Umurangi Generation Reviews
Photography opens up a complex world of timely, timeless narrative.
An acute reflection of recent crises, Umurangi Generation is an excellent glimpse into a dystopian future that's looming all too close.
Under its bleak red skies, Umurangi Generation is scrappy at times, but it's also a bold photography sandbox game that isn't afraid to fill each frame of your lens with stark warnings of a world at crisis point. It's more than a game about capturing a good shot, but captures the very times we live in.
Umurangi Generation is one of the most important games of the modern era. It captures young people's current anxieties in a masterful way, and allows you to approach them in your own way through taking and editing pictures. It's powerful and a ton of fun to replay, but sadly suffers from slow down fairly often.
A compelling mission to locate and photograph a series of images in a Māori-influenced world under occupation
Umurangi Generation's vibrant ambience validates the rebellion of its doomed youth culture. It also renders the player a transient witness to a surging tragedy. Umurangi Generation's key is its camera, as it allows its protagonist and its player the agency to access and capture a world beyond their control. It creates a vantage point untended since Jet Set Radio, and Umurangi Generation didn't even need skates or spray paint to get there.
Umurangi Generation's camera granted players the agency to capture a despairing world and reframe it however they pleased. Macro expands this objective across four profoundly photogenic locales and tosses in a giddying pair of roller skates. Vicious social commentary, newly material to 2020's unique ills, serves as a compliment to Umurangi Generation's existential dread and completes one of the most powerful and relevant games assigned to this cursed year.
Get in touch with your inner artist and explore the vibrant but foreboding world of Umurangi Generation. View a dystopian city through your choice of lens - and either challenge yourself by rushing through your bounties, or explore the meticulous details of this fascinating narrative experience.
Umurangi Generation is a game with a lot of worthwhile things to say but the miserable state of optimization in the Special Edition make this Switch rerelease an experience which is difficult to recommend. Although the inclusion of the previously separate Macro story DLC may seem an appealing prospect, players with any degree of access to a capable PC should under no circumstances purchase this vastly inferior port.
Put the neat PS1-era retro visuals, its strong atmosphere, and the meaty and fits-like-a-glove OST aside, and what's left is a first-person photography sim that's charming, but not fun. Exploration should be engrossing and challenging, but is just boring and unpolished, and taking photos, basically the core of whole thing, is an unimaginative chore that doesn't put your skills to the test - it just puts you to sleep. It's hard to hate this, though, as it's an obvious labour of love that simply didn't manage to be as entertaining as it could be.
It's still enjoyable to play on Switch, but you do have to deal with compromises in both handheld and docked mode. However, look past these issues and you'll find a unique indie photography game that stands on its own and tackles a story that goes beyond the basic photographer-experience. It's definitely a game that should be preserved for future generations.
Umurangi Generation is a stirringly unique look at the end of the world. It’s a creative toolbox that presents you with an endless stream of inspiration. It’s a story that resonates deeply with the world we live in. It’s a damn good video game, and you should play it.
[Umurangi Generation's] unfolding story, unnerving setting and atmosphere, hip soundtrack, and simple breezy gameplay are enough to make this an adventure that stands out amidst its indie peers.
While not the definitive way to play Umurangi Generation, this is still a stunning game. With a unique vision of the future, informed in part by current times, it has a strong message, delivered with fascinating gameplay and unique style. If you have the option to play on PC, I would recommend doing so. If not, however, Umurangi Generation is well worth your time on any platform. This is a deeply felt game tailor-made for our times.
Umurangi Generation: Special Edition is a thrilling dive into a world on the brink of collapse, and a singular gaming experience that will stick with you long after you put it down, made only better by the included DLC and quality of life upgrades on the Switch.
Although the subject matter is dark, the tone is devastating, and the outlook initially bleak, I firmly believe that anyone over the age of 12 should play this game. Many will cite Animal Crossing: New Horizons as their game of the pandemic, and with 200 hours of playtime, I’d have likely done the same. However, having recently played through Umurangi Generation, it is this that will stick with me in the years that follow.
You should play this game because it’s a good game, and could actually teach you something about photography. But if you looked at the last year and felt ambivalent about it all, maybe there’s a lot more you can learn from the red sky generation.