Stop waiting for a new 2D Metroid? Ori has you covered.

[dashv]

Still bummed we didn't get a new Metriod this generation?

Further bummed no 2D Metriod seems to be in sight?

If you have a PC or Xbox One Moon Studios has you covered.

Ori and the Blind Forest is a georgeous reimagining of what a Super Merriod style game could be with current-gen hardware.

It's timing sensitive and pixel-perfect gameplay sections will have you tossing your controller only to pick it back up seconds later for "one last try".

The story is fantasy and lore rather than sci fi. The music is synth and industrial free but still ambient and forlorn.

Exploration and backtracking are par for the course. Requiring upgrades and stackable power ups to complete any area to %100.

Unlike Samus who is dressed like a walking tank but starts out surprisingly outgunned Ori is a coming of age story. Even as Ori goes stronger the character looks and feels very small and delicate compared to the enemies.

Saving can be accomplished via dedicated places on the map which also serve to teleport you from one part of the world to another.

You can also spawn temporary save points in most places using energy that would otherwise be used for concentrated attacks.

All in all an excellent game for anyone jonesing for a new 2D Metriod game!

update August 21, 2016
Beat the game 99% complete. Gonna get that last 1% if it kills me.

Excellent game start to finish with a touching story.

[kamikazekeeg]

Ori was awesome.  I think Song of the Deep is very much the same, just with some slightly different mechanics because of the underwater setting, but it's practically the same game.

[atrumlupus]

What breaks my heart about Ori is how worthless the disc based versions for the Xbox One are. In 15 years when M$ shuts off the xbone servers and you can't get online with it the only way to play this will be on whatever PC is around then. Very sad for collectors. This game deserved a hard copy that could be enjoyed for generations.

[maximo310]

What breaks my heart about Ori is how worthless the disc based versions for the Xbox One are. In 15 years when M$ shuts off the xbone servers and you can't get online with it the only way to play this will be on whatever PC is around then. Very sad for collectors. This game deserved a hard copy that could be enjoyed for generations.

PC version just installs the data ( not all of the game) to Steam; I wish there was workaround to put all the game files on a Blu-ray R and play it off of that.

[dashv]

What breaks my heart about Ori is how worthless the disc based versions for the Xbox One are. In 15 years when M$ shuts off the xbone servers and you can't get online with it the only way to play this will be on whatever PC is around then. Very sad for collectors. This game deserved a hard copy that could be enjoyed for generations.

Where did you read that?

I know when I put my disc in it installed to the hardrive like all games do now. But it didn't look like it was downloading it from the net.

I do find it ironic that so many studios want to invoke our nostalgia and create their own game with the same staying power, then they release digital only.

"I am Setsuna" is going the same route it wants so hard to be a new Chrono Trigger spiritual successor. But 15 years from now it will probably be impossible to aquire.

[atrumlupus]

It's not Ori. Its the xbox one itself. See everytime you "hard reset" a xbox one it has to contact the MS servers and you have to set up a MS account or the system won't finish set up and you won't be able to use it. Right now no big deal but in 10-15 years when xbox ones aren't supported by MS anymore you won't be able to reset an xbox one which means you won't be able to play games on it. Thats why I don't collect xbox one..it's pointless to do so.

[dashv]

It's not Ori. Its the xbox one itself. See everytime you "hard reset" a xbox one it has to contact the MS servers and you have to set up a MS account or the system won't finish set up and you won't be able to use it. Right now no big deal but in 10-15 years when xbox ones aren't supported by MS anymore you won't be able to reset an xbox one which means you won't be able to play games on it. Thats why I don't collect xbox one..it's pointless to do so.

Ah, good point. I didn't realize that part was mandatory.

That said I found the handful of exclusive Xbox One titles I'm playing to be worth the cost of entry.

I'm hopeful some enterprising soul will work out the other stuff or MS sticks to backward compatibility being a supported thing.

[kamikazekeeg]

From now on, a lot of games are just gonna get re-released digitally anyways.

[Nickkchilla]

Funny this was mentioned.

If anyone here keeps up to date with hacks or homebrew, there's also a re-imagining of Metroid II from the Original Game Boy in the works.

http://www.siliconera.com/2016/07/09/metroid-ii-fan-remake-project-am2r-releasing-soon/

It seems to be nearing the end of development, and looks pretty cool. Definitely something to check out if you're going to skip... Federation Force.

