Solo Leveling:ARISE – PC & Mobile Game Review

Solo Leveling:ARISE Review

Solo Leveling is a South Korean web novel written by Chugong, which was later adapted into a popular manhwa. The story follows Sung Jinwoo, a notoriously weak hunter in a world where hunters battle deadly monsters to protect humanity. After narrowly surviving a powerful dungeon, Jinwoo is chosen by a mysterious program called the System, granting him the rare ability to level up in strength beyond any known limits. The manhwa is praised for its engaging plot, stunning artwork, and dynamic action sequences.

The manhwa was such a hit that they further adapted the series into a full anime TV series along with the creation of Solo Leveling: ARISE mobile game. SL: Arise is an action RPG mobile gacha game, available on mobile and PC. Players take on the role of Jinwoo, experiencing his journey and level-ups firsthand. The game features stylish combat, rewarding combos, and perfectly-timed moves. It also includes narrative depth through character interactions and voiced cutscenes. The game-play involves stage-based action combat with various skills and abilities, offering a mix of exploration and intense battles.

Features of Solo Leveling: ARISE

• Narrative Depth: The game includes character interactions and voiced cutscenes, adding to the immersive storytelling experience.
• Replayability: Players can earn free rewards by completing events, episodes, and battle missions within each chapter.
• Visuals and Audio: The game boasts flashy visual effects, amazing artwork, and excellent voice acting.
• Rewards: Lucrative rewards are given for clearing content, which helps with in-game progression.
• Availability: iOS & Android Mobile & on PC via PC Client or Steam

Combat

Solo Leveling: ARISE features a mix of stylish combat that rewards combos and perfectly-timed moves. The combat system is action RPG-based, allowing players to control Sung Jinwoo and other characters directly. Players can perform basic attacks, use various skills, and summon support characters to aid in battles. The game also includes an “Extreme Evasion” mechanic, where perfectly dodging an attack gives a positional advantage. For those who prefer a more relaxed experience, there’s an expanded auto-battle option that lets the system handle combat, field of vision or sub-skills making combat a tad much easier to handle.

Elements

As one would expect from any gacha games nowadays, there will always be elements involved but they are called attributes In Solo Leveling: ARISE. there are five attributes categories, each with unique strengths and weaknesses:

1. Fire: Deals burning damage over time, effective against enemies weak to fire.
2. Water: Can slow down or immobilize enemies, strong against fire-based foes.
3. Wind: Increases agility and speed, suitable for hit-and-run tactics.
4. Light: Deals radiant damage, effective against dark-aligned enemies.
5. Dark: Inflicts shadow or curse damage, potent against light-aligned foes.

Each character in the game is aligned with one of these elements, and their abilities are tailored to inflict corresponding attributes damage. This alignment not only determines a character’s strengths against specific enemies but also defines their unique skill sets and specializations.

Gacha

The gacha system in Solo Leveling: ARISE revolves around acquiring characters and weapons through randomized draws. Here’s a breakdown of how it works:

• Rarities: Characters and weapons come in different rarities, with SSR (Super Super Rare) being the highest tier, followed by SR (Super Rare), and R (Rare).
• Drop Rates: The drop rates for SSR items are around 1.2%, SR items at 8.8%, and R items at 90%. This means SSR items are the rarest and hardest to obtain.
• Pity System: The game includes a “Draw Support” mechanic, ensuring that players receive at least one SSR item after 80 draws. This system helps mitigate the randomness and guarantees a high-tier reward after a certain number of attempts.

Pity

The pity system in Solo Leveling: ARISE is known as “Draw Support.” It ensures that players have a guaranteed chance of obtaining an SSR item after a certain number of draws.

1. Soft Pity: After 64 consecutive draws without pulling an SSR item, the drop rate for SSR items starts to increase by 5.8% with each subsequent draw.
2. Hard Pity: By the 80th draw, players are guaranteed to receive at least one SSR item. This means that if you haven’t obtained an SSR item by your 80th draw, the system will ensure you get one.

Once an SSR item is obtained, the drop rates reset to their original values, and the process starts over.

PVP

Solo Leveling: ARISE offers several PvP (Player vs. Player) systems that allow players to compete against each other; PvP modes include the following:

1. Arena Battles: Players can challenge others in real-time battles to climb the ranks and earn rewards based on their performance.
2. Guild Wars: Players can join guilds and participate in large-scale battles against other guilds. This mode emphasizes teamwork and strategy.
3. Power of Destruction: A leaderboard-based mode where players compete to achieve the highest scores. This mode does not involve direct combat but rather compares players’ performance in specific challenges.

PvP Rewards

Participating in PvP modes can earn players various rewards, including:

• Exclusive Characters and Weapons: High-rarity items that are not available through regular game-play.
• Gold and Essence Stones: In-game currency used for upgrades and purchases.
• Costumes and Skins: Unique outfits for characters that provide aesthetic customization.
• Event-Specific Items: Special items tied to in-game events and celebrations.

These rewards not only enhance the game-play experience but also provide incentives for players to engage in PvP activities regularly.

