[Disclaimer: I received a review key for Umbral through Keymailer, a third-party website/company that connects publishers and developers with content creators. The game was given without promise or expectation of a positive review, only that the game be played and content be created through the playing of the game and the experience. Unless otherwise noted, all content in the following article is from my own playthrough of this game.]
Umbral
Systems: Windows
Release Date: August 7, 2024
Publisher: MJR Games Studio
Developer: Walter O.M. Junior
Time Spent: 2 Hours 18 Minutes
Trigger Warning: This article covers several sensitive topics from Umbral that some might find uncomfortable and/or disturbing in nature. Topics such as suicide, self-harm, depression, rape, domestic violence, trauma and torture. If you find any of these topics, related or otherwise, triggering in nature, I would recommend that you skip this article and the related walkthrough videos.
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Chapter 5:
I really enjoyed Chapter 5. I liked the village location and I liked all of the other characters/souls you could talk to. The Blacksmith was an interesting character that again, offered a little bit more world/lore building to the world of Umbral, and I also liked that despite being given the statues to place throughout the village, you could not place one at the forge, and help this character. I was a little amused that the animation didn't line up at all with where they were swinging the hammer and that there was no sound associated with what they were hitting.
I also liked that the second closet house, belonging to the soul who yells "Suicide!!" at you, you can't help either. That being said, I think the yeller's AI voice is just another instance where a better voice could have been used. Maybe something raspier and less everyday-man-on-the-street?
When you find the first altar to place the statue, I would have thought that the soul who was crouching next to the woman would have either disappeared or transitioned to a position showing it cowering. That was my interpretation anyway, that it looked aggressive and waiting to pounce on the woman, and that placing the statue at the altar was going to have some effect on it, but I guess not. I also would have liked it had there been an additional line of dialogue from the woman after placing the statue, but again, I guess not.
The rest of the stage placing the statue plays similar to placing the first statue. There's someone outside their house looking forlorn and you can engage with them or not, I don't get the impression that the dialogue changes if you've placed the statue before/after you've talked to them. They do offer additional lore about Umbral, but nothing too groundbreaking. Then you place the statue and move on to the next person and house with an altar.
After talking with the rapist, I did think that there was an altar attached to the Blacksmith's forge, partly because it seemed like houses associated with characters who had unique designs and extended lines of dialogue had their alter, so I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss one before getting too far into the stage. There wasn't.
As for the horned figure in the center of the village, I don't actually know if it is supposed to be the Devil with a capital D, or just an upper-echelon demon playing tricks with Mateus. As for the mourning woman/soul in the graveyard, I realize I probably should have talked to her before activating the statue on the altar as I think that was the last person I needed to talk to, but I didn't realize this was the last alter and that it would trigger a cinema scene and close out the chapter. I mean, I know there was a warning about doing too much to attract attention, but I never felt that I was in any kind of danger of ending the chapter. But I guess that's part of the message from the beings of light, that Mateus could potentially be redeemed on some level through self-sacrifice, by helping other people in the village, and in doing so was burned alive, he earned some type of second chance. That's my interpretation anyway.
Chapters 6, 7, & Epilogue
Chapter 6:
I'm not familiar with this custom of writing letters to living family members from the perspective of the family member who recently died, and I assume that this was included for two reasons. First to show again that Mateus could still be alive since there was no letter addressed from him, but at the same time, that because there's no note from Mateus' family, that that only feeds into his feelings of loneliness, self-loathing, and depression.
Then there's the old white-bearded guy wearing white, who if you're thinking that Mateus is dead, is a pretty strong indicator that he's God, especially when he says "This is an offering made to spirits and lost people like you." And then with the lights and Mateus' vision flickering throughout the conversation. And the guy definitely doesn't look like the bum that Mateus accuses him of being.
And then Mateus returns to his apartment to see his ex-girlfriend, sister, and niece looking over his corpse, discussing what happened. I do kind of like how Mateus progresses from confusion to anger leading to his downfall again and the end of the chapter. It probably doesn't help that the AI voice isn't able to articulate and emote in the same way that an actual voice actor could have delivered the lines.
Chapter 7 & Epilogue :
I like that Mateus is still seething with hatred and anger when we see him back in Umbral, that his last emotion before being taken back is what he is feeling and might even be amplified upon his return. Even the God-figure admits that this conclusion is not at all surprising. Then the mentioning of Mateus' niece Laura (Laurinha) connecting the Umbral and the beings of light directly to her I thought was a nice touch that could potentially set up a sequel.
I'm kinda glad though that the last shot we have of Mateus is just him seething with anger and hatred and not of him being tortured or consuming corpses, or just wallowing in a puddle of his own putrescence, we don't need to see that as we get enough of what he's going through in the written epilogue. I know it's telling and not showing, but in this instance, I think it's the best choice.
As a walking simulator, I think Umbral did alright. The pacing was a bit off in the middle with Chapters three and four, but I liked and appreciated the information gained. It's far from a perfect game with the limited character animations and the emotionless AI voices. I understand wanting and needing to do indie game development on a budget when only two primary people are involved. My takeaway from Umbral is a game to showcase what MJR Game Studio can do, the story (stories?) that they can make narrative games from, and the potential for what they could do with a larger budget. Since Umbral is the first and currently only game, it will be interesting to see where this developer goes in the future.
~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
And When You've Got No Other Choice
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