Disclaimer: This review is based on the early-access build of Umigame, and may not reflect the final version. We’ll update it when the full game launches.

Summary

Umigame is an action roguelite where you play as a water spirit set in a corrupted world. Team up with another player or go alone as you embark on your journey to battle enemies and defeat bosses, and grow stronger with every run. Summon helpful Guardians to aid you as you hack, slash, and dash your way to taking on the source of the corruption! Will you make it to the end?

Plotline

The Swamp used to be a Sanctuary guarded by ancient spirits, the Eternals, but eventually, corruption took root, and the Swamp sank into oblivion.

However, all hope is not yet lost – with a final breath and an ancient ritual, you, an “umi”, a water spirit, were born. You are the Swamp’s final chance in dispelling the corruption… will you be able to do it?

Gameplay

Umigame features an action-packed gameplay where you’ll find yourself dashing around the battlefield, dodging attacks from various enemies, and dealing some damage of your own. You’ve got two types of attacks: a main attack and a secondary. These two types of attacks are usually quite different from one another, allowing you to choose which type to use while adapting to the combat situation at hand.

I also like that you can chain up multiple dashes in this game since dash charges are restored fairly quickly here. This can be really helpful during the first major boss fight, where you – spoiler alert! – will have to escape constant bombardments.

Interestingly enough, the game features a unique “tower defense”-like mechanism called Guardians. Essentially, you’ll be able to bring along a Guardian of choice whenever you head off on an adventure, and subsequently activate various seeds that are strategically located around the environment to serve as plant-based turrets. These Guardians, unlike you, can get a combo going, so sometimes, if you took a bit too long in between rooms, you can slay one of those skeleton birds that hang around the place, just to keep the combo alive.

You can also easily pick up and move your Guardian from one spot to another, though from personal experience, you probably won’t have much time to do that – best get it right the first time! Guardians can be leveled up and upgraded during a run, too, so they can get stronger in tandem with your own character, though all progress is reset once that run ends.

Note that although you can choose which Guardian to bring along with you for every run, you’ll have to first unlock them before you can do so. There are four different Guardians in total, with the default – the first one – being unlocked during the tutorial. Pyro, the second Guardian, can be unlocked pretty fast as well, but the others might take some time.

Similarly, the game features four unique character types that you can play as. The first two – Lyra the Archer and Olaf the Knight – are unlocked by default, but like Pyro, you can unlock the third one – Pearl the Mage pretty quickly as well… and rightly so too since Pearl is a blast to play (pun fully intended; P/S: Pearl hurls fire balls as her main attack).

Playing as a character earns you mastery points for said character, allowing you to eventually unlock new and more powerful skills… skills that you can potentially encounter as a reward during a run. Now, Umigame has all the workings of a roguelite – you get to choose which “room” to head to, and the game helpfully provides you with a hint as to what you’ll get for each room. As you might expect, most rooms are combat ones where you’ll have to defeat all the enemies to earn a reward. The reward can range from shells (currency), skill scrolls, or even a max HP increase.

However, there are also other rooms like the one with a vendor, allowing you to exchange the shells you have for extra skills, and challenge rooms where you’ll get to decide which difficulty you’d like to go for. Naturally, higher difficulty challenges will earn you better rewards. Note that you can even break vases for extra shells, and a chance to “seal your skill” for a specific number of rooms, so it can return to you stronger.

Like any self-respecting roguelite, Umigame features epic boss fights as well, where learning boss patterns and reacting quickly to danger are key to victory. These fights are super intense, and mistakes can oftentimes be costly, but if you do manage to slay a boss, you can get augments that grant powerful boosts and perks, which will come in handy as you move to the next location.

I should point out that each location in this game has its own boss that you’ll have to defeat, with the final boss – the source of the corruption – located at the very end. There’s no “save point” in between, though, so every time you fall, you’ll have to start again from the beginning.

Community

Umigame supports up to two players in co-op mode. This is mainly why the game has two unique characters unlocked right from the start, as opposed to having just one. Co-op does make the game a lot more fun and chaotic, but of course, the challenge would be similarly ramped up just so you and your buddy won’t just barrel your way through to the final boss.

Graphics/ Sound

Umigame leans into a hand-drawn, stylized 2D fantasy aesthetic, combining elements of dark fantasy, magic, and nature to create an evocative sense of beauty and decay… a fitting look to go with its corruption narrative. The visuals set the atmosphere of the game well.

In terms of sound, the game went with a more tribal-themed music that is built around drums, with subtle string and wind instruments layered in. The music is designed to create an ominous, foreboding atmosphere - the kind of tense calm you feel right before a storm. This changes when you are taking on a boss, though. The new music has a faster beat, adding a sense of urgency to the mix. The sound effects are also well designed, making every hit feel punchy.

Conclusion

All in all, Umigame is a fun, action-packed roguelite with intense boss fights, an interesting tower defense-style Guardians system, and satisfying progression. Even in its early access stage, the game shows plenty of promise. For players who enjoy co-op action, procedural repeat-play, and visually distinctive indie games, Umigame already delivers an intriguing, solid core experience.