Cash Shop

Types of Items

1. Starter Packs: These packs are designed for new players and include essential items to help them get started, such as custom draw tickets and essence stones.
2. Premium Packs: These packs offer high-value items, including exclusive characters, weapons, and costumes.
3. Rate Up Draws: Special offers that increase the chances of obtaining high-rarity items during gacha pulls.
4. Diamonds: The premium currency in the game, which can be used to purchase various items and packs.
5. Boost Packs: These packs provide various boosts, such as increased experience points, gold, and other in-game resources.
6. Costume Packs: Unique outfits for characters that provide aesthetic customization.
7. Skill and Blessing Stone Packs: Items that enhance characters’ skills and abilities.

Special Offers

• 1+1 Events: These events offer double the amount of diamonds for the same price, providing great value for players.
• Daily Essence Stone Support: A daily pack that provides essence stones, which are used for various upgrades.

Arise Points

• Arise Points: Players earn 10% of their payment in Arise Points, which can be used for future purchases. These points expire 30 days after they are accumulated.

In quick summary, the game is extremely pay2win and even if you spend a few dollars a month at the game, you will have an overwhelming advantage versus a player who do not spend anything at all. Further, you can expect to get anything you want inside the cash shop, the only limit is as long as you can afford to spend.

Battle Pass

The battle pass system in Solo Leveling: ARISE offers players additional rewards and progression opportunities and there are usually a few different tiers that goes along with them giving you a completely different set of rewards.

• Tiers: The battle pass typically has two tiers – a free tier and a premium tier. The free tier offers basic rewards, while the premium tier, which requires a purchase, provides more lucrative rewards.
• Rewards: Players can earn various in-game items, including custom draw tickets, exclusive characters, and weapons by progressing through the battle pass.
• Progression: Completing daily and weekly missions, as well as participating in events, helps players progress through the battle pass tiers and unlock rewards.

Types of Battle Passes

1. Free Pass: Available to all players, offering basic rewards.
2. Premium Pass: Requires a purchase and provides more lucrative rewards.
3. Deluxe Pass: An upgraded version of the Premium Pass, offering even more exclusive rewards.

Cost

• The Premium Pass typically costs around $9.99 USD per month.
• The Deluxe Pass is a separate purchase and costs more than the Premium Pass.

Rewards

The battle pass rewards include:

• Custom Draw Tickets: Used for gacha pulls to obtain characters and weapons.
• Exclusive Characters and Weapons: High-rarity items that are not available through regular game-play.
• Essence Stones and Gold: In-game currency used for various upgrades and purchases.
• Costumes and Skins: Unique outfits for characters that provide aesthetic customization.
• Event-Specific Items: Special items tied to in-game events and celebrations.

Progression

• Daily and Weekly Missions: Completing these missions helps players progress through the battle pass tiers.
• Event Participation: Participating in special events also contributes to battle pass progression.

The Net Marble game runs pretty smooth on my PC besides the constant loading… while on my Google Pixel 6 Pro, it stutters quite a bit and slightly more smooth but still shutters here and there on my iPhone 15 Pro. As for the steam version, it Q3 2024 release was moved to Q4 2024 then now 2025 so we’ll get there when that ship sails. According to GachaRevenue, the game itself still looks very healthy and looks like it is stabilizing where it should be.

Personally, I still believe there is still huge potential in this game, first they need to fix the constant loading issue, it is the same as Bleach Brave Souls, it is utterly annoying and even though it is a few seconds, it basically loads on EVERY interaction you do. Secondly, you are time-gated hard on everything so when you basically max out for the day/hit a wall, it does take a very long time to progress further unless you pull out your wallet.

Artwork

Solo Leveling: ARISE boasts a visually stunning art style that closely resembles the vibrant and detailed artwork of the original webtoon series. Here are some key aspects of the game’s art style:

1. Character Designs: The characters are meticulously detailed, with designs that capture the essence of their webtoon counterparts. Sung Jinwoo’s weapons and the appearances of characters like Choi Jong-In and Cha Hae-In are particularly striking.
2. Cel-Shaded Graphics: The game uses cel-shaded designs, which give it a timeless and visually appealing look. This style suits mobile displays well and enhances the overall aesthetic.
3. Visual Effects: The combat visual effects are flashy and engaging, making the action sequences more immersive. The effects are designed to highlight the dynamic and fast-paced nature of the battles.
4. Environmental Design: The environments in the game are richly detailed, with a variety of settings that reflect the different dungeons and locations from the webtoon. This adds to the immersive experience and makes exploration more enjoyable.

Overall, the art style of Solo Leveling: ARISE is a significant factor in its appeal, providing a visually rich and engaging experience for players.

Fun

Solo Leveling is a blast, at least for the first few hours every few days before you hit that annoying gear wall. The early game content is super easy, and auto-play handles most of it. But if you’re aiming for all the stars and achievements, you’ll need to play manually because the auto-play AI isn’t the brightest. Honestly, I don’t see Solo Leveling: Arise sticking around long-term since most of these Manhwa turned anime turned mobile games tend to be cash grabs. But for now, while it is fun, and they’re releasing content pretty often, so no signs of it going into maintenance mode just yet, I wouldn’t completely recommend the game to be a must play. Play if you enjoy the series and want additional story content that isn’t in the Manhwa.