Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition — Complete Guide

A player's guide to Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition on PC: movement and combat, the ability tree, how saving works, the escape sequences, collectibles and the harder achievements.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final Definitive Edition release (2016 on Steam; no further content updates). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Soul Links are your save points. Hold the Soul Link button to create a checkpoint anywhere safe. Each one costs a unit of energy, so don't burn your last energy before a hard section. Spirit Wells also save for free and restore you.
2. Save before every tough platforming section, not after. If you die, you return to your last Soul Link or Spirit Well, not to the start of the room.
3. Energy is shared between Soul Links, Charge Flame and some other abilities. Collect every blue energy orb you pass.
4. Spend ability points as you get them. You earn them by killing enemies and picking up Spirit Light. Early points in movement and utility make exploration much smoother.
5. The Definitive Edition adds fast travel. Once you find Spirit Wells, you can teleport between them from the map. Use this for collectible cleanup.
6. Map Stones reveal the map. Find a Mapstone Fragment and bring it to a Map Stone to reveal that area, including secrets you haven't reached yet.
7. Pick difficulty with care. Easy, Normal and Hard are available, plus One Life (permadeath). Normal is the intended first experience.
8. Escape sequences are memorisation challenges. You'll die repeatedly in the Ginso Tree, Forlorn Ruins and Mount Horu escapes. That's the design; each attempt teaches you the next part of the route.
9. The Definitive Edition supports full backtracking. Unlike the original release, you can return to earlier areas for collectibles, so don't stress about grabbing everything on the first pass.

Controls and Core Movement

Ori plays great on a controller, and the Steam version supports keyboard and mouse. The key actions you'll use constantly:

Main skills

Main-story skills come from Ancestral Trees scattered through Nibel. Roughly in the order you'll pick them up:

Definitive Edition exclusive skills (the store page lists these as the edition's two new abilities):

Ability Tree

There are three ability trees: Combat, Efficiency and Utility. Each has achievements for completing it (Combat Master, Soul Master and Utility Master), and completing all three unlocks Phenom.

Priorities for a first run:

1. Efficiency tree first, especially Spirit Magnet. It pulls Spirit Light and orbs toward you, saving tons of backtracking. The upgraded version extends the range.
2. Map markers. Efficiency skills that show health, energy and ability cells on the map make 100% completion far easier.
3. Combat upgrades to Spirit Flame and Charge Flame once enemies start taking more hits. Split Flame, which lets Sein hit multiple targets, is a big quality-of-life upgrade.
4. Movement extras like Triple Jump and Ultra Stomp are fun but not essential. Grab them once the essentials are done.

On repeat runs aiming for Elite (finish without ever spending an ability point), you'll rely entirely on base skills. It's very doable with platforming skill but the combat is noticeably slower.

Areas of Nibel

A spoiler-light outline of the main route:

• Sunken Glades and the Spirit Tree — tutorial area and the first Map Stone.
• Hollow Grove and Moon Grotto — early exploration, your first new movement skills, and the first run-ins with Gumo.
• Ginso Tree — first dungeon. Get Bash, restore the Element of Waters, then survive the famous rising-water escape.
• Thornfelt Swamp and Valley of the Wind — the mid-game stretch where Kuro's Feather comes online and Kuro becomes a real threat.
• Misty Woods — a looping maze shrouded in fog. Clearing it unlocks Obtaining Clarity. There's a hidden corridor for Good Eye.
• Forlorn Ruins — second element, the Element of Winds, and a gravity-flipping escape.
• Sorrow Pass — a vertical climb to the top of Nibel that unlocks Mount Horu.
• Mount Horu — the final dungeon, the Element of Warmth, and the lava escape.
• Black Root Burrows — dark caves where light matters, with a rolling-boulder escape (Raider Run).
• Naru's past (Definitive Edition) — the edition adds two new environments and story sequences about Naru; uncovering them unlocks The Cycle.

Escape Sequences

The escapes are the game's hardest checks. No Soul Links during them; each is a single continuous run with checkpoints.

Ginso Tree

• The water rises from below. Keep moving upward and use Bash on projectiles and enemies to skip sections.
• The run gets harder near the top. Learn the Bash targets: most are placed to launch you exactly where you need to go.

Forlorn Ruins

• A shorter escape than Ginso, but it punishes hesitation. Move deliberately rather than as fast as possible.
• Glide and Bash cover most of the tricky gaps; the timing is generous if you commit.

