Ori beginner guide: PC controls, Soul Links, healing and retries
The two PC control layouts, save costs and restrictions, and the difference between healing and maximum capacity. Exploration retries and escape retries are explained separately.
Edition: Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition on Steam PC (app 387290), using Normal difficulty as the baseline. The 2015 original, Switch-specific changes, and the equipment, shards and abilities of Will of the Wisps are outside scope.
Verification scope: Public sources checked on 2026-10-04. The current installed Steam build number and hands-on demonstrations of every control have not been verified. PC controls follow the QWERTY layouts in the official 2016 Quickstart Guide; use the in-game display for remapped controls.
Sources checked: 2026-10-04
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Check your control layout first
The official PC manual lists Keyboard and Keyboard & Mouse separately. The table uses QWERTY. In Keyboard mode, arrows move Ori and WASD navigates menus. With a mouse, WASD moves Ori. If you have remapped controls, follow your in-game bindings.
Wide tables scroll horizontally.
| Action | Keyboard & Mouse（QWERTY） | Keyboard（QWERTY） | If it does not respond |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move | WASD | Arrow keys | Check the control layout and QWERTY/AZERTY setting. |
| Jump | Space | Space | Check your footing and whether the required additional jump is unlocked. |
| Spirit Flame | Left click | X | Unavailable before you gain the attack early in the game. |
| Soul Link | Hold E | Hold E | Check energy and safety restrictions. Distinguish holding from tapping. |
| Bash | Hold right click near a target, aim and release | Hold C near a target, choose a direction and release | Check that Bash is acquired and the target is in range. |
| Grab / glide | Shift | Shift | Climb lets you grip walls; actions requiring the feather are separate. |
| Map / menu | Tab／Esc | Tab／Esc | Follow the on-screen control prompt. |
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With an Xbox-layout gamepad, A jumps, X attacks, Y uses Bash, holding B creates a Soul Link, and RT grabs or uses the feather. Do not confuse the PC X key with Xbox's X button.
Creating Soul Links and spending energy
A Soul Link is a save point you create yourself. Without upgrades, it normally consumes one cell of blue energy. You spend the contents, rather than losing maximum energy capacity. Ability points are not the cost of saving.
- Move away from enemies and hazards and land on fixed, unbreakable ground.
- Check that one cell of blue energy is filled. Distinguish current energy from the number of empty capacity slots.
- If you made one recently, wait until it is ready to use again.
- Hold E and confirm the light and sound indicating completion before moving away.
- To spend upgrade points, tap E near a Soul Link to open the ability tree.
If energy is low, break reachable blue crystals to refill it or return to an activated Spirit Well. Before spending everything on Charge Flame or another move, consider keeping enough to save at the next safe spot.
Fix failed saves in this order
Wide tables scroll horizontally.
| Situation | Input or resource check | Restriction preventing a save | Recovery or response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressing E does not create a point | Are you holding it? | A tap does not create a new Soul Link. | Hold it again on fixed ground. |
| There are blue slots, but saving fails | Check current energy. | Greater maximum capacity is not enough if the contents are depleted. | Refill from crystals or a Spirit Well. |
| It worked a moment ago | Check whether it is ready to reuse. | Soul Link cooldown is active. | Wait in the same safe place. |
| Rejected despite standing on a platform | Check for moving objects, breakable floors or water. | Midair, underwater or unstable footing | Return to fixed ground. |
| Rejected in a room with enemies | Nearby enemies, danger restrictions and room progression conditions | Combat or an uncleared dangerous area | Return to a safe antechamber or finish the encounter. |
| Rejected while being chased | Has an escape sequence begun? | New Soul Links are prohibited during escapes. | Retry from the sequence's automatic restart point. |
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Do not decide an area is safe merely because enemies are off screen. Even correct input can fail because of location or state restrictions. Sources differ on cooldown seconds, so no fixed duration is given here.
Separate pickups into healing, capacity, upgrades and keys
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| Type | What increases / purpose | Common confusion | Suggested action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green life recovery | Restores lost life | Separate from increasing maximum life | Take safely reachable healing when hurt. |
| Blue energy refill | Restores spent energy | Separate from obtaining an Energy Cell that raises capacity | Decide whether to spend it on saves or abilities. |
| Life Cell | Maximum life | Separate from ordinary small healing pickups | An accessible detour can give more room for mistakes. |
| Energy Cell | Maximum energy | Do not judge remaining energy from empty slots alone. | More flexibility for saves, abilities and Energy Gates |
| Spirit Light | Accumulate experience toward ability points | Not every small light immediately awards one point. | Collect what has a safe approach and return route. |
| Ability Cell | Grants ability points | Not the same as an ability-granting tree | Check the branch to upgrade and its point cost. |
| Keystone | Opens a Spirit Gate | Separate from gates opened with blue energy | Compare the gate requirement with your current supply. |
| Map Stone Fragment | Return it to a Map Stone to reveal more of the map | Revealing the map does not unlock passages or abilities. | Use it to help examine route connections. |
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Do not import the sequel's system of combining two Life/Energy Cell Fragments or spending Spirit Light in shops into this article.
