Ori and the Blind Forest is a gorgeous platformer of the highest level. Incredibly smart in its approach to expanding the powers of Ori, our antagonist in this fairytale-like game. As the story (and also game) progresses, you get more tricks up your sleeve. At first, you can just walk around. Among the power-ups, double jumping, exploding powers and so many more. Your mission is to use these newly acquired powers to explore new parts of this big world we play in. There is some backtracking and while Ori and the Blind Forest does a great job to avoid getting its feathers ruffled, it does provide somewhat of a challenge at times.

A few times, I got seemingly stuck, not knowing what to do or where to go. Like all the way at the beginning of the game, when I was ignoring the on-screen tip to make the ground beneath my feet break… All I had to do was make that enemy jump on it. It took me like at least five passes by runs prior to me realizing it was that easy… But not all times were that easy, I had some parts that were tough as well. Oddly balanced maybe at times and properly at other times?

Ori and the Blind Forest might have the tough bits against it at times. I felt like quitting one time in my gameplay. That is never a good sign, despite the game being a gem overall…

In conclusion, Ori and the Blind Forest is a marvelous game, which does a great trick to grab your attention and keep playing. It is sadly also able to lose that attention when it becomes a nuisance to find the next bit to go towards. Sure, the map is extremely helpful and all, but if you do not see the solution, you simply do not see it. I backtracked maybe more than I originally anticipated but in the grand scheme of things, Ori and the Blind Forest is a great game after all. A little oddly balanced at times, but well worth the money.