In hindsight, the orb's magnetic abilities, which I missed on my first playthrough, were not hard to find behind a fragile wall near the beginning of the game. I was surprised because I had not expected such a basic thing to be hidden when everything else in the tutorial area was impossible to miss. There was nothing on my map to indicate that I had missed it, and thus I played the entire game without much useful ability. Oops.
Other inconsistencies and quirks plagued me throughout "Will of the Wisps," which is much larger and more complex than the five-year-old "Ori and the Blind Forest," perhaps as a result, with a more messy blend of combat, exploration and platforming.
For example, the new autosave system works well most of the time, except that sometimes it doesn't save you where you expect it to and sends you back an irritating distance. Every time I made a tricky move on a platform, I would peek around the corner of the screen to see the little rotating save icon appear. And in several places, I was forced to respawn in inescapable places, so it was nice to be able to exit via the menu and load a backup save.
The simple combat of "Ori and the Blind Forest" was expanded, but not much fun. Enemies easily plow through Ori's light sword combos. This is a headache given Ori's small stature and the visual obstacles posed by the organic debris that shakes in the air and in the background.
When possible, they could cheat their enemies by hovering above them, leaping up into the air above them and repeatedly attacking downward. However, insects that could not penetrate the shell had to be tricked into driving into walls to stun them. Some enemies were like land mines, placed on the wall and exploding when approached.
I played "Wisp's Will" on Normal difficulty. Fighting the same kinds of enemies for 10+ hours is not what makes Ori fun, so doing less damage and vaporizing everything that crawls by with fewer swings makes everything a little better.
You can't always skip the fight, but it's much more fun to fly around in the air, so when you can, you will. Basic jumps, double jumps, and dashes are just as precise and satisfying as they were in Ori and the Blind Forest, and the abilities that made that game so much fun are back. You can fire glowing energy ropes at hooks or throw yourself into the air with a chain of grapples like Spider-Man. Bouncing between glowing bullets as if he were bouncing off them. There are plenty of places to stop and rest, but little need to give up speed.
There are 10 unique areas, with special movement abilities and a wide variety of puzzles, some successful, some unsuccessful. It's brilliant to jump into a hole in the sand, bounce around like a pinball, and then pop back out again like a dune worm. On the other hand, the parts that follow "Portal" are a bit disappointing. For the most part, you just go into one magical blue hole and come out of another, and there's not much to play with in terms of momentum. The most complex part is a tedious puzzle where you have to methodically guide a projectile between a portal and a pair of portals.
Nevertheless, even the most difficult ones there are pleasurable, like, for example, when you perfectly complete a very difficult Guitar Hero song.
Aside from that feeling, the reward for a platforming victory need not be anything more than what awaits next; I'd love to be able to pluck a piece of scenery from "Will of the Wisps" and frame it, loop animation and all. From the swamps to the mountains and the customary water surfaces, they are all stunning, full of light, air and life.
The characters and their stories also keep me on my toes, and like "Ori and the Blind Forest," "Will of the Wisps" is on a mission to bring joy and sorrow out of the grumpy. Cu, the owl that hatched at the end of the last film, is so cute with his curious, sad eyes that I wanted to resent him for manipulating me.
Less cute, but no less delightful, is a meerkat-like creature named Moki. He pops out of the landscape to comment on Ori's journey, offer advice, and ask for help. Moki and the other characters gather in a growing village as Ori restores the forest, and can do little side quests to help them. It is genuinely motivating to grow their little town and take on little tasks like getting a hat or a bowl of soup. Also, slowing down the pace a bit can counteract some of the frustration.
The broader plot is standard forest spirit mysticism, restoring light and balance. The last act is snotty, but its success or failure depends on whether or not the mood is set to get testy during the boss fight and escape sequence.
The escape scene, in which one must jump, dash, levitate, and grapple through a crumbling structure with no checkpoints and zero mistakes, is seriously frustrating in places. There was one point near the end of one scene that was visually confusing, and I had to redo the sequence several times to figure it out. It is satisfying to complete these challenges, but just as satisfying when you stop beating yourself up.
There are also multi-stage boss fights, with large life bars that must be whittled down. The escape sequence, at least, relies on a chain of advances that makes Ori feel good, whereas the fight is about jumping around in enclosed spaces and trying to hit with swords or put in ranged attacks whenever possible.
Nevertheless, if you proceed at a leisurely pace throughout, you can collect a lot of spirit money to upgrade Ori's abilities, reducing the damage he takes and increasing the damage he puts out. Collecting energy and life cells around the world will make things easier. Even if the bosses can be frustrating, you can stay away and make the math work in your favor. And at least the boss stages are as beautiful and as bitter sweet as any other game.
I prefer the compact and simple "Ori and the Blind Forest," but "Ori and the Will of the Wisps" is also worth playing to the end. It stumbles in complexity at times, and the combat is not as necessary, but it is gorgeous and interesting, and the three-step jumps keep you going all the way through without getting bored.
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