13/07/2022.

Umurangi Generations

The modern world is a scary place. We’ve had the worst pandemic in a century; global warming reaching critical mass; terrorism, the rise of fascism, and that’s just scratching the surface. The modern world is a scary place, and more and more, that reality is being reflected in the world around us. In the realm of video games, there seems to be a resistance to really depicting this stark world we live in… but in some ways, the subject of this review represents a kind of turning point for depictions of our world. Umurangi Generations is far greater than the sum of its parts, turning its serviceable photography mechanics into an exploration of the world we’re living through this very moment - a twisted, fantastically terrifying depiction of what could be coming next.

Umurangi Generations is one of the many, many games I would’ve missed if not for Xbox Game Pass - that, and the recommendation of one of the cool people I follow on Twitter. At a glance, it didn’t quite fit my general vibe; I enjoyed its general aesthetics, but photography isn’t really my forte when it comes to video games. Nonetheless, I gave it a shot, willing to give it a level or two before I decided if I was in for the long haul (or short haul, considering this game’s length).
It’s been a while since a game clicked so quickly for me - from minute one, I was pulled into its aesthetics, its sound design, its story… everything about Umurangi Generations captivated me in an instant, turning a game I expected to ‘just’ enjoy… into one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had in years.

At its heart, Umurangi is a photography game. For each of its various levels, the player is tasked with taking various shots of certain subjects, perhaps with a particular lens or whatnot depending on certain stipulations. These could range from taking a photo of a group of boomboxes, to catching a snap of an unbelievable, eldritch-tier horror. So, y’know, normal stuff you’d go out and take photos of.

Why, just last week I took a snap of a dark god reaching down to pluck Melbourne off the Earth itself. We all have, right?

As you complete both tasks - the aforementioned mandatory tasks, and a number of optional jobs - you’ll earn currency which is essentially your points score; taking photographs with strong composition, a large number of subjects, or a variety of effects utilizing the games' many lenses will net you a higher amount of money. As far as I can tell, cash doesn’t innately do anything for you overall - you’ll have some tasks in most levels to earn ‘x’ amount of money, but there isn’t any kind of shop or anything to spend your hard-earned cash on.
Instead, you’ll earn new lenses and mods for your camera by completing levels of the game for the first time, performing specific actions in certain levels, or completing 100% of the tasks in each of the game's handful of stages. You’ll earn all the important ones - you know, wide angle lenses, bloom effects, stuff like that - from just playing through the game naturally, but if you want some of those weirder effects - like some super specifics hacks for you camera - you’ll have to go for the 100%, which can be a little more frustrating than it’s worth.

Replay value is mostly tied to the game’s optional side-content, usually consisting of replicating the photograph of a postcard, taking a photo of your squad of friends, and finding hidden rolls of camera that’ll refill your actual, in-game film stocks. I enjoyed the actual photograph-based side objectives, since it was actually, y’know, tied to the main point of the game? Plus, finding the player’s squad of friends - which includes a penguin! He’s a very good boy, just so you know. Anyway, finding out what your friends, who are in every stage, are up to is always good fun, and hunting out the postcard photos is always an enjoyable experience. I’m less positive on hunting down the rolls of film, and by extension the limited amount of photography you actually have on you. Whilst there is value in getting to thoroughly explore these beautiful levels, you’d be doing the exact thing when you’re searching out the various tasks to complete the photo orders. They just felt there to pad out gametime and make you take your shots more carefully. Like I said, the main draw to going for full completion of each area is the extra tools for your camera, but honestly I felt pretty satisfied with the tools I got. Though, I must say that after a little bit, I was less playing this game for the photography, and more for the immaculate vibes, so if you’re waaay more into photography then me, your mileage may vary, and you’ll feel more motivated to get those crazier parts.

As an aside, it should be noted that Umurangi Generations is not a very long game; completing the main story will probably take you less then two hours, though there are a number of extra levels to play through, and the aforementioned bonus tasks. However, despite this short stay, Umurangi Generations' positives outweigh its minor flaws. Seriously, this game might stumble in some small areas, but where it soars… Well, let’s just get into it, shall we?

No element of Umurangi draws me in more than its level design. Every element of an area, every NPC, piece of terrain, even the textures are all in service of depicting a world slowly teetering, and then plunging over the end. It’s slow progression from an upbeat, naturally colorful environment - your character just -living- in the moment with their friends, which slowly makes way to a genuine sense of unease, as an unknown… something seems to take hold of the world. Darker graphical aesthetics, neon-drenched, military-infested city streets, blood red skies… Umurangi rapidly depicts not just a time of war, a time of sickness, but the very desecration of the world around us.
Simply put; this game is nothing short of gorgeous. It’s restrained usage of cyberpunk themes and aesthetics, feeling innately sci-fi but simultaneously not detracting from its ‘grounded’ roots.

