![]() I’m sure the game has been patched and improved on that platform as well, but I was really amazed at how well the Switch version of the game ran here. I won’t rehash my original review, but it’s worth pointing out that this Nintendo Switch version of Ori and the Will of the Wisps is honestly more technically sound than the game was when it originally launched on the Xbox One back in March. It’s an absolute joy of a game, one of the best examples of a “Metroidvania” platformer on the market, and it’s no less fun to play through a second time. And now, having played through the game again for this Nintendo Switch version review, I’ll 100% stand by my earlier statement. ![]() Back in March when I originally reviewed the Xbox One release, I indicated that it was an early contender for game of the year. ![]() But newcomers be warned: this is a style of video game that requires as much tenacity as it does skill, as you work to manoeuvre your character between the world’s seemingly endless parade of hazards.Ori and the Will of the Wisps released earlier this year for Xbox One and Windows, and last month it was ported to the Nintendo Switch. ![]() It’s an ideal proposition for those who prefer to focus their attention on challenges of dexterity, without having to memorise labyrinthine layouts. Inspired by the success of the recent Netflix cartoon adaptation, developer Konami recently released a version of the game for smartphones, but consoles provide for optimum interpretation.Ī classic 2D platform game rather than a true Metroidvania, Celeste is nevertheless a modern classic in which you guide a small girl called Madeline toward the summit of a perilous mountain, ignoring the warnings of the old woman who lives at its base. You play as an interloper exploring Dracula’s castle, a complicated nest of rooms and corridors filled with both riddles and monsters, en route to a final showdown with the building’s owner. Original released in 1997, when the video game industry was in the midst of a transition from the hand-drawn sprite art that defined its first decades to 3D polygons, Symphony of the Night is arguably the greatest of the Metroidvania sub-genre. As well as the joy of exploring the forest, and the kinetic enjoyment that comes from the mere act of steering Ori through it, this is a game that, in time, invites delight via the sheer ingenuity of its design, the interconnectedness of its world and the cleverness you feel as you find the right key to unlock the right lock. Along the way, you also meet friendly characters who will, for example, sell maps of the immediate vicinity to help with your questing, or offer up useful rumours to direct your attention. The hard edge of the game’s challenge is softened by a rich soundtrack that seamlessly ebbs and flows between lush orchestral swells and panicked violins to match the on-screen action. For this reason, despite the cartoon-like, two-dimensional aesthetic, the game challenges its player along multiple axes, testing not only our dexterity but also our ability to retain and manage shifting situational data. Like those formative games, Ori and the Will of the Wisps requires you to keep a significant amount of spatial information in your head at any given time, making mental notes of paths and passageways that, at some indefinite point in the future when the appropriate tool has been found, will become accessible. This intricate, multi-layered style of game design has become known by the genre label “Metroidvania”, a somewhat clunky portmanteau of Castlevania and Metroid, the titles of the two classic video game series that established the framework.
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