Exploration restarts and Spirit Wells
On Normal, exploration restarts from the last saved state. Advancing without updating progress through a new Soul Link can mean repeating a long stretch.
- Actually use each Spirit Well you reach. Save and restore life and energy.
- In DE, you can travel between previously used Spirit Wells. Seeing one on the map is not the same as activating it.
- Save before difficult sections and again on safe ground afterward. Whether to save after collecting items depends on remaining energy.
- With Rekindle, you can return to your last Soul Link and hold the input there to update the save. Distinguish this from creating a new point.
Rekindle does not unlock unlimited respawns. Normal respawning works without it; its main benefit is updating a save at an existing point. One Life does not allow ordinary recovery after death and is outside this practice guide.
Learn the different inputs somewhere safe
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| Move to try | Practice sequence | Result to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Jump | Tap briefly, then hold longer, then check the landing. | Button duration changes jump height. |
| Wall Jump | Approach a wall, press toward it and press Space. | Can you kick off the wall and climb upward? |
| Double Jump | Jump once, check your direction in midair, then press again. | Can you space the second jump in midair instead of mashing twice on the ground? |
| Bash | Approach a target, hold the input, check the arrow and release. | Ori moves with the arrow; a movable target goes the opposite way. |
| Feather | Jump from a platform, press Shift, then release it. | Can you switch between gliding and ordinary falling? |
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You cannot practice an ability you have not obtained. Bash uses a target rather than launching freely into the air. Before defeating an enemy, check whether it or its projectile is needed for movement.
Answer 7 (spoilers)
Answer — reveal (spoilers)Close
Check acquisition locations against the obstacle
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| Impassable terrain | Ability to check | Acquisition location on the ordinary route | First action to try |
|---|---|---|---|
| High vertical wall | Wall Jump | Spirit Caverns side of Sunken Glades | Jump while holding toward the wall. |
| Compatible blue-cracked wall | Charge Flame | Hollow Grove | Charge an attack near the wall and release. |
| A slightly longer gap without an intermediate platform | Double Jump | Gumo's Hideout in Moon Grotto | Jump again in midair after the initial jump. |
| High places reached through lanterns or projectiles | Bash | Ginso Tree | Point the arrow toward your landing. |
| Breakable floors / pegs | Stomp | Thornfelt Swamp | Press down from above while airborne. |
| Vertical shaft with wind | Kuro's Feather and restored winds | Valley of the Wind / main-story ruins progression | Open the feather. It cannot necessarily lift you through a shaft without wind. |
| Places where you need to stay on a wall | Climb | Misty Woods | Hold Shift on the wall. |
| Breakable ceilings / side walls | Charge Jump | Sorrow Pass | Charge a jump from the ground or a wall. |
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Not every wall or floor breaks with the same ability. If a blocked route is an optional detour unrelated to your current objective, you can return later.
During escapes, focus on connecting moves rather than finding saves
Major escapes do not allow Soul Links. On Normal, these instructions assume restarting from the beginning side after a failure partway through. Easy's intermediate checkpoints and One Life's death rules are separate conditions.
- Check the inputs before starting so that you do not confuse Bash with the feather.
- Isolate the failed move: missing a target, aiming the wrong way or slowing down by keeping the feather open.
- After restarting, keep successful sections unchanged and adjust only that move.
- Prioritize reaching the exit before attempting collection detours at the same time.
Switching to Easy does not automatically clear the sequence. This describes restart differences reported for Normal and Easy; every current PC checkpoint location has not been tested in-game.
Frequently asked questions
Why does creating a Soul Link not fully heal me?
Ordinary Soul Link creation is different from the full recovery at a Spirit Well. Regroup and Ultra Soul Link add life recovery when creating a link. For full recovery, use a reachable Spirit Well.
Can I respawn repeatedly at the same point without Rekindle?
On Normal, yes. Rekindle makes it easier to reuse your most recent Soul Link and update its save; it does not unlock additional respawns.
I bought an upgrade, but Dash does not work
Check whether you only bought Air Dash or Charge Dash. DE allows upgrades to be purchased before the underlying ability, so they will not work until you acquire Dash itself. See the added-abilities section for its location.
FAQ answer 4 (spoilers)Close
Can I stay underwater indefinitely once swimming becomes possible?
Even after water is purified, you normally need air. Watch the underwater air display and surface in gaps along the way. This differs from having the Water Breath upgrade.
WASD does not move Ori on my keyboard
In Keyboard-only mode, movement uses the arrow keys. WASD movement refers to the QWERTY Keyboard & Mouse layout. Check your in-game control mode first.