Arise: A Simple Story
First published in GRIND II, pages 62–63.
A simple story, or rather an emotional rollercoaster
Among my favourite activities lately — or, if I stop and think about it, more like over the last year and a half — is 'Game hunting', or in Romanian 'Vânătoarea de jocuri video'. It's a hobby more contagious than a seasonal virus, but it can be just as dangerous. And here I'm thinking mainly of my wallet, and sometimes of my relationship with my wife or girlfriend.
Anyway, that's not what I want to write about now, but about what I managed to hunt down and drag into my den (on the sofa, ofc) so I could enjoy a few hours like the true alpha gamer I am. So there I was, tapping away on my Nintendo Switch Lite (my favourite hunting weapon of late) on the eShop, when an unfamiliar but interesting cover caught my eye: 'Arise', it said, and something about a 'Definitive Edition'.
Automatically, my gaze then jumped to the price: $4.99 (about 25 of our little lei). And I thought, 'hmm, my kind of price', but at that moment I was lured away by another title that left its mark on my childhood: Supaplex. I skipped Arise in favour of the circuit-loving orange ball, but that's a story for another GRIND. Shortly after this mini-adventure I went back to the eShop — and since I still had some spare change on Revolut, I thought I'd pick up Arise too, believing it was actually a sequel to Old Man’s Journey, a title I haven't played yet but is on the list.
Spoiler: the two games aren't related, they just borrow a bit of the same art style and the same main character, an old boy with a white beard. And no, it's not that old boy! Ho, ho, ho...
I admit I don't normally play this kind of cinematic title, but I can confess that Arise: A Simple Story won me over after the first 2-3 minutes of play. What did I like? Well, starting with the aesthetic side, meaning the graphics, which I consider... how shall I put it... very soft and simplistic, without too much detail, but which feel a little like animation or concept art. Together with the music and the story, they blend perfectly. It reminds me a bit of the animated film Klaus on Netflix.
Arise scores very highly in the storytelling department, which is why I'd rather not spoil anything and leave you to experience it for yourselves. What I can tell you instead is that Arise has a very interesting puzzle mechanic that lets you switch the seasons (the environment) in real time, carving your way through the realm beyond.
What else is great about Arise: A Simple Story is that you can play it with a friend, which makes the gameplay experience even more enjoyable.
To finish, I'd like to recommend a few more titles similar in style to Arise, starting with the well-known Journey, then Old Man’s Journey, and last but not least Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.
Leo Luția
The Definitive Edition of Arise comes bundled with a series of bonuses, all of them tied to the Nintendo Switch platform. What exactly do we get? I'll start with the coolest thing: a 110-page artbook with sketches and very nicely presented concept art, enough to give you an idea of the work the guys and girls at Piccolo Studio put in. Alongside the artbook, which can be viewed from the game's main menu and also downloaded to PC as a PDF, we also get 18 soundtrack tracks, Photo Mode and gyroscope support on Switch.
Even though I'm part of the (cool) gang of guys who prefer their games in physical editions, I don't turn down a good deal too easily, even if it's digital only.
Come on, for 25 lei it's not bad.
May they be well received, I say!
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