Ori and the Will of the Wisps

[spatular]

So had a quick go of this after it unlocked last night, initial impressions are mixed, they've changed the combat a bit and i'm not sure about it yet, sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's annoying, and i've really struggled on two sections so am a bit worried i won't be able to finish it on normal, some of the enemies can be really annoying. having said that the original started with bad combat but i really liked that after you unlock a certain move so maybe this will be similar. and there were easy/hard options so hopefully you can switch between them - also wonder what they change as i personally would want to just make the combat easier and leave the rest, but someone else might struggle with the platforming i don't know.

 

everything else was pretty similar to the first game so far - it looks amazing and there's been some mild puzzles and platforming - generally really enjoying it outside the combat. hope there are some more demanding platforming sections like in the first game.

 

there are combat trials and timetrial sections too - i enjoyed the timetrial one - as above not sure about the combat one - probably could have come back to it later when more powered up. 

 

oh and they changed the save system to a seemingly more normal one with pretty frequent checkpoints - that's probably a good change

 

Also apparently there are performance problems/bugs, 2 patches already on xbox? i'm playing the gamepass version on pc and haven't had any patches,  bugs/problems. this is a game i would have purchased, but it's on gamepass so i didn't, which is an odd thing. 

 

anyone else getting it/trying it on gamepass?

[DisturbedSwan]

Downloaded it on my XB1S thanks to Game Pass and will hopefully be able to put an hour or so into it tonight if the Missus falls asleep. I was debating whether to leave it a few days because I literally only just finished the first game last night and don't want to get burnt out, but I'll probably give it a go if I've got time tonight.

[spatular]

played quite a bit more and still enjoying it, got loads of health and more moves now so the fighting isn't as difficult, some of the platforming/level traversal is great fun. got stuck not knowing what to do next a few times though which has been a bit annoying. just spent ages getting somewhere you're only supposed to go much later but unlocked a fast travel point there so it's not been a complete waste of time.

[DisturbedSwan]

Started this on Wednesday evening.

 

The opening 30 minutes or so are absolutely spellbinding. Just such beautiful animation and such a charming, jolly introduction and reintroduction to the main cast of characters. Immediately you notice this certainly has a higher budget than the first game. Just that opening cutscene along was longer and probably more costly than any of the little bits of story throughout the entirety of the first game and I loved every second of it. I will say it was nowhere near as heartbreaking as Ori 1's opening though.

 

When you actually take control of Ori after the Prologue and allowed to roam you immediately notice how much more beautiful everything is, how vivid the backdrops now are and how vibrant all the colours are. The music is absolutely incredible, genuinely amazing stuff that moves you and makes every area feel distinct and unique, no real surprise as it was fantastic in the first game but it's equally as great - perhaps even a little better - here. 

 

It plays very similarly to the first game overall. It's a charming, beautiful Metroidvania at its core but they've definitely changed quite a few things from the first game, some for better, some for worse. The combat is miles better already to the first game, you have a light sword type thing which you use to attack enemies now which immediately feels way more satisfying than the previous games' ways of attacking enemies, the enemies themselves also already seem way better and more varied than the first game, they have distinct attack patterns to learn and some - like the Mosquito - can be damn annoying to defeat at times. Similarly to the first game you pick up new core abilities as you explore which then enable you to go back and find collectibles in previously inaccessible places - a Metroidvania staple - here you also collect Shards though which improve various abilities like improving your health or making you do 15% more damage against a certain enemy or something. You now encounter way more people milling about as well, one sells you map fragments which unlocks an area of the map, quite a few give you side quests and another sells you abilities. They're all cute and charming in their own way and a welcome addition to the series.

 

At times though it feels like it's aping Hollow Knight a little too much and has lost a bit of its own identity though. The combat is ripped straight from Hollow Knight, as are the kooky little characters you encounter around the map, as are the shards, there's even an ability where you can use energy to refill your health - just like Hollow Knight. HK is an amazing game don't get me wrong but in taking so many things from HK to use in this it sometimes feels like its lost its own identity in a way. I'm still very early in but to be it seems the core of the games' design has been largely informed from Hollow Knight and not improving things from the previous game. It does work, the combat is way better, the kooky characters and shards are all welcome additions but it has the unfortunate effect of making this game feel less distinct and unique. Happy to imitate rather than innovate.

 

My whole experience has been marred by technical problems as well. I'm playing on an X1S which I understand is the least powerful system to play the game on (aside from an OG XB1) but yeah I've had some pretty severe issues, mostly centred around frame rate. In a game like this it's key that you can move and react quickly but quite frequently the game will bog down and run like treacle and other times it'll just stop completely when I'm in midair or something which is very annoying. I'm not 100% sure it's related to the frame rate issues or if it's maybe the new save system but now the map takes forever to open too whereas in Ori 1 it was super fast. In a game like this you need things to feel immediate and snappy, you're looking at your map an awful lot and when you hit the map button nothing turns up on the screen for 5-10 seconds. It gets real annoying real fast.

