The game focuses on Kuon, a cat with nine lives trapped in an afterlife known as the Soulplane and must now escape from the depths of hell to return to her master. The game focuses on death and rebirth as a core theme; dying can trigger a special power within Kuon known as "Anima Revive", bestowing upon Kuon various abilities needed to surmount the challenges of the Soulplane.
The game has an official website
. Trailers: Reveal, Gameplay Release Date.
Umbraclaw contains examples of:
- Action Commands: If Kuon's Anima Revive activates and her soul risks losing itself, a button prompt will appear telling you to mash the Cancel button. Doing so will expend collected Hope Points; if enough Points are paid, Kuon will retain her feline soul and he will instead gain a different power in its place. However, if not enough Hope Points are available, Kuon will be forced to transform.
- Adaptive Ability: As noted on the official website, Anima Revive is more likely to grant you skills that would make it easier to get past obstacles that killed you the previous time.
- Animal Battle Aura: Using certain animal skills calls forth its spectral copy that follows Kuon's movements, as seen in the trailers.
- Anthropomorphic Transformation: If Kuon dies enough times and allows her soul to become corrupted by the sins of humanity, she will transform into a humanoid feline. In this state, Kuon has the mobility of a human and can run, jump and attack with much greater efficiency and power than she could as a normal cat, but in exchange she loses the ability to fit through tight spaces and use Shadowpass and Fatal Stomp.
- Bullet Catch: As seen on the official website, the Elephant can block projectiles by catching them with the trunk. If Kuon evolves into her humanoid form, projectiles absorbed by the Elephant will also recharge the Soul Gauge.
- Cats Have Nine Lives: While in the real world Kuon died for real, in the Soulplane she can revive up to nine times.
- Death-Activated Superpower: The main gimmick of the game is Anima Revive, an ability that allows Kuon to absorb the souls of other creatures upon her death and resurrect with new abilities based on what killed her. While she gains more power with Anima Revive, the more souls she absorbs the more she risks losing her feline soul.
- Difficulty Levels: The demo introduces three: Anima Mode, Novem Mode, and Eternity Mode.
- In Anima Mode, Kuon can die up to 9 times before returning to the main hub. Upon the 9th death, the player can also pay Hope Points to temporarily enter Eternity Mode. In addition, you can pay Hope Points at certain checkpoints to reset your Anima counter.
- In Novem Mode, if Kuon dies 9 times, he will be forced to restart from the very beginning of the current chapter. The player can still pay Hope Points to enter Eternity Mode.
- In Eternity Mode, Kuon can die as many times as he wants without limit, but Anima Revive abilities will only be granted for the first 8 deaths. You can still use checkpoints to reset the Anima counter.
- Double Jump: The Crow's skill, as detailed on the website, grants Kuon a mid-air jump.
- Flash Step: Kuon's Shadowpass is a dash that allows her to phase through enemies and their attacks, as long as she has enough Sprint Meter. Notably, she loses this power once she transforms into humanoid form.
- Killer Rabbit: Kuon's normal form may not be suited for combat, but when she charges her Mana Meter, she can unleash the Fatal Stomp technique, dealing a large amount of damage.
- Mana Meter: One of Kuon's gauges is the Soul Gauge, which is filled by interacting with iridescent crystals found across the world as well as when dodging boss attacks. This gauge is consumed when performing certain powerful Anima Revive abilities, and if filled during a boss battle enables the powerful Fatal Stomp.
- Multiple Endings: The release date trailer claims that the game features a "multitude of endings".
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Kuon's normal form dies from any damage, as repeatedly emphasized in trailers. Averted by the combat-oriented humanoid form.
- One to Million to One: The Mayfly skill allows Kuon to momentarily split into a swarm of mayflies, evading an attack that would have hit her otherwise.
- Spike Shooter: The Porcupine skill shoots several spines in a wide arc, referencing a misconception that real porcupines can do so.
- Sprint Meter: Kuon has a stamina gauge underneath her Mana Meter, which is consumed to perform certain actions, such as the Shadowpass.
- Super Mode: The gameplay trailer reveals that one of Kuon's Anima Revive abilities lets her morph from her normal feline form into a bipedal humanoid form. Among other things, this grants Kuon the mobility of a humanoid and lets her perform rapid attacks using her claws.
- Super-Scream: Lion's and Tyrannosaurus' skills deal damage with their Mighty Roar.
- Time Stands Still: When the Soul Gauge fills to maximum during a boss battle, Kuon can activate the Fatal Stomp technique. Upon doing so, time will freeze for everything else except Kuon, allowing her to get close enough to the target to execute the attack. Frozen time will not last forever, however, as it is limited by the amount of Soul Gauge available and will wear off if it runs out.
- Voice Grunting: Kuon normally just meows like a cat, but if she transforms into her humanoid state her meowing evolves into human-like grunts and shouts.
