The beautiful life suddenly turned upside down, lost and ruined from where dragged Ori to find a way to recover the beloved forest where he lived.
Developed by Moon Studios and published by Microsoft Studios, Ori and the Blind Forest is a 2D platform adventure game with Metroidvania style. The game was released on PC and Xbox One in 2015 and was ported to Switch in 2019. The game is rated extremely outstanding for its impressive gameplay, beautiful graphics and art style, great music, and Above all, there is a very emotional storyline. On the occasion of the sequel titled Ori and the Will of the Wisps, we will look back on Ori and the Blind Forest’s story.
Ori and the Blind Forest follows the main character named Ori. As a Spirit Guardian born from the Spirit Tree, Ori was separated from her biological family as her adoptive mother very early. Nibel Forest, where Ori and all living creatures are dying, forcing Ori to leave, passing through countless hardships to save the forest.
Ori’s story begins on the night of The Great Storm, a giant storm so strong that it rips through the Spirit Tree branches and sweeps hundreds and thousands of leaves on which the creatures resemble. Ori is not born yet. A forest creature, Naru, who was observing The Great Storm from afar, looked at the leaf with Ori on it and chased. When the leaf landed on the tree, Ori formally transformed into a white creature. Naru saw that this small creature needed care and protection and brought Ori back to raise her child.
Sometime later, Ori awakens one early summer making Naru smile. Based on the nearby fruit trees, when the trees gradually produce less fruit, both of them have built a bridge over a lake to reach other fruit trees in the forest. When they finally reached the other side and enjoyed the fruit after a quiet night, Ori and Naru tried to bring in many fruits to store in the cave. Just before returning to the cave, Ori saw the Spirit Tree from afar suddenly shining in the middle of the night. Naru quickly takes Ori into the cave to protect his child.
Unable to understand what just happened, Ori and Naru continued to hide in the cave and gradually ate up the fruit that had been stored until there was only one left. Naru tries to find more food but can’t when the entire forest seems to be dying. Loving her child, Naru convinces Ori to eat the leftover fruit. Ori realized that both mother and child would soon starve to death if they did not quickly search for more food, so they went out to the verdant forest, now barren land. Fortunately, Ori discovered a fruit left on the branch. On the way to bring back that fruit, Ori recalled the wonderful and happy memories with her mother. But upon returning to the cave, despite Ori’s wake-up efforts, Naru did not wake up. Ori faced the fact that her mother was gone because of hunger.
After her mother’s death, Ori decided to leave her beloved home for a long time and set out to search for new land. As she advanced into the dying forest, Ori became even more exhausted from the ravenous hunger and then collapsed. When Ori was breathing her last breaths, the darkness of the forest suddenly sparked with hope. Thousands of tiny white flowers sprouted, indicating that Ori was very close to the Spirit Tree. The Spirit Tree recognizes Ori, her child, who is slowly falling apart and decides to put all of her remains to save Ori. The gameplay of Ori and the Blind Forest starts here.
After being revived, Ori traveled through the Sunken Glades and encountered a mysterious light. It recognizes this as Sein, the eyes, and the source of light from the Spirit Tree. Sein becomes the support and leads Ori on the journey that the two will return to the Spirit Tree. From here, Ori gradually understands the reason why the Nibel forest is dying: in a light ceremony to call Ori back to the Spirit Tree (the light that the Ori mother and child saw). The Spirit Tree and Ori’s cousins were attacked by an evil force called Kuro. Kuro is a giant night owl who always lives in the dark and hates the light. It took Sein away from the Spirit Tree and disturbed the balance between the three light elements, the leading cause of the Nibel forest’s decline. The forest will only be saved if Ori and Sein bring the light back to the Spirit Tree, the fate of the forest resting on their shoulders. Ori and Sein’s journey begins here as both will have to cross the Ginso Tree, Forlorn Ruins, and Mount Horu to recover the three elements of light.
(Continue)