Ori and the Will of the Wisps

The way Ori controls might be my favourite I've felt in all the Metroidvanias I've played. (or at least tied with Hollow Knight).

Yeah Ori is one of the most artistically distinct games out there. And I agree the controls are soooo butter smooth, I can't understand how anyone thinks otherwise. In general it has some of the best traversal I've experienced.

Perhaps it all simply comes down to the quality of the games? Not to say the Ori games are bad games by any means but I mean, we can't all compete with the Hollow Knights and Pizza Towers of the world, y'know?

I would also add that the Ori games' more big budget feel actually work against them in this regard too. I have no idea the degree of Microsoft's involvement but these games look and sound like big budget XBOX games. And they received quite a bit of mainstream media attention as you pointed out. These things directly clash with the formation of cult followings, as part of the appeal of a cult following is that sense of belonging to a smaller, more authentic community. Such is the appeal of 'indie' itself.

That all being said, in my personal opinion these games fail to reach the level of artistic achievement that any of those other 3 games do, and I think that's the biggest reason why they don't have the same kind of devout fandom. Ori games are like Pixar movies. At their best, they have moments of undeniable beauty and a level of substance that seems to stand out from their fellow big-budget contemporaries. But you'd be hard-pressed to find people arguing that they're the peak of the medium... well maybe in the real world you would, but not in the places where cult followings are formed.