ori and the Blind Forest, the protagonist had to save his fairy-tale world from Decline: a strange dark force that changed the environment.
Because of the Decline, cute forest animals have become dangerous animals, clean and transparent water has turned into poisonous, and useful medicinal plants are overgrown with thorns. And Ori had to rebuild everything, turning his habitat back into a fairy kingdom.
After Ori and the Blind Forest ends, the little forest spirit sets out on a journey. And it ends up in a new forest, which is also infected with Decline.
The forest is new, the problems are old
The way Ori went to the new forest shouldn't be revealed - it is a spoiler for Ori and the Blind Forest's storyline. In addition, at the end of the previous part, the little luminous spirit himself understands a lot about the structure of the world and reconsiders his attitude towards it. Nevertheless, in the new forest, Ori faces all the same problems - Decline has turned the local inhabitants into monsters, poisoned the water and changed the plants.
The monsters themselves are also similar to those introduced in the first part of the platformer series. Unless they acquired new skills - for example, the scorpions in Ori and the Will of the Wisps learned to jump three times, and in the end they also spread fire across the area. This also needs to be taken into account when passing.
As usual, during the passage of Ori and the Will of the Wisps, the main character will travel to different regions of the new forest. Moreover, the locations are very diverse. This is not only forest thickets - there are also "underwater" levels, "mechanical" and others.
How to play Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Ori and the Will of the Wisps itself is a platformer with a bit of metroidvania elements. The main character, under the control of the player, will need to go through two-dimensional levels, facing various opponents and trying to somehow clear the forest of Decline.
Ori the forest spirit has also learned several techniques. Firstly, he now knows how to push off from the air, which allows him to make higher jumps and get to hard-to-reach places in locations. Secondly, Ori lost his companion flame, but got a set of new weapons. The main one is the ghost blade, because of which the character needs to get as close to enemies as possible to strike.
In the future, Ori will acquire several other types of weapons. The forest spirit will be able to deal with enemies remotely using a "ghost bow" or deploy enemy projectiles back at them.
The platforming gameplay itself has also been preserved. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is still a game about acrobatics, and the main character has to travel up and down the levels, climbing into the most unexpected and hard-to-reach places. However, there are also a couple of fundamental innovations.
Firstly, Ori showed as many as 12 different abilities, skills and other capabilities. However, only three of them can be hung on hotkeys. Therefore, at each new level or more or less dangerous enemy, you need to select a weapon with which the forest spirit will go to fight the Decline.
Secondly, there are bosses. And they are quite classic here, reminiscent of the days of 8-bit platformers. Ori falls into an enclosed space, most of which is occupied by a large, heavy and dangerous enemy. And then the boss begins to demonstrate in general all his skills in random order in order to finally convince the player that he has chosen the wrong set of skills and weapons.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps Missions and Characters
Another important innovation of Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the hub location. Here you can take a break from acrobatics and battles, as well as take a couple of side quests. Moreover, they are all so sweet and kind that it is simply embarrassing to refuse. Here is one animal standing houses for other inhabitants of the forest - and for it you need to bring a piece of ore. Here's another who makes a delicious soup - and he needs spices.
The characters themselves have learned to "talk". Each of them tells their own story. Moreover, the style of conversation also differs between the characters, which means that the communication is really interesting and does not slip into a dull reading of many kilometers of texts.
The hub location and additional quests further expand the world of Ori and the Will of the Wisps. You can visit many new, interesting places, get acquainted with unusual characters. And this is very important, because Ori and the Will of the Wisps still captivates with incredible beauty - each location is worked out, has its own atmosphere and a fairy-tale style characteristic of the series. You want to admire it, and the orchestral soundtrack additionally immerses you in the history of the forest destroyed by Decline.
