Let's Discuss: Ori and the Will of the Wisps Trailer
There are MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! Do not read ahead unless you have already played Ori and the Blind Forest to completion, or simply just don't care. If you are either of these, then read ahead.
Since I am waiting for Final Fantasy XIV to reinstall, along with all of my other games, I figure this is as good an opportunity as any to talk about the up and coming Ori and the Will of the Wisps, seeing as we have had an amazing reveal trailer. First, let's talk about who I think is going to be the main character of the story.
Remember that Ori and the Blind Forest opened with a feather same as a feather is shown blowing through the breeze in the new trailer. However, that feather was Ori. Ori was the center of the story in his first game, being the last remaining spirit of the Spirit Tree, alongside Sein, who was the eyes and light of the Spirit Tree, the very essence of what made the Spirit Tree able to function, for the most part. Ori and the Blind Forest was primarily about Ori, Sein and Kuro. The next game's feather being that of Kuro indicates that it may well be about Kuro's last child, who I will name Koro until we get a name for him/her.
Koro being the center of attention in the story, with the feather and generally having more screentime in the trailer than the character whom the game is named after, is going to be interesting to see. If the gameplay centers around Koro, then the game itself is going to be less of a platformer and more of a flight game that is exploration based. While this would not necessarily be bad, it would also be a far different game. That being said, if both characters are playable at different intervals, it offers a new insight into how the game can develop outward. Ori, then, would be platforming heavy and needing to rely on Koro to get him to higher places that he could not reach on his own, similar to Sonic and Tails. Koro, then, might rely on Ori for combat and not be able to fight himself. Koro, as well, may have areas he simply cannot enter for one reason or another, leaving it up to Ori to explore. Likewise, there may be areas that Ori cannot enter or explore, leaving it up to Koro to explore them for himself. However, until we see more gameplay, none of this is certain, these are simply ideas, as are the next things I am going to be talking about.
As the feather flies by, there is already an indication of far more life than was shown in Ori and the Blind Forest. In that game, the reason that there was so little life was thanks to the decay of the forest as all of the light had ceased to exist. Even Ori died to the lack of life before the Spirit Tree resurrected him, and then what life Ori did see was generally corrupted and foul, aiming to destroy his light and ensure that there was nothing left. The entire forest was corrupt until it was cleansed by the Spirit Tree, blind to the destruction it was bringing upon itself. This was primarily caused by Kuro, who we will get to later. The new trailer shows a world teeming with all kinds of life, as well as possible civilization, with one major area being shown as dead, and quite possibly dead for a long time: A graveyard filled with the skeletons of eggs and great birds, presumably very much alike those of Kuro's kin. This might explain even better the hatred of Kuro, who was possibly one of the last living of her own kin. Then, when the Spirit Tree inadvertantly destroyed nearly all of her chicks, the rage and hatred that was already there for the light just became uncontrolled.
Let's also, then, talk about a possible villain, or lack thereof in this instance. We did not see much of a villain, and I doubt that the bright spider that we saw was anything more than one of the many teeming forms of life. There are hints of civilization inside of this new game, with buildings and an old windmill in the backdrop as the feather floats by. Part of the interesting thing with Kuro was that it was a villain that was not introduced readily until a small ways into the real game. There were hints to what it was, as Sein mentions "she" and "her wrath", but no name is given until Ori arrives at the Spirit Tree, whereupon Sein and the Spirit Tree explain to Ori what exactly happened on the day that the Spirit Tree called to Ori to return. This sets up for a villain that is misunderstood as to her motivations, seeing it as pure hatred for no reason. This sets up for a great fear of Kuro and potential for a strong hatred for the villain, until the egg containing Koro is discovered, where the player and Ori learn the true nature of Kuro's hatred and feel sudden sorrow, pity and, potentially, guilt.
