One of the best satires I've ever played, Umurangi Generation is pointed, angry, and timely. You play as some kid making their living as a photographer, with some basic requests of subjects for photos and a couple of ways to earn bonuses. It all feels a little boring, though. You're making, like, $3 per photo anyways and there's no need for it to be in focus or anything like that in the first place. The game occasionally presents some interesting challenges in the forms of using certain lenses to get into the right position to line up a particular shot, but fundamentally it's clearly not what you're supposed to be focusing on.
What, then, is the focus? Well, really whatever you feel like photographing. The game can save your photos to your computer (or your SD card if you're playing the Switch version) and is clearly trying to goad you into taking pictures that you think are beautiful, or at least something you'd want to share with others. Its goal is to present you with an interesting world filled with things to say and frame.
The cool part, though, is how thoroughly realized your camera is as an object. I love the variety of the lenses it gives you and the ways you get to apply it, like one level where your visibility is limited due to it being a warzone, but you can get a closer look at your surroundings by snapping a photo and raising the exposure way up. It makes the camera feel like an extension of your character’s body, which is the highest standard a “photography game” can aspire to.
In terms of Umurangi Generation as a game in general, however, there’s still some hiccups. For one thing, it does the Katamari thing where most locations are supposed to feel realistic, yet they’re all covered in this thick smegma of trash littered across every square foot of the ground. What’s the angle here, exactly? That neoliberalism doesn’t provide adequate garbage collection, either? Or is it just to obscure the objects you’re looking for in order to fulfill level objectives? It’s got a similar issue with exposition: typically the game’s use of environmental storytelling is exemplary, but rather frequently you still see some graffiti that’ll say some shit like “THE UN IS ACTUALLY AN IMPERIALIST PRESENCE”. It makes me wish the game just had some dialogue instead. Maybe you’d get some conversations with the protagonist’s friends you’d get to read in between levels or something, since in its current form you just get this tactless immersion-breaking nonsense getting in the way of an otherwise excellent story.
I cannot stress enough that these are nothing more than hiccups; they’re blemishes on one of the most memorable games of the last few years. There’s a deeply realized culture to observe within the painstakingly detailed world that you come to explore. Innumerable RPG towns and AAA “prestige tours” are put to shame with the sheer scale of Life contained in Umurangi Generation’s little finger. And yet, there’s something even more remarkable in the absolute direction of the game, the way it manages to move you to feel one particular way about this world and understand what formed it. In summation: videogames own, dude
What, then, is the focus? Well, really whatever you feel like photographing. The game can save your photos to your computer (or your SD card if you're playing the Switch version) and is clearly trying to goad you into taking pictures that you think are beautiful, or at least something you'd want to share with others. Its goal is to present you with an interesting world filled with things to say and frame.
The cool part, though, is how thoroughly realized your camera is as an object. I love the variety of the lenses it gives you and the ways you get to apply it, like one level where your visibility is limited due to it being a warzone, but you can get a closer look at your surroundings by snapping a photo and raising the exposure way up. It makes the camera feel like an extension of your character’s body, which is the highest standard a “photography game” can aspire to.
In terms of Umurangi Generation as a game in general, however, there’s still some hiccups. For one thing, it does the Katamari thing where most locations are supposed to feel realistic, yet they’re all covered in this thick smegma of trash littered across every square foot of the ground. What’s the angle here, exactly? That neoliberalism doesn’t provide adequate garbage collection, either? Or is it just to obscure the objects you’re looking for in order to fulfill level objectives? It’s got a similar issue with exposition: typically the game’s use of environmental storytelling is exemplary, but rather frequently you still see some graffiti that’ll say some shit like “THE UN IS ACTUALLY AN IMPERIALIST PRESENCE”. It makes me wish the game just had some dialogue instead. Maybe you’d get some conversations with the protagonist’s friends you’d get to read in between levels or something, since in its current form you just get this tactless immersion-breaking nonsense getting in the way of an otherwise excellent story.
I cannot stress enough that these are nothing more than hiccups; they’re blemishes on one of the most memorable games of the last few years. There’s a deeply realized culture to observe within the painstakingly detailed world that you come to explore. Innumerable RPG towns and AAA “prestige tours” are put to shame with the sheer scale of Life contained in Umurangi Generation’s little finger. And yet, there’s something even more remarkable in the absolute direction of the game, the way it manages to move you to feel one particular way about this world and understand what formed it. In summation: videogames own, dude