Ori and the Will of the Wisps Story

Same Gorgeous Graphics: Ori and Kuro’s baby depicted in front of, what appears to be in the trailer, the main antagonist's lair.

Directly following the events of Ori and the Blind Forest, we are reunited with Ori, Sein, and Naru in Nibel as the gang attempts to breach the confines of the mystical forest in order for the family to learn more about their past and their ultimate destiny. Joining the squad will be (SPOILERS!) Kuro’s last surviving hatchling, unnamed for the time being, after the events of Ori and the Blind Forest. Based on the trailers from both E3 2017 and E3 2018, the hatchling’s identity will most likely be a big storyline within the overarching plot.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps Release Date

Ori and the Will of the Wisps was originally unveiled at E3 2017 alongside a stunning piano performance from its musical director, Gareth Coker. After quite a long time, Ori and the Will of the Wisps resurfaced at E3 2018 during Microsoft’s press conference with a new trailer that showed off different bosses, new gameplay mechanics, and a very disappointing 2019 release “date” (that’s not even a full date). Nonetheless, fans of the original game were ecstatic about the announcement.

Due to the Microsoft First Party Developer status of Moon Studios, Ori and the Will of the Wisps will be releasing on both Windows 10 and Xbox.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps Gameplay

New Mechanics: Gameplay footage of Ori flying on Kuro’s Hatchling’s back.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps retains the some of the same gameplay mechanics as the original game, along with new additions to keep it fresh. The genre of the Ori series is dubbed Metroidvania: borrowing the 2D side scrolling puzzle platformer aspects from both Metroid and Castlevania. The creators of Ori and the Will of the Wisps stated that the series takes inspiration from the Mario and Rayman series. As per the specific platformer subgenre, this single player game will center around navigating Ori through the maps in Nibel’s mystical forest with the help of Sein, and possibly, Kuro’s hatchling. Be prepared to fight off herds of enemies, solve puzzles, and re-explore levels with new abilities to discover all the secrets  Nibel’s mystical forest holds.

All levels will most likely be vast and unique, per Ori gameplay style, allowing players to have a sense of exploration and action. In fact, every level will have areas that can only be accessed with specific abilities that Ori obtains story progresses, trailers have shown. The gameplay sneak peek by IGN displayed Ori harnessing lightning/energy to use as a projectile, a melee weapon, and a grapple - these skills will be used for both movement and combat purposes. Ori’s skills can be further enhanced to increase exploration and combat prowess by the skill point-like system.

Players new and old can definitely expect elements similar to Ori and the Blind Forest - high difficulty ceiling, high level replayability, emotional storyline, and the same gorgeous art style we all know and love about the series.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps Trailer

Not much of the gameplay is revealed during the E3 2017 trailer, but it sets the solemn tone of the game by unveiling parts of the new storyline. We see the camera pan through different regions of the mystical forest during a storm, following a purple feather belonging to a sad owl, Kuro’s baby. There Ori joins the baby owl and the two look longingly onto a scene of an owl graveyard, with two owls perceived to be his parents directly in front. .

The latest trailer from E3 2018 gives us a look at the moments right after the events of Ori and the Blind Forest - we see the birth of Kuro’s hatchling, along with Ori, Sein, and Naru raising the baby as their own. We also get a better look into player movement (environmental interactions like digging, and grappling) and combat mechanics of the game (projectiles and weapon melee), along with quick previews of new bosses and, what looks like, the main antagonist. It also looks like Kuro’s hatchling can be used as a form of long distance transportation since we see Ori riding on his back.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps Developers

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is being developed by a very small Austrian studio founded in 2010 called Moon Studios.The lead developers and co-founders are Thomas Mahler (former Blizzard Entertainment Cinematic Artist), and Gennadiy Korol (former Animation Lab Senior Graphics Engineer).

In 2011 - shortly after the studio’s founding - it was announced that Moon Studios became a Microsoft First Party Developer and that the first game was to be  released on Xbox. Little did they know the game would be the highly praised, Ori and the Blind Forest (released 2015). Ori and the Blind Forest was so successful that due to the extremely low budget of the game, it became profitable after only a week of being released onto the Microsoft store. Catapulting off the success of Ori and the Blind Forest, the sequel was announced during the E3 2017 press conference where it was also revealed that Gareth Coker, the acclaimed music director for the original game, would be returning to score the sequel. Gareth Coker uploads many of his video game scores, including selections from Ori and the Will of the Wisps, onto his Soundcloud, which you can visit with the link here.

Shortly after that press conference, it was announced that Milton Guasti - creator for the very popular unofficial Metroid game: Another Metroid 2 Remake - would be joining Moon Studios as a level designer.

While the budget for either Ori games wasn’t disclosed to the public, based on what has been hinted by the developers, we can assume that based on the success of Ori and the Blind Forest, the sequel will probably receive more funding. However, because of both the size of the video game development studio and the fact that they’re still labeled as “independent”, it probably won’t be significant.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps News

More than Meets the Eye: One of the exciting new bosses Ori will have to face in the upcoming sequel - I wonder what strategy we’ll have to figure out in order to beat this boss?

●      On July 2nd, Ori and the Will of the Wisps won the Best Independent Game at E3 from The Game Critics Award. http://gamecriticsawards.com/winners.html

●      Ori and the Will of the Wisps will be released as an Xbox Play Anywhere - Microsoft’s video game streaming service - title on Windows 10 and Xbox One

○      As per the specs of the Xbox One X, Ori and the Will of the Wisps will be available in 4K resolution.

●      Unfortunately, to the disappointment of many, Ori and the Will of the Wisps will not be released on Steam due the exclusivity deal Moon Studios made with Microsoft to become a first party developer.

○      This, however, doesn’t mean that it won’t show up in the Steam Store down the line. The Microsoft First Party Developer exclusivity deal was signed by Moon Studios in 2011, four years before the release of Ori and the Blind Forest, yet the “Definitive Version” of the game was released on to the Steam Store On April 27th, 2016.

Are you guys as excited for the sequel to be released, as well? What were your reactions to the news, teasers during E3 2017 and 2018? Let us know your thoughts and opinions down in the comments below!

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