Arise: A Simple Story

About

Arise: A Simple Story is a single player and multiplayer platformer game with a drama theme. It was developed by Piccolo Studio and was released on December 3, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Set out on an emotional journey through the bittersweet lives of two people where memories come alive and time bends to your will. Lose yourself in moments of happiness and overcome every hardship as you relive your life’s story. A story of joy and sorrow. A simple story.

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91%

Audience ScoreBased on 993 reviews

story319 positive mentions

grinding9 negative mentions

Emotional and touching story told through beautiful visuals and a haunting musical score.
Innovative and well-executed time manipulation gameplay mechanic that creatively integrates puzzle-solving and platforming.
Stunning art style and atmospheric environments that enhance the narrative and overall immersive experience.

Controls can be clunky and imprecise, especially with jumping and climbing mechanics, leading to player frustration.
Fixed camera angles limit perspective and contribute to difficulties in judging jumps and platforming, causing frequent deaths.
Game length is relatively short and some players find collectible hunting and achievements tedious or frustrating.

story
777 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
58%
1%
Arise: A Simple Story delivers a deeply emotional and touching narrative about love, loss, and the passage of time, uniquely told through visual storytelling and a haunting soundtrack without any dialogue. While the story itself is straightforward and intentionally simple, its artistic presentation, evocative music, and symbolic gameplay resonate powerfully with players, often eliciting strong emotional responses. Despite some criticism of its simplicity and platforming mechanics, the game's story is widely praised as a beautifully crafted, heartfelt journey that lingers long after completion.
- “Arise: a simple story is a game that lives up to my expectations.”
- “Arise: a simple story is a touching, emotional tale about the life of a man and his wife.”
- “The art style perfectly complements the emotional tone of the story, which is told wordlessly, relying heavily on visual storytelling to convey the character’s journey through love, loss, and hope.”
- “The story is quite generic and, maybe because of the excessively melodramatic and ever-present background music, it failed to elicit any sort of emotion for me.”
- “My problem with it is that having to look for collectibles to discover most of the story made me so worried about missing them that I just couldn't enjoy the journey. Sadly, I didn't find the levels enjoyable enough to justify going back to search for any missing collectible.”
- “The story does take a surprisingly dark turn I was not expecting that I give it credit for, and its explorations of grief, loss, hope, love, and perseverance are subjects I think more games should address, but something about the delivery here is far less profound and insightful than the game keeps patting itself on the back for as it drags on and on, beating you over the head opining that it really is that deep before taking a pretentious bow expecting to be showered in roses and uproarious applause.”
gameplay
382 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
56%
4%
The gameplay of "Arise: A Simple Story" centers on a unique and well-executed time manipulation mechanic integrated with platforming and puzzle-solving elements, providing varied and creative challenges across each level. While the mechanics are generally intuitive and complement the emotional narrative, some players find the platforming clunky, with frustrating controls and fixed camera angles that can hinder precision and enjoyment. Overall, the gameplay is simple but engaging, enhancing the storytelling, though it may not satisfy those seeking complex or polished platforming experiences.
- “The core gameplay mechanic revolves around the manipulation of time, which is ingeniously woven into both the puzzle-solving and platforming elements.”
- “The gameplay continuously morphs and evolves throughout the game, with most levels having a new mechanic that interacts with the main mechanic: moving time forwards and backwards.”
- “Arise: a simple story is a stunning emotional journey that captivates with its unique gameplay mechanics and beautifully crafted narrative.”
- “The right joystick controls the time mechanic so you can't adjust the camera angles, making platforming frustrating.”
- “The locked camera made some jumps impossible, and the jumps seem predetermined; if you try to do your own thing, you'll often fall off cliffs or rocks.”
- “The gameplay became a real drag, eventually leading me to uninstall the game after level 3 due to frustrating mechanics and controls.”
music
360 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
37%
1%
The music in this game is universally praised for its emotional depth, beautiful composition, and seamless integration with the story and visuals. It enhances the atmosphere, effectively conveying the game's themes of love, loss, and memory through a soulful, often orchestral soundtrack that resonates deeply with players. Many reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature that elevates the overall experience, making it a memorable and moving journey.
- “The soundtrack is the voice of this game that helps to progress and express with divine instrumentals.”
- “Complementing this visual beauty is an evocative musical score that perfectly captures the emotional spectrum of the journey, from joyous moments to sorrowful reflections, making the entire experience resonate on a deeply human level.”
- “The gorgeous visuals work perfectly with the beautiful music to tell a powerful, wordless story that just hits you right in the feels.”
- “The story is quite generic and, maybe because of the excessively melodramatic and ever-present background music, it failed to elicit any sort of emotion for me.”
- “The music is rather generic piano/strings music supposed to create emotions in a rather dull way.”
- “Looked like a decent game but I don't want to be forced to listen to the in-game music, I have my own.”
emotional
310 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Arise: A Simple Story delivers a deeply emotional and heartwarming narrative about love, loss, and the passage of time, conveyed through stunning visuals, evocative music, and subtle, wordless storytelling. Players often find themselves moved to tears by its poignant themes and beautiful atmosphere, though some note that the simple story and occasional frustrating gameplay may temper the experience. Overall, it’s widely praised as a touching, immersive journey that resonates long after completion.
- “The entire experience is a quiet, emotional journey through the memories of a man’s life, and it’s told in such a beautiful and thoughtful way that it stays with you long after you finish it.”
