Arise: A Simple Story

Arise: A Simple Story on Xbox One is a brilliantly devised game and it’s been a huge pleasure to play. It’s a splendid wordless story with a perfect amount of gameplay hours for the price, and it’s right up there with the very best games I’ve played this year.

Even with some stumbles, Arise is a game that knows what it wants to communicate, and does so with delicacy and sensitivity. I’ve found individual scenes coming back to mind frequently since I completed the game, most notably the moving sequence that closes the game. Accept the dilemma of a few bad jumping sequences, and push toward the emotional core, as this simple story has a lot of wisdom to share.

Arise: A Simple Story is an exploration game, platforms and puzzles in which Piccolo Studios invites us to know the life of our protagonist after his death. Through beautiful and hard-working scenarios we will advance controlling the time and environments at will to solve the different challenges that are presented to us. Varied in mechanics to the same end Arise: A Simple Story knows how to tell a story without making use of a single note or audio, still knowing how to reach the hearts of the players.

Arise: A Simple Story is a game that coasts on its gentle visual language. It’s a good option for those looking for a family-friendly game.

Despite its issues, there’s no question a lot of love has gone into Arise. This is a deeply personal story of love and loss, a point hammered home by affecting end credits where the team leave little messages of gratitude for their loved ones. Though this pumped-up OAP may stumble along the way, his time-tweaking quest ultimately rises above. [Issue#186, p.74]