This is a good game man. I have no words to express my feelings besides that. Wasn't expecting much of it in the beginning but after watching all the gameplay and shit, damn, it's really damn good. The graphics attracted me in the beginning. I like the art style. Doesn't help that Ori, the white creature in the picture looks like a miniature Toothless. I was expecting the cliche story line of light defeating darkness, especially when the main antagonist was named Kuro which is black in Japanese.
Then they had to go and twist it all up and give me all the feels I just can't comprehend. Damn it. I really need to get an effing steam account man. This game is as good as To The Moon, The Cat Lady and Papo and Yo . (Read my ramblings of To The Moon here and Papo and Yo here.) You know, these are all games I'm really interested in playing myself, even more so than Phoenix Wright. They are really too damn good for me to put into words lol. They are the reason why I may very well turn into a gamer myself.
So, understanding that majority of my friends are probably people that wouldn't care about these games anyway, let me tell you what I really liked about this game. I wasn't intending to at first since I was afraid of giving spoilers, but upon reading my previous entries that I linked above, I realised that I have raved on about To The Moon and Papo and Yo in the past. Since Ori and The Blind Forest is such an excellent game comparable to the standards of the above games listed, I don't want to deny it the chance of being praised too.
Without further ado, my review for Ori and The Blind Forest begins:
At first glance, I was not attracted to the game at all. That's why I didn't watch it the moment Cry uploaded the walkthrough. I only got around to watching the game because it only had 9 parts and the graphics were nice. Anything that resembled Toothless is a 'yes' thing for me. No questions asked. I would immediately watch it. Besides, I haven't watched Cryaotic's channel for a while and I was kinda missing his gameplay.
And he didn't fail me again.
The thing I like most about Cry isn't his voice (although it plays a huge part) but the games he chooses to play despite their unpopularity. He plays games because he chooses to. Some Youtube gamers have switched to the mainstream games that I am completely not interested in. I like games with excellent plot details and somehow, Cry always plays the games that I like.
Ori and The Blind Forest is one such example. The graphics and soundtracks were really good and that was the main reason why I kept clicking on despite my lack of interest in its plot. I will admit. I was bored of it by the time I got around to part three of Cry's walkthrough. The whole cliche light triumphing over dark thing just didn't settle well with me. I was sick of the light winning to be honest. I wanted the dark to win. Unknowingly I supported Kuro in its venture to destroy the forest.
Then, the reason why Kuro (it's an owl) was so hell bent on destroying the forest was revealed: It was angered at the light the forest emitted because it was the very same light that killed two of its hatchlings, leaving only one alive.
My heart skipped a beat. I certainly was not expecting that. Throughout the game, Ori (the white creature if you recall) is seen as the victim since Kuro destroyed the entire forest and its clan but now, they projected Kuro as a sentient being, someone can feel emotions just like Ori did. In the end, it was both Ori and Kuro that were trying to deal with the losses they had in life. In the end, Kuro did not mean any harm.
It was then that it struck me how deep a mother's love for her child is.
A brief introduction to the game that I should have typed out before:
Ori, is a spirit guardian of the forest and during their yearly light festival or something got lost in the forest because of the raging storm. The Spirit Tree that sustains the forest called out to Ori, sending light all over the forest, killing two of Kuro's hatchlings. That's why Kuro destroyed the Spirit Tree and removed its light (Sein), descending the forest into darkness, hence the term The Blind Forest. With the light gone, the forest could not sustain life and everything in it died, including the spirit guardians, leaving Ori the last of its kind. Ori survived the storm because it was rescued by Naru, one of the creatures of the forest. However, Naru eventually died when the forest became blind, leaving Ori to fend for itself. Determined, Ori engages the help of the Spirit Tree's light, Sein (Ori found it after Kuro threw it away from the tree), and together they try to restore the forest back to its former glory.
(I probably typed out more shit than necessary but the essence of the story is there.)
Do you get me now? Like Harry Potter, this game showed the power of a mother's love. It was this love that drove Kuro to destroy the forest's light, to annihilate every life form that lived in it for the death of the two hatchlings is too much for her to bear. Yet, it was also that very same love that led to Kuro saving the forest by placing the light, Sein, back on the Spirit Tree at the cost of its life. She did it because the entire forest was gonna go up in flames and her only hatchling left in the nest would burn if she didn't save it.
And save it she did.
What's most touching perhaps is not Kuro's love for her child but Naru, the creature who saved Ori in the beginning who took the only surviving hatchling of Kuro's back to care for and love. She loved every creature the same, regardless of how they looked or acted. I think that in itself is an important lesson to learn.
In summary, the gameplay is exciting (yes it is), the graphics are beautiful and the story plot is short yet impactful. If you're interested in a game that will make you appreciate your parents and family so much more, then play this game. It really did touch me to no end.
Oh, and the soundtrack of this game is composed by the same person who did Journey's soundtrack. I forgot to ramble about Journey. My apologies. Journey is a hella good game too. It's so deep I can't even see how far down it is man. I promise I will do one post about Journey soon. Everyone should play that damn game.
Anyway, to end of this review for Ori and the Blind Forest, I have chosen a fellow commenter who watched Cry's walkthrough of the game.
Eunchae Lee 2 weeks ago
With that, I end this entry. I will do one up for Journey soon. THAT GAME IS AWESOME MAN.
Listen to the awesome soundtrack man.
