Almost beat the game but realised that I missed out part of Forlorn Ruins. Hmm...
I can't decide on finishing the game or restarting, but I would kick myself if I restarted and missed something somewhere else.
It's a shame really. I disagree about the whole "people are used to Super Metroid" thing. I think that if Ori simply hid the completion %, no one would mind. But it's always there, every time you look at a map you are shown what you haven't done.
When I went into Forlorn Ruins, I jumped into every corner, backtracked all over the place. I missed the part to the right just before the next section, because I thought that where I went was the "wrong way". I made a 50/50 guess and it started a cutscene. Immediately after I closed the game, thinking that there wouldn't be any autosaves, but there was. The worst part is that the wavepoint thing on the map didn't point there.
The next section was so great and so fun, but the fact that I ended up missing something "by accident" ruined the mood for me.
The first time, falling somewhere where I had to restart the game, it took me few days to go back to play Ori. I am very impressed by this game, don't get me wrong, I gifted another copy to my brothers because I want as many people to play it too... but these design choices feel like bugs that should be patched.
The first gamebreaking bug I came across will be patched, but I am sad to hear that revisiting the area won't be patched.
You mentioned that you had to decide about putting nothing "valuable" in a certain area. Ultimately I agree that it would have just made people not want to play the game anymore, as if everyone got 100% in their first play through then it would be their only playthrough besides speedrunning etc.
Now in Forlorn Ruins, the autosave makes sense as in that area there is no way to save, and it happens after a cutscene. I like that there aren't any "are you sure" prompts either anywhere in Ori.
It's just that, unlike games like Metroid, I usually don't bother 100% as I would like in Ori. When you get new abilities, all people want to do is return to prior sections. It makes sense if a lot of people wanted to wait until their had a triple jump or something before returning after the first act etc.
It's tricky but, I think it would have been better to hide progress details a bit more -- particularly the % with the filling circle. Make it available only during second playthrough, don't let it ruin people's first time experience.
The whole map screen as it is seems to be like a guide to where everything is. A lot of secrets are "how do I get there" because the powerups will appear even without the ability, so long as you get close to them. When they show up on the map, people want to go after them like they would if it was in front of them in game. It's incredibly frustrating to constantly see that and not be able to return.
If I could try and clarify a bit more... Super Metroid lets the player who isn't aiming for 100% aware that there could be more secrets, and lets them know how much they got with the % overall. In Ori, the game is constantly teasing you "you missed this!" and sometimes "next playthrough buddy!".
I don't write reviews professionally, but personally I would say it would be why I would give a 9/10 over a 10/10.
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Now that I have missed out on Forlorn Ruins, there is no point to me looking for anything or backtracking anywhere with the new powers unless it is a new playthrough. And that was something I enjoyed doing after the first act.
So I either tell myself that the missables aren't important or next time I fear missing something with no return since I don't want to use a guide. Lost Odyssey is an example of missables being done well but obviously its solution can't be in Ori, where an auction house let you buy anything that was truly missable (baring a bug where a couple of spells in a shop were only ever sold once).
So much of Ori is brilliantly and intelligently decision, but the missables weren't imho.
For a game that shows you during it's beginning areas about returning to places after acquiring new abilities (first save well) it feels bad.
EDIT:
Ugh I can't bring myself to play this now. So annoying because I like it but... I feel conned out of my time.
