(Originally published to Glitchwave on 2/7/2024)
[Image from glitchwave.com]
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Developer: Moon Studios
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Genre(s): Metroidvania
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Switch
Release Date: March 11, 2020
I suppose the resolution of Ori and the assorted group of destitute misfits around the forest banding together to live in one space is open to expanding on. The developers didn’t slap a “happily ever after” on this tender ending like one would expect from something that resembles a fairy tale, so there can be plenty more strife in the lives of these adorable folk of the forest. For now, all they are concerned with is raising the sole surviving offspring of the dark indigo owl Sein who stalked Ori with impassioned ferocity in the previous game. Hence, the little owlet is the reason why the non-nuclear family unit was formed in the first place. Everything is as content and tranquil as the opening events of Blind Forest, except for the fact that Ku, the owlet, is pitifully failing in her attempts to fly when Ori and the others are teaching her due to having a lame wing. Considering the colossal size of her birth mother, Ori should be wary about inadvertently creating a monster down the line, but I suppose this could divert into a nature versus nurture debate. One day, Ku manages to soar a little TOO high using Kuro’s Feather, and a violent storm separates Ku from her glowing guardian Ori. Because Ku is frightened and fragile, Ori must scour the uncharted Niwen forest to find her lost little lamb. This premise establishes exactly what I had wished for Ori after the events of the first game. Ori’s growth after ascending past her role as a helpless critter through her perilous venture was reduced greatly when Naru rose from the dead completely unscathed to continue his role as her furry protector. Now, putting Ori in a position of daunting responsibility to save someone as weak as she was, if not even more at the beginning of her first adventure proves that her acute physical prowess is dynamic.
So what is the extent of Ori’s ability to combat what lies in the hostile wilderness? On top of the valuable experience gathered from hiking through Nibel, Ori’s tactical enhancements in the sequel are the prime differentiating factor of the game, and where its source of inspiration I alluded to in the opening paragraph is most apparent. Let’s just say that the title of “Ori and the Will of the Wisps'' is a mirage. An honest title to Ori’s sequel is “Ori and the Hollow Knight.” Between the release of the two Ori games in 2015 and 2020, a dinky cobble of a studio in Australia surprisingly cemented its 2017 title Hollow Knight as what is quite possibly the zenith point of its genre. If the indie Metroidvania boom could be comparable to the classical period of music, Hollow Knight is clearly Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, practically eclipsing the contributions of its equally worthy peers with sensational amounts of approbation, and (almost) rightfully so. I cannot cite whether or not Hollow Knight’s accolades had Moon Studios seething with palpable envy like Salieri, but Team Cherry’s gold-medal game evidently affected Will of the Wisps without question. Instead of using the projectile fireworks of the flickering light spirit Sein as a bodyguard, Ori will stumble upon the “spirit edge” for a more personal, manual method of offense. This sharp, glowing, icicle-like weapon is eerily similar to The Knight’s nail art, even if Ori flails this thing around with less rhythmic grace than Hollow Knight’s protagonist does with his weapon of choice. As the game progresses, Ori will acquire the familiar attributes that allowed her to unlock more of Nibel’s grounds by absorbing the light of the ancestral trees, and familiar moves like the spirit smash and the light burst are now selected through a weapon wheel and are assigned to a button. Even though the spirit edge is grouped in with the roulette of Ori’s secondary abilities, the combative dexterity and inherent inexhaustible energy as a melee weapon will guarantee that it will be used as routinely as the nail art. Sure, the similarities between the primary weapons of both games aren’t enough to decry acts of plagiarism. Still, other frequent elements in Will of the Wisps also conjured too many clear memories of Hollow Knight for comfort, so I insist that everyone keep the comparisons in mind. I even encourage a drinking game whenever close similarities arise throughout this review because I’m so confident of how commonplace they are (but drink responsibly).
