When comparing Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition vs Don't Starve, the Slant community recommends Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition for most people. In the question“What are the best indie games on Steam?” Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is ranked 29th while Don't Starve is ranked 30th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Amazing art and atmosphere
Pro Great soundtrack
Very nicely made music.
Pro Great Metroidvania gameplay
Pro Fantastic soundtrack
Pro Enjoyable gameplay
The controls are intuitive, the difficulty feels just right, the boss encounters are fun, there's a really nice upgrade system, and there are tons of secrets to be found. As a result, Ori and the Blind Forest is an enjoyable experience.
Pro Compelling puzzle design
Pro Available DRM-Free
It took a while, but Ori did eventually release DRM-Free via GOG.
Pro Amazing skills
Amazing upgradeable skill set.
Pro Uniquely atmospheric art style that gives a polished look that is difficult to match
Don't Starve has a very unique art style, using two dimensional or 2D characters and items in a 3D world gives a very interesting artsy feel to the game. The hand drawn look and feel to the graphics are a nice change of pace from ultra realistic games, but it doesnt take away from the suspense.
Pro Very active modding community with numerous mods available allows for a lot of replayability and customization
Using the Steam Workshop, Don't Starve has a very active modding community. With nearly 800 mods currently available, there are unlimited ways you can change your Don't Starve experience.
Pro Challenging arcade style game play, with permadeath mixed in makes for a tough to master game that is still fun to play over and over again
Don't Starve is a classic example of "Easy to play, tough to master". The game play is very easy to learn, in fact Don't Starve doesn't really tell you how to play, you just point and click. Some items will be clickable, exploration leads to discoveries, and discoveries lead to longer survival, but death and a new game are always right around the corner.
Pro Randomly generated worlds allows for content that continually stays fresh to the user
Don't Starve generates a completely new game world for every new game, and since you only get one life per game, you will be seeing a lot of different worlds. All of the lands and items will be totally new on every try.
Pro There's never a dull moment thanks to how new mechanics are introduced throughout the gameplay
As the game progresses, it offers more and more mechanics that require constant attention to function properly. It becomes a constant re-evaluation of risk and reward.
Pro Pleasantly twisted sense of humor makes for an entertaining environment and story
Random quips from characters, info, text and the world itself (such as the existence of werepigs) show glimpses of a dark sense of humor throughout.
Pro Easily customized thanks to being able to adjust difficulty on the fly
The game gives you a lot of world customization options. You can change the length of day, weather patterns, how much of each monster or resource spawns, etc. This effectively allows you to adjust how difficult you wish the game to be.
Cons
Con Non-combat focused
The game is more about puzzle solving and exploration than combat. Unlike traditional Zelda/Metroidvania games.
Con Boring combat system
The combat system is kinda boring and repetitive. It's just about mashing buttons.
Con Really short
I managed to finish the game with nearly everything unlocked and most secrets in a little over 5 hours, on my first playthrough. It's not a game that you can sink a lot of time into.
Con Constant restarts can be drawn out and boring
The beginning of a playthrough starts out pretty slow, which is exacerbated by the fact that the player will need to restart many many times as the game is a rouguelike, so permanent death is something that will be encountered often.