Review: Solo Leveling Arise Hinders A Hunter’s Journey With Technical Issues

Solo Leveling Arise is a mobile game that beautifully adapts the popular manhwa, Solo Leveling. Since its initial release, the app has become the highest-grossing app in 79 countries. The game is shown in a motion comic format derived directly from the beautiful art of the original manhwa and provides a truly amazing presentation of Sung Jinwoo’s world. However, a great game always comes with flaws.

Although Solo Leveling Arise has a lot of potentials, it is too early to say that it will be an amazing game because of some issues. In this review, I will discuss the game from every perspective, focusing on what makes it good and what has room for improvement if it is to become an all-time favorite.

Story

Solo Leveling Arise is a treat for the senses. The story is presented as a combination of motion comics and original Manhwa art. It’s a good way to follow the comic-book-style story and see it from a new angle. And the voice acting that makes the characters even more alive. One minor nitpicking I have is the power scaling that is noticeable at times. The time it takes to get to the next part of the story can get annoying too due to this issue.

Luckily, side stories accompany the main ones that add to the world and set up further conflicts along with some new Manhwa art that’s always a treat for my eyes. Moreover, the game modes, such as the Encore and Instance Dungeons, are side quests with almost no barrier to the main story, so there is a lot to do to focus on the game.

Gameplay & Performance

The core gameplay of Solo Leveling Arise is solid, offering a fun mix of action and variety in combat. Unfortunately, the game is marred by a frankly surprising number of technical issues. The most annoying of the bunch is the fact that the game frequently pauses due to loading screens, causing a jarring stop-and-start experience. There is also a bug that pauses player movement when the player runs into dungeon bosses, and it can lead to very avoidable hits.

Furthermore, the hit detection doesn’t feel all that satisfying. Several times I was hammering away at the boss of a dungeon and my attacks would hit from all sorts of odd angles and pixels, yet once the attack was coming out I couldn’t alter its direction. Additionally, the controls seem to suffer from some dead joystick syndrome. All of these issues combined make for a less enjoyable experience than I expected.

Immersion

Technical issues aside, this brings us to immersion. The consistent use of loading screens, bugs halting your progress, or straight-up crashes all stop you from getting a real feel for the world, and that’s a problem exacerbated by monetization. Netmarble could have gotten away with a battle pass, as it’s far more palatable than this.

When free-to-play players receive no exclusive cosmetic items other than the ones available on account creation, Netmarble’s game feels rather off in its free-to-play offerings, to say the least. What, at its core, is a game about a Manhwa that focuses on the main character leveling up, suffering from a lack of extra means of acquiring experience points beyond the completion of missions, assuming those aren’t finished with full objectives.

Concluding Remarks

While the other technical issues and design decisions are a bit perplexing and troublesome, Solo Leveling Arise undeniably has a lot that could be great about it. It tells a fine story tactfully, offers some decent core gameplay, has a lot of content, etc. In the end, if it’s currently popular, then Netmarble has something great on its hands if it can just put some more polish into it.

Issues The Game Needs To Fix ASAP

Here are some solutions that could truly amplify Solo Leveling Arise:

• Optimization: Streamlined loading times and bug fixes would be key to keeping players coming back for more.
• Hit Detection: Proper hit registration isn’t exactly a difficult fix, but it would make seamless combat near-perfect.
• Monetization: Free-to-play players shouldn’t feel punished for not spending money; there should be easier ways to gain cosmetics.
• Post-Completion Rewards: If mission objectives have already been completed, they should still offer EXP for doing so.

Hopefully, with the right dedication and more community feedback, Solo Leveling Arise can recover from its current shortcomings and blossom into a mobile game that’s truly worth your time, whether you’re a Manhwa enthusiast or someone who has never even heard of Sung Jinwoo. The real question is, will the devs Arise to the challenge? We’ll have to wait and see.

Read More:

• Steam: 10 Best Architecture-Style Backgrounds Under $0.05
• Review: Arknights Is A Fantastic Tower Defense Gacha Game
• I Miss The Times When Games Came In Full Package Rather Than Broken Mess Filled With Microtransactions