Top 5: Favorite Ori and the Blind Forest Moments

This month marks the tenth anniversary of the release of Ori and the Blind Forest. Achieving critical acclaim and commercial success, this incredible platformer won over the hearts of millions of players, myself included. I’ve played through Ori and the Blind Forest several times, including once for our YouTube channel, and although I’ll always have a powerful penchant for the original Metroid games, Ori and the Blind Forest struck close to gaming gold itself. With a heartfelt story, solid mechanics, and a magnificently bittersweet world to explore, the experience was nothing short of amazing. Ten years on, the game is still as good as it ever was. These are my top five favorite moments from Ori and the Blind Forest. (And be warned – spoilers ahead!)

Ori’s orphaned…twice!

I like to think that I’ve played a decent array of games over the past several decades, and the ones that stick, really stick, thanks in part to their opening scenes. Grabbing players’ attention from the start is paramount if one wants them to keep playing. I won’t give away the whole story of guardian spirit Ori’s beginnings, but I don’t know if anything I’ve seen at a game’s start comes close to Ori’s harrowing experience of being lost and found, and then lost again. *sniffle* Hang on…I think there’s something in my eye…

One thousand times more spikier.

As players progress through Ori’s story, the levels, naturally, become more treacherous. Well, the devs really kicked up the danger about a thousand notches in one of the game’s later stages where nearly all surfaces, horizontal and vertical, were covered in spikes! (Granted, spikes appear in every stage as obstacles.) Now, Ori was quite the acrobat with an arsenal of ways to stay off the ground. Unfortunately, it was up to the players to pull those athletic strings. Having poor reflexes did me no favors as I sent Ori flying in all the wrong directions so many time I lost count. We eventually survived, but…oof. The challenge was challenging!

ESCAPE!

Ahem, speaking of spikes…Ori and the Blind Forest contained several memorable and heart-pounding escape scenarios, but none had me roiling more than the escape from the very spiky Ginso Tree. It was one of the first escape scenes of the game, which is probably why it comes to the forefront. Aside from avoiding the tree’s spiky innards, Ori also had to stay ahead of a massive flood that was overtaking the tree. Just thinking about it, along with the aftermath, makes my heart race!

An enemy turned friend.

Ori and the Blind Forest may not have the largest cast of characters, but it doesn’t need to. It’s small cache handful of friends and villains make for gracefully straightforward storytelling. Early in the game, Ori happened upon a creature named Gumo who appeared, at first, to be an enemy. Later in the game, however, Gumo reconsidered and ended up helping Ori. His change of heart was so simple to witness, and yet, also so powerful. This game goes to show that we don’t always need ten-minute cut scenes to tell a story. Sometimes the best stories are told in mere moments with choice narration; this game serves as a perfect example.

One angry bird.

My final favorite moment happens almost concurrently with Gumo’s redemption, and it’s the telling of the story behind Ori and the Blind Forest’s primary antagonist, a giant owl named Kuro. I won’t spoil the fury of her wrath here, but suffice to say, there was a good reason why she was so hostile. While Ori’s beginnings contained heartbreak that eventually mended, Kuro’s tragic story was an open wound that never healed. While she has to be brought down for the sake of the forest, the battle with her was far from triumphant. When it was all over, the question of who won versus who lost surfaced, and I don’t know that I ever came up with an answer.

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