We have two sequels in the top portions of the list this year. Ori and the Will of the Wisps may not have been as bombastic as the other sequel, but it is a great example of how to do a sequel right.
#4 Ori and the Will of the Wisps
The first Ori was one of the finest 2D platformers I played (and the prettiest), and with the Will of the Wisps, the developers were challenged to try and strike lightning twice with a clever mix of metroidvania design and challenging platforming, and they succeeded.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is not the most innovative game on the list, but it is a solid example of doing everything right for a sequel. The developers took the time to make the experience more enjoyable and smooth out issues that were brought up. While combat is still a big part of the gameplay, it is far easier to deal with the enemies compared to the first. As I talked about in my achievement piece, the Will of the Wisps has one of the highest completion ratings I’ve seen from a game in some time, and the improvements made are certainly part of it.
The movement tech — one of the best parts of the first Ori — has been further refined. As before, you can mix Ori’s various abilities to get around the fantastic world. From double jumping to boosting off of projectiles, and so much more. The level design is some of the tightest I’ve seen from the genre outside of kaizo games in really pushing the player to combine tech to get around. As a fan of platformers, this was just a joy to play from beginning to end.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps doesn’t rank higher on the list because there were problems with it, but simply because I enjoyed the other games a little bit more. This is definitely a highlight of the genre and a must play for anyone who wants to study good platforming and metroidvania design.
We’re entering the top three now and the next game should be a given considering I haven’t mentioned it yet at all.
