| Ori and the Will of the Wisps | |
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| Developer(s) | Moon Studios |
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| Director(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Błażej Żywiczyński |
| Designer(s) |
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| Writer(s) |
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| Composer(s) | Gareth Coker |
| Engine | Unity |
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| Genre(s) | Platform-adventure, Metroidvania |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a platform-adventure Metroidvania video game developed by Moon Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. Announced during E3 2017, the title is a direct sequel to 2015's Ori and the Blind Forest, and was released in March 2020 for Windows and Xbox One. A Nintendo Switch version was released in September 2020 by Iam8bit,[1] and a version optimized for Xbox Series X/S was released as its launch title in November 2020.[2][3] The game maintains narrative continuity with Blind Forest, and follows the journey of series' main character Ori in a new region called Niwen.
The game was developed by Moon Studios, a studio based in Vienna with contributors worldwide. The game introduces new melee combat, and its visuals were given an overhaul from the two-dimensional artwork in Blind Forest, to the three-dimensional models played in multilayered backgrounds in Will of the Wisps.
Upon release, Ori and the Will of the Wisps received critical acclaim. Praise directed to the game included the story, characters, visuals, combat, elements of exploration, environments, chase sequences, and soundtrack. However, criticism was aimed at technical issues such as frame rate issues and visual bugs, which were largely resolved with a day-one patch.[4][5]
- ^ "Ori and the Will of the Wisps for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details". Nintendo - Official Site - Video Game Consoles, Games. Nintendo. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
- ^ Wales, Matt (July 23, 2020). "Forza Horizon 4, Ori and the Will of the Wisps getting Xbox Series X optimisations this year". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Tuttle, Will (October 15, 2020). "30 Games Fully Optimized on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S Launch Day". Xbox Wire. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ Tassi, Paul (March 10, 2020). "Xbox's 'Ori and the Will of the Wisps' Is The Best Reviewed Game Of 2020, Minus Technical Issues". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ^ King, Andrew (March 11, 2020). "Ori and the Will of the Wisps expands on near perfection". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
In its pre-release state, Ori and the Will of the Wisps had persistent, crippling issues when played on Xbox One S. Those issues impacted the game to such a degree that we didn't feel comfortable reviewing it until the day-one patch arrived. The good news is that, by and large, those issues are no longer present.