Ori and the Blind Forest

[Lunix I]

Ori and the Blind Forest is a platform-adventure Metroidvania video game developed by Moon Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One on March 2015. In the game, players assume control of Ori, a white guardian spirit, and Sein, the "light and eyes" of the Forest's Spirit Tree. To progress in the game, players are tasked to move between platforms and solve puzzles. The game features a system called "soul links", which allows players to save at will, and an upgrade system that gives players the ability to strengthen Ori's skills. The game was developed by Moon Studios. The game was acquired by Microsoft Studios a year after the beginning of the game's development. The game story was inspired by The Lion King and The Iron Giant, while some of the gameplay elements were inspired by the Rayman and Metroid franchises. Upon release, the game received critical acclaim, with players praising the game's gameplay, art style, story, action sequences, musical score, and environmental design. Moon Studios co-founder Gennadiy Korol said the game was profitable for the company within a few weeks after its initial launch. A Definitive Edition was released in 2016. A sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, was announced during Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017.

The voice of the Spirit Tree in the forest of Nibel narrates the story of when Ori, a white guardian spirit, fell from the tree during a storm as a newborn and was adopted by a creature named Naru, who raised Ori as her own. A cataclysmic event soon makes all of the forest wither, and Naru dies of starvation. Newly orphaned, Ori was left to explore the forest on their own. After collapsing near the Spirit Tree and being restored to life by it, Ori later meets Sein (pronounced /saɪn/), a being in the shape of a small blue orb, who both guides Ori on their adventure and attacks enemies. To restore the forest, Sein guides Ori to recover the light of three main elements supporting the balance of Nibel: Waters, Winds and Warmth. Ori and Sein come across two beings in their quest: Gumo, the last survivor of the spider-like Gumon clan and whose home supports the Wind element; and Kuro, a giant, shadowy owl who is hostile toward Ori. Her hostility and the forest's cataclysm are explained in flashbacks. When Ori was lost, the Spirit Tree released a flash of light to look for them, which killed all of Kuro's recently hatched offspring. Determined to prevent this from happening to her yet unborn child, Kuro took away the core on top of the Spirit Tree, which is actually Sein. Without the Spirit Tree's support, the three elements cannot be sustained, and Nibel lost its balance. As the element of Wind is rekindled, Gumo, realizing what Ori and Sein intend to do, uses his clan treasure that stores the light from the Spirit Tree to revive Naru, and takes her to where Ori is. After the final element, Warmth, is restored in the volcano Mount Horu, Kuro captures Ori and Sein as the fire from Horu starts to spread. Naru, who had been separated from Gumo, arrives to protect Ori from Kuro. Kuro softens, remembering the pain of losing her children. As the fire spreads and is about to reach her remaining egg, Kuro takes Sein back to the Spirit Tree, which emits a flash of bright light that dissipates the fire and restores the forest, but Kuro is destroyed by the light. Time passes as the forest begins to flourish once more, and Ori is shown sitting on a log watching new spirits being born in the field at the foot of the Spirit Tree. Gumo and Naru watch together from afar, before the latter goes home, where Kuro's last egg now rests, just in time to see it begin to hatch.