[Spoiler] I... kinda hate the ending.

[Democracy Officer Gehenna]

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------SPOILERS BELOW------

So, Ori dies.
Now, I know the obvious two responses.
First, that he didn't die, he became a tree. Well... the tree references Ori in the third person, and for all intents and purposes IS a different person.
Second, that what is wrong with a bittersweet ending? The answer is nothing, when done well.

The 'sacrifice' at the end basically comes from nowhere. There is absolutely no foreshadowing at all until at the VERY end. This utterly undercuts the ending to a rather startling degree. It left it feeling hollow, empty, and bad to me.

[Fortuna]

I honestly didn't like the ending that much either. It did kinda come out of nowhere, and I'm not fond of endings that are basically "Well we're done with these characters, let's fast forward to their endings." We miss out on almost all of Ku's growing life, after only just really being introduced to her (and her also being absent/injured for most of the game).

I could accept that they might want to move away from Ori in a possible sequel, so change to a new light spirit. But it seems like they're basically wiping the slate completely of characters we've come to know, to start anew. It felt kinda disappointing.

[Democracy Officer Gehenna]

I had not considered the wiping the slate clean angle. This somehow lowers my opinion further. This is not the sign of a good ending where one sits down and thinks about it and keeps finding new reasons to dislike it.

[Icirian]

I somehow have a feeling that a DLC will change many of this.
As for Ku part I agree, she is obviously an important member of the family, given her family history and sacrifice of her mother, how much trouble the family went through to find her. And she gets so little screen time! She's the damsel in distress in this game that needs saving! And de don't see her development, just straight to she's all grown up?! I'm not okay with that decision!
Not to mention the "heirloom-esque" feather it's just lost?! Ku didn't even try to fashion it as a decorative piece?！
Hence why I think the story is not done yet, DLC has soo much to answer for

[Scott]

I also hate the ending, I really really do.I too feel like this sacrifice comes out of nowhere.

Especially considering Ori didn't need to sacrifice in the last game to save the forest.

There was no hint of a sacrifice being required until you got to that worm shrine and then it was like, oh no, don't tell me you're going this way.

Story starts out with Ku and Ori going to seek answers, and ends with Ori dying and turning into a tree. It feels like there's something missing here and no its not that Ku got injured halfway through.

It also feels like I lost the game at the end, after that climactic battle you see Ori about to die and struggling to reach the wisp. Yeah its sad, its supposed to be sad but this whole situation feels incredibly poorly told. Like it was done for shock value alone.

They could've made that infinitely more interesting if Ori rejected the idea at first much earlier in the game and had no choice but to do it in the end. I'd still be fairly mad about it but damn.

Have no issue with the gameplay, that is still amazing. But the Story feels cobbled together and disjointed. Instead of making me sad the ending just fills me with rage.

That angered me so much it changed my opinion of the game being better than blind forest, I now consider the original game to be superior. It had a better story for one.

Played the gamepass version, btw.

[Stiff Nipples]

I was expecting something extra for 100% completion, like maybe something a little nicer for Shriek. But yes understandable if its the end of a storyline

[Icirian]

Originally posted by Stiff Nipples:

I was expecting something extra for 100% completion, like maybe something a little nicer for Shriek. But yes understandable if its the end of a storyline

So there is nothing extra for 100% completion?

[SpitefulDwarff]

Couldn't agree more. I really hate recent custom to "not" kill the Hero, by making him something MORE. What a piece of crap. You killed him anyway, this TREE is not Ori, so it's still sucks. By the way, Ori did find the seed of the TREE, so why can't they make him plant it and guard it until it mature? Oh, yes, it won't take so much of our's tears that way. Too bad.

And Shriek. Why nobody talking about her? Why did they leave her for her misery?
She "chose" to stay in the darkness? The hell she did. She didn't know tiny piece of kindness or love for her entire life, and of course she didn't want it for everyone else. But she failed and goes back to her dead parents, the only ones who didn't shut her out. "Great" ending. Really.

But if Ori did heal Ku in the end, why can't he do the same for Shriek? She was the way she was because of decay, so why not heal her? There a lot of unspoken things in the end. (And why owles didn't fly away from decay? What is the story of that graveyard?)

Well, in my happy world, the ending is a little different - Willow awakens by Ori and give him last seed, for him to plant, grow and protect, Shriek attacks, Ori win, but instead of the last blow he give her a little bit of light from Seir, so Shriek heals and flee, panicked. Ku wakes up, Ori, Naru and Gumo plant the last SEED and watch it grow. After a little bit of time, Seir get enough power to heal Ku's wing, she rejoices with her family, and in that moment Shriek comes back, humbly looking at them all. Ori, of course, welcomes her. Shriek afraid to be shunned again, but she want to trie once more to have a family. And she did. She can teach Ku a lot of being a big bird, and Ku have a lot to teach her about love. And they all live happily ever after.

