Ori and the Will of the Wisps got a new demo reveal a new at Gamecom 2018: Spirit Trial. It’s a fast-paced speedrun-like competition with multiplayer features. Talking to the game’s designers Thomas Mahler at the show, though, it was clear the team cares deeply about each facet Ori and the Will of the Wisps will bring. The designer spoke passionately about weapon variety, frame data, and the skills required for high-level play, and while they remember not everyone will be challenging themselves in that way, it’s important to them that the depth is there. These and other changes were all the result of their obsession with fan feedback and finding new ways to improve Ori for those hardcore fans.

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“ “My idea for Ori is always that you have to feel like a super fucking cool ninja.”

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Thomas Mahler, founder of Moon Studios spoke about some of the shortcomings of the game’s previous title. “In Blind Forest, you didn’t have any of those really secret areas. This time we made it so if you look behind a waterfall and then break the secret wall, suddenly there will be an entirely new environment to explore. There’s really hidden stuff this time around. Five years from now you’ll be like, ‘Oh my god, I didn’t even know that was in the game.’”They even considered hit stop, a style that would lock the enemies animation for a moment, before axing the idea all together. They worried that players would just mash buttons on enemies instead of diving into the real mechanics. Now you manage to stun, you need to react before the enemy. Mahler used Hollow Knight as an example of a combat system that’s a bit more simple in that you hit the button and an effect happens. That’s it. “We really wanted to take it to that level where it’s like, ‘No, it’s actually an animation-based combat system.’” You input an attack and have frame vulnerability, but you can interrupt, dash in or out, and continue your mini-combo. “My idea for Ori is always that you have to feel like a super fucking cool ninja.” The goal was to make it easy to learn for new players, but with a lot of mastery you can discover the more you play.That’s where the new mode comes in. Spirit Trial is where you’ll head once you’ve perfected the base mechanics of Ori and want to up your game. Some features include ghosts which allow you to watch top players to refine your speedrunning tactics by learning from their methods. Watch an entire group or follow one player to see just what they’re doing to hit that perfect time.Inspired by their speedrunning community, the team decided they wanted to add multiplayer. After creating a prototype for multiplayer in the office, the entire team latched onto racing. They played it until the early hours of the morning. “We wanted it to feel like Mario Kart. It feels so good and it’s just super fun,” so and so said. Spirit Trials allows you to compete with people all over the world or closer to home with your friends. Having had the opportunity, I know it’s easy to get locked into the idea of just one more try in Ori’s newest mode. I was immediately hooked. Keep an eye out for me on the leaderboards when Will of the Wisps launches in 2019.

Destin Legarie is a Senior Features Producer at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter if you feel like it.