SOMBRAS: negative frames Demo Impressions

I’ve become a broken record, but I LOVE IT WHEN teams take big swings. Like, they come out with a project you adore so much, and decide that you’re going to be their ride or die, and then their next project is a total 180 from the first and it makes you go “hmmmm?”

You guys know I’m here for that.

Enter SOMBRAS: negative frames, the next project from Maboroshi Artworks, the studio behind Last Time I Saw You. And if you’re anything like me, you might be wondering how a team that delivered such a beautiful, almost ethereal, Ghibli-like experience is going to follow it up.

Well, apparently, the answer is to make me nervous about walking down a dark alley with a camera in my hands. RUDE. 

(JK, I love it.)

I absolutely adored Last Time I Saw You. It had that gorgeous, dreamlike quality that made exploring its world feel like stepping into a hand-painted storybook. It was beautiful, tender, and the kind of experience that sticks with you long after you’ve put the controller down.

SOMBRAS: negative frames takes a decidedly different approach. Instead of that familiar side-scrolling presentation, we’re stepping into a first-person experience with light horror elements, an unsettling atmosphere, and a world that feels increasingly wrong the longer you spend in it.

And when I say unsettling, I mean it! (Seriously, I was chased by this creepy thing in robes and long limbs, and I had a dream about it that night.)

The horror here doesn’t need to go completely over the top to get a reaction out of me. There’s something super effective about the way the game builds tension and makes you question what you’re seeing. It manages to be genuinely spooky without relying on constant jump scares or turning the entire experience into an exercise in gory terror. Whether it was a series of flickering lights, a door bathed in red light with an anime girl poster on it, or a street that would inexplicably close in on you, it was a great example of how minimalism works so well in horror games.

For someone who appreciates a good atmospheric mystery but doesn’t necessarily need to spend an entire game screaming into a pillow, this is a pretty delightful balance.

Say Chee... Wait, What’s That in the Background?

One of my favorite things about the demo is how naturally the photography mechanic fits into the experience.

Photography isn’t simply a gimmick here. It feels connected to the story SOMBRAS is trying to tell, encouraging you to look more closely at the world around you and pay attention to the things that might otherwise go unnoticed.

There’s something particularly fitting about using photography in a game that plays with perception, memory, and the unsettling feeling that reality isn’t quite what it seems. A camera asks you to frame a moment, to decide what deserves your attention, and to preserve something you might otherwise lose.

And in a game like this? Well, maybe you should think twice before pointing that camera at something strange.

Maybe. (Because I TOTALLY DIDN’T DO THAT. Ha.)

I’m not saying I learned my lesson. I’m just saying I have QUESTIONS.

Taking a Big Swing

Here’s the thing: If you’re new to the Cafe, I love seeing indie studios experiment with their creative identities. 

There’s always a risk in following up a beloved project with something that looks and feels dramatically different. Players might come in expecting more of the same, and a change in perspective, genre, or tone can be a pretty significant leap of faith. (Especially where we are in the industry as a whole right now.)

But I find that kind of creative ambition exciting. A studio doesn’t have to spend its entire career trying to recreate the magic of one successful game. Sometimes, the most interesting thing it can do is take the skills and storytelling instincts that made its previous work special and explore what else those strengths can accomplish.

With SOMBRAS, I can already see reasons to be excited. Maboroshi has moved into a new kind of experience while retaining the narrative focus that made me fall in love with its earlier work in the first place.

And based on this demo, I’m very interested in seeing where that decision takes us.

Nooooooo! You Can’t End There!

I don’t want to give too much away about the demo itself, because discovering its unsettling little surprises is part of the fun. (And if you really want to, you can watch the VOD of me playing the demo on Twitch above in the post.) What I will say is that I reached the end and immediately found myself exclaiming, “NOOOOOOO!” at my screen like a crazy person.

You know the feeling. That moment when a game has successfully hooked you, your brain is busy connecting dots and generating approximately 47 new questions, and then the demo ends.

EXCUSE ME. I WAS PLAYING THAT.

That’s exactly the kind of reaction I want from a narrative-driven demo. I want to be intrigued. I want to be a little unsettled. Most importantly, I want to know what happens next.

And SOMBRAS: negative frames absolutely left me wanting more.

(Also, play Last Time I Saw You.)

Final Thoughts: Keep the Spooky Stuff Coming

My time with the SOMBRAS: negative frames demo has left me genuinely excited about Maboroshi Artworks’ next chapter. The shift from the dreamy, almost ethereal world of Last Time I Saw You to a first-person experience with a deliciously spooky edge feels like a bold creative move, and one I’m eager to see through to its conclusion.

The photography mechanic feels right at home in the story, the horror strikes a balance between unsettling and outright terrifying, and that ending has me ready to march right back in and demand answers.

If you’re a fan of atmospheric narrative adventures, intriguing mysteries, or games that trust their atmosphere to do the heavy lifting, this is one I’d keep an eye on.

SOMBRAS: negative frames releases on December 3. (Which is also Apple Crumble day but you bet I'll be playing both.)

---

Thanks for reading! If you’d like to help out around the Cafe, I’ve started a Ko-Fi that I’ve been reasonably ‘okay’ with updating. It’s simple. You can donate however much you feel once, or monthly. Head over to https://ko-fi.com/theindiegamecafe to check it out! (And hey, I’m always open to ideas of different ways to make it better -Amanda