schneefink

I finished Ori and the Will of the Wisps, which is just as gorgeous as Ori and the Blind Forest. I had a lot of fun with this one too (and stayed up way too late to finish it yesterday.) And either it's easier or I've just gotten so much better (or both), but I died a lot less in this one.

For comparison's sake, my first "Blind Forest" game I played on easy mode, got to 99% and died 1115 times. My second "Blind Forest" game I played on normal mode, got to 93% and died 384 times, so quite a bit of progress! And "Will of the Wisps" I played on easy mode, got to the end (at 72%) in 16:53 hours and died only 148 times. By now, less than an hour later, I've also finished all of the sidequests.
I'm currently a little over 80% according to the game because I'm still missing quite a few collectibles, and I look forward to trying to get to some of those and exploring some areas I missed, but I'm not trying to complete it entirely. I might play it again in a few months, on normal mode this time, that could be fun.

I didn't use any walkthroughs, and I had fun discovering everything. Well, with very few exceptions: The Midnight Burrows (which tbf is an optional bonus area) where twice I could not see the clue staring me in the face and finally asked DD to look it up and give me a hint, and then one specific part in the Windswept Wastes where I could not make a jump because I hadn't realized that you could dash through the hanging stones; and for one jump a little later that I struggled with because I hadn't realized I could launch myself upwards after jumping (that one was admittedly laziness.)

In "Blind Forest," the escape sequences were some of my favorite parts. I died dozens of times, which to be fair was frustrating sometimes, but getting just a little bit further every time was exciting, and finally making it out was a rush.
"Will of the Wisps" has escape sequences too, but they seemed easier, and several of them are interspersed with boss fights. The escape from the summit of Baur's Reach was great, but the escapes from Kwolok and Mora, while fun, both seemed very short (probably because of the boss fights, which I was less interested in), and I made it through the escape from the sandworm on my first try (!!). Hiding from Shriek in the Feeding Grounds maybe also counts, at least it felt similar, and that one I enjoyed a lot. The very last encounter did have escape elements, but overall it felt more like a boss fight, though at least one I enjoyed more than the others.
(Probably playing in easy mode makes a bigger difference for "Will of the Wisps" because it affects boss fights more than escape sequences, so maybe the boss fights are more fun when more tactics need to be involved.)

I really enjoyed the story this time. The prologue did a good job making me care about the family and showing Ori and Kuro's bond, and Ori looking for Kuro or later trying to find a way to save her was a lot easier to connect with than a more abstract "restore the balance of the spirits" story, which happened at the same time. Ori and Kuro's reunion was great. For a short time (for which the playable character was Kuro, with Ori riding her, which was unexpected and cool) – and then they never see each other again :( Well, they do, sort of, but Ori is a tree then.
That was a surprise! After hearing about how the light is eternal but trees aren't I expected Ori to find a sapling for the light and was surprised when it seemed to focus on restoring the willow. When that was done, the willow indeed confirmed that it could no longer hold the light – and instead told Ori that Ori would have to do it, sacrifice themselves for Niwen, with no warning at all, that was a shock. And Ori reached out for Seir when it came! I was relieved when Shriek interrupted. At least after the battle an exhausted Ori got a few moments to reminisce before sacrificing themselves.
Poor Kuro, Naru, and Gumo especially. (Although they could at least still spend time together, and I guess I'm free to imagine whatever I want about how well Ori e.g. communicates as a tree. Still, it will be very different.)

I also liked Niwen, and the fact that this time there were a lot more characters. I liked Kwolok and Baur and Mora and the Moki, and the rest of the supporting cast too. I enjoyed helping make the Wellspring Glades prettier (and easier for Ori to travel through.) I also liked the new mechanics, like Grapple and Launch, and Burrow too after I got used to it, and Regenerate was especially useful. The areas were all well done and had enough new interesting elements that it didn't feel too similar to "Blind Forest", like the Luma Pools bubbles or the wheels at the mill, and while I was initially wary of the Mouldwood Depths because I didn't enjoy the darkness in the Blackwood Burrows very much, I did end up enjoying them and the jumping from light source to light source a lot.
Mechanics-wise the game felt good to play again (at least after I turned down the graphics quality because my laptop struggled to handle it.) Half of the abilities and most of the shards I barely used, so there's some more potential for experimentation.