Recent reviews by IIdentity

would accidentally combine pets on the wrong early game turn and abandon run again 10/10

what can I say about this experience that hasn't already been said about Journey

all of the notes just hit. if anything in particular was the most impressive about the experience it was how it drives its players to truly connect with the story and the relationship you form with the world and your companion. i'll never forget how one of my first guides paused with me after the end of the sandsliding section's flashback and we just sat for a while and took it all in. i really got to resonate with the tragedy of journey's story and it made what was to come all the more poignant.

please play this game and make connections with your fellow travelers. the day this game stops connecting people and allowing strangers to overcome a great burden together, to become friends, to become companions will be a very sad day.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is like coming home after a few years.

You walk in the front door, and there's what you left behind, nearly exactly like you left it. Sure, some of the furniture's moved about but overall the same people, the same feelings that you loved are there.

The longer you stick around for though, you see that there's more than nostalgia is letting you see. The old creaky door to the upstairs bedroom is finally fixed. You're amazed that it got better, you never even expected it to get fixed before because it was "FINE" you guess but... dang, that's some good door. And everything starts to feel like it's going to be perfect.

But you get this feeling that something's off. You're not sure what but, it's someth- and then you're staring at the treehouse in the backyard. It was the best, wasn't it? Just to go on up there whenever something was wrong, because something would ALWAYS, always end up going wrong... and then the small little 8x8 foot space with a roof that was always just the right height for you to stand under lets you in for however long you need. Until everything's blown over and you get called back inside for the night. And everything's OK again. Everything's perfect, a happy ending.

Now you're about as tall as the ladder that made you feel like the king of the world, like you were untouchable. You can't even stand inside the treehouse without bonking your head on the roof. It really kind of bums you out that THIS part of everything had to be the thing to change, the ONE THING that doesn't feel right. And it sucks.

Until a little later, when you see your little sibling climb up that ladder with a friend of theirs from a window in the house. You see them smiling and laughing and just enjoying their moment like they thought it would never end.

And you come around to the idea that the changes aren't bad. They're good... great even. It IS still perfect. Maybe it's not exactly perfect for YOU, but nothing ever is. You realize that things couldn't have ended up better any other way. And you're content with that.

As you hug those people you loved like nothing else goodbye and head back to where you're really needed, you're glad. You're glad you got to see that old house again, and got to see the door get fixed, and got to see that the old treehouse is still one of the best ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ treehouses you've ever seen.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is like coming home.

It brings the same emotions of happiness, sadness, excitement and satisfaction Moon Studios brought with Blind Forest.

And I can't wait 'till I visit again.

There's nothing that I can say that anyone else hasn't about this game; one of the greatest platformer / metroidvania / what-have-yous I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

The fluidity of movement Ori builds towards and the rewards that taking the time to master them are super well done, my favorite to use being primarily the Bash and Air Dash. Trying to take on combat encounters without touching the ground through using these skills is a unique kind of fun I usually don't have the chance to dive into in most other games I have.

I won't pretend I'm some master of game design or like I know how to explain the finer points of what makes Ori so amazing, but I can say that Ori offers a great amount of awesome content and challenge for what you put in. This IS a game to play to completion if you can.

Cutscenes feel kinda slow on repeat playthroughs but what the hell that's a nitpick anyhow. Easy favorite game in my library.

"Something, something about an adventure."

The dialouge doesn't lie, this game is an adventure. A beautiful, well made adventure, however short it may be.

I've spent quite some time with the game, doing three full runs and looking in every nook and cranny for any optional story tidbits and seismograph-things, and I have to say I've come out feeling like the game was worth my money.

The gameplay is enjoyable and new, (at least for me) and I love the first person perspective's way of making me feel like I'm at near cruising altitude while swinging over the cloudline, or a dark cave's unknown depths.

The story is quick, but then again the game is as well. I liked the co-protagonist's personality. Adventurous, fearless... or at least we're told.

She even is okay with risking her life to challenge you to try to get through an area without using the grapple device. (And while I'm on the topic she's also quite annoying on telling you that she "knew you couldn't do it" when you fail to complete the challenge without saving her life as you fall to your doom.)

While I won't elaborate on the features of the Unlockables that you get from collecting all twenty-five seismograph-things, I will say this; the last one is AWESOME.

If I had to point out some negatives, the character models can be sort of weird to look at sometimes, and during the parts when you have to watch them talk you can just wander away and not look at them and they don't care in the slightest. I sort of wished I could skip the interaction sections while trying to go for the flawless run and the grapple challenge achievements for the areas.

There's also the MASSIVE difficulty spike in the final level, which I was not expecting, but the hardest challenge there has been patched to let people flow through it easier. (Lifesaver for the low framerates I had been dealing with from time to time.) But that's really all I can remember that I straight-up disliked.

A Story About My Uncle is one of the best platformers I've played, and a good change of pace from the standard formula. The ending left me wanting more, and believe me, going for gold on the time trials?

I'll be with this for QUITE some time.

8.7/10