I've always enjoyed a good platformer game, from the days of good old Apogee platformers to the beauty and immersion that a game like Flashback offered. Recent platformers have been largely a hit and miss for me, with the only ones tickling my fancy a bit being Dust and Fez (due to its innovative level warping mechanism).
When I first read of Ori I thought it's just going to be another generic platformer with a pretty paint of coat on. I heard of the supposedly "sad" story pulling you in to create that emotional bond and how the musical score adds to the atmosphere of the game. Truth be told, you hear claims like that all too often and few games ever live up to that hype.
During the Steam Summer Sale I saw Ori going for 66% off quite early on in the sale. I was tempted to buy it, but didn't cave just yet. When it came back on sale a couple of days later I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and bought it. Best, decision, ever.
The game immediately grabbed me during the prologue with its masterfully crafted graphics and stunning soundtrack. I have to admit that a tear was on the edge of welling up in my eye upon the conclusion of the prologue and Moon Studios immediately grabbed hold of me on an emotional level. I was hooked like I haven't been in a game in years. I really cared about the characters. I felt sad for Ori and his (her?) loss. I wanted to save the damned spirit tree.
...and damned is how I felt throughout the game. Make no mistake, this game has got a deserved notoriety for its difficulty curve. You will die. Hundreds of times. The best thing about it? You won't really care! You will want to get past that thorny cavern or ride the wind up the icy shaft. There's an immense sense of satisfaction in getting past a difficult section, being rewarded by a serene new setting and a new ability that grants you access to areas you weren't able to access earlier on. Just make sure you play this game with a controller - I can't imagine how you would play it otherwise.
Just sitting here, typing this 5 hours after finishing the game makes me want to go back and experience it all again. I honestly haven't been impacted by a game this much in a long time. Here's wishing Moon Studios many more succesful games!
10/10
Would die in a pit of thorns again. And again. And again. And again...