Arise: A simple story Reviews
The gameplay is accessible and even though the game experience is rather slow-paced, this is in no way an obstacle to enjoy it - quite the contrary, it's where Arise's experience turns out to excel the most with its enveloping qualities, simple but gorgeous worlds and exquisite soundtrack. These are all further topped by this Definitive Edition, that brings a welcome additional content to the Nintendo Switch.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Beautiful scenery and scores that creates a full fledged cinematic experience. Topped with the emotional narratives which surely brings warmth to all gamers. Each chapter feels unique on their own but still keeps the overall flow in alignment with the story, which was possible with the creative map designs throughout the gameplay.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Arise: A Simple Story is a short but fantastic game. It isn’t the most challenging game out on the market; it isn’t the fastest paced or the most mechanically in-depth… but it doesn’t have to be. It’s calm, quiet, deep, and far more than enough to make it worth playing. If you need to fill a quiet afternoon or two and need a poignant story to pluck your heartstrings, definitely make sure to give Arise: A Simple Story a chance.
Arise – A Simple Story contains a beautifully told story within a charming puzzle adventure. With poignant moments and joyful visuals, this game has the ability to capture a breadth of emotion with ease. It’s a short but worthy edition to narrative driven puzzle games.
Arise: A Simple Story is a fantastic indie game from Piccolo Studio's, demonstrating incredible talent. The platforming is fun and engaging, allowing anyone to dive right in without too high of a skill gap. Each world is wonderful and vibrant, with each offering a unique and interesting platforming puzzle to make every level stand out in its own way. If you're a fan of games like Journey or Last Day of June, this game will definitely scratch that itch.
Arise: A Simple Story may exactly be just that but the emotions and journey we go through is anything but. With a serene and breathtaking art style, I wasn’t quite expecting to experience such intense feelings. You really have to appreciate the love and nuanced care that developer Untold Tales put into this game. In total, the Arise is about 4-6 hours long depending on how quickly you go. But I assure you every moment is so worth it, I almost wish there was more. If this title slipped under your radar on its initial release, I would recommend picking it up for the Switch; however, I would also encourage you to have a box of tissues handy for those hard-hitting moments. You’ll need them, trust me.
Arise: A Simple Story is an emotional and witty adventure with a wonderful artwork. However, its platforming-based gameplay, while well thought out and executed, does not always go hand in hand with its narrative.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Overall, then, Arise remains an interesting platform experience. The gameplay is fun, the time manipulation is a well-used and well-developed mechanic, the visuals and sound are solid, yet the narrative goes to some strange, tone-deaf places and the overall message is, at best, mixed. Joyful at the beginning, borderline offensive in places in the middle, and thoroughly bleak by the ending.
Although it's a game without much pretensions, Arise: A Simple Story - Definitive Edition could have had more refinement in the narrative construction, as well as more polish and development both from an artistic and gameplay point of view. However, the title by Piccolo Studio has good ideas in its level design, has some beautiful scenes and conveys a beautiful and simple message from its developers, and deserves to be appreciated by fans of platform art games, although they should try it without great expectations.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Arise: A Simple Story should be recognised as a beautiful and touching story, no matter its short length. It's a heartwarming and truly captivating journey – providing you allow yourself to be immersed in the narrative. With the stop/start nature of the loading screens and the long-winded gameplay, this can be hard but definitely worth pushing through.
There were no spoken words to explain the story, yet they were still able to convey emotions through body language. Small cutscene moments would play out as you found statues that revealed the character’s life journey to the player. To bolster the impact of these moments, the orchestral melodies became a major contributor to emotional impact. It was amazing to be led down the garden path as the atmosphere would shift from mysterious yet hopeful to immediately hitting me with a pang of sadness. Even when things seemed to be at their lowest, they still managed to circle back the feeling of happiness with the addition of collectable hand-drawn memories of his happiest moments with his partner.
Arise: A Simple Story takes you on a journey of emotions through the memories of a protagonist. A simple and focused story, quite unique among the industry's common epic narratives. Being a game where you control the time, it also surprises by the fact that it respects the player's time a lot, being a shorter experience (about 4 hours), but free of any unnecessary moments or irrelevant content.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
From its story to its platforming, Arise is simple in many ways and is not afraid to try new things with its mechanics. While its platforming makes things more difficult than it needs to be at times, it is the journey through the narrative that matters the most. If you’re up for a simple yet satisfying journey that tugs at your heartstrings, Arise will do just that.
While my fondest memories of great Switch titles tend to focus on games that are more on the more gameplay-focused side there's something to be said for the ones that instead leave a contemplative mark...
Arise: A simple story is an excellent work with a strong artistic atmosphere and narrative elements, which allows me to enter the perspective of an old man, start thinking to find a way out, and finally appreciate the true meaning of life and the beauty of the four seasons.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Arise: A Simple Story sets out to tell a story as a video game but, smartly, doesn’t overestimate the role of gameplay. Inventive level design drives things forward, but faced with the awkward task of demanding platform-jumping in the aftermath an emotional bombshell, it simply lets the musical and visual storytelling seize their moment. It is only a simple story, but well told.
Arise: A Simple Story – Definitive Edition is a bittersweet tale of an old man’s life and the memories he shared with a partner. It relays a tale of love, heartbreak, hardship, and an emotional journey through his life. It’s a story that stayed on my mind well after the closing credits. The platforming sections may prove fiddly; however, the storyline, narrative and visuals make up for the platforming shortcomings.
‘Arise: A Simple Story’ is a well-designed Platform Puzzler with a very clever time manipulation mechanic. The game is very striking visually and the musical score picks you up and carries you along the way with it. The puzzles are not over-taxing but are challenging enough to keep you interested and create a nice, chill gaming experience. If you are looking for a platformer game that will take you on a bit of an emotional journey, you should check this out.
Likening this game to the movie Up, Arise: A Simple Story is much more than what its title lets on. It forces us to take a step back and analyze life. With its time control mechanics that manipulate the world in so many ways, platforming style of play, and its ability to tell a narrative story without dialogue, Arise is one of those games that makes you question whether small titles like this are becoming the status quo.
Arise is largely filled with strengths that result in exactly what it promises to deliver: a simple narrative that also happens to be incredibly moving.