Overview of Blind Games / Low Vision – Ori and The Blind Forest

Introduction

Hello, my name is Victor and I am a gamer with degenerative myopia since I was born. To give some context, I have to wear glasses when I am 2 years old and to this day, I have lost more than 90% of my vision. I could not read any text for more than 10 years without using a Windows enlargement of 700% to be read in all games and recently the narrator has become my favorite accessibility tool. This is my feedback about ORI and blind forests from a low perspective.

This game has several options. We can change resolution, activate or deactivate full screen mode, sound effect volume, music volume, vibration intensity slider, V-synchronization, language, damage number, blur movement, brightness and contrast.

None of this option has a big impact on my experience. In this case, the volume of music is almost standard. Music does not prevent the game at any time. The amount of practical damage is not useful for me because I cannot see how much damage I did for the target because of the size of the text. Like my habit, I disable motion blur to make a sharper graph. The most useful choice for me is contrast but because the game is very colorful, I only need to increase it a little.

As soon as the campaign begins, we realize that the characters speak in fiction so that dialogue only makes sense through subtitles. This statement appeared in various screen areas and I could never read it because I didn’t have enough time to use an enlarger to read me.

But that is not all bad in terms of reading what the character says. It is possible to read without problems when the Spirit tells us something because the text remains on the screen until you press the button. I use zoom enlargement to read and then press the button to move to the next row.

The goal in ORI sometimes looks more complicated than the truth. Above everything, you need to explore the world. Find the map of the area where you are, find the key to opening the next gate, taking skills from trees that will allow you to access new areas and / or have faster access to the area previously discovered and their hidden goods.

The ability tree is quite easily accessible when I enlarge the text and move it with the left analog stick on the controller. The text is easy to read as many as how many skills points we have to spend. Sometimes I am a little confused about the position of the next icon because of the rotating design.

The map can be confusing at first, but I finally understand it perfectly. You have a top text that shows your goals and bright circles that show where you should go. You can press X to switch between the original place and the purpose to follow. On the map there is a colored and colorless area. The map was colored when we took the map item that made him visible. The colorless area is a place that has not been found. So the first goal is to always find a new area map that makes it easier to memorize the place.

After setting skills points to be able to see the health / energy component, we can see it on the map and I do not experience much difficulty in seeing their position on the map.

Color -full visuals and very contrasting through lighting and color differentiation make ORI and blind forests a unique experience! Sometimes I am very disturbed in exploration so that I end up in a completely different place, sometimes I return to the beginning but I always know where I am. Even for me, each place looks very different from each other.

In addition to all the qualities that I have mentioned, audio is also fantastic. There are sound cues in everything I can remember. There is a sound signal when I approach the energy that can be collected, when you touch the point of storage, differentiation between actions that can be done or not. For example, when we get the key to opening the gate and if the key is lost, the sound changes to show that the key is lost when you try to open it. It is possible to distinguish all enemies in the game through sound. This helps to understand what will happen next and I can hear the sound of attacks from all enemies before they reach me.

One of the most useful tools in the game is the ability to store games at any time using a little energy. This allows you to overcome more difficult obstacles and save games in a more critical field.

Last thought

Although Ori and Blind Forest are very easily accessible games for me, it is still challenging. There are times when I need a break, especially when we have to escape from places that are destroyed or we are chased and I don’t have enough time to find out what I have to do, but nothing is satisfying as when we finally succeeded! The most negative part that I found was impossible to understand the part of the story because I could not read the subtitles.

Visual, sound signaling, contrast, bright colors and the ability to save at any time makes Ori and Blind Forests become an unforgettable experience.