Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition
Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition
Game
Game2022
Rise of the Third Power
Developer Stegosoft Games
On the eve of history's greatest war, eight unlikely heroes rise to challenge an empire and change the fate of a continent. Rise of the Third Power is a story-driven RPG of political intrigue, sacrifice, and revolution. From the Steam store page
212 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
86
LovedLoved
165 positive · 26 negative
95% range 81–91%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 165 | 26 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
423 of 472 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
87% recommend · 163 yes, 25 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 188 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (531 of 601 positive).
Players praise the game's story and character writing as its strongest features. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the combat can become repetitive and the pacing feels slow. [4][5][6] A few players mention the character portraits look amateurish. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
Oh my goodness this game is S L O W The combat is pretty solid, if not a bit repetitive, but I'm ten hours in and I feel like I've played for 20. The maps are huge and your character walks so slowly, so there's no incentive to explore - you just want to get to the next location as fast as your characters tiny legs will carry him. Honestly, it's not just the walk speed (which is frequently halved because of difficult …
- [1]
This is a JRPG with really good story telling and fun game mechanics. The plot is actually quite mature, most of the playable characters are really likable with their own interesting backstory. A lot of the dialogue between the characters are humorous. If you like JRPGs you should definitely give this a try. The game play is based on the classic turn based mechanics but with some innovations such as the tired meter …
- [2]
Great JRPG, great game! Fighting is fun, but u should play on a higher difficulty if u got experience with those kinda games... Presentation is wunderfully oldschool pixel art. Soundtrack is amazing and never gets old or annoying! But the best quality of this game are the story and the characters! Did u ever realize how in those japanese JRPGs the story is often that far fetched, that u hardly understand what the …
- [8]
Rise of the Third Power is a very impressive SNES-era style JRPG to be made by such a small team. The character portraits look amateur, but the rest of the game is very much not. Excellent pixel work, excellent music, a surprisingly good story, solid side quests, rewarding skill advancement, and very solid game mechanics. Each of the eight playable characters has a unique skillset and none of them have a generic …
- [5]
Solid JRPG, good story, some very lovable protagonists and some very despicable antagonists. The game does not reinvent the wheel when it comes to the classic formula of the genre, in fact, in some matters is it a bit too simple. The battle system becomes a bit repetitive and monotonous after a while. Still very much worth your time and money if you grew up with the SNES era games of the genre, as it is a lovely …
Summarised from 34 of the 209 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Rise of the Third Power sits at 86% positive across 191 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 212 · most liked firstThis isn't a *bad* game, but it's also not very enjoyable. The main issue I have with it is that everything is very drawn out and takes a long time. I don't mind a long RPG - in fact, I typically love them! - but the length of game play here feels artificially extended. For example, your team levels up as a team and shares one pool of very limited talented points. This could be ok and even interesting if it offered unique ways to customize the team or be forced to make hard choices about…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rise of the Third Power is a confusing game. Confused in art style, setting, narrative, technology, design, etc. Is this game bad? No. Is the game good? Also, no. The game hovers around mediocrity that could have been great with the right decisions during inception. My completion of this game went from fun new game to an academic study of how it went wrong. The pixel art is mostly bright, colorful, and pleasant to view. Issues come in with the layout of the artwork. Certain map pieces can be…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You ever continue to play a game hoping it gets good and your time will magically become worth it? Yep, that's this game. This isn't a bad game. It has many good qualities such as nice pixel art, constant "point of no return" save reminders, and good production values. I did enjoy parts of the battle system and writing too at times. Unfortunately, this game lacks characters I cared about and the battle system grew to be monotonous the more I played. The writing in this game is not bad,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh my goodness this game is S L O W The combat is pretty solid, if not a bit repetitive, but I'm ten hours in and I feel like I've played for 20. The maps are huge and your character walks so slowly, so there's no incentive to explore - you just want to get to the next location as fast as your characters tiny legs will carry him. Honestly, it's not just the walk speed (which