Crafting the World of Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Hall:
- Black Sea Hall (Game Design Track)
What the talk is about
Chris McEntee explains how Moon Studios built the world of Ori and the Will of the Wisps, a 2D metroidvania sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest. He contrasts metroidvania structure with classic level-based platformers: all areas form one connected world, and progress is gated by abilities. He shows how story, believable geography and visual landmarks seen early (like the mill or the Spirit Tree) make a flat world feel three-dimensional. He also covers memorable gates instead of colored blocks, layered levels revisited with new abilities, loops and shortcuts. The second half is about late playtests: removing excess spikes, shortening the main path with optional branches, and pacing breathers between intense areas. Useful for level designers and developers of 2D platformers and metroidvanias.