Ori and the Blind Forest is a 2-d open world platformer, meaning that progress isn’t made going from left of the screen to the right but rather Ori can travel anywhere he wants to being limited only by his abilities. The story of Ori is simple, the forest of Nibel is in trouble and Ori has to restore the three lights of the forest: water, wind and warmth. As the player explores the world, Ori gains new abilities that allow him to go to new places and subsequently allow the player to uncover what really happened the night the forest was “blinded”. The main villain, Kuro, isn’t painted as inherently evil but rather has motive to her actions: protecting her last surviving child. The final chapter of the story is wrapped up with an emotional reunion with Ori’s foster mother, Naru, and Kuro coming to terms with who she has become and sacrificing herself to save her child and Nibel.
In terms of objective thinking, Ori and the Blind Forest deserves a 9.5/10. The story is well done with characters that don’t seem to just do things just because but rather have a purpose to every move they make and every word they speak. The music coincides with the story excellently, never swelling inappropriately and always setting the mood just right. The actual gameplay is well thought out and the abilities are fun to use and don’t feel over powering but rather everything felt like it belonged in Ori’s arsenal. The mechanics were smooth and rarely did I feel that if I died it was the game’s fault but rather they were errors on my part. The only things that detracted from the game were sometimes the art got in the way and I couldn’t see where Ori was and Ori didn’t give much of a reason to replay the game other than to hunt for missing achievements.
So how does Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition fit in with the regular game? Ori: DE fixed a few of the places where the art seemed to camouflage Ori in with the environment by adding in more contrast. Rather than adding more story to the original game in a linear sense, Ori: DE added two new areas which gave some back story to Naru and why she cared for Ori so fervently. The two new abilities, Dash and Light Burst, fit nicely with Ori’s existing skill set and add new ways the player can traverse the world. Ori: DE manages to make the additions feel new and unique without them feeling overpowering or necessary to continue in the original game. Ori: DE also added in warping between static save locations and the ability to change the difficulty of the game, even if it only changed how much damage enemies dealt to Ori in the environment.
With everything said and done, Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition truly defines the game, adding to the epic story, the epic abilities, and the epic environment. I greatly encourage anyone who is even remotely interested in Ori, to purchase and download Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition as to not miss out on a truly remarkable game.