UG has been a bit of a gamble for me. I’m not really into photography games and I’m not knowledgeable about the subject in real life either. Many games allow you to take pictures on the side, I tend to mostly ignore this function because it feels pointless without any objectives. The negative reviews focusing on the tight timer, unclear objectives, janky gameplay and bad controls also had me spooked. And yet I feel very happy for getting the game against all odds. It seems as if the game is misunderstood with some of the claims.

The game has 8 stages and 4 DLC stages. Each stage has a couple of main objectives that you have to do to complete a stage. The main objectives are taking pictures of something unique related to each stage. There are also optional objectives that are always the same regardless of the stage. You can think of earn x money with your pictures, find x amount of film canisters etc. Each stage has at least two camera tools to unlock. One is for completing the stage and the other is for completing everything, including the optional objectives, in one go. This means getting it done within 10 minutes. I usually HATE timers in games but it’s really not bad here. You can perfectly ignore the timer and take as long as you need. You can even turn it off from showing in the options menu. You can attempt it after exploring a stage thoroughly. It’s easier than it sounds because the stages are not big at all. It’s easy to get everything done quickly once you know where everything is. In fact, I’ve had instances where I’ve (almost) done everything on my first try once I understood how the game accepts the pictures taken. It’s also better to unlock some lenses early before attempting the timers because they will make things FAR easier.

This makes UG feel like an arcade game. None of the objectives you did before are remembered, so you’ll always have to do them again. But it works because you’ll always have the lenses and other tools you unlocked plus remembering what you did before. It also does an excellent job of giving you an idea of how actual photography works. This along with making the gameplay and progression system fun, while informative, impresses me a lot. Some people mentioned how the objectives can be unclear or how some screenshots are not being accepted while they should. This has not been my experience for the most part. Some of those pictures are required to be taken with certain lenses, you’re shown the icons in the objectives menu and it was mentioned in the tutorial. It makes it feel like those people missed these important aspects. The controls are also fine with mouse and keyboard. It’s similar to an FPS with some minor differences for the most part. The complaints were mostly about the controller, so do keep that in mind. The game looks and sounds like a Dreamcast game a bit. I’m slightly reminded of my time playing Jet Set Radio. The achievements are enjoyable to get too. There are some creative ones that might get annoying to figure out but the game has tons of guides to help out with that.

The criticisms regarding janky gameplay and a few bugs are valid. Sometimes you jump really high when you go up the stairs. Jumping can also not work when you’re too close to objects. These are the kind of janky gameplay problems that can be dealt with and avoided once you know how they trigger. The UI is not the best. It feels clunky but it can get the job done. In terms of bugs, the speedrun achievement does not work. Right now you can either go back to an older version (it’s introduced with the last update), use SAM or pray the devs will patch it at some point. It doesn’t seem like the latter will happen since the last patch we got was in 2022. The game also has weird performance issues but it’s not something I’ve seen others mention. So it might be my set-up in combination with the changes I’ve made in the options menu. The game has a kind of annoying and pretty constant stuttering. It’s worse in certain stages and can disappear after a while. None of this is solved by forcing 60fps through Nvidia.

UG is a required taste. Not everyone is going to put up with the lack of polish. But what it does is unique and it does it really well. I paid €1,85 for the game and DLC when it was on sale. It’s definitely worth it. The normal price for both is too high but they’re worth considering when they’re cheaper.

post-apocalyptic games usually take on a much... darker tone. granted, that makes a hell of a lot of sense; the world ending isn't exactly a laughing matter. but it's interesting to take a look at a post-apocalyptic game that doesn't take on an explicitly grim view about the end of the world.

now, that's not to say umurangi generation isn't cynical; in fact, it's extremely extremely obvious that the collapse of society was accelerated due to poor decision making by the UN. but the game looks at the end of the world from a more reflective tone. what will the end of the world look like? how do people still manage to keep their lives somewhat together in a world falling apart?

umurangi generation has problems, sure. the game's physics are pretty janky, and the objectives feel... out of place, at times. but the game thrives where it needs to; creating an excellent atmosphere, better than almost any game i've played in a long, long time.

dedicated to the umurangi generation - the last generation who has to watch the world die.

It's incredible how heavily the narrative of "for a game about observation the timer is really polluting the entire experience" as if the timer isn't only a necessity in the pursuit of a perfect file and as if the levels aren't designed with the intention of replayability. You are only as limited by the timer as you feel the need to be, and I think that speaks volumes more about the individual than the game's arbitrary score attack elements.

That said Umurangi Generation isn't a perfect game by any means, namely dragged down by jank controls and sometimes awkward placement of objectives that feel as if they intrinsically limit creativity behind the player's approach. Yet overall the game's stellar visuals, themes, and especially the soundtrack are indisputably all bangers. There's a clear Evangelion influence present that took me by surprise, but wholly welcomed, and I believe it's perfectly encapsulated by the set pieces in a way that generates an extremely eerie atmosphere that is wholly unique to itself. It provides the player with the inescapable sensation of being a spectator to something much greater, and Macro further expands upon that with some of the best levels of the entire game in my opinion.

It's a short, tight experience that I don't regret at all.

I really dig the aesthetic but the janky controls and clumsy movement really make this game hard to enjoy. Played the game without the Macro expansion so I was a bit disappointed by the impossibility to tweak your aperture, shutter speed and ISO, as it's a photography game, so to speak. I also found the post-processing options really lackluster. Moreover, the first two levels are absurdly small and can be traversed in their entirety in a matter of seconds. First impression was kind of terrible, so I preferred to refund the game and move on rather than sticking to it and waiting for it to reedem itself.