Topic: Pure Xbox Game Club Double Bill - Banjo-Kazooie / Solar Ash (Apr)

@ralphdibny I just started Forlorn Ruins and it's pretty interesting thus far. I really like how the game spices things up after a while, like climbing the Ginso tree, then introducing a Zelda "Lost Woods" area and now the Forlorn Ruins where you have to carry around a ball that lets you walk on the ceiling. The variety is just amazing! I do have to agree that this is one of the best games we've played on Game Club since probably Resident Evil Remake on Push Square. And as a person who's played a lot of Metroidvanias, this game is definitely one of the best Metroidvanias I've played thus far along with other phenomenal titles such as Hollow Knight and Bloodstained.

@LtSarge it's just a really tight platformer which is right up my alley. It uses platforming mechanics really well such as the wall run, slingshot style bash maneuver and even the parachute - I'm half expecting a Scrooge McDuck style pogo stick to be a late game unlock 😂

The wall running/jumping is really tight, I could never get behind the wall jumping in New Super Mario Bros (or the series in general after the original DS game which was excellent). Weirdly I was ok with it in Mario 64 even though theoretically it should be harder to pull off in a 3D platformer!

Wooo, I'm nearly done I think! I discovered a random area that seemed to have the last two skills, black root burrow I think it's called. So after I finished that area I took my new skills and mopped up the rest of the maps to 100% except the area that takes you to the mountain.

Before I got those skills, I was wondering if there would be some endgame event that would open up the inaccessible gates or something but then I stumbled onto this area that had the final skills which allowed me to open the rest of the gates. I don't think this area is compulsory though and quite possibly is easily missed.

I can't believe it took me this long to realise this, but another obvious influence on this game is the Studio Gibhli films. For some reason I didn't clock it until after I let the wind out and saw Gumo and the dead bear thing together. Both characters look like they are straight out of a Studio Gibhli film so I have no idea why it took seeing them together to tip me over to the recognition of that!

I think the Zelda influence is obvious, there are literally motifs in a lot of the score that seem to be ripped straight out of Zelda music which is really cool. Another bit of music, I think in the black root burrow area, sounds a lot like the Westworld theme tune from the TV show.

Ok I've finished it! Brilliant game and I can't wait to play the second one. I hope it is as good as or better than the first. I really think this has been my favourite (more or less exclusive) Xbox game so far.

I felt like a boss at the end once I had mastered all the platforming techniques. Just whipping through the different areas! That being said, I don't think I'd fancy doing this game on the one life difficulty - I died over 500 times!

Hello everyone!

I've downloaded Ori but work and other priorities (namely, Netflix and Desperados III) have kept me from playing..

But, seeing all the super-positive feedback, I will defo be giving this a go.
(Unlikely to finish - or even start..? - in February, though..!)

@sib It can be finished in around 10 hours unless you want to collect everything, so not a massively long game. Definitely worth playing even if you don't manage to do it this month.

@ralphdibny Congrats mate! Personally I just finished Forlorn Ruins and Sorrow Path so I'm gradually making my way towards the end (I'm apparently at 75% completion right now, so that's good). I do have to ask though, did you ever do the Black Root Burrows area? Is it optional or is it the final area of the game or something? Because I'm pondering whether I should tackle it now or later.

@LtSarge I can't see anything in that area so I thought i needed to unlock a skill for it eventually? I'm just finishing up the last area before the boss i think, for the fire spirit.

@ralphdibny from what I've heard the second one is fantastic and should have been a game of the year nomination at the very least. It did launch pretty buggy i believe and the fixes came in later so that likely hurt it. But fir us playing it now it's all polished up and ready to go

@Krzzystuff That's a good point. Considering the next area is based on fire, maybe we get an ability that lets us burn things as well as create light. In that case I'll just do that one first so that I don't end up wasting my time with that other area.