I’ve heard some people describe Umurangi Generations as having a bit of a ‘background’ story, where you’re inferring the state of the world by environmental details and whatnot. I couldn’t disagree more with this idea. My take on this game is that it’s the other way around. The photography is the ‘afterthought’, the ‘background’ element of the game. The world, the environment, the people - this is the gameplay of Umurang Generations, an exploration, a documentation of the world falling apart around you. If anything, it’s a stark depiction of how a generation - my generation, perhaps? - trying to have one last good time, one last party, in the face of total extinction.

This active, environmental story is beautifully told, weaving together a narrative that invites you to partake in viewing the end of a world far too similar to our own.

NPCs have the most unique style of the bunch, having this kind of ‘low-detailed, high-detail’ aesthetic to them. Characters shapes and expressions are simple, but the developers have done an incredible job posing them and just incorporating them into the various environments to tell a wordless story; a man, hunched over a table on a train to nowhere; a soldier, bleeding out as his allies fire on an unseen enemy; the player’s friends, having one last get-together before what very much seems like the actual end of the world. This world’s inhabitants are the ones who carry the weight of the world, and the weight of its story on their shoulders. Just watch as they’re beaten down, more and more, as the world crumbles around them.

With music composed by Adolf Nomura, better known online as ThorHighHeels, who coincidentally is one of my favorite Youtubers, from the first whisper of the world “Umurangi” at the main menu, Umurangi Generations OST lulls you into an almost ‘audio flow state’. It’s hard to put into words how the music of this game made me feel, being so low-key and chill that it was almost as if it wasn’t playing at all… if that makes any sense (it probably doesn’t). The best way I can describe the feeling the OST has is that it’s ‘the soundtrack of the world’. It accurately conveys the sliding, runaway effect of the world’s demise without having an outright dower or downbeat soundtrack - Level 5 is the only level who’s soundtrack genuinely elicited a sense of notable stress in me, whilst the rest gently - yet noticeably - coaxes out the latent existential dread that I’m sure exists in each and every one of us.

This ‘audio’ flow state translates to the game’s sound effects, most of which are simply the sound of your camera’s shutter, and the relaxing, endorphin-inducing noise of your objectives being ticked off, one at a time. Umurangi Generations audio experience is, for the most part, rather low-key, but if it was any more in-your-face, I don’t think it would’ve contributed to the fantastically eerie atmosphere I’ve not seen replicated anywhere else.

I won’t spoil the final ‘level’ of the game, but I will be honest; of all the games I’ve played this year, nothing has given me such an innately emotional and existential reaction than Umurangi Generation’s final moments. This is a game made by people innately aware of genuinely fucked things are on our planet; they depict it in a more fantastical way, but it does nothing to deaden the sheer impact of this game’s message. The meaning of the phrase ‘Umurangi Generation’ struck me to the very core, and its ideal has resounded through my mind at least five times a day in the weeks since I completed this game. Beautifully eerie, existential haunting, Umurangi’s Generation might be amongst the greatest endings to a game in a year, bringing together its entire narrative in one single, gut-punching moment.

For me, the best video games are the ones that make some tick inside me. Games like Nier: Gestalt play like ass, games like Spiritfarer can be repetitive, and games like Elden Ring can feel bloated and overlong. The one thing that unites these three games - and Umurangi Generations, alongside it - is that they each made me feel something innate and personal. Nier: Gestalt and Spiritfarer brought me to tears with its incredible, emotional finale. Elden Ring brought me back to my childhood, giving me a world the size of how, say Super Mario 64 -felt- to me as a child. And Umurangi Generation, more so than any game… maybe ever, made me think about the world around me… if not in perhaps the way I wanted.

Maybe not the way I wanted… but perhaps, in some ways, how I needed to feel.

Umurangi Generations is not perfect. At times, with how frustrating it can be to find certain items to snap, it can even verge on unfun if you’re going for full completion. But Umurangi Generation is, perhaps more than anything else I’ve played this year, unique and nessercerry. A harrowing reminder of the world we’re created for ourselves, all packaged in a gorgeous, engaging package. Umurangi Generations is a game I ask anyone who's read this and had even the mildest urge to try it out to go and grab it right now; it’s an experience more than a game, and it’s an experience amongst the most important I’ve played in a long, long time.

Umurangi Generations is available on PC, Xbox One and Series S/X, and the Nintendo Switch.

Thank you for reading.