Side quests, combat shrines, and spirit trials (time trial races) can be found in each area of the map and offer varying rewards upon completion. Ori and the Will of the Wisps also adds several new elements. A shard might make Ori deal more damage – but at the cost of weakening their defenses. Shards grant Ori certain buffs and debuffs designed to enhance attacks, movement, and exploration. Shards also add to the combat’s heterogeneity. Ori can equip three abilities at any given time, but a quick press of the left trigger will bring up a weapon wheel where Ori can replace any ability on the fly. A sword, a hammer, a shuriken, and a bow are but a few abilities Ori can choose from, and it’s easy to string together attack combos with any combination of them. The myriad abilities Ori can unlock are pivotal to this rich combat experience. But bashing your enemy in the direction of a raining arrowstorm might be more your cup of tea. Ori can use the Spirit Edge to deliver a barrage of quick, light attacks before delivering a decisive final blow with the hefty Spirit Smash. It’s increasingly invigorating, then, to realize that the developers transformed the Blind Forest’s worst flaw into (quite possibly) the Will of the Wisps greatest strength.Ĭombat is refreshingly revamped into a more complex system that relies on varied combo sequences. Moon Studios could have rested on its laurels and still pushed out a wildly popular Ori game. Despite Ori and the Blind Forest’s dull and spongy combat, the game still found critical success thanks to its imaginative art design and floaty-but-difficult platforming. Of course, Will of the Wisps brings along some unfamiliarity, too – for better and for worse. Even the gameplay harkens back to the prequel as Ori relearns crucial movement options, like wall-climbing and double-jumping, in Will of the Wisps’s prelude. While the story may feel reused at times, Ori and the Will of the Wisps captures the same vivacity, wonder, and mystery that made Ori and the Blind Forest so monumental. Summarizing Ori and the Will of the Wisps in this way is probably too reductive, but the point is made to hammer home that a nostalgic familiarity followed along as I played. A giant bird even plays the role of the antagonist. If that last sentence sounds familiar it’s because Ori and the Will of the Wisps captures many of the same story beats as Ori and the Blind Forest: A great calamity is wreaking havoc on the environment and tenants of a mysterious land, and Ori must reclaim the light – or wisps – to set everything right. To save Ku, Ori must first save Niwel by bringing together its broken light. While trying to find Ku, Ori learns that, like Nibel in Ori and the Blind Forest, Niwel has been ravaged by the Decay. As the duo reaches the decayed and stormy land of Niwel, tumultuous winds separate Ku and Ori. After a few failed attempts, Ori ties Kuro’s feather to Ku’s congenitally damaged wing, and the two take to the skies. Kuro’s egg has hatched into the adorable Ku, and it’s up to Ori and friends to teach her to fly. Ori and the Will of the Wisps takes place shortly after the events of its predecessor. The ethos of Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a familiar one, but tweaks its predecessor’s most frustrating and most innovative components. Players will even experience much of the same floaty gameplay as Ori flits about new biomes. With it comes the same wondrous style, design, and music that series veterans know and love. After much anticipation, and only a modest delay, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is finally here (well… last week).
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