I’ve heard it said, “I’m not afraid of the darkness, I’m just afraid of what’s in it”.  This statement rings true 99% of the time.  Darkness typically hides all sorts of sneaky things that like to slither and skitter about unseen.  But the darkness itself…it can’t actually hurt you, right?  Right?  Well, in Ori and the Will of the Wisps, there is a place called Mouldwood Depths.  And it is here that you should fear the darkness far more than anything you might find hiding inside it.

Mouldwood Depths is as vile and rotten a place as the name suggests.  Located in the deepest recesses of Niwen, these mold-infested passageways are as disgusting as they are unsettling.  As soon as you begin your initial descent, you start to notice the fluttering wings of countless large gnats stuck amongst the mold and spikes, struggling for release, but finding no relief.  It’s not long before even larger things start to appear, unfortunate souls who have since been encompassed by death’s sweet embrace.  Bugs with huge red wings that will fly no more and motionless grasshoppers and the eerie shape of a large dead spider.  This place is filled with movement, though, even as death pervades, the swaying of corpses in the breeze making the Depths appear much more lively than they really are.

There’s no way Ori’s not leaving this place without some sort of rash!

But hey, as repulsive as the mold-coated bodies and squishy ground are, they at least can’t actually hurt you.  But the darkness can.  Oh yes, because here, the darkness kills.  Much of your time in this horrible place is spent darting between bright spots before the darkness can close in on you and snuff out Ori’s light.  The friendliest thing you’ll find here are the fireflies, but don’t expect them to wait for you because they have places to be.  And who can blame them?  After all, I’d rather be anywhere but here, too.

Apparently, it was not always like this.  Supposedly, this special form of darkness took over the Depths after the Decay set in.  Whatever it is, it acts like some sort of malevolent force far more deadly than anything else you’ll encounter here.  It’s unsettling.  It’s unnatural.  How can darkness hurt you?  It can’t touch you…and yet, it will kill Ori as surely as if a massive fist had closed around him.  Imagine if the same sort of darkness found in the Depths made its way into the real world.  Imagine if you simply walked into a dark room of your house and…you were never heard from again.  Imagine if you got into your bed one night, turned off the lights, and…the darkness closed in around you like a physical force.  Every night would bring with it terror, every shadowy, unlit corner of the room to be avoided at all costs.  It makes me shiver just thinking about it.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, but this place also has spiders.  Including a really, really big one.  You just know a place is bad when the mention of giant spiders is an afterthought.

All screenshots taken by Cary of Virtual Bastion & Recollections of Play