Forum Overview :: Reviews :: 4 hours in, Ori 2 is much better than the first

[quote name="Rafiki"]I guess they read your post, because they took away the pew-pew and toned down the 50 samey particle effects blending in together. Projectiles and collectibles don't glow into a singular glob on the screen and are easily distinguishable from each other. You have customizable attacks, and the one you'll probably use the most is basically the equivalent of a sword so most of the combat is melee-centric. There's also a bow and arrow and a giant hammer. Enemies have more attacks than shooting particles at you, and a couple are clever and will catch you off guard the first time around. They fixed the things that I hated about the first one. There isn't any bullshit Super Meat Boy-style having to land jumps where if you're ONE PIXEL over you die in lava (so far). You can also take more than two hits without dying, which also means you can make mistakes like missing a jump and land in spikes without it meaning you're just going to die and have to respawn. You also get a self-heal really early. Difficulty is toned down compared to the first, but there's still areas where they throw a gauntlet of enemies at you that can get pretty hard. I had to restart a couple of those several times. Platforming can still be tricky unless you're a *~pro~*. The overall level design lets you actually enjoy the silky smoothness and speed of the movement, unlike the first one where you'd be hopping and dashing for all of 10 feet and then RANDOM THORN TRAP *brakes squealing, cars crashing into each other for miles*. You also get the double-jump and the ability to permanently hang onto walls within about the first 20 minutes of the game, which makes navigation so much better. It's not a radical departure from the first. It basically takes the first one and removes all the stuff that sucks, adds some new attacks, and adds some optional combat / speed run challenges, leaving a really good platformer/metroidvania. PRO TIP: If you decide to buy it, the first thing you need to do is go into the Graphics settings and turn Motion Blur down to 0%. I spent the first 3 hours thinking my monitor resolution stretched the artwork past its native resolution making every texture in the game look a little blurry. Turns out they just decided to add a blur option that applies to EVERYTHING IN THE ENTIRE GAME instead of specific things like enemies or projectiles. Let's make gorgeous artwork and then kill everyone's eyes by making it look unfocused if they move in any direction at any speed.[/quote]