After being first announced in Gamescom three years ago, we finally have more details on Unknown 9: Awakening. Not only did Bandai Namco upload an Announcement Trailer for Unknown 9: Awakening earlier today on YouTube, we were also able to get a closer look at the game via a special presentation given by the Devs themselves at Reflector Entertainment. Here they were able to discuss more on the game’s lore as well as explain Unknown 9: Awakening’s gameplay.
Given that there are probably a lot of people out there who don’t know much about the game, let’s start off by simply answering the question of “What is this game all about?” Unknown 9: Awakening is actually the centerpiece of Reflector’s Multimedia IP. This game is actually the 4th media front that this IP following after a Comic book series (Unknown 9: Torment), a Novel Trilogy (Unknown 9: Genesis), and a scripted podcast (Unknown 9: Out of Sight).
“While the COVID 19 Crisis didn’t help, we also needed time to make sure that this game fits perfectly into the deep universe we created, delivering a unique and immersive story.”– Christophe Rossignol, Reflector Entertainment Creative Director on why it took until now for them to come back with news on Unknown 9: Awakening
Lore-wise, the world of this game is centered on how many are seeking out the Unknown 9, a group of immortals that have powerful and secret knowledge that can shape human destiny – whether it’s towards salvation or destruction. You see the Unknown 9 also have power over this dimension called “The Fold”, which gives them amazing abilities that manifest in this physical world as well. Of course, such power is catches the attention of both people who seek to do universal good and people who seek their own personal gain. In this action-adventure game, you play as Haroona, a Quaestor who seeks the Unknown 9 but also has this unique connection to the Fold. She also has a strong desire to avenge the death of her mentor who was killed by a former disciple named Vincent Lichter, a man who has dark plans for the powers of the Unknown 9.
As mentioned, we were also treated to a more in-depth first look at the game’s combat and, honestly while we only saw around 10 minutes of Unknown 9: Awakening’s gameplay, it did indeed have a lot of promise! Haroona’s quite skilled with the usage of her Umbric Abilities as well as with hand-to-hand combat. She is also able to utilize her connection to fold to sort of go into a sort of “Detective Mode” by peering into The Fold allowing her to see the dangers around her clearer. This gave the encounters we saw a bit of the Assassin-type of gameplay that you would see in titles such as Dishonored. Wherein you will find yourself in situations where you will mostly have the freedom to choose how do your encounters but the usual / preferred method would be a mix of stealth and combat. Peering into the Fold would let you see what traps are out there while you also scout for environmental opportunities that can let you take out your foes faster. By the way, stealth takedowns look cool as you seemingly take the person’s soul and slam it to the ground! Whatever’s left, you can then fight mano y mano. BUUUT there is ONE more thing that makes this even more fun – Stepping. Stepping is literally possession of your foes and this can be used to really turn the tides of battle to your favor. Stepping though is something that Haroona learns and masters along the way. The first time you can use it, you will only be able to use it once meaning you have to make your Stepping count. You can have an enemy snipe his fellow soldier to create chaos in the field as you swoop in or you can even let high HP enemies such as Bruisers ram their fists into a generator which will blow up and deal massive damage to themselves. The devs have shown us that, in time, you will be able to perform multiple steppings in a row but it will be something the character will learn along the way. All in all, combat does look promising although as these assassin-type combat flows also make each encounter somewhat like a puzzle that you need to plan out for if you want things to go smoothly. There will also be combat skill trees for learning new skills and, of course, improvements to how much Umbric Abilities you can you use along with how many Steppings you can do in a row.
It definitely wasn’t much since it was just 10 minutes worth of gameplay but the combat did look promising and fun. If they successfully pair it with great story beats and proper mood setting then this game really just might be something big. While it may feel like its still early, the game is slated to come out summer this year so we may get more reveals about this title soon. All in all, we’re looking forward to finding out more about Unknown 9: Awakening’s gameplay as well as more story beats about the game because this presentation has definitely piqued our curiosity.
Unknown 9: Awakening comes out for the PS4, PS5, XBox Series X|S, and PC on Summer 2024.