In this instance, a potential villain might be a being that tries to lead Koro into hating Ori, a wisp that demands its will be done and that their species be avenged, treading a similar path to the original in that regard. Similarly, the villain might not be readily apparent at all, with the true intentions of the Spirit tree and the wisps being called into question, or civilization threatening to extinguish life in its desire to grow. There are many ways that Moon Studios could handle the story that we just don't have enough information to do more than theorize what could be. All we know at the moment is that there is Koro, there is Ori, there is civilization, there is life, and that there is a great graveyard of bones of great birds.
The fact that there is life in the game also suggests a radical shift in tone and feel from the original. The original was chilling and atmospheric because there was very little life. What life there was, was generally attempting to destroy Ori because of the light he shed and the hope he brought. The Gumon had frozen to death, Naru was dead until she was revived by Gumo, who was the last of his own kind, and until the Spirit Tree righted all that was wrong with the forest and reversed the events, but also destroyed Kuro in the process, again, inadvertantly because of the amount of light that had to be used to restore all forms of life. It could be called into question whether it was Kuro's sacrifice, or a malignant response from the Spirit Tree to annihilate Kuro when it had the chance now that it had regained its full power as righteous retribution. Certainly, if it were the latter, it would have dire consequences should Koro find out and decide to take retribution himself. However, if the former, it may still have dire consequences when Koro finds out that the Spirit Tree was responsible for the death of his mother. But I digress now...
Ori and the Will of the Wisps, coming back on topic, seems to indicate the presence of both benign life that may be simply indifferent, or wish to help Ori and Koro in their journey, as well as great beasts of prey that again are indifferent and just want food, or are deliberately hunting down Ori and Koro to destroy them. There will quite possibly be both shown off in this new game, introducing a game teeming with life and vigor and quite a shift in tone from the oppressive and wearying atmosphere that Ori and the Blind Forest carried with it through most of its gameplay. If so, this game could possibly be more interesting and beautiful than the original, which had the large problem of "not enough presence of life" to it.
Until we know more about the game, this is all simply speculation. However, I hope that if you read it and enjoyed it, you will continue to follow for more of what I write. And I shall attempt to continue finding things to write about as the days go on. Stay tuned for more content!
Since I am waiting for Final Fantasy XIV to reinstall, along with all of my other games, I figure this is as good an opportunity as any to talk about the up and coming Ori and the Will of the Wisps, seeing as we have had an amazing reveal trailer. First, let's talk about who I think is going to be the main character of the story.
Remember that Ori and the Blind Forest opened with a feather same as a feather is shown blowing through the breeze in the new trailer. However, that feather was Ori. Ori was the center of the story in his first game, being the last remaining spirit of the Spirit Tree, alongside Sein, who was the eyes and light of the Spirit Tree, the very essence of what made the Spirit Tree able to function, for the most part. Ori and the Blind Forest was primarily about Ori, Sein and Kuro. The next game's feather being that of Kuro indicates that it may well be about Kuro's last child, who I will name Koro until we get a name for him/her.
Koro being the center of attention in the story, with the feather and generally having more screentime in the trailer than the character whom the game is named after, is going to be interesting to see. If the gameplay centers around Koro, then the game itself is going to be less of a platformer and more of a flight game that is exploration based. While this would not necessarily be bad, it would also be a far different game. That being said, if both characters are playable at different intervals, it offers a new insight into how the game can develop outward. Ori, then, would be platforming heavy and needing to rely on Koro to get him to higher places that he could not reach on his own, similar to Sonic and Tails. Koro, then, might rely on Ori for combat and not be able to fight himself. Koro, as well, may have areas he simply cannot enter for one reason or another, leaving it up to Ori to explore. Likewise, there may be areas that Ori cannot enter or explore, leaving it up to Koro to explore them for himself. However, until we see more gameplay, none of this is certain, these are simply ideas, as are the next things I am going to be talking about.
