Instead my pick is Ori and the Will of the Wisps.

This is definitely the most unpopular opinion in this thread. Story-wise they’re very similar, yeah. Gameplay-wise, I played them back to back and they are extremely different. The second one has a much bigger focus on combat and combat upgrades, and a lot of new fun platforming mechanics like burrowing in the desert. I think it’s what a sequel should be, improving on the issues of the first while not deviating too much from what made it great.