Ori and the Will of the Wisps
I really liked the original and decided to try this after I bought it a month ago and just started playing it in late April and now I've 100% the game. This is a very good metroidvania. First I'll talk about the improvements from Blind Forest and the biggest one is definitely combat.
The combat in this game is much better. Instead of a ball of light that attacks the nearest enemy for you, you get an actual sword, which is your main ability. There are also other abilities, like a bow and a spear. Its still not as focused on combat as Hollow Knight is though, which isn't a bad thing. I mostly enjoy the Ori games for the platforming.
The game also uses side quests and their fine for the most part. There's not a ton of them which I thought was good. There are quite a bit of collectibles if you go for 100%, but surprisingly going for 100% is WOTW isn't actually very tedious especially compared to other games like cough cough BOTW's 900 korok seeds cough cough. I never stopped enjoying the game as I was collecting the things probably because most of the collectibles involve some fun platforming segments.
The platforming though is very good, which is something that was carried over well from the original which has very good platforming. Ori feels good to control even though is jump is a bit floaty. I do wish though that they had made his jump less floaty since you can get a little glider to slow your ascent, but overall its not a big issue and the platforming is still very solid. Ori also has a great move set for platforming, mainly this one move called the bash, which is a very creative versatile move that was moved over to WOTW from BF. There's also another really good move called the burrow that's used very well in the sand level which is easily the best level in WOTW.
In BF there were 3 "dungeons" that each, instead of a boss, had an escape sequence. The escape sequences were very well done in BF and IMO were easily the best parts of the games, especially the . In WOTW, there were several escape sequences but most of those aren't quite as good as the ones in BF. There is one escape sequence in the sand level which uses the burrow really well and is my favorite escape sequence from both games and honestly its the best escape sequence from any game.
The bosses are a mixed bag. Their mostly fine, not as good though as Hollow Knight's and not as good as escape sequences. I would have preferred more well thought out escape sequences like the sand worm
The visuals are amazing. The art style is very beautiful with very vibrant colors and the character designs are great. Every frame of this game would make a great wallpaper.
The music is also great! Blind Forest has an amazing soundtrack that I love listening to and although most of WOTW's music is atmospheric there are a couple songs that are just great, mainly the title screen and final boss ost. That combined with the amazing visual style really sets the tone and atmosphere well.
Overall a great game! I rate it about the same as the original, since although WOTW as better combat and platforming and the great sand levell Blind Forest has 3 really good sequences that are all better then the rest of WOTW's escape sequences. This is a really good game and if you like metroidvanias and platforming I would recommend it a lot.