Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps are already full of unique, really exciting twists on the Metroidvania formula, but developer Moon Studios' CEO Thomas Mahler has now shared a possibly "crazier idea" for a potential third game in the brilliant series. "One of the crazier ideas I had for a potential Ori continuation at some point was inspired by this here," Mahler writes on social media alongside a link to Rebirth, a GameCube FMV tech demo following some sort of woodland creature as it wanders around the forest, before it eventually cocoons itself and grows into a giant tree. "I always loved the idea that we'd get to play a Spirit Tree where the whole game revolves around maneuvering as a little tree within a desolate environment that you bring to life again, bit by bit," he continues. "Think Katamari, but with a Ghibli-twist. I think there's something deeply satisfying in allowing players to change the environment they're in and to basically flip the Metroidvania design on its head a bit: Instead of just giving the player more power, it's often even more satisfying if you empower the environment itself." As Zelda devs tested contraptions now in Tears of the Kingdom, director realized Breath of the Wild still had potential Hollow Knight devs highlight a big difference between their sequel and most Metroidvanias: "The player's choice about where to go in Silksong is not dictated by what power-ups you currently have" The 25 best Metroidvania games you can play in 2026 Mahler gives an example that the map might start out as a desolate forest. In most Metroidvanias, you'd need to unlock a double jump or a dash to cross large gaps, but in this theoretical Ori threequel, you'd do so by restoring the forest. Perhaps you can repair the water flow to cross ravines or encourage tree growth to use as bridges, rather than empowering yourself via power ups. "A lot of the videogames that have become wildly successful are about core human instincts," Mahler adds. "Hunting and Gathering, Farming, Collecting, etc. I think the farming and gardening concept hasn't really been fully explored yet and could potentially lead to a whole new genre that could take off exactly because it's so core to the human experience." Ori and the Blind Forest has sold around 10 million copies which "probably makes it the most successful Metroidvania ever made," but its dev could've gone bankrupt