Solo Leveling: Review of Arise - moving up the ranks
Our Verdict
Solo Leveling: Arise takes an established IP and gives it the videogame treatment it deserves, immersing you in the tension and conflict of Sung Jinwoo’s reawakening as a Hunter. It looks great, it’s satisfying to play, and it’s not gatekept by heavy-handed microtransactions or battle passes.
You've probably already heard of Solo Leveling and seen the solemn visage of Sung Jinwoo if you're even somewhat acquainted with webtoons or anime. Jinwoo is set to feature in his own live-action game, Solo Leveling: Arise, courtesy of the formidable Netmarble team behind hit anime adaption titles like Tower of God: New World and The Seven Deadly Sins.
I had heard about solo leveling before I started playing this game, but I had never read or seen anything about it, and you really don't have to. Solo Leveling: Arise immerses you immediately in the action, providing you with a synopsis of the world you live in while let the gripping narrative and characters take care of the rest.
To put things in perspective, Solo Leveling: Arise is set in a parallel universe where frightening creatures from the other side seek to infiltrate our civilization via gateways between realms known as Gates. Specially gifted people turn become Hunters, using their skills to defend the populace from this danger. As Jinwoo, a notoriously poor E-rank Hunter with the rare ability to level up and acquire strength, you take on new challenges.
You should be aware that this game may be violent and a little frightening at times. This is mostly because to the creative but wise decision to combine comic book-style panels with conventionally animated conversation windows. I thought the game's tone was well established when you first see the God statue's scary grin fairly early on. Fortunately, you can confront your worries head-on and defeat them since the gameplay and storyline center on you strengthening your power by defeating the evil people.
Animated tale segments and dungeon levels are the main gameplay elements that are combined to create a whole chapter of the story. The closest parallel to previous games I've played is probably the Zenless Zone Zero beta, but instead of having your party members switch between them, your squad of hunters helps Jinwoo fight by acting more like support summons. The visual and aural cues that appear when you successfully breach a boss's guard or barely avoid their strike make the battle itself quite exciting.
Because of the variety of attacks and rapid time events, it might be difficult to touch the proper attack on your mobile device's screen without taking your eyes off the action. For this reason, I advise using a controller while playing. Nevertheless, there are a ton of choices to make combat more user-friendly, such as the ability to totally automate several aspects of your engagements and one-button options for both your attacks and assistance summoning.
Although the tutorial is quite thorough and explains every aspect of each technique, I would have like it to be much shorter in length overall. Solo Leveling: I think Arise binds your hands a little too firmly for too long, but after you get over the first railroady part, you may play as much as you want.
The game runs well on a number of devices and has a terrific visual and tactile experience. More affordable solutions, such as my Tecno Pova 5G, may initially have some visual lag, but once again, the settings menu is your friend. You should be good to go if you experiment with the graphics and performance options to fit the requirements of your device. To enjoy Solo Leveling: Arise as Netmarble intended, you don't require a phone with an absurdly extended battery life—I've even come across a few cautions from the game itself. Remember that there have been a few issues that have forced me to restart the game, but it's difficult to determine whether they are pre-release problems or not.
Since this is a gacha game, it is only fitting that I discuss the commercialization and money systems. I haven't had a chance to experience everything that Solo Leveling: Arise has to offer in terms of battle passes and microtransactions since I've been playing on a pre-release version, but the game's incredibly generous mission, codex, and achievement systems have allowed me to participate in a good number of gacha pulls. You won't be short on cash in the early going, especially if you want to play at launch, as Netmarble is essentially flinging gold, gacha tickets, and other currencies at you left, right, and center if you know where to find. There are freebies concealed in your menu's alerts, so don't disregard them!
All things considered, Solo Leveling: Arise does a great job of exposing new readers to the world and plot of webtoons and anime while being distinctive enough for longtime fans to enjoy the abundance of material. The battle is fluid and engaging, with difficult side objectives that don't seem unfair to fail, and the gacha system appears to be well-balanced and user-friendly for a free-to-play population. It's not really doing anything novel in the live-service mobile game market other from the narrative, but action lovers should give it a try.
With the help of our Solo Leveling: Arise tier list and Solo Leveling: Arise codes instructions, be ready for your own trip through the Gates. See our Tower of God: New World tier list next if you'd like to try one of Netmarble's other games.