Despite having a few bugs, and a few parts being a bit broken - I loved Umurangi Generation.
It's pretty much everything that I would personally want in a game. Beautiful Jet Set Radio-esque graphics, a kickass soundtrack, a variety of beautiful settings, and a general fun gameplay loop that's somewhat addicting. The progression in this game is great too, as you get more and more options, until you eventually can pretty much create any photo that you could ever dream of.
But it's the themes of this game that truly blew me away. So much fantastic visual storytelling, as we see a progression of a war from the perspective of a journalist, whose only voice in the world is the photos that they take. There are some seriously jaw-dropping moments throughout this game, and especially in the unreasonably good DLC, which has 4 of the largest levels in the game. The dedication at the end of the game is what really tied it all together for me, and made this into one of my favorite examples of 'games being art.'
Umurangi Generation is a game I will jump back into multiple times, but nothing can ever compare to the feeling of first exploring it's beautiful, yet tragic world - jank n' all.
10/10
Game #12 of 2024, February 18th
It's pretty much everything that I would personally want in a game. Beautiful Jet Set Radio-esque graphics, a kickass soundtrack, a variety of beautiful settings, and a general fun gameplay loop that's somewhat addicting. The progression in this game is great too, as you get more and more options, until you eventually can pretty much create any photo that you could ever dream of.
But it's the themes of this game that truly blew me away. So much fantastic visual storytelling, as we see a progression of a war from the perspective of a journalist, whose only voice in the world is the photos that they take. There are some seriously jaw-dropping moments throughout this game, and especially in the unreasonably good DLC, which has 4 of the largest levels in the game. The dedication at the end of the game is what really tied it all together for me, and made this into one of my favorite examples of 'games being art.'
Umurangi Generation is a game I will jump back into multiple times, but nothing can ever compare to the feeling of first exploring it's beautiful, yet tragic world - jank n' all.
10/10
Game #12 of 2024, February 18th