About a year and a half ago I bought a point and shoot 35mm film camera because I was getting a bit bored of taking photos on my phone in the name of capturing a memory, only to literally never look at them again. Film just has a magic to it, a magic that’s difficult to capture in a game for obvious technical reasons. But how about mechanical ones? Enter SOMBRAS: negative frames, a horror-lite photography game about a Japanese-Spanish photography student who gets spirited away.
Here’s the setup. You play as Shiomi Alterio, that photography student, now living with her father in a small Japanese town following her parents’ divorce and a move from Europe. Then (uh oh!) she gets swept up into an alternate version of the world where things are just that little bit more scary, and there are a bunch of other women that look like her.
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For whatever reason, to escape she must take photos of all the weird things she comes across, as well as make friends with all these alternate versions of her. The thing I like about the look of SOMBRAS, outside of its strong art direction, is that Shiomi is equipped with a film camera, and she seemingly has to develop each roll of film she has. I’m hoping that the way this translates, and adds a bit of friction, is that there’s only so many photos you can take before developing a roll; the satisfaction in shooting film is learning what it is you want to look at, and being choosy about those things.
Apparently continuing to shoot more and more photos will help inspire you and let you upgrade your camera. Doesn’t sound too far off from how Umurangi Generation works (this is your regularly scheduled reminder to go and play that, by the way). Right now there’s also a playtest you can sign up to if you fancy, but if not, you can always wishlist it on Steam.