If you played the first volume of Ori, you'll know what I'm going to say first up: Be prepared to do some ugly crying at various points in this story.

That hasn't changed since 'Ori and the Blind Forest.' Only this time, instead of punching you in the guts in the opening sequence, the sequel stabs you in the heart. Multiple times along the way. Although, honestly, if MoOn studios didn't do that at this point, I would feel let down. Their storytelling, pacing, and timing is just so well done that if they pulled their punches it would be obvious. Sometimes tragedy is the payoff for a setup, sometimes it's passing the point of no return, everything after being forever changed, and the writing manages to hit that bittersweet spot every time.

I played through on easy, because after the first volume took me entirely too long and lots of rage quitting, I knew what I was getting in for. This game is still difficult on easy, although (mostly) not because of anything wrong with the design. This game loves to put you through some timing-dependent, mandatory perfection sequences, and there are dozens of them. But only rarely would I say that I felt let down by the game's design. Only rarely. There are some sequences where the controls just didn't seem to respond the way I expected them too, or like I was playing twister with my left hand on the keyboard and just getting tied up in knots all the time, and I probably could've remapped some of the keys to help with that. But, that was less than 1% of the game for me, and everything else was just the game itself being extra challenging. Be prepared to juggle fire bombs, dance on projectiles over insta-kill goop, and run from light to light in the deadly darkness.

The gameplay in Will of the Wisps builds upon the original, adding a few extras that make the early game slightly less punishing while working with elements of the later game that will have you feeling justifiably god-like when you pull off a combo. The boss fight sequences are absolutely beautiful, and each one is unique and story-appropriate while sticking to the tried and true platformer traditions. Proving that you can reuse the same old formulae and still manage something amazing. But, it's the chase sequences that really set this game apart. Requiring all of your skill, timing, acquired resources to that point, and infinite amounts of patience. A couple of them will honestly leave you feeling as though you've failed right up until you get a cutscene.

If you haven't played the original, you don't need to in order to enjoy the sequel, but there are callbacks in 'Will of the Wisps' that you may miss if you don't, but don't let that stop you. If anything, consider this encouragement to buy them both and play them through.

If you played the first volume of Ori, you'll know what I'm going to say first up: [b]Be prepared to do some ugly crying at various points in this story.[/b] That hasn't changed since 'Ori and the Blind Forest.' Only this time, instead of punching you in the guts in the opening sequence, the sequel stabs you in the heart. Multiple times along the way. Although, honestly, if MoOn studios [i]didn't[/i] do that at this point, I would feel let down. Their storytelling, pacing, and timing is just so well done that if they pulled their punches it would be obvious. Sometimes tragedy is the payoff for a setup, sometimes it's passing the point of no return, everything after being forever changed, and the writing manages to hit that bittersweet spot every time. I played through on easy, because after the first volume took me entirely too long and lots of rage quitting, I knew what I was getting in for. This game is still difficult on easy, although (mostly) not because of anything wrong with the design. This game loves to put you through some timing-dependent, mandatory perfection sequences, and there are dozens of them. But only rarely would I say that I felt let down by the game's design. Only rarely. There are some sequences where the controls just didn't seem to respond the way I expected them too, or like I was playing twister with my left hand on the keyboard and just getting tied up in knots all the time, and I probably could've remapped some of the keys to help with that. But, that was less than 1% of the game for me, and everything else was just the game itself being extra challenging. Be prepared to juggle fire bombs, dance on projectiles over insta-kill goop, and run from light to light in the deadly darkness. The gameplay in Will of the Wisps builds upon the original, adding a few extras that make the early game slightly less punishing while working with elements of the later game that will have you feeling justifiably god-like when you pull off a combo. The boss fight sequences are absolutely beautiful, and each one is unique and story-appropriate while sticking to the tried and true platformer traditions. Proving that you can reuse the same old formulae and still manage something amazing. But, it's the chase sequences that really set this game apart. Requiring all of your skill, timing, acquired resources to that point, and infinite amounts of patience. A couple of them will honestly leave you feeling as though you've failed right up until you get a cutscene. If you haven't played the original, you don't need to in order to enjoy the sequel, but there are callbacks in 'Will of the Wisps' that you may miss if you don't, but don't let that stop you. If anything, consider this encouragement to buy them both and play them through.