Born to Rise

About

Born to Rise is a single player platformer game with fantasy and dark fantasy themes. It was developed by ESAT and was released on July 11, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

To complete Yridis' mission, you'll have to make your way through the bowels of a vast underground dungeon filled with unique environments, deadly dangers and mysterious beings. Jump, dash and give the enemies you encounter their due thanks to powerful weapons.

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81%

Audience ScoreBased on 42 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

stability6 negative mentions

Beautiful and original art/visuals with great level design and atmospheric music.
Fun and fast-paced gameplay with solid movement and combat mechanics.
Engaging story and aesthetic that stand out among similar platformers.

Incredibly buggy with technical issues including awkward controls and broken aiming mechanics.
Very short experience with little content and repetitive enemy encounters.
Lacks polish and refinement; bugs, poor optimization, and missing features frustrate players.

gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
52%
16%
Gameplay in the game offers solid core mechanics with enjoyable fast-paced action and a useful aiming-down feature, though aiming and controls can feel janky or unresponsive at times. Some players note repetitiveness, lack of complexity in enemies and bosses, and occasional bugs or obscure visuals that detract from immersion. Suggestions for improvement include clearer combat feedback, added counter mechanics, and enhanced enemy design to increase depth and mastery.
- “Besides some minor bugs (getting stuck in some walls or getting hit randomly), the gameplay was fun and the mechanics were solid.”
- “Aside from this, it was a good gameplay experience which may accommodate a fast-paced playthrough that I found myself trying and enjoying.”
- “I can't stress enough how much I love that they have the ability to look down as well with the S key; that's a mechanic that is far too often overlooked.”
- “Whether it ends up being good will probably hinge on improving the mechanics for contact damage (knockback and clearer indication please) and more complex enemy design with clear attack telegraphs.”
- “Other than that, the gameplay is repetitive, boring, and I don't feel like I've accomplished anything.”
- “Too many critical bugs that force you to restart the game, holes in the map, too many objects in the foreground that obscure the gameplay, and the enemies look awful.”
story
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
43%
19%
The story received mixed feedback, with some praising its interesting design, potential, and ability to engage players, while others found it mediocre, poorly written, or boring. Despite shortcomings in storytelling and voice acting, many appreciated the combination of story and aesthetics as key draws of the game. Overall, the narrative shows promise but could benefit from further development and polish.
- “Alright so, I played and finished this game rather quickly and faster than anticipated. I installed it with the intention of taking my mind off some personal issues and I must say I found myself really entertained. The game has potential and I found it really fun to dash around and fight the monsters that actually have an interesting story to them.”
- “I truly believe these two (aesthetic + story) are the captivating points, capable of drawing players in to experience the concept and distinguish it from other games.”
- “Love the mix between the interesting and solid story with the fast-paced gameplay!”
- “The graphic settings do not function; there's a bug that completely removes your ability to use any abilities. The aiming is incredibly buggy and flicks around randomly, making aiming impossible. The story is absolute nonsense and a bore.”
- “My biggest gripe is that the storytelling was mediocre and the voice acting was mediocre as well. The sound audio balance was off (couldn't understand what the VAs were saying even with my volume up). The story was there but felt like it wasn't written by someone who had a storyboarded plot in mind.”
- “Hardly a success story; gamers just weren't all that interested in the game.”
graphics
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The graphics are praised for their impressive visual quality, appealing art style, and strong character design, showcasing notable talent from the developers. However, issues such as unpolished camera work, buggy and nonfunctional graphic settings, and poor optimization detract from the overall experience. Despite these technical flaws, the game's aesthetic remains a compelling and distinctive highlight.
- “Absolutely the students behind the visuals and art assets got an A+, and I really hope they have gone on to full-time employment as professional developers so their obvious talents can be put to good use.”
- “The high visual quality of this platformer must be leaving amateur devs who can't work out how to do 3D graphics shook.”
- “Cool character design and overall nice graphics.”
- “The graphic settings do not function, they completely don't work. There's a bug in the game that removes your ability to use any abilities, the aiming is incredibly buggy and flicks around randomly in rapid movements making aiming impossible.”
- “Very badly optimized and the graphics settings are useless.”
- “I must say, though, the high visual quality of this platformer must be leaving amateur devs who can't work out how to do 3D graphics shook.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is significantly hindered by numerous bugs, including problematic physics, unresponsive graphic settings, and erratic controls that impact aiming and abilities. These issues result in a glitchy, unstable experience that detracts from gameplay despite some enjoyable elements.
- “Incredibly buggy menu, incredibly buggy game in general, weird floaty controls.”
- “The graphic settings do not function, they completely don't work, there's a bug in the game that completely removes your ability to use any abilities, the aiming is incredibly buggy and flicks around randomly in rapid movements, making aiming impossible.”
- “At its current state it is a 0.5 hour buggy tech demo of a not particularly good game.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music is praised for perfectly matching the game's ambience and enhancing the overall atmosphere, making the experience more immersive. It is considered impressive, especially for a student project or free-to-play game.
- “The music matches perfectly with the ambience and is a nice touch while playing it.”
- “For a student project or a free-to-play in general, it plays exceptionally well. The voice acting is really well done, the music is nice and fits the atmosphere, and it has a story to boot.”
- “The hit boxes are good, and I love the movement and music.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's monetization is viewed positively, especially considering it is a student project, and is seen as more genuine and less exploitative compared to common asset flips and cash grabs on Steam.
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The character development is highlighted by cool and visually appealing designs, supported by overall nice graphics that enhance the game's aesthetic.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is poorly optimized, with ineffective graphics settings that do not improve performance.
- “Very badly optimized and the graphics settings are useless.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect is impacted by frustrating mechanics where touching enemies causes damage regardless of their actions, leading to a sense of unfairness and irritation rather than engagement or empathy.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is praised for its impressive quality given its status as a student or free-to-play project, featuring well-executed voice acting, fitting music, and an engaging story.