Arise: A Simple Story

 PlayStation 4
Arise: A Simple Story Image
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 112 Ratings

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  • Summary: 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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Arise: A Simple Story Gameplay - 9 Minutes Of Giant Sunflowers & Earthquakes

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. PlayStation Universe
    Dec 2, 2019
    100
    A beautiful adventure that will stay with me forever. Arise: A Simple Story is one story told through amazing animations played through a beautiful world, accompanied by a soundtrack that makes this game a masterpiece in every piece of its design.
  2. COGconnected
    Dec 2, 2019
    85
    Arise is an incredibly powerful story despite it being so simple. It invokes emotions that I would rarely bring with me when playing a video game, and it is refreshing to know that there is a game out there focused on bringing us a heartwarming experience. There are so many elements in the game that work well together, from the color palette, lighting, music, gameplay, and ease of controls. Even without much dialogue or long, extensive cutscenes, Arise is able to tell us a simple story that is vibrant and rich, bringing us an unforgettable and emotional experience.
  3. LaPS4
    Dec 20, 2019
    85
    The work of the Spanish developer Piccolo Studios has used its resources to the fullest and offers in this title an example to follow for the path of video games.
  4. Vandal
    Dec 2, 2019
    80
    Arise is exactly what we expect from the indie scene: something special that can’t be found in AAA. Its gameplay isn’t its biggest strength, but it all works towards conveying emotions –and that’s where it shines.
  5. PlayStation LifeStyle
    Dec 11, 2019
    80
    In some ways, Arise: A Simple Story is perfectly named because it forgoes traditional dialogue or text-based narration for visual storytelling. However, through the inventive environmental game design that pushes the narrative forward to its well-realized and emotional conclusion, there is a complexity to Arise that left me misty-eyed by its affecting story of love and loss.
  6. GameCrate
    Dec 4, 2019
    78
    Arise: A Simple Story is well worth the $20 and six hours you'll spend playing it. Even though it can't seem to avoid problems that plague your typical indie game, the artwork and level design are beyond worth the small investment.
  7. New Game Network
    Dec 6, 2019
    55
    Arise: A Simple Story is pretty to look at, but the moment you have to start playing, it falls apart. A mish-mash of imagery, tone, gameplay, and narrative that seem okay on their own, but fail to come together.

See all 30 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 34
  3. Negative: 1 out of 34
  1. laska00
    Dec 3, 2019
    10
    This is an amazing game. The story, art, music all of it. The atmosphere is mind blowing. just love it.
  2. VrrKdor
    Dec 5, 2019
    10
    This game is a crying machine. I can recommend it to everyone I love it! 10/10
  4. michkonw
    Jan 2, 2020
    10
    Amazing game, beautiful, mature and enjoyable, great music, extraordinary idea and mood. Worth playing.
  5. landryclayton
    Jan 31, 2020
    9
    Fantastic game with a fantastic score. Arise a simple story may be just that a simple story but it tugs on all the heartstrings in all the right ways.
  6. Sargeth06
    Dec 3, 2019
    9
    nice game, and nice story, its wonderfull to play. the game shine's on the visual effects
  7. logicdrip
    Feb 18, 2021
    9
    Amazing game! The story is so heartwarming and you are constantly bombarded with emotions! Although it lacks in gameplay, for example itAmazing game! The story is so heartwarming and you are constantly bombarded with emotions! Although it lacks in gameplay, for example it misses a restart level option ( for those who are after the trophies, and must exit to limbo, and re enter the level which is time consuming ), or the control of the character is unstable in some critical moments ( like when you need to balance in a rock or a tree trunk ) and you keep falling, but overall the story and the atmosphere outweighs the few flaws!!! It's a game worth playing!… Expand
  8. GrumpyReviewer
    Dec 14, 2019
    3
    This is one gorgeous, haunting, little indie game. The setting is beautiful, almost dreamlike. The soundtrack is perfection. Every littleThis is one gorgeous, haunting, little indie game. The setting is beautiful, almost dreamlike. The soundtrack is perfection. Every little thing about this game screams love. It's sad, though, that it offers one of the WORST, most broken platforming I've seen in years. Although Arise is a beautiful game to LOOK AT, it is a CHORE to play.

    I was actually sad to be mad and frustrated at this game; but, after you fall in the same pit over and over and over again it becomes difficult not to hate it. It just seems to be poorly made, rushed, unpolished. There is no fun in falling, dying, missing jumps because of bad game design.

    At the end, I know they wanted to give me a strong story but I'm afraid I could not enjoy it, I was hating this game so much. I just wanted to get it one and move on. It is a shame that such a beautiful game is a pain to play. I simply had no desire to find the collectibles, I was just happy it was over. Art direction and soundtrack 10. Gameplay design 0.    … Expand

See all 34 User Reviews

Trailers

Awards & Rankings

62
#62 Best PS4 Game of 2019
75
#75 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019