- “Told almost entirely without words, the very human tale is told through beautiful, minimalist visuals that are thick with metaphor, small watercolor drawings, and an exquisite soundtrack that punctuates each scene and acts as the emotional hook and anchor.”
- “Arise: a simple story is a breathtaking journey through life's highs and lows, beautifully crafted with stunning visuals and a touching narrative that resonates long after the game ends.”
graphics
222 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
29%
1%
The game features stunning, minimalist visuals with a painterly, low-poly art style that perfectly complements its emotional and narrative tone. Reviewers consistently praise the beautiful, atmospheric graphics and lighting, describing the visuals as captivating and evocative, often likening them to living paintings or Pixar-quality animation. While some note the graphics are simple rather than groundbreaking, nearly all agree they significantly enhance the storytelling experience and, along with the soundtrack, form the core appeal of the game.
- “The art style feels like a living painting, and the lighting and colors perfectly match the emotional tone of each chapter.”
- “The gorgeous visuals work perfectly with the beautiful music to tell a powerful, wordless story that just hits you right in the feels.”
- “This game has the most beautiful graphics I have ever seen, it's like you are inside a Pixar movie, truly excellent!”
- “The graphics are nothing special for me.”
- “Another "minimalistic graphics" cute-ish adventure.”
- “Unfortunately the pretty visuals and music do not compensate for the unresponsive mechanics (I had to constantly reload the checkpoint after using the grappling hook once because the second time it wouldn't work, and I got stuck on the second chapter because the character would not jump high enough on the cobweb) :/”
atmosphere
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
44%
The game excels in creating a warm, immersive atmosphere through its beautiful, atmospheric music and visually striking art style, which deeply enhance the emotional and narrative experience. Players praise its calm, cozy, and sometimes melancholic tone, with the soundtrack adapting seamlessly to the story’s moods, making the game feel more like a poignant, artful journey than a traditional gameplay-focused title. Overall, the atmosphere is consistently highlighted as a standout feature that profoundly engages and moves players.
- “The soundtrack and atmosphere of the game are some of the most beautiful I have experienced, especially the lake/lilypad level.”
- “Puzzles were phenomenal, I loved the way to play the game, and the music, atmosphere, art, and everything about it had my jaw dropping, mesmerized.”
- “The design invites players to pause and absorb the scenes, allowing the atmosphere itself to communicate mood and narrative depth.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
Grinding in this game is widely described as tedious and slow, often disrupting the flow and immersion. While the art and core mechanics receive some praise, the pacing and design flaws make the grinding feel monotonous and frustrating for many players.
- “This game is sort of cute and creative... until you reach level 9, where all design flaws turn it into boringly tedious nonsense.”
- “Highly mediocre and uninteresting puzzle platformer with tedious and at times frustrating time manipulation mechanics.”
- “Honestly, the gameplay felt a little tedious as your character feels like they run and move so slowly in such vast environments.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The game offers limited replayability, mainly appealing to players interested in collecting memories and achievements or completing levels without dying. Its short, linear structure and brief playtime restrict replay value, making it primarily a one-time experience unless pursued for completionist goals.
- “The game holds some replayability through collectible memories and achievements that require interacting with level elements or completing levels without dying.”
- “There is replay value in that, especially for players aiming to collect all collectibles.”
- “Infinitely replayable.”
- “Additionally, the game’s linear structure and relatively brief playtime—typically around four hours—may leave some wanting more content or replayability.”
- “I also wouldn't say the game has much replayability either apart from trying to get all of the collectibles.”
- “With that being said, it's 3 hours long and has no replay value (unless you want to collect achievements, I guess), so I recommend buying it on sale.”
stability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
89%
The game's stability is mixed, with many users encountering persistent bugs such as grapple hook malfunctions, achievement glitches, and frustrating gameplay interruptions, especially in later chapters. While some found it mostly bug-free and enjoyable, others spent excessive time troubleshooting issues that detract significantly from immersion and overall experience.
- “Overall, it is a solid, rather bug-free game with an alright story and a neat way to approach co-op.”
- “I was then able to get past these glitches by decreasing the graphics settings to 'medium' and that worked until level 8 where you have to use the grapple hook twice in a row and nothing works to resolve it.”
- “Yet they still continue to sell this buggy game without a resolution to a seemingly simple problem.”
- “I spent maybe 4 hours playing, while the rest of the time I was on forums troubleshooting issues that the developers themselves should have fixed a long time ago.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The game boasts excellent optimization, delivering smooth performance with a consistent 60 FPS and no notable bugs or glitches. Its simplified art style contributes to efficient resource usage, resulting in a polished and well-performing experience.
- “The uevr injector works like a charm with this game's simplified art style, avoiding the dire performance woes of the more photo-realistic games.”
- “Performance: constant 60 fps without facing any sort of bug, glitch, or issue.”
- “Performance and polish are great; apart from platforming, the game plays very well.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is subtle and reflective, often highlighting ironic or bittersweet moments rather than overt comedy. It balances well-told storytelling with moments of levity that underscore deeper themes like loss and joy. While some issues raised by players remain unresolved, the humor encourages appreciation of the precious, funny moments within the narrative.
- “It is funny that one of the production companies is "Untold Tales" because the concept of boy-meets-girl and both defined by biological children is anything but untold; yet, this story is well told for what it is.”
- “With that knowledge, we should hold on to each joyful, funny, loving moment we experience.”
- “Loss is a funny thing because in order to feel it, you must have something originally.”