@LtSarge @Krzzystuff I did black root burrows after I had "released the wind", so basically the final area before you go to the mountain. I had all but two of the skills.

There's two sections to black root burrows, I think the first section can be done early in the game and the second section can be done once you are a bit upgraded with more skills, or at least, it's easier that way.

I will say that there is no skill that lets you see in the dark, you kind of have to fumble around until you reach a certain part of the Black Root Burrows and the rest of it is a puzzle which I've tried my hardest not to spoil by saying what I have.

I don't think you need to do Black Root to finish the game but you definitely do to 100% the map as the final 2 skills are in there. They are good ones too, I think my playthrough could have been vastly different if I got them earlier in the game because there are new platforming tricks that kind of open up once you get them. But since I was OP by endgame I didn't have to use the cooler skill as much but I did still mess around with it.

@ralphdibny Ah okay. I guess that'll be the next area I go to then since I'm really enjoying the game and I want to play as much of it as I can.

@dmcc0
Thanks for the encouragement!
I'm really enjoying Desperados III at the moment (if you haven't played it, I recommend it highly!), but Ori is now next on my list..!!

I finished the game last night and man was it a great experience! Total deaths at 426 lol. I gota say that the game has a great story and emotion to it with very little dialogue. The sound track was fantastic!

@Krzzystuff Congrats mate! Yeah this game is pretty hard, can't wait to see how many times I've died after I've finished the game, lol.

Today I finished Black Root Burrows and yeah, it's clear that players should tackle this area as early as possible, although due to some secrets requiring late-game abilities, perhaps it was a good thing that I waited this long before tackling that place. Either way, people should definitely not miss out on this area! The new abilities and additional story content made it worth exploring.

I've actually just been running around and collecting stuff throughout the past hour now, lol. I rarely do this in Metroidvania games, so it really just goes to show how good this game is. Not to mention the achievement list, which is constantly encouraging me to do everything in the game. Up next is Mount Horu though, so I'm looking forward to exploring a new area!

@LtSarge yeah i found myself going around and getting more secrets vs moving forward in the story a bunch as well and i agree that the Black Root Burrows was a nice addition.

Well I just finished Ori as well! I wasn't expecting Mount Horu to be the final area of the game, although it did make sense considering how difficult the platforming was. Really glad that I decided to wander around and clean up leftover collectibles before tackling this area. Anyway, this was an absolutely phenomenal game and I would say that this is the second best Metroidvania I've played after Hollow Knight. The difficulty did put me off liking the game at certain points, but overall I really enjoyed the game. I managed to get 100% as well, getting all the collectibles and unlocking the entire map. At the end I had 980 G, which is really good for a game like this. Granted there were an additional 250 G in the Definitive Edition, but most of the achievements are difficulty related so I'm not going to bother with them. In total it took me about 9 hours to get 100% in the game and I died 256 times, lol. I'm very much looking forward to playing the sequel in the future and hopefully we'll get to do it on Game Club as well later this year.

@Krzzystuff @LtSarge well done on beating the game!

Having played a Metroidvania, I've actually started playing another one without being put off with my preconceptions of confusing maps and difficulty. I started that Momodora game that's leaving game pass soon. I looked it up and it said 4 hours on HLTB so I thought I'd have a bit of that. I'm about half way through it now and hopefully I'll start Oxenfree tomorrow which is another game on that leaving soon list that I thought I'd give a go

@ralphdibny I'm doing exactly the same; have both downloaded ready to go. Started Mother Russia Bleeds on PC last night as it's leaving Game Pass too. Seems to get decent reviews, so was expecting it to be a fun game...ended up playing the first level then uninstalling. Seemed pretty dull, and the controls weren't great - I guess it's meant to be a multiplayer brawler, so maybe more fun with others, but as a single player game, it's not for me.

@ralphdibny well i just downloaded both as well to try and finish them off before they leave. Also wreckfest is downloading as well...it just sounds awesome.