As the feather flies by, there is already an indication of far more life than was shown in Ori and the Blind Forest. In that game, the reason that there was so little life was thanks to the decay of the forest as all of the light had ceased to exist. Even Ori died to the lack of life before the Spirit Tree resurrected him, and then what life Ori did see was generally corrupted and foul, aiming to destroy his light and ensure that there was nothing left. The entire forest was corrupt until it was cleansed by the Spirit Tree, blind to the destruction it was bringing upon itself. This was primarily caused by Kuro, who we will get to later. The new trailer shows a world teeming with all kinds of life, as well as possible civilization, with one major area being shown as dead, and quite possibly dead for a long time: A graveyard filled with the skeletons of eggs and great birds, presumably very much alike those of Kuro's kin. This might explain even better the hatred of Kuro, who was possibly one of the last living of her own kin. Then, when the Spirit Tree inadvertantly destroyed nearly all of her chicks, the rage and hatred that was already there for the light just became uncontrolled.
Let's also, then, talk about a possible villain, or lack thereof in this instance. We did not see much of a villain, and I doubt that the bright spider that we saw was anything more than one of the many teeming forms of life. There are hints of civilization inside of this new game, with buildings and an old windmill in the backdrop as the feather floats by. Part of the interesting thing with Kuro was that it was a villain that was not introduced readily until a small ways into the real game. There were hints to what it was, as Sein mentions "she" and "her wrath", but no name is given until Ori arrives at the Spirit Tree, whereupon Sein and the Spirit Tree explain to Ori what exactly happened on the day that the Spirit Tree called to Ori to return. This sets up for a villain that is misunderstood as to her motivations, seeing it as pure hatred for no reason. This sets up for a great fear of Kuro and potential for a strong hatred for the villain, until the egg containing Koro is discovered, where the player and Ori learn the true nature of Kuro's hatred and feel sudden sorrow, pity and, potentially, guilt.
In this instance, a potential villain might be a being that tries to lead Koro into hating Ori, a wisp that demands its will be done and that their species be avenged, treading a similar path to the original in that regard. Similarly, the villain might not be readily apparent at all, with the true intentions of the Spirit tree and the wisps being called into question, or civilization threatening to extinguish life in its desire to grow. There are many ways that Moon Studios could handle the story that we just don't have enough information to do more than theorize what could be. All we know at the moment is that there is Koro, there is Ori, there is civilization, there is life, and that there is a great graveyard of bones of great birds.
The fact that there is life in the game also suggests a radical shift in tone and feel from the original. The original was chilling and atmospheric because there was very little life. What life there was, was generally attempting to destroy Ori because of the light he shed and the hope he brought. The Gumon had frozen to death, Naru was dead until she was revived by Gumo, who was the last of his own kind, and until the Spirit Tree righted all that was wrong with the forest and reversed the events, but also destroyed Kuro in the process, again, inadvertantly because of the amount of light that had to be used to restore all forms of life. It could be called into question whether it was Kuro's sacrifice, or a malignant response from the Spirit Tree to annihilate Kuro when it had the chance now that it had regained its full power as righteous retribution. Certainly, if it were the latter, it would have dire consequences should Koro find out and decide to take retribution himself. However, if the former, it may still have dire consequences when Koro finds out that the Spirit Tree was responsible for the death of his mother. But I digress now...
Ori and the Will of the Wisps, coming back on topic, seems to indicate the presence of both benign life that may be simply indifferent, or wish to help Ori and Koro in their journey, as well as great beasts of prey that again are indifferent and just want food, or are deliberately hunting down Ori and Koro to destroy them. There will quite possibly be both shown off in this new game, introducing a game teeming with life and vigor and quite a shift in tone from the oppressive and wearying atmosphere that Ori and the Blind Forest carried with it through most of its gameplay. If so, this game could possibly be more interesting and beautiful than the original, which had the large problem of "not enough presence of life" to it.
Until we know more about the game, this is all simply speculation. However, I hope that if you read it and enjoyed it, you will continue to follow for more of what I write. And I shall attempt to continue finding things to write about as the days go on. Stay tuned for more content!
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