Arise:
A Simple Story
Review

Arise: A Simple Story (2019) is a narrative game about an old man living in a pre-agricultural tribe. He has just been cremated and as get travels to the next life, begins a pilgrimage of revisiting memories of his life.

As the memories change so does the landscape. From childhood to adolescence, falling in love, partnership and trials. You progress through these metaphorical worlds by running, jumping and solving puzzles. There's a different twist on these interactions in each location.

Sometimes you need to control the damage from an earthquake to find a safe path forward. Other times you switch between different times of his life and manipulate time puzzles to proceed. The logic is straightforward but you do need some patience to navigate the platforming.

This combines to tell a touching story about the passing of a life and how friendship and other people are an important part of that.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Arise: A Simple Story 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 8 months ago.