This isn't to say that Will of the Wisps implemented all of its new features by peering over at Hollow Knight and taking notes. Plenty of elements newly introduced to Will of the Wisps are uniquely Ori, or at least they don’t readily remind me of something from another IP. For instance, the spirit smash move isn’t merely a rebranding of the downward bash from the previous game. Using this move in any other cardinal direction that isn’t south will see Ori fling what looks like a hefty mallet that inflicts a massive amount of damage to enemies. To hit a series of out-of-reach switches, Ori channels her inner Robin Hood and shoots a spirit arrow to activate them. The instances of using the spirit arrows for this purpose are surprisingly confined to one space, so the most utility of this tool will be used for those pesky airborne enemies. Ori can torpedo herself through and out of a body of water like a leaping dolphin with a “swim dash,” and the same practical move is extended to thick banks of sand with the “burrow” ability. Ori can coat herself in a traveling radius of light that protects her from being consumed by crushing darkness with “flash,” although how darkness can be so pitch black that it can kill someone is beyond me. Other skills can be purchased with the spirit light currency by the white-haired simian Opher, which include the “blaze” move that naturally engulfs enemies with flames and a sentry that serves as a surrogate attacker in Sein’s absence. The ability to breathe underwater is available to purchase here instead of gaining it through natural progression like in Blind Forest. I think this is an incorrect shift considering how essential it is to progress in some spots. Overall, the additions to Ori’s array of abilities are further proof that she’s no sitting duck anymore and that she’s got plenty of ways to protect herself.
On the surface, Niwen’s vast plains of untapped wilderness look to be about as formidable as Nibel’s forest. Will of the Wisps was developed through the same engine as Blind Forest, so the vivid, picturesque depiction of an arboreal setting fit for a prestigious gallery showcasing the finest of video game graphics is still retained here. To further instill a sense of perceived uncanniness, Niwen’s districts even reuse the level tropes seen in Blind Forest with such areas as the snowy mountain peak of Baur’s Reach mirroring the icy elevation of the Forlorn Ruins, and the blindingly dim catacombs of Mouldwood Depths practically serving as a deadlier version of the Black Root Burrows. One can argue that the Inkwater Marsh and Kwolok’s Hollow districts situated at the center of Niwen are appropriately moody and somewhat tranquil as starting areas. Still, I can’t help but be bothered by how similar they are to Nibel’s Sunken Glades and Hollow Grove in their geographical placement, tone, and general aesthetic. Because Ori’s areas are conceptually confined to natural, dendriform places, the developers discern the ones from their previous output with some clever new mechanics. For instance, Baur’s Reach doesn’t continue the anti-gravitational gimmick from the Forlorn Ruins, rather implementing an elemental contrast between frost and fire with the new properties of the light burst maneuver. Luma Pools expands upon the pristinely crisp waters of Thornfelt Swamp into an entire area, whose vibrant purplish-pink trees all around the perimeter resemble the Lorax’s wondrous landscape before it was corrupted by the Onceler’s capitalist endeavors. The aquatic land is so effervescent that bubbles consistently emerge from its sparkling waters, and Ori uses them as springy platforms to aid in her traversal of the area. Similarly, the grim, lugubrious Silent Woods looks as if it’s drowned a number of horses in its days (that’s a Neverending Story reference) in its murky, sludgy streams, and Ori will be another victim to their gripping depths if she doesn’t plant herself precisely on the buoyant bubbles that catapult her upward. Progression through these areas will automatically fill in step by step as the case was for Blind Forest, but the cardinal difference is how the entirety of the map is revealed before Ori explores 100% of it. Instead of stumbling upon a stone basin that vaguely resembles a save mechanism on the field, the missing patches of land that haven’t been cleared on the map yet are half-filled in by Ludo. This merry gentleman sells maps to Ori for a marginal price, and he’s found around the muddy corridors for every area of the game. Drink up, everyone, and if Ludo hummed a jaunty tune to signal his nearby presence, I’d make you all drink straight whiskey with no chaser.