[jupiter]

It's not Ori. Its the xbox one itself. See everytime you "hard reset" a xbox one it has to contact the MS servers and you have to set up a MS account or the system won't finish set up and you won't be able to use it. Right now no big deal but in 10-15 years when xbox ones aren't supported by MS anymore you won't be able to reset an xbox one which means you won't be able to play games on it. Thats why I don't collect xbox one..it's pointless to do so.

If there is enough backlash I imagine MS releasing some sort of patch that disables this requirement when they discontinue support for the xbox one, similar to how they backed off of their original ideas on trading games when the community exploded over it.

I'd sure hope so anyway.

[tripredacus]

@dashv I fixed the topic title. I will leave it up to you to fix the post. 

[gf78]

It's not Ori. Its the xbox one itself. See everytime you "hard reset" a xbox one it has to contact the MS servers and you have to set up a MS account or the system won't finish set up and you won't be able to use it. Right now no big deal but in 10-15 years when xbox ones aren't supported by MS anymore you won't be able to reset an xbox one which means you won't be able to play games on it. Thats why I don't collect xbox one..it's pointless to do so.

I think there is a glimmer of hope that we won't lose our current games like that.  Both Sony and Microsoft are moving in the direction of iterative upgrades rather than flat-out new systems.  It's entirely possible that current PS4 and Xbox One games will function years down the road on whatever the latest hardware is, much as games from the Apple store continue to work on successive hardware generations.  It also shouldn't be anywhere near as hard to make these older games "backward compatible" assuming that Sony and Microsoft stick with the same x86 architecture or something similar.

Like I said, there are no guarantees but there is a glimmer of hope.  Especially when Microsoft is moving to make their games cross compatible with the PC.  If the time comes that they do move on where Xbox One games will no longer function on newer hardware, they could always "unlock" the system to defeat the mandatory online check.  It also shouldn't be a big deal at all for them to allow the check.  It's just a piece of hardware verifying code.

[gf78]

Ah, good point. I didn't realize that part was mandatory.

That said I found the handful of exclusive Xbox One titles I'm playing to be worth the cost of entry.

I'm hopeful some enterprising soul will work out the other stuff or MS sticks to backward compatibility being a supported thing.

Agreed.  My "cost of entry" was nil, since my wife won my Xbox One.  But looking at the exclusive games I have for it, there are more than enough that a purchase would have been justified.  Certainly more so than my Wii U purchase in my personal circumstances.  Over a dozen exclusives that I own and think are pretty great.  And then Ryse which I got for about eight bucks and it's good enough at that price.  There are also several exclusives yet to come like Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War 4, Dead Rising 4, Halo Wars 2, Recore (I'm hopeful) and Killer Instinct on disc with all three season characters & the original two games.

Ori is a game that is can't-miss.  You said what needs to be said. 

I've invested an obscene amount of time in Halo 5's multiplayer already.  Both of my daughters are even playing it with me.  The current special "Super Fiesta" mode is a blast with everyone spawning with two special weapons each time.  I've been a real beast running around with the grav hammer smashing everyone's ass.

The Forza games are at the top of the racing genre, both in simulation and open world.  The ability to tweak assists for breaking, acceleration, handling and the rewind feature ensures that even when my girls screw up in a race, they can get back into it and feel like they accomplished something with a little bit of help. 

Killer Instinct is a fun brawler and Quantum Break is a pretty cool adventure game with eerily realistic characters.  It also has Littlefinger from Game of Thrones!  I haven't even opened Rise of the Tomb Raider yet, but I expect it will be as good as the last Tomb Raider. 

And there are some good multiplats on it.

[atrumlupus]

Oh don't get me wrong, there a ton of great exclusives to make an Xbox One a fine video game purchase in terms of hours of entertainment to be had for years to come. It's just sad from a video game collectors standpoint. It's the end of an age. Our Consoles are going the route of the smartphone. You just toss it away when you feel you need a new one. There are upsides to this of course but it's the beginning of the end of game collecting as we know it. And that just makes me a bit bummed.

[argyle]

Ironically I just fired up my copy of the PC Definitive Edition of this that I've had since it came out last month. Started it Tuesday, and was immediately blown away by it. Started selling all of my friends on it already.

I described it to them as "what would happen if Studio Ghibli made a Metroidvania."