Ori and the Blind Forest is a platform-adventure Metroidvania video game created by Moon Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released for Windows and Xbox One in March 2015 and for Nintendo Switch in September 2019. Players control Ori, a small white spirit, and Sein, the "light and eyes" of the Forest's Spirit Tree. The game involves moving between platforms and solving puzzles. It includes a save system called "Soul Links," which lets players save their progress at any time but with limited resources. Players can also improve Ori's abilities through an upgrade system.
Moon Studios, a group of people who work together without a specific office location, developed the game. Microsoft acquired the rights to distribute the game one year after its development began. The story was inspired by The Lion King and The Iron Giant, while some gameplay ideas were influenced by the Rayman and Metroid series.
When the game was released, it received high praise from critics and players, who appreciated its gameplay, art style, story, action scenes, music, and environment design. The game was also recognized as an example of artistic achievement in video games. Gennadiy Korol, a co-founder of Moon Studios, stated the game became profitable for the company within weeks of its launch. An expansion called the Definitive Edition was released in March 2016. A direct sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, was announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 and released on March 11, 2020.
Gameplay
Ori and the Blind Forest is a 2D Metroidvania game, which is a type of platform game that focuses on exploring, collecting items, and returning to areas that were previously hard to reach. The player controls Ori, a white guardian spirit, and Sein, who provides light and vision for the Spirit Tree. As Ori, players must jump, climb, and use different abilities to move through the game's world. Sein can shoot Spirit Flames to fight enemies or break obstacles. Ori interacts with the environment by jumping between platforms and solving puzzles, while facing various enemies. Players help Ori collect health cells, energy cells, new abilities, and upgrades. The game world reveals itself in a Metroidvania style, where new abilities allow players to access areas they could not reach before.
In addition to pre-set save points placed throughout the game, players can create "soul links" at any time to use as checkpoints. However, soul links can only be made using energy cells collected during gameplay. Since energy cells are not plentiful, players must choose when to create soul links carefully. Players can earn ability points to unlock upgrades and benefits, such as increasing the power of Sein's Spirit Flame. These upgrades are available anywhere a soul link has been created, as long as the player has enough ability points. Ability points are earned when Ori collects experience by defeating enemies, destroying plants, or finding spirit light containers or ability cells (which give an ability point immediately). Skills are learned in a specific order from one of three ability trees, allowing players to unlock the next skill after mastering the previous one. Ori can learn abilities such as wall jumping and double jumping.
Plot
The Spirit Tree in the forest of Nibel tells the story of Ori, a guardian spirit who fell from it during a storm as a baby. Ori was then raised by a creature named Naru, who became their parent. A great disaster soon caused the forest to dry up, and Naru died from not having enough food. Without a parent, Ori explored the forest alone. After collapsing near the Spirit Tree and being helped to live again by it, Ori met Sein, a small orb who guided Ori on a journey to heal the forest. Sein asked Ori to recover the light of three important elements that kept Nibel balanced: Waters, Winds, and Warmth.
During their journey, Ori and Sein met two beings. Gumo was the last member of the spider-like Gumon clan, which had been destroyed by the disaster. His home supported the Wind element. Kuro was a large, shadowy owl who was angry toward Ori. Gumo first took the key to the Water element but returned it after Ori saved him from a rockslide. After the Wind element was restored, Ori and Sein found Kuro’s nest, which was empty except for one egg. They learned that Kuro’s anger and the disaster happened when Ori was lost. The Spirit Tree had released a flash of light to find Ori, which burned and killed Kuro’s newly hatched babies while she was away looking for food. To protect her unborn child, Kuro took the core of the Spirit Tree, which was actually Sein. Without the core, the Spirit Tree could not support the three elements, and Nibel lost its balance. Meanwhile, Gumo heard about Ori and Sein’s plan to restore Nibel and used a treasure from his clan to revive Naru, bringing her to Ori.
After the final element, Warmth, was restored in the volcano Mount Horu, Kuro attacked Ori and Sein as fire from Horu spread. Naru, who had separated from Gumo, arrived to protect Ori from Kuro. Kuro softened, remembering the pain of losing her children. As the fire spread toward her remaining egg, Kuro took Sein back to the Spirit Tree. The tree released a bright flash of light that stopped the fire and healed the forest, but Kuro was destroyed by the light. Over time, the forest grew healthy again, and Ori watched new spirits being born near the Spirit Tree. Gumo and Naru watched from a distance, and Naru went home, where Kuro’s last egg rested, just in time to see it begin to hatch.
Development
Ori and the Blind Forest was created by Moon Studios, a group of designers and programmers from around the world who worked on the game for four years before it was released. Microsoft acquired the game about a year after development began. Thomas Mahler, an artist who previously worked with Blizzard Entertainment, was one of the lead team members. According to Microsoft producer Daniel Smith, Moon Studios does not have a single office location. Instead, team members work from different countries, including Austria, Australia, Israel, and the United States. Gameplay programmer David Clark said the team was inspired by both modern and classic adventure games, such as the Rayman and Metroid series. He described Ori as a "love letter" to those games.