is frequently halved because of difficult terrain like water or ladders), the entire game has a pacing problem. Going to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After playing Ara Fell, I was really excited for this one. However, despite trying to expand on the previous game, I feel that there are just a lot of little things that bother me about the game that makes this game sometimes feel like a grind than a fun game - There are so many battles.... even just doing the bare minimum of fighting everything on the way feels like a slugfest - Exhausting system is anti-fun, it causes stress on the player with no fun mechanic added to it, why do you think P3…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not a bad gameplay experience but the story teeters on fan fiction (but is serviceable) until the end. Felt like a pathetic attempt at both a miserable ending and a cliffhanger. Only thing missing was the words "The End...?" Which I guess was similar to Ara Fell. Not going to pretend endings are easy, but if you can't make a good one just do a generic happy ending. This has massive levels of oh so nothing we did mattered ever and everyone is worse off, cool glad I bothered. Only positive thing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rise of the Third Power is a game I want to enjoy playing. Instead I found that a lot of times it was just more rewarding to hit the story option in battle, and ending with a free win, rather than to fight it out. Its unfortunate because when the game started out, it felt like it would have a fresh take on combat, and a little comedy, added with interesting characters, and a fun story. But that all faded quickly...very quickly. It is a nice looking game, back to the 16 bit days style. But…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to like this, especially after really enjoying Ara Fell, but I just can't recommend this one. There were a lot of changes between this game and Ara Fell, some of them positive, but a lot of them quite negative. In addition, some of the more irritating things from Ara Fell stayed in place. First, the positives: The story, at least as far as I got, is somewhat improved from Ara Fell. It's still not spectacular, but it's solidly good, the character writing is decent, and the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm not going to be in depth as this is worth playing. Rise of the Third Power is a good game littered with minor things that detract from the enjoyment of the game. This had the possibility of becoming a classic indy game but for a few things. 1) Music is actually well done, but feels mostly out of place during scenes. For a main character who is a pirate there was no "pirate theme/music" 2) Although I took no issue with the art profiles I found them to be excellent if slightly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a JRPG with really good story telling and fun game mechanics. The plot is actually quite mature, most of the playable characters are really likable with their own interesting backstory. A lot of the dialogue between the characters are humorous. If you like JRPGs you should definitely give this a try. The game play is based on the classic turn based mechanics but with some innovations such as the tired meter and frequent hero swapping. Each of the 8 playable characters is quite…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got this game from humble bundle a while back and regret not playing it until now, this is an amazing game! Also, I can't recall seeing another game that along with having a story mode also has an auto kill option. Sometimes I like to just enjoy the games for their story and not be worried about not being able to make it past boss fights to get to the end. The story in this game is one you will want to see through to the end! Also it works like a dream on the steamdeck, 10/10 ♥
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Here's my #NintendoSwitch #indiegame highlight for today! 🎮👍🏼 Game - Rise of the Third Power Developer - Stegosoft Games Publisher - DANGEN Entertainment Release date - February 10, 2022
neutral · AI labelView post →Great JRPG, great game! Fighting is fun, but u should play on a higher difficulty if u got experience with those kinda games... Presentation is wunderfully oldschool pixel art. Soundtrack is amazing and never gets old or annoying! But the best quality of this game are the story and the characters! Did u ever realize how in those japanese JRPGs the story is often that far fetched, that u hardly understand what the hell is going on, but since u don't get it, it must be brilliant therefore the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This one's been on my backlog for a while as I got it as a present from a friend a while back. Every year since 2024 I'd pick a game to start playing on New Year's Day, and this was my choice for 2026. I thoroughly enjoyed this game and it's one of my favorite indie JRPGs, maybe not Top 5 but certainly within the Top 10. It's not often you find a JRPG set in the Age of Sail with a complex geopolitical situation that broadly resembles Interwar Europe in the 1930s. (It's not often you have a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For those like me who have no idea what this is from it looks like a game called Rise of the Third Power https://store.steampowered.com/app/698700/Rise_of_the_Third_Power/
