Ori and the Blind Forest tries to do a lot of things, and some of them it manages to do really well. But when everything is put together and taken as a whole it doesn't feel like it achieves.

Let's get the presentation out of the way because I didn't have any issue with it. The game looks and sounds incredible. The quality of the artwork and animation is of a quality I've never seen in a video game before and could easily stand toe to toe with an animated film. The soundtrack varies from cheerful melodies to intense orchestral pieces and I never found myself growing tired of it as it changes enough from area to area. The game also takes time to tell a story with cut-scenes, which broke up the action here and there. But I'll get to the story later

There's also a lot of variety to the enemies and you'll soon learn they each need to be handled slightly differently if you want to come out unscathed. Once again, the animation is amazing, and you'll learn each enemies little tells for when they're about to attack.

Then there's the platforming. Which is constantly challenging you to think beyond simply jumping to and fro between platforms and keep thinking outside the box due to some really interesting mechanics. This is after all a "MetroidVania" or in other words, a game where you'll constantly be unlocking new powers to help you do things that were simply impossible before. These powers aren't all that imaginative themselves, but when put together with the environment can create some real head-scratchers. By the time the game's over you'll be looking at the levels in a whole new light as all sorts of different paths open up to you.

So Ori seems to have a lot of good ideas. But where does it go wrong? It's in implementing these ideas that the game seems to lack an overall sense of polish. If I could sum up Ori in one word it would be inconsistent.

Back to the presentation. The game looks gorgeous, yes. But we are talking about a game here, and a challenging one at that. If you're going to have beautifully painted spikes throughout the game then you sure as hell better make sure they work the same. The hit boxes on these things are random to say the least and you'll find yourself either edging your way round levels, never really sure of where a safe spot is to land, or as I found myself doing in the later game when health was no longer such an issue, really not paying much attention. There's also a less common but equally annoying problem concerning depth in the game. This is a 2D platformer, but it uses different layers of images to present a background and foreground. This looks really nice, but on rare occasions, especially when entering a new environment it's not always clear which parts of the image are on your "plane". Is that lava behind me or in front of me? You might not be able to tell until you try jumping through it. Less occasionally the foreground even blocks your view. Not too much of a problem unless you're engaged with an enemy.

The same inconsistency seems to go for enemies. Did I reflect that projectile back at that enemy? I thought I did, it looked like it, but it's not taking any damage. Timing is of course a huge part of platforming, and Ori requires you to make use of a key mechanic when dealing with enemies later on. It's called Bash and it can be used to reflect projectiles or push away enemies, using them to propel yourself. This means you'll actually have to get in close to the enemy to initiate Bash, and there's a certain amount of leeway in doing this. But exactly how much, and whether or not you'll take damage is seemingly random. At least I could never predict what was going to happen. It's not a constant threat and for the most part it works quite well. But in some of the more challenging segments, notably the three escape sequences where you're forced to endure frustratingly long sequences with no save ability it becomes brutally punishing.

Those escape sequences will really highlight to you Ori's approach to difficulty, which is Trial and Error. It's present through out the game but no where more that these extended sections, some parts of which will frustratingly move the camera either in front, above or behind you to show off something pretty while you bash your head against the environment just to see what's around the next corner. The same environment which is constantly changing in order to present even more of a challenge, sometimes even while you're in mid air.

I feel now is the best time to talk about something important. There's a core concept with any game that either lets the game get away with being difficult and be loved, or fail and be hated. That concept could be summed up in many different ways, but simply put, "when you die did you feel it was your fault?" I don't mind challenging. I don't mind learning from my mistakes. But in Ori I never felt like they were my mistakes. I felt like the game kept sucker punching me and then asking me to remember it for future reference. Many times you'll be killed out of the blue, no warning, no tool tip, no practice round, no explanation, until finally you figure out what to look for in the future.

This turned these escape sequences into something other than what I imagine the developers would want them to be, but I can't speak to that. Instead of adrenaline pumping, knuckle biting, butt-cheek clenching roller-coasters they become button memorization. Nothing as awful as a quick time event ever shows it's face. But when there's no time to react unless you know what's coming, no way to possibly guess how the environment is going to change in the next second without already seeing it then all tension is gone after your fifth or tenth death. you just want it to be over so you can get back to the somewhat more acceptable open areas where you're allowed to take things at your own pace. And save.

Finally I'll talk a little about the story. Because as beautifully a presented game Ori is and as hard as they seem to try to make you feel something I couldn't for the life of me tell you what was happening. The narration seems to jump tenses. Almost as though one moment it's talking about the past, the next the future, but I never knew what. For the first couple of hours I didn't even know who Ori was. Was it me? (yes, I think it was) was it the big fat thing that rescued me? what it the bright light? What about the calamity that starts the whole game off? What caused it? You eventually find out but that game speaks to you in sentences that make it sound as though you're supposed to know these things? Grab the Spirit Stone and slam it in the Spirit Door. Use your Spirit Fire to kill enemies and grab their Spirit Light to charge your Spirit Flame. I couldn't give a Spirit ♥♥♥♥.

I gave up on this game three times. Each time took me a day or two to come back to it. But the need to finish it just so I could write out my frustrations but still give the game a chance to redeem itself drove me on and on. the game doesn't redeem itself. It get's easier and more forgiving in a sense due to more health and abilities, but that's no what I wanted and that's not what I felt was advertised. I can't recommend this to anyone but the most hardcore or people who just want to hurt themselves, but I doubt even they would feel as though it was a rewarding experience.

By the time it's over, you'll just feel glad it's over, not like you've accomplished any grand quest to save the forest. And that, I think, best sums up Ori and the Blind Forest.