Release Date: March 11, 2015
Developers: Moon Studios
http://www.mobygames.com/images/i/12/20/1979220.jpeg

Publishers: Microsoft Studios
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Genre: Single-player platform adventure
Players: Singular
Rating: 3+ ( E )

Players assume control of Ori, a white guardian spirit, who has the ability to wall jump and pairs up with a spirit named Sein, the "light and eyes" of the Forest's Spirit Tree, who is able to shoot Spirit Flames. To progress in the game, players are tasked to move between platforms and solve puzzles. The game also features a system called "soul links," which allows players to save at will, and an upgrade system that gI'ves players the ability to strengthen Ori's skills.

Naru being in the mother role of Ori she struggles to find food and when she does she gI'ves it to Ori in doing so she dies of hunger and I assure you although this is a game and we haven't actually known either character for very long this will play with your emotions. To add to the heartache you must control Ori and wonder outside into the decaying world only to find the lush green plants that once was are now witherd bushes as you go towards the area of the swing which you built with Naru you see the rope has snapped. This paired with the death of Naru is actually quite upsetting to witness only showing how well the art and story directors have pushed there teams to truly make not only a video-game but experience.

Ori realizing what needs to be done sets out to try find the Spirit Trees source of light we then see a few short clips of Ori struggling through areas slowly losing strength and determination. Ori eventually dies however she is very lucky as she passes away very close to roots of the Spirit Tree, sensing one of his children has passed the Spirit Tree uses the last of its power to bring Ori back in hopes of her being able to save Nibel from Kuro and her misguided rage.
After exploring Ori finds Sein a small floating ball of light who guides Ori to the Spirit Tree once Ori is within its presence they are told of what happened and that there are 3 elements to which they must bring back to the tree in order to re balance the world. These elements being water, wind and warmth, after traveling you find Gumo a spider like creature who is the last of his kind helps the situation by reviving Naru after the first element being wind is rekindled.
[align=center] Now naru is alI've Ori is filled with joy and feels the need to push now more then ever to save Nibel, Ori pushes her way to the final element being warmth after its restored in a area called Mount Horu which is a volcano , Kuro the owl attacks and captures Ori and Sein as a great fire starts to spread. Naru comes to find Ori unconscious and understandable beings to break down seeing her adopted child dead, Kuro seeing the pain in Naru the pan of loosing a child She decides to take Sein back to the Spirit Tree upon doing so emits another flash of white light putting out the fire and unfortunately killing Kuro. This meaning all elements now back in the Spirit Tree allows the forest to regrow back to its original lush green self, a cutsence to gI've the game closure shows Ori sitting upon a log watching the new Spirits being born and we see not only Naru but Gumo watching from afar. Overall a happy ending which shows no matter how small you may be just like Ori you can overcome any obstacle if you try hard enough.

The game play for Ori And The Blind Forest is a refreshing game style in recent memory as its a 2D platform which has taken inspiration from Super Metroid and A Link From The Past

Giving you a blast from the past as most games now focus on 3D animation, simple mechanics become increasing difficult as your skills develop allowing you to solve puzzles which may require some thinking. I certainly had to scratch my head at a few due to the sheer size of them compared to Ori herself. The level system to the game awards players for killing enemies rather then running past them, the more you kill the more experience you earn to upgrade Sein and Ori some areas have puzzles and rewards which are unreachable upon first entry as they require a power you will receI've much later on. This rewards players for exploring and backtracking areas as well as letting players feel a sense of accomplishment knowing they haven't forgotten certain areas. There is a map available to gI've reference to where the players are and scale in the grand scheme of things after choosing certain upgrades it will highlight collectibles crucial for progression of the game.

This game allows you to drop a item in which you save and upgrade at the location you drop it, this gI'ves the power to the player, If you feel a particular area is hard you are free to drop it where you stand and proceed worry free. The enemies in the game are normally pink, red or orange to contrast against the blue brown and green backgrounds.

Ori And The Blind Forest is truly beautiful. The game itself actually won the best art direction award in The Game Awards 2015 which is a true achievement for any game development team. The visuals are well animated and the colour schemes are mellow and make it easy to know whats going to hurt you as the enemies are red, orange and pink which contrast to the blue green and brown backgrounds. Don't be fooled although they took inspiration from the early 8 bit and 16bit video-games the graphics for this video game are amazing and I may even say they are breath taking at times mixing up your focus from the background and for ground.

The controls for this are your typical controls for a plat former A to jump, after a upgrade you are capable of bouncing off walls allowing you to reach higher area of the map. Using the left stick allows you to move at a reasonable speed and once you upgrade your abilities far enough you can even swim! as I've said you are able to upgrade yourself to allow you a variety of moves such as slamming the ground to cause more damage to your enemies. Easy to pick up and learn very quickly allows a drop in drop out kind of game for the videogame.

The overall game is what not only what I personally would call a experiance but many other critics have praised the game for being a true masterpeice of story, art and sound. I give this game a strong 5/5 and suggest you pick this up and give it a whirl just to say you have played it. This is considered to be one of the best arcade games for the xbox one console at the moment so you cant go wrong with playing it.