Umigame Preview

Umigame is an action-packed roguelite developed by Nimblegames and published also by Phoenix Game. I’m always up for a good roguelike, and this seemed pretty fun from the looks of it. I don’t think I've seen a game where the majority of it will have your character wading through swamp water for the vast majority of the playthrough until now, so let’s check it out before it publicly releases on Early Access!

You play as an Umi — a water spirit — summoned into the Haunted Swamp by the wicked Witch Maeve. She has corrupted the creatures within it, bending them to her will with the simple goal of making your life miserable. If you want to fight against the corruption she has created, you’ll need to gather the strength needed to take her down.

This waterlogged roguelite plays similarly to games like Hades II or Dead Cells. If you’re familiar with any of those, you should be able to learn its basic mechanics pretty fast. However, there are unique aspects that shake up the formula.

You can either take on this challenge alone or with a partner in two-player co-op, battling Maeve’s forces together using one of four heroes currently available. Each hero is unique in some way, with different weapons and abilities to play around with, as well as exclusive skill upgrades. Whether you're swinging an axe, shooting arrows, blasting magic, or cutting your enemies to ribbons, they all have the potential to beat anything in their way. And, since this is a roguelite, you can improve your chances of beating a run either through meta-upgrades or by playing a character enough to unlock new skills.

However, even when you’re playing by yourself, you aren’t totally alone. At the start of every run, you can pick a Guardian to help aid in your journey. They act sort of like a turret in a tower defence game, able to shoot enemies within their range and level up like your main hero. These Guardians can be a serious help when set up in a good location, even taking care of entire rooms by themselves if they’re given the right upgrades.

Other than those features, it’s the standard affair of fighting off enemies, getting upgrades, taking on a boss, then repeating all that in the next area until you’re up against Witch Maeve. It’ll be a tough journey, wrought with many struggles and death, but its smooth and snappy gameplay makes that process a fun time. Plus, even in this early state, there’s quite a bit of replayability, as beating the game will allow you to take on new enemies and tougher challenges. I’m looking forward to seeing what else they have in store.

Umigame is available on Steam Early Access on the 24th of November and there’s plenty more coming in the future. Check it out if you’re interested.