Arise: A simple story Reviews
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 a wonderful and colorful journey that shows us that video games can be more than plain entertainment, and they can actually give us some lessons for life.
Review in Persian | Read full review
This is simple story about life, but with great narrative style.
Review in Slovak | 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
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 is largely filled with strengths that result in exactly what it promises to deliver: a simple narrative that also happens to be incredibly moving.
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: 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.
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 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 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
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...
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.
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
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 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.
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
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.
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
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.