neutral · AI labelView post →This was a pretty well-written JRPG. There are a lot of towns in the game, but any NPC that sells things or gives out a sidequest has a symbol above their head, allowing you to ignore 95% of NPCs if you so desire. I really like this, sometimes I am just not in the mood to talk to everyone but don't want to miss out on anything, great system! Combat did get a bit repetitive, sometimes having 15 fights in a row that felt exactly the same, and on autopilot I'd make my turns, though that's a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this game on challenge from start to finish and did everything in it. Throught that journey the game want from a 3/10 to an 8/10 many times. Which in a way the steam binnary reviews can be insuficient to explain. In the end the game is a 5/10, some story beats are not well develop and three of the party members i don't like. But the first three you get are the best and the final scenes at the end of the game are great. But what made me decide ultimately for a negative review is how…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty good overall. Cool story with surprisingly good writing. The combat animations are top notch. The characters compliment each other in interesting ways. I think my main issue is probably with exploration. It feels a bit basic and it takes quite a while to get anywhere. Perfect for Steam Desk too.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rise of the Third Power is a very impressive SNES-era style JRPG to be made by such a small team. The character portraits look amateur, but the rest of the game is very much not. Excellent pixel work, excellent music, a surprisingly good story, solid side quests, rewarding skill advancement, and very solid game mechanics. Each of the eight playable characters has a unique skillset and none of them have a generic fight command, so you have to think through a variety of actions. There's also a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fantastic independent RPG. This is up there with Chained Echoes as one of my favorite "JRPG" games of the past years. A complex and satisfying combat system mixed with intricately crafted environments and a powerful story. If you enjoy JRPGs, you owe it to yourself to play this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some of the funniest, best-written character interactions and dialogue that I’ve seen in an RPG recently. While the overall story is pretty standard, you can’t help but be invested in the journeys of the various characters as you progress through the game. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a straightforward, character-driven RPG that doesn’t drag out for too long.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Story line is one of the best, comedic, great emotional ride, easy mechanics to understand, beautiful art style. Lovely and magnificently built game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid JRPG, good story, some very lovable protagonists and some very despicable antagonists. The game does not reinvent the wheel when it comes to the classic formula of the genre, in fact, in some matters is it a bit too simple. The battle system becomes a bit repetitive and monotonous after a while. Still very much worth your time and money if you grew up with the SNES era games of the genre, as it is a lovely homage to those games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A delight from start to finish. Kind of reminds me of golden sun or similar era JRPGs. Enjoyed it, well worth the time and price!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simple but great RPG. Nothing really new or outstanding but the story is fun and easy to follow. Loved it from beginning to end. Took me 46 hrs to beat but it can be done sooner. The game play isn't rocket science and it shows that they wanted to tell the story more then the mechanics. The game can be a bit linear at times. Especially the first 2/3 of the game. Towards the end it opens up to some backtracking to get all the top gear and talents. Note: If you have played previous…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Eh, it's the epitome of an OK game. For a retro-inspired RPG title, it does a lot of things decently, but that's usually the extent of it. Lots of things are more than serviceable, but nothing is particularly excellent.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very enjoyable, compact JRPG, with an engaging political story, solid battle system, and simply FANTASTIC music. I was looking for something to fill the gap left after playing Sea of Stars and Chained Echoes, and whilst not _quite_ up to the very high standards of those two, it hit the spot to a surprising extent. Recommended!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game features charming pixel art, pleasant music, and a decent UI. Character sprites are well-crafted—unlike the character portraits, which are outright awful. While the overall story is alright, the characters are dull and, at times, downright irritating. I really tried to like them, but they’re written in such a one-dimensional way that it feels like they were created by a teenager. The biggest issue with the gameplay is its complete lack of evolution. From start to finish, you’ll…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got Rise of the Third Power because I loved Ara Fell. Wish Steam had a numbered rating system instead of just yeas or no. I'd give this game a 7/10. The music, pixel art and battle system are great. Loved mixing up the characters and using the different skills. My main beef is with some of the side quests, particularly Aden's Childhood and The Rezkovs were annoyingly short and unsatisfying. Made me wonder why they were even included. Also the character art for the dialog windows are really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you're a fan of 90s-style retro JRPGs and find yourself yearning for more after playing Chained Echoes, this game might be the perfect fit for you. Although it attempts to modernize the turn-based combat system, it doesn't quite match the intelligent choices made by Chained Echoes. However, it compensates with exceptionally well-written characters and occasionally hilariously funny dialogue.