 

I'm only 3 hours in now and I'm still enjoying the game despite its issues but after the Prologue it just doesn't feel anywhere near as special as the first game to me yet. 

 

[spatular]

oh man the technical problems sound really annoying  think i'd leave it for a patch if i was playing on xbox. i thought you had a decent PC Blakey DisturbedSwan? if you have access to it on that the pc version is working fine for me anyway.

 

I'm really enjoying this still there's some really great bits, it looks amazing too. maybe to amazing as the two times i've been stuck i've been stood right next to what i needed to do but the graphics didn't really stand out on the bit i needed to shoot/interact with.

 

the fighting is sort of fun now i've unlocked more moves and health and stuff, but can also be a bit annoying, again there's so much going on in the graphics it can be hard to see what's going on in a big fight. think i maybe prefer the fighting from the first game.

 

interesting to hear it's like hollow knight, makes me want to try that but i still don't like the idea of the dark souls style death stuff.

[DisturbedSwan]

Yeah it sucks massively @spatular, I do indeed have a decent PC which I could use to play it but I haven’t used it much since I (finally) moved it into my new flat in January and prefer to play on the Xbox in the Lounge on the TV. I’m glad it’s working well on PC though but it should be working well on X1S, I’m just glad I got it with Game Pass, if I’d of paid money for it I’d of been seriously pissed. 
 

Captured this video last night to show how bad it is:

 

I hate talking about technical issues, especially when the game is as fantastic as this is. But it shouldn’t of been released in the state it’s in for me. There’s meant to be a patch dropping next week so hopefully that’ll sort everything out.

 

But yeah, when the game decides to run decently (oddly it seems I have to be a certain amount of time into a session before the severe freezing starts) it is phenomenally good. I know there’s hardly been anything noteworthy out yet this year but I think this could genuinely be a GOTY contender for me, it’s a truly phenomenal game. 
 

Early on I did feel that it was aping Hollow Knight a little too much and maybe took a few too many ideas from that game instead of innovating and using its own but now I’m 10 or so hours in I’m absolutely loving every second of it. The characters are just so damn charming, there’s a little hub where they all congregate and you can improve on and make bigger as you make your way through the game which makes you feel like you’re genuinely improving their little lives and bringing warmth to their world instead of darkness.

 

I love the side quests too, they’re all optional and unintrusive but when you do complete them you feel like you’ve genuinely helped someone because of how full of life and charming the characters all. The combat challenges and speed runs are nice little additions too that definitely add something new to the game.

 

Most of the abilities so far have been similar to the first game but they’re unlocked in a different order which makes things feel free fresh and new, the new Grapple move is a great new addition too and I’m sure there will be more as I make my way through the game. 
 

It’s such a beautiful game, the characters, music and graphics are all just stunningly pretty to look at and interact with. When the game is running well it is an absolute dream to play but that all turns into a nightmare when it starts freezing up all over the shop. Moon Studios have definitely made another gem here I just hope they can sort the issues quickly so they’ll fade into insignificance over time.

 

[one-armed dwarf]

I figured it out.. I just started this up on PC and saw the unity logo on the load screen. Unity is a very high level engine, ie it does a lot of the heavy lifting for developers to make developing a game easier, but is less optimised as it abstracts some of the lower level details away

Historically Unity games run like trash on console but PCs just brute force it with their CPUs.

 

I'll give this a go, it looks pretty. Though it isn't really my thing probably.

[one-armed dwarf]

Yeah I played an hour. It seems fine, it's like one of those Metroidvania things that I don't really play. A dog mess me up, I got a light sword and hitted some things then I made dinner

 

Even tho I can get an easy 60 frames I feel the presentation is lost on me with my basic 1080p monitor. But I wouldn't count on patches improving performance on consoles with it being unity but who knows.

(edit actually nevermind that video up above looks really bad, like it's buggy or something)

[Maryokutai]

Kind of funny how they optimised the hell out of the Switch port of the first game and then totally rush out the sequel for its "home" system with a myriad of technical hiccups.

 

Also, to this day, I'm baffled by how little this franchise interests me. I usually love Metroidvanias but Ori just doesn't interest me at all. And yes, I have tried it – twice even (bought it on Xbox and played the Switch demo). More time for other stuff I guess.

[spatular]

^ yeah i think you're right it's a bit of an odd one as i don't really play metroidvania stuff much but i like this one.

 

after saying it runs fine on pc i did have 2 freezes where i had to restart the game, didn't really lose any progress. finished it earlier, took about 20 hours, got most of the collectables, just missing 2 ore and 2 life bits, and i guess a few other things. i hope to go back to it to get those last bits and do the escape sequence timetrials, probably use a guide for the collectables though as i can't see and unxeplored bits of map.

