Critical darling Ori and the Blind Forest is getting an expansion, Moon Studios Director Thomas Mahler announced through Major Nelson earlier this week. Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition will release on Xbox One later this year with a bevy of new content and player-requested changes.
“Basically, we wanted to do the Definitive Edition of Ori,” Mahler told Game Informer, “because while we made a LOT of people happy, there were some outcries we heard from fans regarding some things, and we just want to be known for making the absolute best games for our fans out there. We really went back, added more content, fixed ALL the things people have been asking for (not talking about bugs here, but actual design and content feedback) and we just want to give back and make it the perfect experience for people who loved Ori and those who haven’t gotten to try it yet.”
Microsoft followed up the announcement by releasing the Gamescom video above in which you can catch Mahler and Moon Studios Project Manager Gennadiy Korol discuss the expansion. “We spent a lot of time to really read a lot about what people had to say about the original game — what they liked, what they maybe didn’t like — and we really want to address all of the bigger points about the game,” says Korol in the vid.
Over Twitter, Moon Studios also revealed that the game’s notoriously challenging difficulty level will be toned down for those gamers looking for a more welcoming experience.
In our review, XBLA Fans gave Ori a “Buy It” rating, stating that it “demonstrated how far digitally distributed console games have come by comparison to their retail counterparts.”
Sources: Game Informer, @OriBlindForest and Major Nelson