Ori Games in Order & How Many Are There?
People really like the original Ori game, so it is no wonder that studio Moon Studios decided to make its sequel. Still, not only are there multiple Ori games, there are also different editions with additional content. So, in this article, we will let you know what is the best way to play Ori games in order and how many are there.
The original Ori game was developed by Moon Studios, a collective organization without a set location. The distribution rights to the game were acquired by Microsoft a year after the beginning of the game’s development. The game story was inspired by The Lion King and The Iron Giant, while some of the gameplay elements were inspired by the Rayman and Metroid franchises.
Let us know see how many Ori games are there and what is the best order to play them.
How many Ori games are there?
There are currently two Ori games, but there is also a definite edition of the original Ori game with additional content. So let’s see what it looks like by the release date.
- Ori and the Blind Forest (2015)
- Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (2016)
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (2020)
We will now let you know what is every game about, how they connect, and what is the best way to play Ori games in order.
Ori games in order by release date
The original Ori and the Blind Forest is the first game you should play, and it directly connects to its sequel. Let us check what are they about and how they connect, and what does the Definite Edition bring.
Ori and the Blind Forest (2015)
The voice of the Spirit Tree in the forest of Nibel narrates the story of when Ori, a guardian spirit, fell from it during a storm as a newborn and was adopted by a creature named Naru, who raised Ori as her own. A cataclysmic event soon makes all of the forest wither, and Naru dies of starvation.
Newly orphaned, Ori is left to explore the forest on their own. After collapsing near the Spirit Tree and being revived by it, Ori later meets Sein, a small orb who guides Ori on a journey to restore the forest. Sein tasks Ori with recovering the light of three main elements supporting the balance of Nibel: Waters, Winds, and Warmth.
Ori and Sein come across two beings in their quest: Gumo, the last survivor of the spider-like Gumon clan, who were wiped out by the forest’s cataclysm, and whose home supports the Wind element; and Kuro, a giant, shadowy owl who is hostile toward Ori. Gumo initially steals the key to the Water element, but he returns it after Ori saves him from a rockslide. After the Wind element is rekindled, Ori and Sein find Kuro’s nest, empty except for a single egg, and they learn the source of her wrath and the forest’s cataclysm: when Ori was lost, the Spirit Tree released a flash of light to look for them, which burned and killed all of Kuro’s recently hatched offspring when she was away from her nest looking for food.
Determined to prevent this from happening to her yet unborn child, Kuro took away the core on top of the Spirit Tree, which is actually Sein. Without its core, the Spirit Tree could not sustain the three elements, and Nibel lost its balance. Meanwhile, Gumo overhears Ori and Sein’s intentions to restore Nibel and uses his clan treasure that stores the light from the Spirit Tree to revive Naru, taking her to where Ori is.
After the final element, Warmth, is restored in the volcano Mount Horu, Kuro attacks Ori and Sein as the fire from Horu starts to spread. Naru, who had been separated from Gumo, arrives to protect Ori from Kuro. Kuro softens, remembering the pain of losing her children. As the fire spreads and is about to reach her remaining egg, Kuro takes Sein back to the Spirit Tree, which emits a flash of bright light that dissipates the fire and restores the forest, but Kuro is destroyed by the light.
Time passes as the forest begins to flourish once more, and Ori watches new spirits being born in the field at the foot of the Spirit Tree. Gumo and Naru watch together from afar, before the latter goes home, where Kuro’s last egg now rests, just in time to see it begin to hatch.
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (2016)
The forest of Nibel is dying. After a powerful storm sets a series of devastating events in motion, Ori must journey to find the courage and confront a dark nemesis to save the forest of Nibel. “Ori and the Blind Forest” tells the tale of a young orphan destined for heroics, through a visually stunning Action-Platformer crafted by Moon Studios.
Featuring hand-painted artwork, meticulously animated character performance, a fully orchestrated score and dozens of new features in the Definitive Edition, “Ori and the Blind Forest” explores a deeply emotional story about love and sacrifice, and the hope that exists in us all.
