Quick Look: Ori and the Blind Forest

@brad the important question: will there be 10 games better than Ori in 2015?!

@teoball said:

I'm feeling mixed. I do not enjoy Meatboy-esque games (as I did not grow up with 2D platformers [oldest child, born in '91, first console was a Saturn...that's disc drive died after 6 months. Then a year or so later got an N64. 2D platformers just weren't a thing I experienced until this modern resurgence, and I suuuuuuuck at them. I don't find them enjoyable, even going back nowadays to try and play the hits like Super Mario Bros 3 and Land and the like]), but I have come to love Metroid/Castlevania inspired games. (One of the ones I have enjoyed from going back to play was Super Metroid. Fantastic game, that, even to someone who dislikes one half of its gameplay equation).

So... yeah. I really dunno how to feel about this game, and whether I should pick it up. Hmm. I really enjoyed Dust, Shadow Complex, and Super Metroid...

EDIT: Oxford comma or GTFO. :p

That's interesting, and it's true that sometimes we just recognize rules about the language without fully understanding the rules themselves. I definitely couldn't itemize every dangling modifier or participial phrase or whatever, but you know it when you see it. I guess I just recall comma splices being brought up ad nauseam in English classes.

I was ready to buy an Xbox One on the strength of the art in the trailer for this and Cuphead alone. Looks amazing, and it's good to hear it plays well too. And I don't have to buy an xbox for it. Woo.

That is more than three times the size! lol But it's 1080p/60fps at least, right?

Holy shit, how did they even do that, the morphs on all of those painted assets are some of the most natural looking things I've ever seen.

Ok, this so far is the best selling point on me picking up an xbox one.

Pronouncing it Oree just makes me think of that dwarf from The Hobbit. Pronouncing it Oreye makes me think of Stargate SG-1.

I fall head over feet for this kinda stuff, but I didn't get misty. That might've also been because Dan kept talking over everything.

"IS THIS THE PART WHERE HE DIES I LOEV THAT GAME MEATL GAERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS."

Maybe I just have a completely black soul, but I dunno, this kinda does nothing for me. I'm always confused when game critics gush over something like this or Braid that to me just feel like run-of-the-mill platformers.

..Whoa

I have goosebumps

Hmmm

I don't know, I found that opening to be absolutely gorgeous, but somewhat manipulative, abrupt and out of place. It is surely painstakingly executed, and the animations are extremely expressive, but I find it deliberately reaches for an emotional strings that simply don't mean all that much for the overall game.

That said, I have only played a few hours so maybe it'll tie up in a cohesive way, but so far the game has all but forgotten the heartwarming story it seemed interested in presenting.

I don't think it's really all that similar.

On one hand this game looks gorgeous, that is pretty good by itself, but the platforming is well executed too so that's good if you like platformers.

However if you are not into the genre, it's obviously not for you, because narratively, the game is quite light.

Braid on the other hand, I found absolutely different particularly because most of the strengths of the game don't actually have that much to do with platforming, a great chunk of the game is closer to a puzzle game and the final narrative twist is quite effective beyond it's mechanics.

I'm a sucker for corny stuff, so I got really choked up. Goddamn it. Already playing this. It's gorgeous and it plays really, REALLY well.

"That's got me feeling all twee" is up there with "Toad can eat a Peach for hours". Love you Ryckert

@assinass: Yup, no loading screens either

Good to know, I sort of suspected there is some sort of different weight to the word in the US and germany. Thanks :)

This fucking game dude. This fucking game.

The save system here reminds me of the one from They Bleed Pixels and LOVE.

Wasn't on my radar at all. Quicklook sold me on this pretty hard. Going to pick this up before Hotline Miami 2 and Cities: Skylines.

Thanks Brad and Dan!

Ah, cool. It's apparently coming to PC. I'd hate to miss this game because it was an Xbox exclusive.

Looks neat.

Holy shit this looks good!

The number of people who aren't aware this game is also on PC is shocking. Though to be fair I had also just assumed it to be an actual XBone exclusive until suddenly today I saw the game all over steam. Suddenly I had a very strong desire to either play this game... or beat Super Metroid.

I agree with you guys, and it's the same reason that Brothers did nothing for me. It's such a hamfisted and obvious way to try to elicit an emotional response that it just falls completely flat for me.

One of the reasons I got an Xbox One. It's hard to put down, but I think I set my expectations too high.

@belegorm: I was incredibly bummed because I thought it was only Xbox One. I was seriously considering getting a One just for this and Rockband 4. You can imagine my excitement when the "steam update" showed me it had released on PC.

Dan was killing it on this one.

"Brad you die already?" LOL

Twee is a real word damn it.

Different shit hits people really hard, and sometimes it just falls flat. In Ori's case here, I got a sharp reminder of Grave of the Fireflies and the whole "get up" thing was just a hard punch to the gut on how the little guy was alone now. Self sacrifice with resources and the loneliness that comes with the loss of something that you love and loves you back just murders me. I can understand how some people this wouldn't click with, what I can't understand is people downplaying how it made others feel.

Knowing Maru knew she would die, the happy face to placate Ori so they would eat the apple. That stuff gets to me, I can't help it.

This looks pretty great! God damn I'm jealous of kids who get to play this sort of stuff growing up haha.

This looks fantastic! Thanks for exposing me to this, @brad. Somehow, I hadn't hear about this before.

@teoball: Man, I'm glad I'm not alone on this. I think the game looks absolutely stunning and the intro was great. That gameplay though - it's not something I would ever enjoy, unfortunately :(

I didn't need another game on my plate right now, but darnit if I'm not enamored with this one.

It's common, and stylistically acceptable, to use a comma splice in poetry.

T_T didn't expect it. The amazing appearance of the game only adds to the tears.

This was a great quick look. All the right ingredients: great gameplay, good banter, and an amazing looking game.

Have I just now started noticing Brad's gratuitous use of "fart," or is this a new phenomenon?

I love Dust, and Dan reminded me that I should play Guacamelee! Excited to get this game at some point.

@tournamentofhate: Surprised it took this long for someone to mention Guacamelee (I know they did in the QL) as this seems very reminiscent from a gameplay perspective. The late-game platforming in that game was also about the limit of my abilities, so I hope Ori doesn't get too dastardly, as I'd really like to play it.

I know what Brad intended to mean within two minutes by saying everything is bespoke, but literally 20 seconds afterwards when we see the game camera pop in, you can easily pick out the same flower, bush, leaf, and grass assets duplicated everywhere. I know that's not the major elements and not what Brad's comment was intended to say, but again such a big statement of "everything is bespoke" is clearly not true.

edit: Continued watching and yep, tons of stuff repeated, mirrored, etc... Still looks gorgeous, but they lied to Brad.

Dan seems to be afraid of sincerity.

Well it's the end of the year and to my mind atleast there may be a game better than Ori to come out this year. Only one though.

I see what you did there.