Arise: A Simple Story Review Summary

Emotional and touching story: The story is described as emotional, heartfelt, and touching. It conveys deep emotions and is praised for its simplicity yet profound impact.

Beautiful visuals and art style: The game is praised for its stunning and beautiful visuals, including landscapes, environments, and artistic style. Players appreciate the gorgeous graphics and beautiful illustrations.

Amazing soundtrack and music: The game's soundtrack is highly praised for being beautiful, evocative, and fitting the on-screen events perfectly. Players appreciate the orchestrated and atmospheric music.

Innovative time manipulation mechanic: The game features a unique and interesting time manipulation mechanic that players find well-executed and enjoyable.

Enjoyable and engaging gameplay: The gameplay is described as enjoyable, straightforward, and engaging. Players appreciate the good gameplay mechanics and dynamics.

Poor and frustrating controls: Many players find the controls unintuitive, difficult, and frustrating. The keyboard controls are particularly problematic and can lead to many deaths.

Platforming and jump issues: The platforming and jump mechanics are criticized for being imprecise, inconsistent, and frustrating. Players also report issues with depth perception.

Camera angle problems: Fixed camera angles can be misleading, frustrating, and obscure the path. Players also cannot adjust the camera with the mouse.

Inability to restart or replay levels: Players are frustrated by the inability to restart or replay levels, which forces them to restart the entire game to collect missed items.

No key remapping: The game does not allow players to remap keys, which is inconvenient for players with different keyboard layouts or preferences.

Core time manipulation mechanic: The game features a central mechanic involving time manipulation, allowing players to control and shift time as part of the gameplay.

Innovative and simple gameplay: The gameplay is noted for being innovative yet simple, combining puzzle-solving and platforming elements in a relaxing and story-driven manner.

Platforming mechanics: The game includes various platforming mechanics, such as jumping puzzles and climbing sections, which are integral to the gameplay.

Puzzle-solving elements: The game features various puzzle-solving elements, including environmental puzzles and time-bending puzzles that are integrated into the gameplay.

Narrative-driven experience: The game offers a narrative-driven experience, focusing on the story and emotional engagement, often told through the protagonist's memories.

Performance issues reported: Multiple players have reported performance issues, including laggy performance and the need for optimization. Some players have also mentioned that lowering graphic settings did not help with performance issues.

Steam Deck optimization: The game runs well on Steam Deck according to several reviews. One review specifically mentioned that the game is well-optimized for Steam Deck in Russian.

Stable performance for narrative indie: One review noted that the game has stable performance for a narrative indie game, which could be a positive aspect for players interested in this genre.

Save file issues: Some players have encountered issues with save files, although specific details about the nature of these issues were not provided.

Good VR performance: A review mentioned that the game has good performance on VR, which could be beneficial for players using virtual reality headsets.

Emotional and story-driven experience: The game is highly recommended for those who enjoy emotional, story-driven experiences with beautiful visuals and music. It is often compared to games like Gris and Journey, and is praised for its touching, meditative narrative about love and loss.

General recommendations: The game is generally recommended for its overall incredible experience, interesting mechanics, and attractive landscapes. It is also recommended for its strong platforming skills and good coordination.

Worth buying on sale: Many players recommend buying the game during a sale due to its low volume and to get the best value for money.

Play with a partner: The game is recommended to play with a partner or friend for a shared emotional experience and to enhance the gameplay.

Cozy puzzle game: The game is recommended for those seeking a cozy game with puzzles and an emotional story. It offers challenging puzzles and an impactful narrative.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00.

Game completion: 6.0h.

Story completion: 4.0h.

Session length: 1.5h.

The game starts slow but becomes enjoyable as players progress, with its emotional and atmospheric elements being the main anchors of fun. Co-op mode enhances the experience.

Reported time to anchor: 30m.

Friction: Initial slowness; Technical issues; Repetitive platforming sections.

Emotional Story Seeker: Immersive and reflective, focusing on the story and emotional journey. Motivation: Emotional engagement and narrative depth. Stance: buy.

Completionist Collector: Thorough and meticulous, aiming to complete every part of the game. Motivation: Completing all achievements and collecting all items. Stance: sale.

Platforming Puzzle Enthusiast: Strategic and skill-based, focusing on mastering the game's mechanics. Motivation: Enjoying the challenge and mechanics of platforming and puzzle-solving. Stance: deep sale.

Steam Deck: The game has significant issues with its control scheme, which multiple users have described as clunky and frustrating. Additionally, the puzzles are considered too simple by several users, and there are reports of performance drops on the Steam Deck. There is also a mention that the game is not suitable for small screens like the Steam Deck, indicating potential compatibility issues.

Linux and Proton: The game generally runs well on Steam Deck with Proton/Linux compatibility. There are minor performance issues reported towards the end of the game, but they do not severely impact the overall experience.

Not intended for kids: The game contains content that may not be suitable for younger audiences.

Support for the studio: Players expressed their support for the game studio.

Mild instance of nudity: There are mild instances of nudity in the game.