Journey-like adventure Arise: A Simple Story will launch on PS4 this December 3, taking us through the stages of the afterlife.
Developed by Barcelona-based Piccolo Studio and published by Techland (Dying Light, Dead Island) the simple story of Arise concerns what happens after you wake up dead. Having climbed off your funeral pyre, it's time to relive some of your happiest memories and most devastating tragedies in a bittersweet recollection of life.
In keeping with the theme of ThatGameCompany's Journey, there's a light at the top of a snowy mountain beckoning you ever onward through your adventure in limbo, and the colorful yet minimal art direction evokes much of the sparse landscape the hooded figure travelled through in what was clearly a representation of the journey on after you die.
In the PlayStation Blog post accompanying the announcement of Arise during last night's State of Play event, developers Piccolo Studio described the circumstances that led them to thinking about death: starting their own studio.
"We needed to take a leap of faith and reclaim the spark we’ve lost somewhere along the way," wrote Alexis Corominas, general manager at Piccolo. "Next thing we know, we’re quitting our jobs. That’s how a small company we named Piccolo Studio was born, and Arise with it.
"Reflecting on our own lives directly inspired our game, so it’s only natural that it deals with self-reflection. This is a deeply personal project for us, a part of our own journey as we pursue our dream. The story we tell in Arise is important to us and the fact that we have years of various life experiences (not unlike your own, I imagine) helped a ton."
Arise: A Simple Story will cost $19.99 when it releases on the PlayStation Store on December 3