The designers said they were influenced by works like The Lion King and The Iron Giant, and that the game tells a "coming-of-age story." They were also heavily inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s work, especially the level called "Valley of the Wind," which is a tribute to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The game’s art style looks hand-drawn, similar to recent Rayman titles that use Ubisoft’s UbiArt engine. However, Ori uses the Unity engine instead. The game takes place in one large map, displayed in 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second with no loading times. According to Mahler, every background element in the game is unique, with no repeated assets. For example, he explained, "You see this tree in the background and this mushroom and this rock? That's the one and only place you'll ever see those assets."
The game was first shown at E3 2014 during Microsoft’s pre-show press conference at the Galen Center. This was the first time many Moon Studios employees met in person. Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi, who leads Xbox One marketing, said they considered starting the conference with Ori but chose Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare instead. At E3, players waited in long lines to try a demo version of the game, with queues often 7-8 people deep for each of the four consoles featuring the game.
After E3, Moon Studios announced on their website that an Xbox 360 version of Ori and the Blind Forest was being developed and planned for release in early 2015. In November 2014, the team updated the game’s status, pushing back the launch to "early 2015" for Xbox One and PC, but no further details about the Xbox 360 version were shared at the time. Moon Studios later confirmed the Xbox 360 edition was still in development and would be released later in 2015. As of January 2018, no further updates about the Xbox 360 version were announced, and it is now considered cancelled.
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition was announced at Gamescom 2015. This version includes new areas, mechanics, and artwork. It adds "easy" and "hard" difficulty settings, which change enemy health and damage, and a "One Life" mode. It also allows players to travel quickly between spirit wells and backtrack through the map. The Definitive Edition was released on March 11, 2016, for Xbox One, one year after the original game’s launch. The Windows version followed on April 27, 2016. Players who already owned the original game could upgrade to the Definitive Edition. In May 2016, Nordic Games announced a partnership with Moon Studios and Microsoft to release a retail version of the Definitive Edition for Windows, which came out on June 14, 2016.
Following Microsoft’s collaboration with Nintendo after the release of Minecraft and Cuphead for the Nintendo Switch, and the inclusion of the Banjo-Kazooie series in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Definitive Edition for Nintendo Switch was announced during Nintendo’s Indie World showcase and released on September 27, 2019.
Reception
Ori and the Blind Forest received "universal acclaim" for the Nintendo Switch version and "generally favourable reviews" for the Windows and Xbox One versions, according to Metacritic, a website that collects video game reviews. Reviewers praised the game's story, visuals, gameplay, music, exploration, and environmental design.
Andrew Reiner from Game Informer gave the game a 9.5/10. He praised many aspects of the game but noted that the combat system was less refined than the platforming. He called the game "one of the best games of the year" and said, "there isn't a bad moment in Ori and the Blind Forest." Chris Carter from Destructoid also gave the game a 9.5/10. He praised the narrative, upgrades, and visuals, which he compared to the Rayman series but said the game was "easily better in quality." He also noted that players could set checkpoints anytime. He summarized the review by saying the game "succeeds in being both a great introduction to the genre and a rewarding experience for the hardcore audience" and called it "a new classic" as a Metroidvania.
Ray Carsillo from Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game's environments, art style, story, and quick save system. He also appreciated the focus on platforming, puzzle-solving, and exploration over combat, which allowed players to enjoy the level design. However, he criticized occasional frame rate drops and the inability to re-enter certain areas after completing quests (a problem fixed in the Definitive Edition). He said the game "is polished enough to rarely break the immersion it inspires" and called it "one of my favorite titles of 2015" and an "unforgettable debut" for indie developer Moon Studios.
Kevin VanOrd from GameSpot gave the game a 9/10, praising its visuals, level design, gameplay challenges, and storytelling, which he compared to Ōkami and Panzer Dragoon Orta. He noted the game had "among the best story sequences of any game." However, he criticized some levels as occasionally frustrating.
Lucas Sullivan from GamesRadar gave the game an 8/10, praising its animations, atmosphere, music, and gameplay, which he described as "lightweight agility." However, he criticized the save system, which he felt led to frequent deaths, and noted difficulty spikes during escape sequences. He summarized the game by saying, "Completing Ori's six-to-nine-hour journey will certainly leave you feeling warm, fuzzy, and accomplished – just be ready for some particularly challenging parts."
Nick Tan from Game Revolution gave the game a 4/5, praising its presentation and platforming but criticizing its short length and low replay value. He also said the game was "needlessly punishing" during escape sequences.
The game has been considered an example of video games becoming closer to art. Chris Melissinos noted that the game's "dreamlike sensitivity" in its art style was usually seen in animated films, not video games.
According to Thomas Mahler from Moon Studios, Ori and the Blind Forest became profitable for Microsoft within one week of its launch on Xbox One and PC. Gennadiy Korol, co-founder of Moon Studios, said the game was profitable for the studio within "a couple of weeks." Mahler described Microsoft as being "super-happy" with the game and hinted at a future installment, eventually leading to Ori and the Will of the Wisps. He mentioned the Xbox 360 version was still in development and expected to launch in spring 2015. However, the Xbox 360 version was later cancelled and never released.
Legacy
The main characters, Ori and Sein, were added as playable characters in the independent fighting game Rivals of Aether on June 12, 2017. They became available to play during the second quarter of 2017.
A follow-up game, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, was announced during E3 2017. It was shown multiple times at E3 2018, Gamescom 2018, E3 2019, and The Game Awards 2019. The game was released on March 11, 2020.