Umurangi Generation

Genre: First-Person Shooter / Puzzle / Misc.

Players: 1

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Review:

Umurangi Generation, released on PC in 2020 and brought to Nintendo Switch in 2021, is a First-Person Shooter in the “well, technically” sense that the game is in first-person and you do shoot things, albeit with a camera. However, this is also a Puzzle game in that players are challenged with finding specific things in each environment to photograph. However, shortly into the game it becomes clear that this is a game about more than just taking pictures.

It starts with the game’s tutorial, which teaches you the basics of photography, and how photographs in the game are rated. Frankly, this is generally unimportant – you’re not limited in film, and pretty much any photo you take will earn money, so you can make money through quantity rather than quality if need be. So essentially the opposite of New Pokemon Snap, where you’re limited to using your one or two best photos at the end of each level. However, the tutorial does give you one odd warning – you are not to photograph “blue bottles”, the small creatures you see scattered around that appear to be jellyfish.

Wait, why aren’t we supposed to photograph those, again? And what the heck are so many of these things doing on rooftops?

As you start playing the game proper, you’ll be in a spot on one such rooftop hanging out with friends, checking out graffiti and trying to complete various goals you have been assigned. This is where much of the gameplay comes into play – searching around the environments to find the “photo bounties” described to you on your pause screen. Doing so will sometimes involve trying to figure out just what it is you’re supposed to be taking a photo of, sometimes it will involve trying to get into juuuust the right position to capture the specific kind of shot you’re being asked to do (close-up, telephoto lens, etc.), and a very large part of the gameplay will be trying to find everything you’re tasked with shooting. This means that subsequent attempts at playing the game should be much easier, as you will have already found everything.

However, as you’re taking photos of teenagers kicking it in front of graffiti, or breakdancing in a street full of discarded newspapers with UN soldiers posted at every corner, it will sooner or later dawn on the players that despite the game’s relaxed atmosphere and chill pace, this is clearly a world where something very strange, and probably very wrong is going on. Here’s the thing – you’re a photographer, it’s your job to be observant, so while you’re taking your photos, observe. The way the game tells its story through little bits of observation like this, noticing a massive UN-owned wall bordering the area, or a newspaper headline declaring the US President wants to “Nuke the sh/*t out of them”. And through these bits and pieces of information, players can start to piece together exactly what is happening.

While the way the story is told here is excellent, the gameplay is mostly quite good as well, and at least the first time you play, sniffing out each photo bounty will be a fun challenge that will require good observation and clever deduction not only to recognize what you need to take a photo of, but also how to platform your way up to difficult spots to get unique photos. The attention to detail of the photography in the game is also quite excellent, with lots of little details simulated here, and the game even uses the Nintendo Switch’s gyroscopic motion control to give players a way to subtly tilt the camera if they desire.

It’s not without its issues, though. Beyond the potential of diminishing returns for replay, the walking speed in this game is a bit on the low side. Also, while the game seems to heavily encourage players to do their best to scrabble up to hard-to-reach areas to get better photos, it’s clear that many of the game’s environments don’t account for this, with some of the odd corners of each level you can access being seemingly unfinished.

That brings me to the graphics and presentation, and here Umurangi Generation is bursting with personality, but underwhelming on the technical side of things. Areas are full of color, characters are lively in their movements, and there are tons of little details that make the environment tell a story. However, the characters and environments are low-poly, there’s clipping and pop-in, and everything as a whole just looks somewhat amateurish. At the very least, the game’s chill beats do a great job of setting a relaxed tone, which works well for the game, even though this may be hiding some dark topic matter.

On a final note, I try to toe a line when writing these reviews, giving a good idea what to expect but hopefully not giving too much away when it comes to spoilers. In this review, I’m not entirely sure I succeeded – I fear I could have tipped to either side here, giving too much away or not enough to give a good feel for the game. I suppose if you’re the observant type, you may already have some idea of what’s really going on here.

However, if you are the observant type, that shouldn’t much matter, because that means that regardless of how much you were “spoiled” here, Umurangi Generation is a game for you, because there are so many more little details throughout the game that you’ll have a blast figuring out how it all fits together. And if you’re left scratching your head not sure what all this is getting at, this still may be a game worth your while if you have any interest in photography or uncovering secrets – there’s plenty of both to be found here. And while the game’s visuals may be lacking, and there’s some frustration in the gameplay due to stuff like a slow walking speed, I think that overall you’ll find this to be a rewarding experience well worth trying.

tl;dr – Umurangi Generation is a First-Person Shooter where what you’re shooting is photographs, trying to capture shots of specific “photo bounties” spread across the game’s levels. The gameplay is a great simulation of photography, and finding each photo subject makes for a fantastic puzzle, even if there are some issues here like a slow walking speed and underwhelming visuals. However, the real treat here is the atmospheric dark story players glean by observing the seemingly-relaxed environments. If you’re a fan of environmental storytelling, or a photography enthusiast, this game is for you.

Grade: B

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Most Original, Best Story, Best Misc. Game

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