Mount Horu

• The longest and hardest escape, with lava chasing you. Mastery of Charge Jump, Glide and Bash is critical.
• The last section can take a dozen tries. Treat it as a separate puzzle and don't mash.

General escape tips:

• Commit to one route and memorise it. Adjusting on the fly is how you die.
• Bash is usually the correct answer. If you see an enemy or projectile, it's a platform.
• Don't forget Glide can stop your vertical momentum and let you readjust mid-air.

Collectibles and 100%

Tips for 100%:

• Unlock map-marker skills early. They show collectibles you haven't grabbed on the map.
• Restore every Map Stone. It reveals the layout, making unexplored gaps obvious.
• Master of the Forest requires 100% map visited. Walk into every room at least once; dark corners of Black Root Burrows and Misty Woods are common culprits.
• Use Spirit Well fast travel for cleanup. In the Definitive Edition, you can finish the game and then continue cleaning up.
• Safe and Sound requires saving at every Spirit Well.

Difficulty and Challenge Achievements

Recommended order for achievement hunters:

1. Normal run for 100% collectibles and the story achievements.
2. A combined Elite + Supersonic run: skip ability points and move fast.
3. Immortal and Unhinged runs once you know the escapes cold. One Life and Immortal overlap well.
4. Formidable on its own or combined with a skilled One Life run.

Combat Tips

• Spirit Flame auto-targets. You don't aim it, so focus on positioning and dodging.
• Charge Flame is your crowd clear. It also breaks barriers (A New Path) and can hit four enemies at once for Deadly Detonation.
• Bash projectiles back into enemies for Deadly Deflection. Many enemies die in one reflected shot.
• Stomp crushes enemies (Stomp Master is 50 Stomp kills). Enemies can also be tricked into destroying themselves (Self Destruction) or into killing other enemies (Deadly Dodge wants 5).
• Enemies aren't the point. Most encounters can be skipped entirely. Kill what's in your way and keep moving.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Running out of energy right before a tough section and having no way to Soul Link. Refill before committing.
• Placing a Soul Link in a spot where an enemy respawns next to you. Pick quiet, safe ground.
• Ignoring Spirit Magnet. It's the best early upgrade in the game.
• Rushing escape sequences. They reward precision, not speed.
• Forgetting Map Stones. Without them, it's hard to know where the unexplored areas are.
• Starting on Hard or One Life as a first-time player. The platforming alone is a big learning curve.

Advanced Tips

• Bash off your own Light Burst to gain extra height and distance in spots designers didn't intend.
• Bash-glide chains let you cross huge gaps. Bash upward, glide, find the next Bash target.
• Charge Jump off walls is faster than climbing. Once you have it, use it constantly.
• Juggle Master: Bash a rock upward repeatedly to keep it in the air five times.
• Speedrunners use Dash, Bash and Charge Jump heavily and skip optional fights entirely. Watch a Supersonic route before trying for the achievement.
• For One Life and Immortal runs, play the difficult combat rooms slowly. Most deaths in no-death runs come from rushing enemy rooms, not platforming.

FAQ

How long is Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition? Around 8 to 10 hours for a first playthrough; 100% adds a few more.

What's the difference between the original and Definitive Edition? Per the store page and Wikipedia: two new environments about Naru's past, the Dash and Light Burst skills, Easy/Hard/One Life difficulty modes, Spirit Well fast travel, full backtracking, new secrets and more story sequences. It launched on Steam on 27 April 2016.

Can I go back after finishing the game? Yes. The Definitive Edition supports full backtracking and you can continue after the ending to clean up.

Is anything permanently missable? Collectibles are not the worry they were in the original: the Definitive Edition added full backtracking and Spirit Well fast travel, and you can keep playing after the ending to clean up. Run-based achievements (Supersonic, Elite, Immortal, Unhinged, Formidable) are the ones that need a dedicated playthrough.

Do I need to play this before Ori and the Will of the Wisps? Strongly recommended. The sequel continues the story directly.

What's the Misty Woods trick? Misty Woods loops you back if you take wrong paths. Explore carefully, pay attention to the environmental clues, and clear the haze to finish it (Obtaining Clarity). Look for the hidden corridor for Good Eye.

Which ability tree first? Efficiency, starting with Spirit Magnet and map markers.

Sources

• Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition on Steam
• Steam achievements list
• Ori and the Blind Forest on Wikipedia