It seems the easiest way to get eyes on your indie game is by putting a cat in them. You get extra points if you can pet the cat. And then some developers go a step further and make you play as the cat, which is how we ended up with Stray (2022). Take that another step further, and you end up with the new 2D action adventure from developer and publisher, Inti Creates, Umbraclaw, in which you play a cat that has died and has to fight her way through the underworld to return to her owner. Oh, and you can also turn into a badass bipedal Digimon cat.
Her name is Kuon, and her connection to her owner prior to her death is made evidently clear through very simple but effective flashbacks. No other part of the story is worth talking about in much detail, honestly; the cat has died and now has to find four seals (twice) and defeat the bosses that guard them to return to the living world. Bosses have minimal dialogue that gives them a little character before you beat them up, but it’s really that connection between Kuon and her owner that needs to be paid attention to. While the flashbacks you get to see are short and sweet, I’m willing to bet any cat owner can relate to the simple interactions that make you love (and lovingly loathe) your little ball of fluff.
While other cat games like Stray went with the approach of creating general movement and platforming abilities around the natural capabilities of a cat as an animal, that makes for a great fit for video games. Umbraclaw doesn’t do that; in fact, controlling the cat here doesn’t feel much different than controlling the average character in a 2D platformer. Well, maybe Umbraclaw controls a little worse than the average. Instead, Umbraclaw gamifies a different feline treat, the very real nine lives any cat naturally has, and builds the entire game around that.
So you start as a regular cat with only a jump and a simple dash, and you get one shot by literally anything. But when you die, you are revived with one random new ability, and so as you lose your nine lives, you get progressively more and more powerful. However, you are still extremely weak defensively, as you still get one shot on each of your lives. That is, until, after losing one of your lives, you digivolve into the bipedal anime cat that is much stronger and survives for much longer. And when you’re on your last life, you get an even stronger form as well. But should you lose all nine lives, well, then it’s over. But don’t worry, you can reset your lives, and with that, all your abilities, after every major boss you defeat.
While this is an interesting mechanic, it also means that at first you’re just kind of waiting to die a few times so you can actually do anything interesting again. It also means that the levels need to be designed so that you can proceed no matter what abilities you get, which unfortunately makes for rather uninteresting level design that isn’t challenging in the slightest. But it does admittedly make for a nice power fantasy as you get your powers, and there are story implications as you slowly lose your feline soul every time you transform, which will shatter your bond to your owner and change the ending you get.
Umbraclaw is a striking-looking game with bold colors that jump off the screen and thick black lines that create great contrast and create a graphic novel look. It all renders the underworld in a stylish and twisted beauty, and while the designs are undeniably very edgy, they’re also pretty cool. The music, often piano melodies, is another strength of the game that’s surprisingly melancholic for a game that otherwise isn’t too interested in exploring the sadness of the situation. And to be fair, why would you dwell in the grief of what was lost for too long when you’re on your journey to get it all back anyway?
The unfortunate reality is that while Umbraclaw has an interesting core mechanic with its nine lives and looks and sounds great, I did not enjoy my time with the game. The level design is uninspired, the story is generic, the movement doesn’t feel very good, and the combat feels even worse. There’s a good game in here somewhere, but the lackluster execution really lets it down.
Nairon reviewed Umbraclaw on PC with a review copy.
clown.