The most unique of Niwen’s areas is the Wellspring Glades, a relaxed hub of sorts where the game’s NPCs reside to sell Ori their various wares. Dare I say, it’s similar to Dirtmouth from Hollow Knight (bottoms up)? Whether or not the comparisons are a fit once again, this treetop grove is an excellent respite area situated in a pocket of rare, glowing sunshine in Niwen. The temporary residents here in Wellspring Glades are all familiar faces seen all across Niwen’s spacious land. The nomadic Tokk leans on the bark of the area’s foundational support beam asking Ori to find esoteric areas of interest and lost items. The former cartographer would do it himself, but those days for the grizzled blue bird are behind him. The Final Fantasy mage-like Twillen is a purveyor of “shards,” enhancements to Ori’s skills with specific conditions that are assigned in the menu with a limited maximum (glug glug). A few NPCs use the fertile grounds of the glades to make Ori perform extraneous labor efforts. A common item called “gorlek ore” is given to a burly creature named Grom whose species shares the namesake of the material, and he uses it to build architectures around the hub to make it more hospitable. Turtle-bear hybrid creature Turley will plant seeds that Ori finds on the field to grow vegetation that makes higher reaches of the glades accessible. A nameless tribe of lemur-like Mokoi can also be spotted here, and they certainly make the hub friendlier because they’re so innocuous. Even though Niwen is a strange land that Ori is forced to excavate, this particular area makes this parallel forest homier thanks to the NPCs strewn about the locale.
Having a hub situated somewhere in Niwen is especially vital because Will of the Wisps is surprisingly more difficult than the previous games. I stated that one of the primary aspects of Blind Forest that made the overall experience somewhat lacking was the general ease of its difficulty, minus a few tense moments regarding platforming later in the game. While Will of the Wisps does not match the steep difficulty standard of that other Metroidvania game I keep comparing it to, stiff obstacles will occur more frequently throughout. Namely, the player might struggle a bit with this game’s bosses. Yes, another wish that Blind Forest didn’t quite deliver on has been fulfilled in its sequel, and the select few bosses across the game’s playtime are mighty foes with screen-spanning health bars. A giant wolf with the same shaded fur complexion as Kuro’s feathers will lull the player into the familiarity of a high-stakes chase until his health bar appears and Ori gets the chance to defend herself by smacking it in the face repeatedly. The giant Beetle Ori fights next starts without a misleading precedent, as Ori will jump over the ferocious armored bug to hit its vulnerable backside. Unlike Howl who was in a compromising position throughout his encounter, the varied attack patterns of the Beetle showcases that this game’s bosses need considerable patience and a slight awareness of each of their offensive actions against Ori (I guess that’s another shot). A methodical approach to defeating the bosses is especially crucial with Mora and Kwolok, two gigantic foes whose fights are the climactic peak of two of the game’s main quests. Mora’s status as a queen and mother spider should indicate her physical enormity, and the second phase of the poor possessed toad sage (who has the same voice as the narrator of both games, but supposedly isn’t) takes place underwater before Ori has the chance to purchase her gills from the merchant in the glades. I am not ashamed to admit that these bosses took me more than a minute to triumph over, as the developers have done such a fantastic job implementing their encounters that it’s hard to believe that this is the first time that these kinds of substantial duels have been factored into an Ori game.
However, they are only the requisite challenges that Will of the Wisps has implanted. Off the beaten paths of Niwen are optional challenges that Ori can humor for an extra amount of spirit light or another notch where an additional shard can be used. Earning more currency comes in the shape of spirit trials, where Ori races against a wispy doppelganger of herself to the basin where the trial was initially activated. Ori’s shadow has evidently practiced navigating through the tough terrain, so every victory against it sprinting to the goal will always come down to the wire. The other auxiliary challenge the game provides is the spirit shrines, which will lock Ori into defeating waves of assorted enemies in combat. Without Ori’s new ability to regenerate her health using energy (without placing a checkpoint like in the last game), these horde matches can amount to overwhelming tests of endurance. The game is practically compensating for Blind Forest’s breeziness at this point.