(Yes, it's an ending for 6 years old kids, but I'm 28 years old kid and I need happy endings.)

I do love the game, btw. Colors, music, story is great. It wouldn't hurt this much, if I don't.

[Pooterman]

Originally posted by Fortuna:

I honestly didn't like the ending that much either. It did kinda come out of nowhere, and I'm not fond of endings that are basically "Well we're done with these characters, let's fast forward to their endings." We miss out on almost all of Ku's growing life, after only just really being introduced to her (and her also being absent/injured for most of the game).

I could accept that they might want to move away from Ori in a possible sequel, so change to a new light spirit. But it seems like they're basically wiping the slate completely of characters we've come to know, to start anew. It felt kinda disappointing.

Agreed. I was really upset to see ori was gone. Forever.

[RojoHero]

There is a little bit of foreshadowing in the ancient temple in that big old exposition dump and they straight up said that the spirit willow had become too old. Light must have a vessel... the surprise was that Ori was that vessel. Ori didn't really die... he was reborn... or at the very least ascended into a being of incredible energy.

but.. yea... I hear ya... I'm not thrilled Ori is gone.

[Scott]

Yes there is a little bit of foreshadowing but its right before the final boss. That is poor foreshadowing. Not to mention they went from clever show not tell storytelling to an exposition dump which I also find insulting.

By all intents and purposes Ori is dead. Ori fused with Seir and became an entirely new being.

The problem I have with this narrative is not the narrative itself but its execution. I've been thinking about it over and over and I can accept this outcome but it was just done so poorly.

Instead what if at the beginning of the game Ori was given the chance to join with Seir, and Ori rejected the call. That gives massive foreshadowing and anticipation of this story beat.

Then Ori could have in the final moments be forced to do it for whatever reason, maybe Ori brings Shriek close to death and as an act of kindness agrees to fuse with Seir in order to save her.

Instead what they do is wait until you're like an hour from finishing to drop this bombshell on you, and Ori is just perfectly ok with doing it. No hesitation whatsoever, Its just so poorly done.

To do nothing with Shriek but just have her go die in the darkness and then to lose Ori is just super unsatisfying. I also have a problem with the fact Ori's family are instantly ok with this, If my family member suddenly turned into a tree I think i'd have emoted some.

It doesn't feel like a sacrifice so much as a punch to the face.

[Pooterman]

Originally posted by SpitefulDwarff:

Couldn't agree more. I really hate recent custom to "not" kill the Hero, by making him something MORE. What a piece of crap. You killed him anyway, this TREE is not Ori, so it's still sucks. By the way, Ori did find the seed of the TREE, so why can't they make him plant it and guard it until it mature? Oh, yes, it won't take so much of our's tears that way. Too bad.

And Shriek. Why nobody talking about her? Why did they leave her for her misery?
She "chose" to stay in the darkness? The hell she did. She didn't know tiny piece of kindness or love for her entire life, and of course she didn't want it for everyone else. But she failed and goes back to her dead parents, the only ones who didn't shut her out. "Great" ending. Really.

But if Ori did heal Ku in the end, why can't he do the same for Shriek? She was the way she was because of decay, so why not heal her? There a lot of unspoken things in the end. (And why owles didn't fly away from decay? What is the story of that graveyard?)

Well, in my happy world, the ending is a little different - Willow awakens by Ori and give him last seed, for him to plant, grow and protect, Shriek attacks, Ori win, but instead of the last blow he give her a little bit of light from Seir, so Shriek heals and flee, panicked. Ku wakes up, Ori, Naru and Gumo plant the last SEED and watch it grow. After a little bit of time, Seir get enough power to heal Ku's wing, she rejoices with her family, and in that moment Shriek comes back, humbly looking at them all. Ori, of course, welcomes her. Shriek afraid to be shunned again, but she want to trie once more to have a family. And she did. She can teach Ku a lot of being a big bird, and Ku have a lot to teach her about love. And they all live happily ever after.

(Yes, it's an ending for 6 years old kids, but I'm 28 years old kid and I need happy endings.)

Ikr! I was hoping for something like that!

[Scott]

I like SpitefulDwarffs happy ending concept, but really its not the fact its sad that bothers me, its how out of left field it was. Wasn't this supposed to be a journey of discovery for Ori and Ku, Felt like they just dropped that and got bored.

The story is incredibly poorly constructed.

It felt like the devs just wanted it to be sad for the sake of it and thought of the most sad thing they could think of and the ending suffers for that.

[Pooterman]

I at least would be happy if they made an alternate ending dlc where ori finds a seed and plants it then later returns to nibel.

[Pooterman]

FIVE whole years of production. FIVE hours of a bittersweet story.

[Pooterman]

The bosses are fun, though.
My favorite boss would be Kwolok, mostly because he was being controlled by a giant parasite. Amazing. Just. Amazing.