AM2R creator is now working on Ori and the Will of the Wisps

It was a year ago almost to the day that we reported about the unhappy demise of AM2R. The "seriously impressive" fan remake of Metroid 2 had only been out for a few days when it fell afoul of Nintendo's legal department, leading creator Milton ‘DoctorM64’ Guasti to pack it all in—with a promise that he would "continue improving and fixing AM2R privately." 

That's apparently fallen to the wayside, as Guasti said in a recent blog post that "everyone involved in AM2R moved on," and so has he, to "a new, original Metroidvania game" done in Unity. "It's really early in development right now, but I'll make sure to have something cool to show whenever I decide to make it public," he wrote.   

As excellent as that sounds, it may be awhile before any of it happens, as just a day later he made an even bigger announcement: He's now working with Moon Studios as a level designer on the upcoming Ori and the Will of the Wisps

"Ori is one of the many games I was able to enjoy lately. One can see the love and attention to detail that went into its design. I feel like I'll be right at home working with this team," he wrote. "It's a pretty huge change in my life, since it's a full time job. But dreams are there to be chased, my family supports this decision and it could be the beginning of a new career." 

Guasti expressed his gratitude to supporters of AM2R, and said that he would continue researching and expanding his new project in his free time. 

Ori and the Will of the Wisps was announced at E3 back in June. We don't know anything about it yet beyond the fact that it's actually being made, but the reveal trailer is every bit as beautiful and sad as you'd expect. 

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.