Even though the bosses in this game certainly stick out as memorable, threatening instances of improvement in Will of the Wisps, they ultimately stand aside as secondary pawns to the game’s primary antagonist Shriek. While Shriek is admittedly another dark purple bird of prey constantly looming over Ori, she is not a replica of Koru. We can immediately distinguish this from a design standpoint as Shriek’s body is supported by calcified exterior ligaments that Shriek uses to hoist herself into a walk position like a pair of stilts. She’s carried this strange affliction her entire life, which is what caused her to be shunned by the rest of the bird community she was born into. No wonder she’s now a menace that casts a blanket of tension overhead as she soars through Niwen’s skies. A section that highlights how harrowing Shriek is as a force of evil despite her handicap is a stealth section between the Silent Woods and the Windswept Wastes, annihilating Ori in a second if Ori is in her line of sight for too long. Shriek is a bird that has been scorned by her own kind, so it’s no wonder she harbors a grudge against all of Niwen’s denizens. It especially isn’t surprising that she literally stomps out Ku’s life (don’t worry, the screen fades to black as it’s happening) once she and Ori finally reconvene in the shady Silent Woods. An NPC laments that it’s unfair that the big and strong can prey on the meek and the pitiable, but the situation obviously stems from the storied history of dejection Shriek experienced as a young owl that looked exactly like Ku.
The titular wisps in the title refer to the main quest of retrieving three of them at Niwen’s different districts to restore the fractured Spirit Willow. Doing so will also erase the noxious decay that Niwen has been experiencing, which is so prevalent across the land that it’s affected even the prestigious sages. Mora was fortunate to have the effects of the decay smacked out her, but Kwolok wasn’t so lucky after the “stink spirit” wrapped him up in its infectious arms. The behemoth brown bear Baur who resides in the mountain range of his namesake was rather lucky, so the game resorts back to running away from Shriek as the pinnacle point of this section. Once the misplaced wisps are accounted for, Ori brings them to the cliffs of the Windswept Wastes to the entrance of the Willow’s End. The final section of Will of the Wisps resembles that of the erupting Mount Huro that finished off the first game. Ori is tasked with completing a series of platforming challenges that mainly involve a teleportation mechanic only utilized in the optional Midnight Burrows area to strike another stem of the whole pulpy, orange decay surrounding the core of the forest (chugalug). Seir, the spiritual embodiment of the great Willow’s lifeforce, is then snatched up by Shriek, finally giving Ori a chance to beat the blackened bird in a final boss that manages to be satisfyingly epic. To ensure that Ku is given another chance at life and that Niwen ceases atrophying, Ori has to merge with Seir to fully restore balance to this marvelous, beautiful land, meaning that her physical state as a nimble little nymph has to be sacrificed. Ultimately, she makes the right decision as Ku wakes up from her deep slumber to rejoin the custody of Gumo and Naru, as they make tributes to the new spirit willow that was once an integral member of their makeshift family. As tragic, intimidating, and fairly complex as Shriek is as the game’s antagonist, I’m not sure she’s really the focal point of the game’s story. Every point where she makes an appearance seems like a series of circumstantial conveniences made to complicate the plot, but the pervasiveness of the decay seems substantial enough of a conflict to carry the game’s narrative given the harrowing examples of its effects. Perhaps she could’ve been a stronger narrative force if her motives to specifically burden Ori were more defined like Kuro’s were.
It’s so thrilling to have your wishes granted. I wrote my review of Ori and the Blind Forest in early 2023 after its sequel had already been released, but it’s as if the developers read my review and decided to craft the next title in the series based on the critiques I gave. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is, by definition, a perfect sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest. Every single gripe I had feeling unfulfilled by Blind Forest’s pensions for subduing aspects of the Metroidvania gameplay for some odd, unclear reasons were totally amended here, regarding the titanic boss battles, Ori’s combat shrewdness, and competent evolution of the two game’s eponymous protagonist. However, what slightly deters me is that all of Ori’s improvements here is that a large quantity of them seem to be borrowed from Hollow Knight, a “if you can’t beat them, join them” type of scenario that makes me question Will of the Wisps true quality. In saying that, I now realize how much I compared the gameplay aspects of Hollow Knight to Dark Souls, and will emphasize this to humble Team Cherry’s magnum opus a bit. If I proposed a drinking game for every time something Soulsy came up in Hollow Knight, I'd be responsible for so many stomach pumpings. There is a classic quote from Picasso where he claims that good artists borrow and great artists steal, and if Hollow Knight’s attributes are what Ori and the Will of the Wisps needed to fill in the blanks to elevate it up to the high Metroidvania echelons, so be it.
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