Its The End of the World.

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This contains spoilers for the game Umurangi Generation. If you have any want to play the game, please do so before you read.

Just this year I left Appalachia in the midst of a hurricane destroying towns and wiping places off the map. During this time, FEMA sprung into action to help, the government and organizations have worked to help survivors and rebuilding efforts. This was a storm that for years to come will be remembered by western NC and the rest of southern Appalachia. The response will also be remembered for years to come as help was dealt out but the root cause of the issue continued to be obscured.

In 2019/2020 Australian skies where red due to the bushfires ravaging the country. A very similar thing can be said about how the government and organizations worked heavily to fix what happened. Help was done, but the root of the cause was skirted around.

We know the cause of these, it has been proven. It is easily provable even. We are killing the planet, climate change is the root of the issue.

Umurangi Generation

Developed by a Maori Developer, Veselekov. Umurangi Generation was inspired by the bushfires in 2019, and directly from the developer: How "Neoliberals ignore the root of the issue." The name Umurangi is Te Reo for "red sky". The game is about a lot of things, Indigenous resistance, Neoliberal response to world events, and

living during the end of the world.

Maybe that's a better title for this whole post.

You are a courier and photographer, tasked with taking pictures of different locations through the game. You get some money for every image, basically any image you take is worth something, no matter how small. Money is technically a reward system but can really be ignored as it has no impact on gameplay, the main gameplay loop is taking pictures of different things your tasked with taking pictures of.

You and your crew are a bunch of young people, just trying to live your lives. Around you, the world is in a battle against kaiju. The UN has deployed, soldiers, jets, and towering mechs to take them out. The over reach of UN propaganda can be felt through out the game.

You live on an island that has become a no-go zone due to the war against the kaiju with the UN. UN soldiers can be seen everywhere, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the crowds. They try to enlist new soldiers, they have sent in ways to help those effected, they are trying to help. But none of these speak about the root of the issue, The root is ever present through out the game.

The only way to have points seriously deducted from your score, is taking pictures of these jellyfish-like aliens.

They are a persistent issue through out the game that you have to play around, your employer, and the media do not want to acknowledge them.

People cope with this reality in different ways, many find community. This can be seen from your own crew, to other people found in the game. The third level in the game you go to Kati Kati, within this area you find a community that recently lost someone to the kaiju attacks. It can be assessed they where a mech pilot for the UN, and lost their life fighting. The community is in mourning, with makeshift alters and graffiti set up around the area to commemorate them. People within this city are tight-nit, they care deeply for one another. This is seen with their response to the death of one of their own. They continue living because they have this community, they know they can keep going.

Communiy is also found in other crews similar to your own. They have found community within eachother, dancing and enjoying life no matter the world around them. Its scary out there, at any moment a kaiju could attack, it could destroy the island, or the country, or the world. Yet they continue on, not only surviving, but living. Enjoying their lives in spite of the world around them. Its powerful to be able to look at the world and enjoy life even when it all seems hopeless.

Your seeing humanity.

A small side tangent here, something I really liked about this game over other photography games is that you take pictures of people. You're in a city surrounded by people and man made things. While most photography games your taking pictures of the natural world. I enjoy this way more because it has the effect of making you understand that humans are also worth saving. The natural world is worth saving, but so are humans, and the things we have worked towards in the world.

Neoliberalism is killing us.

A large part of the game, is how useless the "direct" approach the UN takes in going against the kaiju are. They know it as well, there are signs through out the game and the dlc that the government knows they are losing. However they continue on trying to act as if they have no issues, that recruiting and fighting the kaiju is the way. They will not admit that they are losing, because to admit they are losing is to break the status quo. To admit the problem could have been fixed long before this is to admit it is their fault.

When we talk about the bushfires that ruined parts of Australia, or the hurricane's that devastated the southern US, or even the rising heat waves through out the summer. We can not ignore the glaring reason behind it all. To do so is to help kill the planet.

The response to these issues, are bandaids. Needed yes, but they wouldn't be issues in the first place if we actually did something about how industrialization and the endless want to grow is creating it. To do so is to break the status quo, it is to make people have to give up on things that they have had as luxuries forever. People would have to sacrifice some luxuries in the name of a better world.

Neoliberalism cant enforce that, because it is beholden to claws of capitalism. They instead will come out after the destruction has been done, save face and say how horrible it is, help to rebuild if they can, then leave. They will not stop corporations from fracking, they will not stop factories from spewing gasses into the atmosphere, they will do nothing to break the flow of capital.

Media talks about the effects of the crisis, but wont acknowledge how it happened. They know it keeps happening, and use it to make a profit off the crisis. It is all profit.

The End

On one of the last levels of the game, you are greeted with the red sky. An omen for something worse. You quickly find out why the sky is red. Its here, your back on the building from the first level of the game. Friends old and new are here hanging out watching the fight go on between the kaiju and the mechs. Watching something bigger than they all are play out infront of them.

You do your job, take pictures, deliver the package. Then the world ends.

Its actually not the end of the world.

The end of the game is an extremely strong one, I wont take away from it by showing you any images of the true last level of the game. I am going to end this however with what I know to be true.

Anyone telling you that its the end of the world, or that there is no time is projecting. They want to be able to throw their hands up, blame everyone else and not do the work anymore. They want it to be true so they can stop worrying and give up. They want it to be true because it is easier.

But it's not true. We are going to see some bad days, things will keep getting worse because a lot of the damage has been done. If we keep working however, it WILL turn around. It is worth it to keep working. As long as there is life on this planet it is not hopeless. A better future is possible, and worth fighting for.

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