Sunday, March 22, 2020

My Ori and the Will of the Wisps Review

It has been 5 years since I had the privilege to play Ori and the Blind Forrest on the Xbox One. Ori was a simple seeming 2D Metroidvania style plat-former with lush and gorgeous visuals, a rich sound track and some of the tightest and best controls of a modern console game. Ori and the Blind Forrest ended up being one of my 2 favorite games of this generation (along with Cuphead) and when its sequel was announced a few years ago I was understandably excited and thrilled. Like the first game, Ori and the Will of the Wisps was subject to a few delays and came out a year after its projected launch time frame of 2019. I was able to play this very anticipated sequel thanks to Game Pass and I might still end up buying a physical copy of it as well. I have just finished playing through the story of Ori and the Will of the Wisps and I would like to put into words my opinion of this game in the form of a review of sorts and as such, here it is.


Playlist of my Play through of Ori and the Will of the Wisps on the Xbox One

The Look of the game
Ori and the Blind Forest was one of the best looking games I had seen this generation. The hand crafted world drew a great contrast to the procedurally generated games that were becoming more common at the time. Ori was a game that I showed to my friends as a visual statement of the Xbox One. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a game seems to take that look and amplify it in every way. This game incorporates the Xbox One X enhancements with support for both 4K and HDR. Ori 2 seems to jam a larger map with an even higher density of detail that makes every scene look like a painting that one could easily justify hanging on a wall. The visuals are more than just surface level. There is an impressive amount of back drop flourish and parallax scrolling as well, giving the game a rich 3 dimensional look. Background scenery often becomes destinations the deeper you go in exploring the world. As with the first game there is a large variety of location each with its own drastically different aesthetic. These locals range from wind swept deserts to ice covered mountains and from dark murky swamps to tropical lagoons. Like in the first game, Ori (being small in size) can sometimes be easily lost in the heavily detailed back ground when the action gets frantic but it usually is not a problem. Overall, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is just a joy to behold. The sound track is equally effective at being somber, haunting and even joyful at time depending on the level or the beat of the story. If there was a Vinyl of the sound track I might actually get it. 


The Feel of the game
For the most part, Ori and the will of the Wisps maintains the tight fluid controls of the first game. There are only a few instances in which the demands of the game overly taxed my ability to do the things I needed to do (look out for a certain escape sequence that seems overly difficult). Ori 2 features a more involved combat system that uses 3 of the 4 face buttons to map a variety of assignable attacks and abilities. These buttons can be mapped quickly with holding down left trigger and hitting X, Y, or B. The combat is less button mashy and automated and more timing based requiring observing the enemies and hitting them at the accordingly. There is a light and heavy melee attack as well as different energy using ranged attacks that also double as puzzle solving and plat-forming abilities. It does not take long to get the double jump (there is also a triple) and you steadily acquire more exploration based abilities as you go through the story. As with the first game, Ori 2 is at its best when exploring a new area as you on the fly try to reach higher, lower or more out of reach places with your new abilities. Simply navigating the world in a active way is the point of this game. Platforming in Ori 2 is an engaging experience and that is when the tightness of the controls really shine. This game just feels really good to play, for the most part. There are some technically and performance issues that can rear their head in at unfortunate times. I am not sensitive to slow downs but there were times that that the game hitched for a couple of seconds that seemed somewhat irregular. I also had the game crash to the point where the Xbox Shut off completely when booting the game up. This was a problem for me with the first game as well (on my launch model Xbox One, now I am using a Xbox One X). I never found the technical issues to be much of a problem but then again I am not sensitive to most such issues.

The Mechanics of the game 
The biggest change to Ori and the Will of the Wisps is in the mechanics where the first game played like a very basic Metroidvania this is a much more expanded game with more story, more characters and more mission variety. As you explore you run into a number of NPCs that either give side quest or act as merchants to buy and upgrade abilities. You can enhance you abilities and add new ones by purchasing (or finding) shards that can be further upgrade. You start off with only being able to equip 3 such shards but you can increase that number by completing combat shrines. As in the first game mission critical moves can be found as glowing orbs in the trunks of trees that are closely associated with the regions they are located in (in a very Zelda dungeon item like way) You can also buy new combat moves that can be mapped to the face buttons and those too can be upgraded. You can buy maps from another vendor that fill in areas you have yet to explore fully. There are also a couple of characters who can change the state of the world when enough material is collected and that can open up new side quests as well as give access to more areas. You still collect blue and green orbs to increase you health and energy (in the form of fragments) and you still collect yellow orbs but this time it is used as currency for vendors instead of XP for upgrading. Ori 2 also replaces the hard manual save system form the first game with a fairly generous auto save system. 