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't normally write reviews, but I feel compelled to for this game. It's a gem. The writing and characters are fantastic, an easy 10/10. Great sense of humor, too. I have to dock it a few points because one of the 8 party members doesn't feel very fleshed out outside of being comic relief and I think the pacing goes off the rails in the last hour or so. The other 29 hours were spectacular, however. Which is another thing, the game is only about 30 hours long (~5 more if you want to 100%…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really just a very boring game. When you're not being railroaded into linear story, or trying to figure out where you are in a frustrating map design composed of 20,000 different "screens" combined into one area, you're fighting the exact same enemy comp over and over and over and over again to advance to the next dialogue, obstacle course,. or something else that gets repetitive really quicky. Maybe this would have been a good game 20-30 years ago, but not 4 years ago.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Close to excellence - faster movement speed would be nice, among other nitpicks.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoyed the game. It's the perfect 40 hour JRPG that I have been looking for, for a long long time. The music is really nice too because I actually had to pick up my guitar and play along (as best I could) to some of the tracks.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very average jrpg, large maps are annoying and missable stuff. Exhausted mechanic doesnt add to the game. I stopped playing after sewers and the intro was too long.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing sequel, based over 1,000 years after ara fell. Although, I feel left without closure at the end, I loved how the characters grew and overcame. Would love to see continuation of this game, either sequel or prequel would be fantastic. Would love to have more closure for the ending, to know what happened.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has one plain and simply problem. It tries to be dark but does so by having everyone either be A, unlikeable or B, miserable. Which I mean, some people enjoy that... I don't get why though.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For me, I’ve got a couple. Ara Fell is an RPG I enjoyed and admittedly still need to do the studio’s follow up game Rise of the Third Power!
neutral · AI labelView post →Avoid this game like you’re five at the playground and a mustached stranger sits on the bench grinning at you — the exact moment every parent suddenly remembers why they paid for pepper spray. Alright, so let me explain how I got bamboozled into this mess. I’m scrolling the Suikoden forums, minding my business, and some wannabe intellectual, probably sitting in his mom’s basement with fingerless gloves on, goes: “Is this game anything like Rise of the Third Power?” and some other turd goes…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The meme is: "'Video games cause violence' Based on the last game you played, what are you getting arrested for?" This time I'm playing Rise of the Third Power, so, yeah, definitely gonna get charged with some serious shit I guess, but it's for preventing war and sabotaging rising nationalism, so.
neutral · AI labelView post →Great game, good dialog, good story, good combat.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Indie game checkpoint!!! You are now obligated to share one of your favorite indie games! Rise of the Third Power captured that feeling of Final Fantasy VI’s world of balance. That’s the best way I could describe it ❤️
positive · AI labelView post →This is one of those games one starts, and can't stop doing until the end. Because there is SUCH GREAT STORY TELLING. So much better than in most real Japanese JRPG s – Soul Hackers 2, Trails of Cold Steel IV, I'm looking at you. Because those mentioned JRPGs have huge impressive 3D graphics and videos all over it but have not much of a story to tell. Soul Hackers 2 has totally flat characters; ToCS IV dragged the promising story line of its predecessors into a lengthy boring mess. The Rise…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The music is really good. The in battle sprites are good. The difficulty levels are nice, with a story mode to let you cruise through it. The problem is that the story is not very compelling. After two hours I have two people I have no idea who they are kidnapping a third and then escorting her through a very long and tedious sewer level. Having a sewer level in general is a bad idea and having it be the first dungeon and having it go on for ages, it's not very smart design. Then after I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Holy moly, the music in this game was crazy! No idea what music this good is doing in this game, but I loved every track! Game was a typical JRPG, interesting enough story, exciting plot points, combat stayed interesting the whole 20 hours it took me to finish up the game. Overall I'd recommend the game to someone looking for a good JRPG to sink some time into.