Ori and the Blind Forest – Gorgeous game, Doesn’t Care if you Hate it!

Over the last few years we, as gamers, have become quite accustomed to games that just don’t care what we think of them. They will knock us down, drag us out, slap up kicking and screaming, and pretty much pummel us into a fine powder all while we lap up every ounce of rage-inducing moments in order to reach that point of pure, unadulterated, victorious bliss. We’ve seen this, most notably, in the ‘Souls’ series, but there are plenty of other deserving contenders including Hotline Miami, Shovel Knight, The Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy, and the recently released and brain-meltingly beautiful Ori and the Blind Forest.

Released for both the PC and XBOX in March, Ori has some fantastic level design, exquisitely crafted gameplay mechanics, and a graphical look and feel that appears to have been crafted with the kind of love and attention to detail that you’d swear is missing from games with AAA budgets behind them. It also has some of the most frustrating “play-die-repeat” puzzle sections I’ve seen in a recent release: as if Braid and Super Meat Boy had an ADHD devil child (who was also the class valedictorian and the best looking kid in the school).

As you’ll see in the video above, your attempt to restore the Ginso tree (not to be confused with the Deku tree…never mind) has the unexpected side effect of *gulp* flooding the area with water. In a scene seemingly lifted from the script of the Poseidon Adventure, you have one shot (and several hundred lives) to make it out the way you came in before you drown. Boy! It’s tough to be the hero some days, isn’t it?

Ori and the Blind Forest is available on PC and XBOX ONE.
See more of our playthrough of Ori and the Blind Forest on our TWITCH CHANNEL!