Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Exceptional Metroidvania with stunning visuals and masterful level design. Revamped combat creates perfectly balanced experience.

Visually stunning 2D platformer with exceptional art blending ethereal aesthetics and rich animation.

Not just a great sequel but in many ways an improvement over its predecessor, with more customization through the new shard system, a greater focus on satisfying weapon-based combat, and a better-developed, emotionally resonant story. Gorgeous atmospheric environments and a smooth 60fps presentation round out a supremely enjoyable platform adventure, though it trades some of the original's nonlinear exploration for a more linear structure. The lackluster spirit trial time trials are a minor weak point.

Beautiful, moving, and ingenious — easily a game-of-the-year contender, with stunning art and lighting, ingenious precision-platforming level design, and spectacular, genuinely tough boss encounters that stand as a high point for 2D platformer design. The deep combat and meaningful, non-linear exploration round it out. The only real disappointment is significant bugs and frame-rate issues that undermined key moments, enough to warrant waiting for a patch or two.

A first-impressions take that stops short of a full verdict because the reviewer dislikes platformers. The game looks incredible with fantastic graphics, sound and music, and offers excellent ability-gated progression, satisfying parkour traversal and strong combat against nasty enemies. It is praised as the best platformer the reviewer has played in years, though the genre itself simply is not to his taste.

Incredible visuals, orchestrated music; reviewer's favorite game.

Visually stunning Metroidvania sequel retreads story with derivative Hollow Knight-style gameplay.

Bonus review: 9/10 (Joe), 8/10 (others). Beautiful top-tier platformer held back by bugs and combat focus.

An exceptional sequel that retains what the original did well, trims its weaker elements, and adds wonderful new ones to elevate the experience. The combat is drastically improved with more challenging enemies and proper multi-phase bosses, while thoughtful difficulty design creates near-perfect synergy between exploration and reward. Backed by a fantastic soundtrack, stunning visuals, and an emotional story with a satisfying length of 10-15 hours, it is a game you don't want to miss.