Ori and the Will of the Wisps -Switch- 9

December 1, 2024

This past week I have been playing Ori and the Will of Wisps on the normal difficulty setting. I have logged roughly seventeen hours to reach the end credits, as well complete a majority of the side content, including all the sidequests. According to my save file, I have completed 83% of the entire game to be exact, and I am ready to give my thoughts.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is an indie Metroidvania title that released in 2020. It is the sequel to 2015’s Ori and the Blind Forest, which I played last year and rated an 8 out of ten. Blind Forest was very good, but Will of the Wisps is even better. Just like the original, you play as an ethereal cat-like creature as you explore a giant forest. But this time, you are searching to find your friend owl that you got separated from during a storm. You eventually encounter a giant toad guardian who implores Ori to find the five wisps that will heal the forest from its corruption and save the animals from the terror known as Shriek. The story of Ori and the Will of the Wisps is minimal, but touching, and gets surprisingly emotional halfway through.

Will of the Wisps strengthens what Blind Forest already did so well, which was the exploration, atmosphere, and platforming. The world is even bigger this time around, but it’s not too big. I loved exploring for every secret upgrade and pathway I could find, and there were even some fun little sidequests to pursue. The environmental puzzles were really intuitive, requiring certain skills you would attain along your journey. And each area felt distinct with different tones of color and music. Will of the Wisps is a beautiful game, with lush scenery and a superb cinematic soundtrack. The music for the “Silent Woods” and “Mora the Spider”’s theme were a couple of my favorites.

The expert platforming is fantastic, just like it was in the previous game. As you progress through Will of the Wisps, you unlock awesome new acrobatic abilities to expand your repertoire. The launch, burst, and triple jump all greatly enhance the parkour possibilities. Ori is so nimble that I always felt like I had one last ace up my sleeve every time I was about to miss a ledge.

Will of the Wisps also fixes the few weakness from Blind Forest, namely the combat, save system, and lack of boss battles. In Blind Forest, all you did when fighting enemies was fry them with your Spirit Flame, and that was it. In Will of the Wisps, there a good number of actual weapons you can use to battle the creatures, and even bust out short combos. There are several weapons you can purchase and upgrade, but I just stuck to fighting with the Spirit Edge and Spirit Smash in my playthrough.

There is also a much better checkpoint and save system than before. In Blind Forest, you had to manually create checkpoints yourself by using energy cells, and remember to do so every so often. In Will of the Wisps, the game saves automatically for you at very frequent intervals. It’s one less thing to stress about.

And finally, the boss showdowns in Will of the Wisps are epic. Blind Forest had fun escape sequences, but not much in the way of actual boss encounters. This sequel combines exciting chase segments with traditional melee boss fights, and it works wonderfully. The bosses here are frightening and challenging, especially the wolf Howl, the spider Mora, and the final boss Shriek.

I could hardly put Will of the Wisps down once I started playing. Ori’s graceful free running, the deeply atmospheric surroundings to explore, and the thrilling boss battles and chases make this a must play for fans of the Metroidvania genre. This is a great sequel, and I love it even more than the original. I rate Ori and the Will of the Wisps a 9 out of ten.