10 Levels That Stopped Video Games Being Perfect
4. The Escape Sequences - Ori & The Blind Forest
Ori and the Blind Forest and its sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, are some of the most beautiful and mechanically precise adventure games from the last decade.
It's clear that so much effort has been put into every aspect of their creation, so it's a shame that those pesky escape sequences are such damn downers.
Both games feature a number of delineated sequences where the player must maneuver Ori away from incoming danger, such as a rising tide of water or massive enemy giving chase.
Sounds great, right? Except, these sequences have no checkpoints to speak of, and lasting as long as two minutes a-piece, force the player into a rote exercise of trial-and-error memorisation.
Some of the more punishing escape sequences are absolutely maddening and can take even above average-skilled players dozens of attempts to get through.
If these segments at least had a checkpoint placed in the middle they wouldn't be so annoying, but as it stands they deliver ridiculous difficulty spikes and, worse still, massive time sinks, in an otherwise sublime work of art.