Recent reviews by diddles_

extremely frustrating. absolute recommend. I am terrible at this game, but it is still enjoyable - many more hours of my life to be lost to this one.

Great time sink. Winnable game.

This game tells a minimalist narrative presented not through words but through the clever use of simple gameplay. It is a credit to the development team that such raw emotion can be evoked this way. With world class sound design and a watercolour based art style that evolves over time, this game is an absolute masterpiece. On my hall of fame for the rest of forever.

Originally fairly buggy with NPC movements (which is the core mechanic of the game), I found this game frustrating. However that is the nature of the early-access beast. With continued development and updates, the game quality is well above par, and the general experience is quite enjoyable. Whilst this is a sim, a lot of the time it can feel like a puzzler.

I love this 'game' based on the few moments I have managed to play. Unfortunately I do suffer from seizures and can only get through 5 minutes before I need to stop.

"[...] surreal adventure of visual auditory stimuli [...]" is a complete understatement.

Careful, this game will draw you deep into a gravity well of time. Once you've started, you will not stop playing, ever. This is not a bad thing

I first played the original game when it was released, but never finished it, and forgot about it to be honest. I'm so glad I picked up the Definitive Edition of Ori and the Blind Forest. Everything about this game is excellent and there are really no decent complaints that could be made.

The story is compelling - this is an achievement in its own right, given that the story is told through a fictitious language, very brief one-to-two line snippets of text, and the stellar audio-visual presentations throughout. The soundtrack can feel a little mediocre at times when viewed on its own, coupled with the cinematic displays though, it is more than stunning. Some of the tracks worked so perfectly with the visuals, that when I listen to the soundtrack, the images and feelings of the accompanying cinematic are immediately seen and felt again. Needless to say the soundtrack now lives on in my Spotify library.

In terms of its visual performance, again, I have trouble faulting it. The use of oversaturated colours is a pet hate of mine, as it makes me feel like I am playing a game for three-year-olds. In this case though, the artists have juxtaposed drab desaturated areas with gleamingly hypersaturated areas. The result is an impressive aesthetic experience that will leave any viewer wanting more

The developers have chosen to employ a traditional metroidvania design to the levels. This is done in an elegant enough way that going back to find collectibles previously not accessible is done with relative ease. The game also balances the tutelage of newly acquired skills, with self-discovery on the player’s part. Whilst sometimes difficult on the ‘normal’ setting, with some perseverance, it can be passed reasonably quickly in 5-6h. One common complaint is that saving the game on low health where you can’t back-track to restore health, can lead to an unfinishable save; I don’t accept that. I found myself in many frustrating situations… but again, with perseverance, the challenge was overcome.

Overall: 9.5/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Narrative: 8/10
Audio: 9/10
Visual: 10/10

Having played only the first month of the game, take this body of text with a grain of salt.

Narrative: 8/10
The narrative is excellent on its own merits, however it is told in a way that is too fragmented to understand. I haven't reached the end yet, however I find the story to be relatively immersing, even if the plotline is one of the most used archetypes.

Gameplay mechanics: 6/10
Though I can't be certain, it appears that there are a few major points early in the game where the story can diverge dramatically due to player choices. This game is like law-enforcement The Sims meets SimCity. Classical human resource management whilst working within certain contraints such as time, money, and political pressures.

Aesthetics: 6/10
95% of the game will be spent looking at the same stationary seen with occasional pop-ups. This is a huge misfortune, given that the cutscene graphics are just awesome; cell-shaded comic style!

Audio: 7/10
The developers obviously put in an expandable music library, as you are forced to access it every time you load into a level. This really isn't such a big deal since in the library menu you can choose to proceed with no music. I am just too impatient and the prompt frustrates me. The stock audio includes many instrumental tracks which work surprisingly well with the game.

Overall: 7/10
Worth playing. Caution: despite being only a 'slightly above average' game, it is VERY addictive.

Silver hell is a bad place. Otherwise good