 

overall i enjoyed it, it's mostly really good and sometimes it's amazing, but it's also a bit frustrating at times. it's hard to compare to the first one because i don't remember too much about it other than really enjoying it, but i think the first one was probably a bit better - it's hard to make a sequel to something that started off really well, and i think they've done a decent job.

 

just like the first one, this game really comes into it's own for me when you get the

Spoiler

bash move, flying about the place bouncing off enemies and projectiles

is just brilliant and when you're doing that stuff and it all comes together it's so so good, but i think maybe that happened for me less frequently in this one as maybe the controls are a bit more confusing with more moves and stuff.

 

started to get into the combat a bit near the end too and enjoyed fighting some of the enemies. and some were still annoying at the end.

 

some of the parts right at the end also stepped over a line from being challenging but do-able for me, into being a bit too difficult really and i sort of brute forced my way through by having loads of health - it's good that you can do this though.

 

oh and i think the timetrial sections are new - i really liked those.

 

edit - i used a guide 3 times because i got stuck, every time it was because i had to use/shoot something that blended into the background so i didn't know i had to do anything with it - possibly a drawback of it looking so nice.

[DANGERMAN]

Cori and the One Nine Forest more like 

[mfnick]

I’ve just finished the excellent first game and jumped straight in.

First off it looks even more incredible then the 1st, really impressed they managed that and the HDR really helps the art pop. It may even feel slightly “snappier” to control too, even though the first was no slouch this does just seem that little bit

more responsive. 
 

However... I’m not sure I’m keen on the changes. I’m just getting tired of games layering in loads of boring crap to fill them out a bit. I prefer simplicity, shorter and more focused games nowadays but already I’m getting quests and “fetch this” style stuff, I’m having to back track more already whereas in the first I liked it for exploration, now it feels like I have to. I prefered the isolation of the first rather than having a bunch of talking animals. The swappable skills and tree of abilities is already giving me anxiety and I’m hearing the first area is almost as large as the entire last game. Oh, and now there’s combat arenas just in case you didn’t this they were just putting repetitive pointless guff in there just to pad it out a bit. As well as the fact it’s already leaning far more into combat which I’m not a fan of either.

 

Im definitely going to continue but feeling a bit deflated considering how much I liked the first. Hopefully the changes aren’t as intrusive or as big of a deal as I currently feel they are after a bit more time with it.

 

Oh I’m also having some pretty annoying technical issues too. On the One X and some sections it just pauses and stutters for a second or 2. And the map can take a few seconds to load whereas in the first it was instant. Which doesn’t sound like much but gets really annoying when youre having to check it quite often to make sure you’re heading in the right direction. It really ruins the flow. Hopefully this gets sorted soon otherwise it may frustrate enough to stop play altogether as it gets more complex later in the game.

[spatular]

went back to it last night to finish off a few bits, sort of gave up on finding some stuff, then somehow...

Spoiler

finish the big item swap quest - which isn't something i'd have bothered with if i hadn't already done most of it just talking to random people as i was running around - just looked up the last few on google.

unlocked all the locations of stuff on the map so collected everything and did the escape sequence timetrials from the menu.

[one-armed dwarf]

So the first one is better? I might try it, is it on Gamepass as well?

 

Man game pass is so good... perfect for low cost gaming

[spatular]

^ yeah i think they're both on gamepass.

 

i might play the first game again as i think it has new stuff now compared to when it first came out.

[mfnick]

Just got to the first “dungeon” last night. Wow, the frame relate is terrible around the opening area to it. The dash isn’t as satisfying to use either, doesnt feel as fast and satisfying. I’m quite disappointed so far, but yet I’m still really enjoying it because otherwise it feels great to play and I just love Metroidvanias.  

[mfnick]

Maybe I need to clear the cache or something but I’m having constant hitches and the frame rate is just getting worse.

[mfnick]

Internal. 

[mfnick]

Power saving, no. 
Instant on? Is that quick resume basically? I have that on. Maybe I need to quit the game and start it up again instead of quick resuming? Might help. 

[mfnick]

Well got passed the dungeon and through the silent woods plus a bit more including learning the sand ability. 

 

Spoiler

My poor owl!! ??

The performance hasn’t really improved yet but still not done a cache clear. But, It hasn’t been anywhere near as bad in the other areas yet. Just a bit of slowdown and stuttering every now any again, not game breaking. 
 

Im still really enjoying it but still got the same issues I mentioned to start with which I’m not keen on. Don’t think the additions actually add much apart from busy work. Shit having to waste ability slots on what should, IMO, be basic moves too like they were previously. Like triple jump and enemy grapple. 

Been really enjoying the chase bosses. Also got me thinking a Sonic game could work in this kind of format. The character movement along with some abilities mean you really get around at a good lick through these areas and the chase bosses are perfectly suited to him. With the Metroid style giving it all a bit more depth. Just a thought, think it’d be pretty cool.