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let's be frank: The game doesn't reinvent the wheel in any way. The game mechanics are pretty standard, but still pretty engaging. I'd say the game's story is by far its best feature. It kept me engaged and interested. You often find that moment during a RPG where you go "Ok, I played too long to stop, but is the game really worth finishing at all?", and this thought never came to mind with this game. I really enjoyed my experience and I do recommend you give it a try. :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Top tier character writing, and a really strong balance of serious story with comic relief. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much playing a jrpg, it's really a shame it isn't voice acted. You'll definitely encounter some typical jrpg tropes, but there's a lot of tongue-in-cheek and fourth-wall breaking humor where I think the writer really shines. Best game feature in my opinion is story mode, which allows you to basically Game Genie your way through all the battles by instantly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a great game. The dialogue is interesting and cheeky. The gameplay is amazing. And the plot has many twists and turns. I am hoping that the developer has another game in the works as i would purchase it sight unseen based on this game and Ara Fell.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →>Can also recommend Ara Fell and Rise of the Third Power for a retro jrpg itch. Seconding these, both excellent. For another indie FF-like I'll add Crystal Project.
neutral · AI labelView post →softlocked 3 hours into the game with no way to heal and a mandatory boss fight next.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, fantastic RPG. Suffers from a lot of the same bugs that plagued games during this generation, e.g. Rashim's wife's sprite has a beard. An NPC references their wife, despite having a female sprite. One of your companions is missing his gender. "Rashim" is a companion. (Ara Fell had no such bugs) Apart from that, my only nitpick was I wish there was more hidden rooms. Fantastic RPG otherwise, and I hope not the last in the Ara Fell universe.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rise of the Third Power is a pretty great game. Trails too! I got: Dead Island 2 Tails of Iron Mohrta Quartet Frameland Wandering Sword Kingdoms of the Dump (playing now and it's great)
positive · AI labelView post →I immediately followed it up with Rise of the Third Power which has become legitimately one of my favourite RPGs I've ever played. This game is REAL good. I was sad to learn the writer has moved on from games, but this is one hell of a legacy to leave behind. moegamer.net/2025/09/28/r...
positive · AI labelView post →Ara Fell! Very much a hidden gem RPG and I still need to do Rise of the Third Power myself (dev's follow up game)
neutral · AI labelView post →Best of Both Worlds; Vintage 16-Bit Era Feel with Modern Sensibility Good story and dialog without having excessive verbiage (most of the time). Item pickups are usually fairly and clearly placed; rarely do you have to inspect unmarked titles. Same goes for item/equipment effect descriptions; the vast majority are clear and easy to understand. All characters are combat capable (though obviously some are better than others). Enemies are visible in the overworld so you have some agency in how…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stegosoft has become a studio I await for future releases.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yep, that's a hidden gem right here. Just play it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic RPG that gives you many characters with different playstyles. Combat feels quick and fun. When you have a big party I tend to just focus on my favorites, but here switching up you party often is encouraged. Upgrading your team also feels fun and rewarding. After Ara Fell another great game by Stegosoft Games, looking forward to what they will create next!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun RPG with a good cast of characters This game was made in Unity but looks and feels like a top-tier RPG Maker game. The story is good. There are a good variety of party characters and they are all useful in one way or another depending on your playstyle. There are two things in this game that remind me heavily of [Lunar: Silver Star Story]. The humor - Party members are always bantering with one another and the NPCs The Towns - Towns in this game are large and open with tons of NPCs to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall a decent RPG. Would recommend buying it on sale as I do not feel like it is a $20 game, I put in just under 27 hours of game time to get every achievement with the exception of beating the game on expert difficulty. The only real con in my opinion as that I do not feel like the ending is complete. It is hard to explain that without going in to too much detail as a lot of games have open endings so the best way I can put it is that the conflict does not ultimately get solved. So…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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