Original released in 1997, when the video game industry was in the midst of a transition from the hand-drawn sprite art that defined its first decades to 3D polygons, Symphony of the Night is arguably the greatest of the Metroidvania sub-genre. As well as the joy of exploring the forest, and the kinetic enjoyment that comes from the mere act of steering Ori through it, this is a game that, in time, invites delight via the sheer ingenuity of its design, the interconnectedness of its world and the cleverness you feel as you find the right key to unlock the right lock. Along the way, you also meet friendly characters who will, for example, sell maps of the immediate vicinity to help with your questing, or offer up useful rumours to direct your attention. The hard edge of the game’s challenge is softened by a rich soundtrack that seamlessly ebbs and flows between lush orchestral swells and panicked violins to match the on-screen action. For this reason, despite the cartoon-like, two-dimensional aesthetic, the game challenges its player along multiple axes, testing not only our dexterity but also our ability to retain and manage shifting situational data. Like those formative games, Ori and the Will of the Wisps requires you to keep a significant amount of spatial information in your head at any given time, making mental notes of paths and passageways that, at some indefinite point in the future when the appropriate tool has been found, will become accessible. This intricate, multi-layered style of game design has become known by the genre label “Metroidvania”, a somewhat clunky portmanteau of Castlevania and Metroid, the titles of the two classic video game series that established the framework.
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