Since being unveiled back at E3 2014, Ori and the Blind Forest has been near the top of most Xbox One owner’s most anticipated lists. Though we’re still waiting patiently for an official release date reveal, Mashable has debuted a stunning new gameplay clip which you can check out above.
In Ori and the Blind Forest, players step into the shoes of the titular guardian spirit as he searches for his mother, who has been kidnapped by an evil entity. Joining Ori on his quest is Sein, a tiny sprite who can attack for our hero. During their quest, both characters can be further upgraded with an assortment of different and unique abilities.
Besides its gorgeous graphics, the thing that has people most hyped about Ori is the Metroidvania inspired gameplay. If you are somehow unfamiliar with this genre, the basic gist of it is that it centers around 2D platforming and exploration. Certain areas tend to be revisited as further upgrades to your character open up new facets of each location. While this may sound boring and repetitive, I assure you that if done right, it is most certainly not.
As someone who not only appreciates colorful graphics, but also excellent gameplay, I’m rather excited about Ori and the Blind Forest. The promised difficulty of the game is also enticing, however, I’m not exactly a fan of the save system. Rather than letting players save at any time of their choosing, the game forces you to special resources collected over the course of the campaign in order to create soul links. These resources are not found easily, though, so you need to be careful with when to use them.
Ori and the Blind Forest is currently scheduled to hit the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Windows PC later this year.
