Arise: A simple story Reviews
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 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
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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 – 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 lives up to its namesake, telling a captivating tale full of charm and heartbreak that hit me right in the feels. It's an experience I won't forget anytime soon, and while there are a few flaws, they cannot outweigh what a meaningful experience this turned out to be, and I couldn't recommend it more.
‘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.
Not much negative has been noticed. In the game there is only one collectible in the memories. Unfortunately, these small works of art only minimally awaken the discovery value of remote places, so you don't always want to deviate from the main path. Sometimes the controls get a little stuck and the camera perspective is not always an advantage, because some distances to be crossed are not easy to estimate and more often you fall into (deadly) darkness. So you often start again from a memory point. But these are set very fair. Frustrating moments did not occur. Since there is also the possibility of local co-op mode, I will definitely play it again. The two of you will take this emotional journey once again and enjoy the story to the fullest. One player controls the man and the other manipulates time. So you have to trust and coordinate with each other. A certainly beautiful, but also challenging journey. With Arise: A simple story you get for 19,99 € an atmospheric game, which becomes a real surprise with an emotional story, exciting gameplay and loving details.
Review in German | Read full review
Arise : A Simple Story is a simple game from both story and gameplay perspectives but it is this simplicity that makes all the different parts of it come together and make it a unique experience.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Arise: A Simple Story is another example of the excellent health enjoyed by the independent Spanish scene, capable of developing products (such as the aforementioned Rime, GRAY, Etherborn ...) that work in the playable, but also in the narrative, in the technical and artistic. If you are one of those who, like me, believe that the greatest emotions grow from the simplest stories, do not hesitate and embark on the adventure of love and death that this game poses.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Arise offers a beautifully crafted narrative in the skin of a 3D puzzle platformer. Though it’s not a game-changer, Arise manages to excel in everything it offers to the player providing a well-refined experience.
One of the biggest surprises this year and and the great debut of the Spanish studio. Arise: A Simple Story is a beautiful artistic game that also offers interesting storie and challenging gameplay.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Arise: A Simple Story has done something no other media has done to me in quite some time, send me on a rollercoaster of emotions. The game’s environments are visually very pretty and often quite quirky, while the musical score is truly moving and compliments the game perfectly. While the time manipulation concept is nothing new, it is done very cleverly and makes for some interesting platforming sequences. Platforming precision may be a minor irritation but it doesn’t impede the overall experience in the slightest.