Ori and the Blind Forest

The gameplay is everything you could possibly wish for: tight and responsive, with top-notch level design and an increasing number of mechanisms to master as you progress, in pure Metroidvania fashion.

With a seemingly never-ending flock of "retro" platformers hitting the Steam store these days, Ori and the Blind Forest takes the opposite route: a story-driven adventure with stunning visuals, a bewitching atmosphere and some pretty mad feels.

And I’m not just talking about the visuals: the soundtrack, the themes, the feeling of complete fragility, the absolute freedom of movement, the nightmarish sense of scale and the cruel environments, the feeling of relief when you survive something impossible, it all comes together to create something deeply frightening, something that transcends the player.

The overall difficulty achieves a fine balance, making Ori both accessible to players who just want to enjoy the story and atmosphere, and challenging enough at times to keep veteran players on their toes.

Luckily it's not hard in the slightest, so it's more just bewildering, especially as you upgrade your weapons and it becomes actually quite laughable to behold.

Steam Deck compatibility is Verified and is generally favorable through Proton, and the game's controller-oriented movement and platforming are naturally suited to handheld play.