5/5 ★ – neko_and_co's review of Ori and the Will of the Wisps.

An absolute triumph. Moon Studios took an already excellent game and turned it up to 11 in every aspect for this sequel. Will of the Wisps had me smiling (and crying a little, too) the whole way through. It is an absolute must-play for anyone even remotely interested in platformers/metroidvanias/incredible art/damn good video games. I cannot stress strongly enough how brilliantly Moon Studios knocked this one out of the park. The Blind Forest’s art was what made that game stand out, and it’s well-crafted mechanics were what kept you playing. Here, Moon moved to 3D visuals with a 2D presentation which allows greater freedom of camera movement during cutscenes, and buttery smooth character animations as they flip and twirl about. Moon did not need to go this hard in the art direction; it proved itself with The Blind Forest. But, The Will of the Wisps’ art is pushed so much further, it makes The Blind Forest look almost simple in comparison. Every shot, every scene is carefully crafted: the use of color, the lighting (which is really stellar here now that everything is 3D), the multi-layered elements ranging from foreground to way in the background, and of course the animations. Will of the Wisps is exactly the sort of game you point to in the “games are art” discourse, and a great example of how to make a beautiful game without pushing realism. The soundtrack here is also of note. Each area’s theme perfectly complements the mood of each area, and drives in the emotional impact of the game’s storytelling. Beautiful, sweeping orchestral tones with occasional vocals laid over top; I will not be forgetting Will of the Wisp’s soundtrack anytime soon. The Blind Forest had one major weak point: combat. It boiled down to hitting one button to have a floating turret shoot enemies that it auto-targeted. It was boring, and really stood out against the game’s superb platforming. For Will of the Wisps, Moon Studios completely overhauled the combat. It’s now fast and responsive. Ori actually fights now, instead of a floating orb. You’ve got all different kinds of weapons and tools at your disposal, letting you carve out your play style. With this, combat is also featured a little more prominently in this sequel, making Ori a more balanced - and better paced - game. A little platforming, and then some combat to break it up. And of course, Ori’s masterclass platforming returns. It hasn’t received as much attention as the combat system, because it didn’t need it. Here, it’s mostly just further polished up (the super smooth 3D animations help really sell the fluidity of movement), but there’s some very satisfying new abilities such as being able to dash in and out of sand like you’re a sand worm from Dune. It’s really fun. The Blind Forest is the only game that had me crying in the first 10 minutes, before I even really got to play the game. Will of the Wisps’ continues its heart-wrenching storytelling. While the game world feels a lot bigger and more epic in scale, the story is ultimately just as small and focused as the first game. It’s ultimately a familiar story that follows familiar beats, but I didn’t mind because Moon just knows how to tell this sort of story really damn well. The Ori games are fantastic examples of how to tell a story with a huge impact without much dialogue. Moon is well-versed in showing, not telling. I thought The Blind Forest was incredible, until I played it’s sequel. There are a select few games that show you the true potential video games have as an interactive medium. Some are hugely innovative, some do familiar things but do those things so damn well it’s almost innovative in and of itself. The Will of the Wisps is one such game. I can’t wait to see what Moon Studios makes next.