What’s new in Definitive Edition
- Packed with new and additional content: New areas, new secrets, new abilities, more story sequences, multiple difficulty modes, full backtracking support and much more
- Discover Naru’s past in two brand-new environments
- Master two powerful new abilities – Dash and Light Burst
- Find new secret areas and explore Nibel faster by teleporting between Spirit Wells
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (2020)
The story takes place immediately after the events of Ori and the Blind Forest and is narrated by the Spirit Tree in the forest of Niwen. Kuro’s last egg hatches, giving birth to a baby owl whom Ori, Naru, and Gumo name Ku and raise as part of their family. Being born with a damaged wing, Ku is unable to fly until Gumo affixes Kuro’s feather to it. Ku and Ori go on a flight that ends up taking them out of Nibel and into Niwen, where a storm separates them.
Ori’s search for Ku eventually leads them to Kwolok, a toad looking over the Inkwater Marsh and some of the inhabitants of Niwen, the Moki. He tells Ori that Ku is in the Silent Woods, the Moki’s former home now turned into a desolate graveyard of owls, but with the waters of Niwen unclean, Ori must set the wheels of The Wellspring back into motion to enter them. Kwolok also gives Ori a wisp, the Voice of the Forest, to guide them on their journey.
Meanwhile, Naru and Gumo head off to Niwen via a raft to find Ori and Ku. Upon setting The Wellspring’s wheels back into motion, clearing Niwen’s water, Ori proceeds to enter the Silent Woods. There they reunite with Ku, but the pair encounters Shriek, a deformed, vicious owl who was an orphan at birth and rejected by the rest of her kind, ruling over the Silent Woods and terrorizing Niwen. Shriek attacks Ori and kills Ku.
After Ori mourns Ku’s death, Kwolok explains that the Voice of the Forest is not at full power and is unable to bring Ku back in its current state. Due to the Spirit Willow’s prior passing, the light that it carried was shattered into five wisps that scattered across Niwen, leaving the forest vulnerable to corruption and decay that killed Willow’s guardian spirits and Shriek’s parents before her birth.
Kwolok tasks Ori with seeking the other wisps of the Spirit Willow’s light: the Memory, Eyes, Strength, and Heart of the Forest, and merge the four with the Voice to reform the tree’s light. Kwolok leaves his marsh to help Ori with locating one of the other wisps, but his body is forcibly taken over by the Stink Spirit, a creature born from out of the forest’s decay whose body jamming the wheels of The Wellspring had been the cause of its non-functionality. Ori breaks the creature’s control over Kwolok, allowing for him to kill it, but their fight leaves him mortally wounded. Before dying, Kwolok pleads to Ori to restore and protect Niwen in his place.
Ori eventually finds all five wisps and merges them together to reform Seir, the Golden Light. Ori and Seir head to the Spirit Willow and Seir revives it. However, the tree tells Ori that its time has passed and it can no longer carry Seir, asking Ori to merge with the light to restore Niwen, though Ori would have to leave their previous life behind. The Spirit Willow passes Seir onto Ori, but Shriek appears and snatches it. Ori defeats Shriek, who returns to the Silent Woods to die under the wings of her parents’ corpses.
Ori merges with Seir, healing Niwen and reviving Ku with her damaged wing restored in the process, which Naru and Gumo arrive in time to witness. Ku, Naru, and Gumo find where Ori and Seir merged, and discover a Spirit Tree beginning to grow there. They help the tree flourish and continue their life as a family together, with the Spirit Tree revealing it was Ori all along, retelling the events leading up to when it merged with Seir. Eventually, the tree completely grows and life begins anew as a new spirit guardian falls from it.
Do you need to play Ori games in order?
You should play both games in order, as they are connected by the story and characters. That said, we would suggest you to play only the Definitive Edition, and then Ori and the Will of the Wisps. There is no need to play the original Ori and the Blind Forest, as the Definitive Edition includes everything and more.
Will there be more Ori games in the future?
Even though there are currently no official plans for the third Ori game, following the commercial and critical success of the first two games, it is hard to imagine there won’t be a third Ori game in the sequel. That said, developer Moon Studios currently works on other projects, but also, it is said that Xbox Games Studios would not be publishing Moon Studios’ next game. Which makes the third Ori game less of a possibility. But, only time will tell.
