There are a thousand and one ways to soften the player and Ori and the Blind Forest has chosen to do so from its introduction, in the first minutes of its adventure. Like the movie Up! (Là-Haut) from Pixar studios, a drama will touch your heart and increase your desire to take care of Ori, this little creature halfway between a rabbit and a monkey, or more simply a revisited version of the Stitch from Disney. His goal ? Save the Tree of Spirits which is dying after Kuro, an evil giant owl, seizes its light, essential for the survival and balance of the forest. The story of Ori and the Blind Forest is certainly agreed, but the game multiplies the references to powerful works so much that you inevitably feel involved, especially if you are sensitive to Studio Ghibli films. The developers of Moon Studios told us when we met at E3 last year, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke were two major sources of inspiration in the artistic creation of their game. It must be said that the eco-friendly themes of Hayao Miyazaki are ubiquitous, reminding us of the importance of nature and that we need it to stay alive.
BLIND BEAUTY
This vibrant tribute is made possible by the accuracy of the staging of Ori and The Blind Forest, sober, delicate and full of emotions, but also by its graphics, sumptuous, fabulous, majestic, add as many superlatives as you want because they will never be too much to describe the beauty of the game. Every moment spent in the company of the title of Moon Studios is a feast for the eyes, as if we were dealing with a succession of tables and paintings made by the greatest masters of the kind. In addition to playing with the different plane effects, Ori and The Blind Forest does not hesitate to bring to life each of the elements of the decor, whether it is the leaves of the trees which dance in the wind, the grass which curves with the passage of Ori or quite simply the petals which twirl in the air. The sets are so rich and incredibly generous that the Xbox One sometimes has trouble following certain actions, especially when pyrotechnics get involved, even to the point of dramatically dropping the framerate. And the game only runs in 720p, that is to say...
Every moment spent in the company of the title of Moon Studios is a feast for the eyes, as if we were dealing with a succession of paintings and paintings made by the greatest masters of the genre.
Exemplary in its realization, Ori and the Blind Forest also offers gameplay that is just as neat, if not to say almost flawless. Beneath its false air of basic platform game hides in reality a Metroidvania, where exploration, the rise in power of our little beast and the dexterity of the player constitute a uniform whole. Ori begins the adventure devoid of any power but over the encounters and the trees saved, our hero will acquire new powers. The first is none other than this sparkling flame, a source of light capable of speaking to him but also of defending him from the – many – enemies he will encounter on the way. By tapping on the X button, this flame can indeed hit enemies over a certain distance, with the possibility of enlarging the area of action. Once the power of the flame is kindled in his possession, Ori can create a strong explosion capable of eliminating all the surrounding enemies at once, but also exploding cracked walls and thus unlocking new passages. The double-jump comes in a third of the game and also offers new perspectives, reminding us that it is necessary to return to the first levels to access the ledges that were considered a little high at the start of the adventure.
DIE TO BETTER SURVIVE
Pretty standard powers overall, but the designers at Moon Studios haven't forgotten to bring their own touch, for example by offering the power of Strike, which allows you to propel yourself through the air from enemy projectiles , while returning them in the opposite direction. The kind of novelty that allows developers to offer quite epic platforming phases, those famous leak sequences capable of exponentially increasing your heartbeat. There are other powers to unlock such as the ability to cling to walls or even hover for a few seconds, but in any case, the genius of Ori and The Blind Forest can be judged as a whole, in particular in the control of its rhythm and its progression, but also of its way of apprehending the checkpoints. It's a first in a video game, the player is totally free to place his save points where he wants, finally if he has an energy point left in stock. A system that is ingenious to say the least, but which is difficult to assimilate at first, as it seems confusing and unconventional. So after a somewhat tricky platforming sequence, remember to hold the B button, it can save your life, or at least save you time and avoid tearing the last hair that remains on your bald head. Because anyway, Ori and The Blind Forest is built in such a way that you're going to shit. Good die & retry that will get the Ayatollahs of video games aroused and drive others crazy, who may give up after more than 20 consecutive deaths. To them, we address these words: nothing is impossible, it takes a little perseverance, sometimes hindsight, because Ori and The Blind Forest does not display the same sadism as the Dark Souls series where the difficulty is often abusive .
Because anyway, Ori and The Blind Forest is built in such a way that you're going to shit. Good die & retry that will get the Ayatollahs of video games aroused and drive others crazy, who may give up after more than 20 consecutive deaths.
The reason why the die & retry is never punitive is thanks to the ingenuity of the level design and the clues left here and there to allow the player to understand his mistakes and correct them immediately. It may take you dozens of attempts to overcome an obstacle, but the outcome is never far away. Metroidvania obliges, Ori and The Blind Forest will ask you to display the map very often, just to locate the main road but also to unearth the secret passages to get your hands on valuable bonuses. The whole level structure – and its dungeons – seems to have been thought out with the same consistency, which allows the player to establish his own plan of attack. Admittedly, some passages require that we put them in parentheses while recovering the required skill, but it is always possible to retrace your steps, regardless of our progress in the game. In a straight line, count about ten hours for see the end credits scroll and add 3 or 4 more hours if you have fun unlocking all the Achievements and recovering all the bonuses hidden in the levels. Despite a fairly low replay value, Ori and The Blind Forest can be replayed with pleasure, if only to reduce the number of deaths displayed in its history. In this regard, you can share your exploits online, even if sometimes it is better not to say anything…
