Derivative as it may be, it’s easy to trace a line directly through the generations from those roots to this fresh branch. It’s odd that almost 40 years after the release of Metroid and Castlevania, we are still yet to come up with a better term than ‘Metroidvania’ to describe these kinds of games. Like Blind Forest, it opens with a heart-wrenching scene of separation, where you lose a loved one before being plunged into a beautifully hostile labyrinth full of danger and delight. I had the chance to play through the game’s opening acts (around two to three hours, depending on how long you spend soaking up the scenery) at a preview event in San Francisco last month, before I had to be gently persuaded to please put the controller down and leave the venue so everyone could go home. A screenshot from Ori and the Will of the Wisps, out for the XBox One and PC now. From the hand-drawn sprites and brush-stroked backdrops to the sweeping score and moments of heartbreak and joy, this is one of those rare games that feels like a genuine rebuttal to Ebert’s edict. The sequel to 2015’s BAFTA award winning Ori and the Blind Forest, Will of the Wisps is difficult to label as anything else than a work of interactive art. But if we take Ebert’s definition of art as “the process of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions”, Ori and the Will of the Wisps ticks every box, and then some. Quirky indie titles such as Journey or Flower and highly metaphorical narratives like Senua’s Sacrifice have redefined what games are capable of. It’s not just big budget blockbusters that have shifted society’s perception of the industry. If he’d lived a few months longer to see The Last of Us hit the same cinematic production levels as the movies he dedicated his life to reviewing, maybe he might have reconsidered his dismissive declaration. Ironically, and unfortunately, Ebert died three years later, right on the cusp of the era that saw gaming reach new artistic heights. In a famous 2010 blog post, the granddaddy of modern media critics rejected the idea out of hand: “No video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an art form,” he pronounced. Lee Henaghan travelled to San Francisco for a hands-on preview.Ĭan video games ever be art? It’s a question that’s been batted back and forth for decades but, according to Roger Ebert at least, the answer is a resounding no. Now Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the latest title to try to tip the balance. The debate over whether games can ever be considered a legitimate art form has been raging since the days of Manic Miner.
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