The title is warning enough, so here it is:

If you missed it at E3/Gamescom, this is Ori and the Blind Forest, a metroidvania (yeah, I know) game coming to PC and Xbox One at some point this year, and Xbox 360 at some point next year (and if patterns hold, everything under the sun probably 6 months later). The above trailer came out of TGS.

Tam described this as a game of “Infinite Sadness and Light” and that description seems to fit. The creators of this game said they were inspired by nostalgia for Super Metroid, and this shows in the gameplay. Ori seems to have a variety of movement abilities in game demos, including traditional things like double jumps and wall jumps, which are animated wonderfully. A unique ability seems to be the ability to use enemies, enemy projectiles, and other sources of energy to launch yourself in any direction. The projectile/enemy used is launched in the opposite direction, so this works for traversal and puzzle-solving.

It’s been a while since a AAA metroidvania game was released, as Konami seems focused on doing other things with Castlevania and Nintendo doesn’t seem to want to touch Metroid for a while. I’m hoping this game from a largely non-traditional developer satisfies that itch. Valdis Story and Dust: An Elysian Tale, while good, can only go so far.