Ori and the Will of the Wisps was released on February 11, 2020 and is the much anticipated sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest. The game starts off where Ori and the Blind Forest ended, Ori is building his new friendship with Ku, the last child of the antagonist of the first game Kuro. As Ku grows up he continues to try to fly even though he was born with a damaged wing. After another failed attempt, Ori comes up with the idea to attach Kuro’s feather to Ku’s broken wing in an attempt to repair it. The feather works and Ku is able to fly with Ori and explore the skys. During their journey a storm breaks out, causing Ori and Ku to lose each other then crash on a strange new island. Ori, desperate to find his lost friend, begins his journey and in doing so, he encounters the corruption and decay that plague the strange new land. Determined to save Ku and free the land, Ori sets off to find the will of the Wisp and unite them, freeing the land from corruption. Ori and the Will of the Wisps improves on its predecessor by adding a more interesting combat system, along with new abilities that help give more variety in the gameplay. A few of the more notable abilities are, Spirit Edge, the sword like weapon that replaces the spirit flame from the first game. Regenerate, which is a new ability that lets the player heal themselves by using their energy. Another ability launch, allows the player to shoot themselves like a projectile. In addition to the new abilities, Ori and the Will of the Wisp adds a lot more collectables for the player to find. Throughout the game, the player can find life cell fragments, energy cell fragments, spirit light, gorlek ore, strange seeds, maps, and shards. Life cell fragments allow the player to increase Ori’s health by one after obtaining two fragments. Energy cell fragments allow the player to increase Ori’s energy by one after obtaining two fragments. Spirit light is the new currency of the game and allows players to buy new abilities, maps, and shards as well as upgrade abilities and shards. Gorlek ore is used to upgrade the main hub allowing Ori to find new collectables throughout the hub. The player can also find strange seeds through the game that add new plants to the hub which allows the player to reach new areas. Shards are equitable upgrades that can be found throughout the game and can completely change how the player plays. For example, one shard allows the player to triple jump, while another allows the player to take 15% less damage. These shards make a huge difference in the transversal of some of the more difficult platforming. Over all, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a great sequel to the original. Taking the great storytelling and visuals from the first and adding in a better combat system along with a fun shard system. The only negative thing about the game is the occasional lag spikes and other glitches that sometimes occurs. Moon Studios is aware of these issues and they plan to release patches to fix them in the future. Even with the minor bugs the game is still worth playing especially if you enjoyed the first game.