Conclusion 
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is worth buying and playing. If you have an Xbox One or a PC you should get this game. If you have Game Pass there is no excuse not to play it. Ori 2 takes one of the best 2D Plat-formers of this generation and makes it better in almost every way. I strongly urge everyone to give this awesome game a go.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Previewing My 2020 in Gaming

With the month of March starting I figure this would be the perfect time to write a preview of my upcoming 2020 year in gaming. I have a decent list of games I either will be getting or at least am interested in. I also have a number of older back log games to get to as well as some systems and equipment to get and I am just going to go over this stuff in this here blog of mine.

New Games I'm interested in getting (in order of release date)


  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps (March 11, Xbox)

Ori and the Blind Forrest was one of my favorite game of this generations so naturally the second game in this series is going to by my most anticipated. I feel like that is all of the justification I need for this. 


  • Doom Eternal (March 20, Xbox)

I was finally able to play through Doom 2016 last year so I could get ready for Doom Eternal's release last Fall, then it got delayed. Now I get to hurry through Ori 2 so I can get to this game. Regardless I know I will thoroughly enjoy ripping and tearing once again.


  • Half-Life: Alyx (March 23, PC)

With my still owning (and sometimes using) an Oculus Rift this makes me want to get this Half-Life 2 Prequel quite a bit. I may not get it at release as my GTX 1060 barely meats the minimum spec requirements for this game. Nevertheless I will be getting it at some point as I will be upgrading my graphics card to the Nvidia 3000 series when that comes out. 


  • Persona 5 Royal (March 31, PS4)

 I got very into watching the Giant Bomb Persona 4 Endurance Run back in the day so much so that I picked up a copy of Persona 4 for the PS2 and beat it on a emulator before Jeff and Vinny did. I was only ever kind of interested in the long awaited sequel Personal 5. I am still only kind of interested in the enhanced Persona 5 Royal but if I can find a good chunk of time to play it in this busy year I might just do that. (unless Atlus decides to prohibit streaming of it again, that is).


  • Gears Tactics (April, Xbox)

I very much enjoyed the Gears of War series over the years and I also enjoyed playing the 2012
X-COM game so combining the two sure does seems like a winner to me.


  • The Last of Us 2 (May 29, PS4)

Despite haveing a very tough start I wound up really enjoying the first Last of Us game on the PS3. I am not sure if I will be getting the second one but it is worth including on this list as I am very much interested in learning more about it. I am just always concerned about the game's direction whenever I see the tough looking stealth sequences that just repel me a bit.


  • Cyberpunk 2077 (September 17, Xbox)

Whether it is the keanu reeves effect taking hold of me I am interested in this Cyber Punk based game called Cyberpunk 2077 . I am not sure why other than the desire to step a little more out of my wheel house in games this year. This game sure does seem like a looker though and it should work on the next Xbox out of the box too.


  • Halo Infinite (Fall, Xbox)

You better believe I will be picking up this game on launch as I am committed to getting the system it is launching with on launch as well. The latest sequel to what might be my all time favorite game (Halo) demands that I get it. Also it looks like there might be much larger environments in this one.


  • Phantasy Star Online 2 (TBA, Xbox)

I spent way too much time tying up the phone line by playing the original PSO on the Dreamcast back in the day. Even though Phantasy Star Online 2 is an old game at this point, I was still very excited about the announcement this it is finally being translated to English properly and brought to the good old US of A for me to play on my Xbox. Because this is a free to play game I will have no trouble giving it a go.I can't wait to feed my Mag.


  • Cuphead in the Delicious Last Course (TBA, Xbox) 

This is more DLC than a game but it is more content for one of my two favorite games this generation. Cuphead in the Delicious Last Course will add more levels, more bosses and a third playable character. As of this writing there is no release date other than this year and I won't be surprised of it gets delayed out of it at that. I will still get this regardless of when it comes out.

