Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the 271st episode of Fandom Games' comedy series Honest Game Trailers. It was written by Max Song, Andrew Bird, and Spencer Gilbert, and narrated by Brad Venable. It parodies the platform-adventure Metroidvania video game Ori and the Will of the Wisps. It was published on April 7, 2020. It has been viewed over 200,000 times.
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The following trailer is rated S for Spoilers.
In a world where the lighthearted 2D platformer of the past is dead and gone, replaced with brutally difficult roguelikes that hearken back to the oldest of schools, discover a platformer that splits the difference by combining adorable, cuddly characters that will lull you into a false sense of security before it slams the difficulty boot directly into your prostate and expects you to call it "art".
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Experience the new look and feel of the Ori series' second outing, where they took a glance at Hollow Knight and said, "I guess we could do that.", featuring the original platforming-heavy Metroidvania gameplay of The Blind Forest with an additional layer of abilities and light RPG elements that you see in the genre's most respected games, more elaborate weapon-based combat, specific checkpoints instead of self-made ones, and lots of quests and side-quests to keep you backtracking, as well as a bunch of Souls-y atmosphere and weird, lonesome NPCs to encounter, which might feel like a concession to the popular, but, uh, it's still probably a better game because of it. Because our brains are very small, and all we really want is something we already like wearing different makeup.
Return to the gorgeous, luscious world of Ori, whose elaborate forests pack in twice the art design of your average indie, and rejoin Ori and his modern family of several different species of animal-like creatures who have just adopted a new charge: an adorably crippled owl, and watch in delight as they make friends and develop deep bonds, then suddenly remember what the first game was actually like when they just savagely murder it at the end of the first act, bringing you an experience that's as much Symphony of the Night as it is A Dog's Purpose. Oh, I'm sorry, you wanted a fun video game? What, sobbing into your hands for twenty minutes isn't your idea of fun?
Navigate the many jungles, deserts, and frozen mountaintops of Will of the Wisps that you'll have to stop flying past at near Sonic-level speeds if you want to appreciate, as Ori hands you tons of movement upgrades in the first couple hours, that will have you bouncing off the walls like a lunatic barely touching the ground, resulting in level design that becomes a deeply unpleasant maze of spikes, trick jumps, and gimmicks, to not be completely trivialized by your insanely mobile character. Then sigh in frustration as the game throws a giant monster behind you, and suddenly wants you to be extremely precise or repeat the section over and over again, in the cyclical hell that is the flying rug level from Aladdin, just in Unity this time. (the music from the "Escape the Cave of Wonders" level of Aladdin (SNES) plays as Ori runs from a giant frog)
Discover the literal hit-or-miss combat of Ori, where the Spirit Flames of the previous game are replaced with a straight-up sword and hammer that will keep you floating in the air for sick DMC combos, as well as a plethora of special attacks to just blow your enemies away, all of which is largely used to beat the absolute sh*t out of some non-threatening bugs, and do nothing to prepare you for the boss fights, where you'll again be asked to actually be good at this game, and the biggest challenge becomes not killing yourself by just running your body into the boss's hitbox over and over by accident. And your reward for beating the boss? Congratulations! You've murdered one of your only friends! (the giant frog fades from existence) Honestly, this was way more brutal than Dark Souls ever got...
So grab that energy sword and the box of tissues that you usually use for... allergies, and get ready to have a good cry with your woodland friends today. Because if you like nail-biting platforming action and getting real bummed out, that's a market that Ori has got absolutely cornered.
Starring: The Ghost of Stitch (Ori); Abominable Snowmom (Naru); Less Than Incredible Spiderman (Gumo); Guardians of Ga'Hoole (Ku); Tik Tokk (Tokk); Cornifer (Lupo); Rafiki (Opher); Ornn (Grom); Breaking Bad (Twillen); The Constant Gardener (Tuley); Frog Factions (Kwolok); and Crippling Depression.
Ori and the Will to Continue
The honest title for Ori and the Will of the Wisps was 'Ori and the Will to Continue.'
By the way, I've seen the design doc for the third Ori game, and the entire thing is just about taking Naru off life support. Hmm, talk about innovative.
Viewer Comments[]
Please say: "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" - Nathan Searcey
Say: Every time I tip the waitress, she falls over. - Anthony Barberis
Say "I saw a tiger, and a tiger saw a man." - Hakuraita
Please say: "No this isn't happening! There's no reason for me to go on! Wut- What am I fighting fooooooooooor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" - Kakorot Skywalker
Trivia[]
Reception[]
Honest Game Trailers - Ori and the Will of the Wisps has a 96.8% approval rating from YouTube viewers.
Production Credits[]
Written by: Max Song, Andrew Bird and Spencer Gilbert
Edited by: Max Song
Production Coordinator: Ryan O'Toole