2-D puzzle-platformer triumph

"Ori and the Blind Forest" (Moon, Xbox, PC) is a sumptuously animated 2-D puzzle-platformer. If you'd asked us back in the Super Nintendo days what video games would look like in the future, we might have pictured something just like it. That is to say, something with the visual resonance of a masterfully animated film. "Ori and the Blind Forest" generally holds to the florid colors typical of the genre, but its narrative gives them a decidedly melancholy glint. The game starts off deceptively easy and adheres to a Metroidvania vein. "Ori and the Blind Forest" will tax the dexterity of just about anyone who doesn't eat games such as "Super Meat Boy" or "I Wanna Be the Guy" for breakfast.

WASHINGTON POST