Older and Back Log Games I want to play

  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

The subjet of my current daily LongPlay I am playing the HD version one of the least popular Zelda games because I bought it recently and it was cheaper than usual. I do intend to play through the other Zelda games at some point but this will be the first 3D Zelda game I will finish.

  • Ninja Gaiden Black

After playing and finishing Sekiro I feel the desire to play the game that in my mind is most similar to it with Ninja Gaiden Black which I will play via backwards compatibility on the Xbox One X. I played the first Xbox release of this game back in the day and got pretty far but lost interest for some reason. I very much want to prove myself with this game and finish it.

  • God of War (PS4)

God of War for the PS4 has been on my backlog of games for too long now and even though I have only played a small amount of the first game in the series back in the day this game seems much more appealing to me. I doubt that finishing this game will make me want to go back to the older games to play through all of them but I would like to check this game off of my list.


  • Red Dead Redemption

This game is over ten years old and its sequel came out over a year ago. So naturally this year is the one to try and play Red Dead Redemption. With Twilight Princess and Shadow of the Colossus could be my ear of the horse. I'm not sure if this will get me to play the second game (or go back to Red Dead Revolver) but I would like to get this one off of my list to.

  • Halo MCC, Halo 5 Guardians

With Halo Infinite coming out I want to get caught up this beloved series of mine. I have played through all of the games in the Master Chief Collection but ODST in years past but I would like to relive the memories to get ready for the new game (and also beat ODST). I will finish it up by going through Halo 5 Guardians.


Game Systems and Equipment I want to get


  • RGB Deblur mod for my Nintendo 64

After picking up a cheap Nintendo 64 from a thrift store (about $13 cheap) I am going to spend a bundle to get it modded to support RGB Scart and have the Deblurr to incorporate it into my O.S.S.C. based streaming setup. There are only a few games for the system that I would like to play through (pretty much the obvious ones) but there are others that might be good suited to sample on my Retro Monday stream. In any case this will be my first big project this year.


  • GTX 3000 Series Graphics Card

When I built my PC in late 2016 I did so with a 1080P plasma TV as my main monitor. My current GTX 1060 series seemed more than enough to handle anything I could throw at it. I then got an Oculus Rift VR headset and upgraded to a LG 4K OLED TV. Now my 1060 is looking less than up to the tesk of the things I want to do. I was going to upgrade to a 2070 Super but I caught wind that the 3 series was not only going to be much better but cheaper as well. I had the money saved up and set aside but I decided to wait for the new series and get the best one that my saved up amount can afford. I hope to use it to get a better VR headset (ideally a Valve Index) and to start uploading 4K footage of games running on Dolphin and Cemu. I would also like to give this fancy Ray Tracing thing a try. In any case it is time for an upgrade this year.


  • Nintendo Switch

I have been interested in getting a Nintendo Switch since it came out simply because Super Mario Odyssey looks really good. I decided not to get one when it came out simply because I could not justify the purchase. I am glad I did that as a better version of the main system has come out and now there are plenty of exclusives for it that interest me. I will wait until after E3 before I get one as I am still hoping for a Switch Pro (or a Super Switch) that could run games better and have at lease a little higher resolution. I hope such a system would be a console only version that came with a Pro Controller. If not, I will get the updated base version as the mini can not out put to a TV thus making it useless for someone me (a weirdo) who likes to stream his gaming on the Youtube. 


  • Xbox Series X

I bought the Xbox One at a midnight launch event (the first time I did that for a system) and a ordered and Xbox One X on Amazon when it came out (again, first time) so I will very much be picking up the New Xbox day one. I can't wait to see what Halo Infinite is going to be like as well as the offerings from Microsoft's new studios. I would also like to see the effect the system has on some badly performing games from this generation (like Sekiro for example). I don't know if I am going to go the Amazon route or a midnight Launch but either way I can not wait for it.


Conclusion 
This is going to be a big year for gaming for me. I have new System(s) and plenty of awesome new games to pick up as well as a big stack of old (but good) stuff to get through. E3 is going to be big and this year and I fell the kind of excitement that I have not had for at least a few years now. I sure hope that it all somehow lives up to my expectations. Only time will tell.