![]() ![]() It would have been nice for Will of the Wisps to push the boat out a little more here. From an aesthetic perspective, the adherence to formula is a little disappointing. Largely speaking, though, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is business as usual when it comes to level design. There are shades of Trine in the massive grinding gears and wooden machinery of the Wellspring, for example. The architecture is a little different this time around. So begins a second-verse-same-as-the-first odyssey through lots of scary forests and dark glades. Of course, it's not long until Ori gets separated from the family and must find a way back to them. It's not quite Pixar's Up, but this ten-minute sequence - which involves said owl child attempting to fly - is more emotionally involving than the entirety of many games can claim to be. The opening sequence sees Ori and their family taking care of an owl child. Much like Blind Forest, Will of the Wisps is a breathtakingly beautiful and heartbreakingly adorable game. Ori and the Beautiful Visuals Ori and the Will of the Wisps has a very effective opening scene. That said, there are plenty of reasons to dig in if you never played the first game or if you're a Metroidvania lover in general. This is very much a continuation of what Moon Studios was trying to accomplish with Blind Forest. If you're looking for a huge leap in terms of tone or style, though, you won't find it here. Many of Blind Forest's more irritating or cumbersome systems have been overhauled. ![]() That's not to say no improvements or changes have been made at all. Your mileage will vary on whether or not this is disappointing, but Will of the Wisps is, broadly speaking, more of the same. When sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps was announced, the notion of a better version of Blind Forest was compelling indeed. Unlike some of its contemporaries, it didn't use mechanics and narrative in tandem often, but its presentation was impressive. It's not perfect, but its visual style and cinematic approach to storytelling gives it some artistic integrity. 2015's Ori and the Blind Forest is often cited as an example of this in practice. Of course, it's an idiotic and redundant question as a storytelling medium, video games absolutely can be (and usually are) artistic in nature. Ebert later backtracked on this statement to a certain degree, but the cat had truly been set among the pigeons. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert once famously opined that video games couldn't be art. ![]()
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