Umurangi Generation

Great vibes. Great art. Great photography options. Unfortunately, finicky goals and bugs spoil the party.

I would love to give it a "Neutral" but I can't really recommend it. The visual artstyle is fantastic, imagine being a civilian in the world of Jet Set Radio X Evangelion. You take photos, that's a plus but so far the positives. Negatives: The options show you controls that do not work in the game, it say Q is Autofocus, no it's actually leaning. There is no Autofocus, most of the stuff the game tells you is possible are locked behind different items which the game never clarifies. If you choose the minimal UI, it doesn't show you how to set the focus. While the controls tell you something about pressing X or V or whatever, it does nothing. At no point does it explain to you that you set the focus by holding shift and then using the mousewheel, unless you DEACTIVATE minimal UI. The objectives are buggy as hell, I can stand in front of what the game wants me to photograph but no luck, especially with the "Skull and Knife" found multiple of these graffiti, nothing counted. Lots of objectives require certain lenses with the game never tells you, I highly recommend a guide. It never tells you when a mission is complete, you figure it out by youself but first you have to go trough all objectives. The option says you can deactivate a timer... there is no timer in the game? I do not like how the levels are build, nothing seems logical or fun, it all feels like an open Gmod sandbox server with people building stuff from trash. Requires a lot of crouch jumping or double jump (in this game) and you will get stuck... A LOT. Some of the photos require you to do some weird angles and you don't get a fun photo experience, it's a glitchy guessing game in the end and the required photos are rarely aesthetic... It feels like a project the dev wanted to really make but then it got left aside, not fixing even the most basic things and it's really really really a shame.

I like this game, its short and sweet. A high recommendation if you are the type of person to look around in the map to find out more about this world, because environmental storytelling is this game's strong suit. Also a huge compliment to the soundtrack, a cool radio style with different track switches that are also exclusive to a stage. A good 7/10. Now for more detail, the game is a bit janky. You will have some collision trouble and trouble, also it is very short for its price. While the DLC does add some quality levels id recommend to buy it on sale since they practically add it for free. Im mixed to recommend you to buy it now or either in a sale. The game is good if you are one to deviate from the objective and take some time to look around, so if you are really into that just buy it, otherwise wait for a sale. If you are the person just to go straight to the objective im sorry this game might not be for you.

Pretty good and easy 100% that really cements a love for photography in you while giving you plenty of environmental details that tell this worlds story. Best to see what that story is for yourself.

Here's the problem with Umarangi generation: It's 99% aesthetics 1% gameplay, and I'm not sure if the ratio isn't 100-0. If you boil Umarangi generation to what it TRULY is from a gameplay perspective, the game is an FPS hidden object game, where instead of finding and collecting items per level you find items to take pictures of per level. I have only gotten to the level 3 before I got bored of it but so far there had been only 1 interaction, and that's just to find your friends and change their pose with a button (changing pose is completely cosmetic, it makes no difference gameplay wise). Besides that there's no interaction or difficulty whatsoever. The true difficulty of the game is getting everything done and finding everything within the 10 minute speedrun side challenge objective. The game and soundtrack are absolutely amazing and I LOVE the aesthetic, I won't claim that it's not. I just think that we are at a point in terms of entertainment culture where a "good looking game" isn't enough to make it good. There IS a story, however, it's just not explicit and it's told by ambient alone. The problem is that between that and the fact that the player cannot interact with the ambient, it means that the player has no interaction with the ongoing civil war or social unrest whatsoever. You are basically photographing static events happening around you that look aesthetic until you are done then moving on to the next level to do the same. It's a good free tech demo concept but I disagree with that concept alone carrying it as a complete singleplayer indie game for 15 USD. So let's talk about the elephant in the room for last; the character controls are by far some of the worst controls I've ever had the displeasure of using in a first person videogame for years, SPECIALLY coming from a paid game. It's stock old Unity movement with glitchy terrain you get stuck in, and level collisions that are not designed to fit with the movement or with the space the character has to move around. The first level being a damn good example of this. If I had to judge the game based on it's (very little) gameplay, it would be simply awful. It's a great thing there's no importance to the movement beyond getting in position for the snapshots, since that means there's no pressure to deal with the annoying controls (unless you are trying to go for the time limit, in which case good luck).

Good game. Technology wise it is rough. Resolution and most other settings are static and strangely designed. The camera movement is interpolated which causes strange movement snapping and a few other small tech things like the files being duplicated in the installation folder, once with space and once without and even export files with do not ship label are there LOL. But else it is a fun game for people who like camera games. I do not.

great concept, terrible controls. it feels like I'm moving through molten butter. mouse sensitivity is a joke. and having it skip multiple frames when set to ultra graphics, even while having a 4060 is ridiculous. this isn't a triple A game. it's a shame because the idea is very cool and the way it seems to be building up its world is pretty clever. (also I know one show that inspired it and that I am a fan of). but under these circumstances, I really can't recommend it. it's really dragged down by the terrible movement.

A nice cyberpunk photography sandbox. There's some story stuff, but that's really all it's venturing to be.

take pictures, deliver packages, vibe with your friends, and don't worry about the sky turning red... this game rewards you for paying attention, because this story is told by the environments you find yourself in: a chill view of the mountain interrupted by fighter jets, the barracks of armies not even of your own people, the underground neighbourhoods mourning those they've lost to violence... you will never know what is in the packages you're delivering, nor even the truth of why the world is the way it is, but in paying attention you can make a few educated guesses -- the game is certainly not trying to be subtle. also the soundtrack is sick. play it and grab the DLC, too. IF YOU TRY TO KILL THE EARTH, DON'T BE SURPRISED WHEN IT DEFENDS ITSELF.

I don't think there's a piece of art that's really captured the state of reality this last decade as well as Umurangi Generation has. This is a generational game by and about a people abused by colonialism and baby, you're living it no matter what side of the fence you're on. Well maybe not the kaijus... Oh also there's the most mechanically in depth photography mechanics you can find. You will literally be spoiled to the point of comparing other photography games negatively to it, nothing else has this level of freedom when it comes to the simple act of taking pictures of things.