While I think the story, music, and a majority of the gameplay is beautiful, I do think the third level "Away" and the collectibles deter me from giving the game a higher rating.

With "Away," the sound design was too grating to my ears at times when having to stop time, making my speakers click or pop a lot. Not to mention, collecting the 7th memory is unnecessarily difficult in the Definitive Edition. I never played the OG version, but when watching a walkthrough to get the memories for this level, I saw how there were platforms and ledges you could climb on that were absent from the Definitive Edition. Instead, you have to carefully balance yourself on the log as it's falling. And a lot of the time, when I tried to move my character, he would go in the opposite direction and just fall. This change to me is not an improvement, but a downgrade. It was also this level that I started using guides to be able to collect the collectibles since they contained important story/character beats. This was mainly because I started to realize that you don't have the ability to backtrack or re-enter levels (at least, that was the case for me). The only way to backtrack is by quitting the game and restarting, which I find reductive. I would've much preferred playing the game without needing to get the collectibles, but because they carry a lot of weight story wise, I can't go and ignore them.

With that said, I say this game is a good game to play if you want to experience it as an art piece. But if you want to spend money on it, better to get it when it's on sale.

Quando comecei a jogar Arise, estava à espera de uma narrativa emocionante que, de certa forma, servisse como metáfora para a vida real: cheia de momentos positivos e negativos, mas onde sentimentos como amor e felicidade acabam por se sobrepor a tudo. A verdade é que o jogo consegue abordar esses aspetos e a história é, de facto, emocionante. No entanto, lamento não ter conseguido uma imersão total no seu mundo devido à jogabilidade e aos desafios que são bastante frustrantes.

Desde os movimentos lentos e controlos pouco responsivos e até confusos, até à enorme fragilidade da nossa personagem, que não consegue sobreviver a coisas banais, como pequenas quedas, a experiência acaba por ser agridoce. Os visuais e as expressões minimalistas, por outro lado, são pontos fortes do jogo e ajudam imenso a trazer uma certa simplicidade que torna a aventura única e tocante. Tiro o meu chapéu à equipa responsável pelo estilo artístico, pois nesse aspeto, Arise é soberbo.

No final de contas, Arise: A Simple Story, oferece uma boa experiência, sendo ideal para quem tem pouco tempo para investir diariamente em jogos, mas deseja uma narrativa cativante. No entanto, poderia ter sido um pouco mais polido em certos pontos.

Arise: A Simple Story is exactly that, a simple story. The intellectual who reviewed this game before me compared it to the movie "Up" and damn that fits all too well. Like in Up, you grow attached to an old man venturing through unorthodox paths to tend to his forever-enduring bond with his lover. The most hard-hitting moments are absent of dialogue. Each chapter represents a pivotal moment in the character's life and the artwork, level design, and music all come together to encapsulate the emotional moment with pinpoint accuracy. The time control mechanic is cute and adds perspective beauty to all the environments. What stops this game from sinking its claws into your long-term memory are some of the fine-tuned details that uplift your standard title. Unfortunately, the camera's movement and your character's fall damage are inconsistent during platforming segments. While the game is pretty easy and is super safe with its checkpoints, dying in key moments will tamper with your attachment to one of the game's strengths, melodic pacing. Associated with dying is Arise's weird blend of following one-note linear paths all while enticing exploration for collectibles. It's a good idea, it's just that the mechanics can be dissuasive towards trying to find them off-the-beaten-path. The collectibles are cute hand-drawn images providing some context to your character's past, but the game needed to take a bigger leap with this idea. Most of the drawings provide very little in the way of adding narrative perspective and don't feel as rewarding to collect. I would've also loved a more interactive and established-level hub that adds more definition to the title. The game is pretty short and there's nothing to stop you from speed-running through it outside of your willingness to physically stop and soak in the moment. An adventurous level hub would level out the pace from chapter to chapter. Also, more levels and pivotal life moments, in general, are needed to pump up the game's narrative length. The last 2-3 chapters aren't enough to express one's second half of life. The gameplay could've also proved to be more challenging or thought-provoking to keep players more intrigued with their progression. Arise is as advertised in its simplicity, but maybe the developer's willingness to step out of their comfort zone would've proved quite fruitful. Nevertheless, this was the first game crafted by an amateur game studio, so props to them for the creativity and success.