Developer: Reflector Entertainment
Publisher: Reflector Entertainment, Bandai Namco Entertainment
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Unknown 9: Awakening – Review
If the title Unknown 9: Awakening doesn’t immediately ring a bell, that is probably normal. Many other releases overshadowed this Bandai Namco-published title during perhaps the busiest time of the year. Even so, the game didn’t perform all that well and received quite a bit of backlash because of its Sweet Baby Inc. involvement and the graphical inconsistencies when looking at early footage and the actual finished product. We were wondering if these remarks were correct or not. The long and short of it is that the game is a mixed bag.
Story
Unknown 9: Awakening has a grand opening about death and rebirth and those who want to break that cycle. After a heavily loaded introduction explanation, we get to follow Haroona and her mentor Reika. Reika is tracking down a former pupil of hers, Vincent Richter, as he is determined to break the world’s natural cycle. Sadly, Reika cannot stop Vincent and perishes, but Haroona manages to escape. Several years later, Haroona is still determined to find Vincent and have her revenge. While the story is a lot more than this, this is basically the gist of it. You’ll go on a quest for revenge, while also learning more about the Fold, which is a mix between a pseudo spirit world and a different dimension of sorts. The introduction to the game feels a bit convoluted, and we did feel like a lot of the elements explained at the very beginning were already forgotten when we reached later parts of the game. We were intrigued by the story as a whole, but the presentation was somewhat lacking.
Graphics
Graphically, Unknown 9: Awakening failed to impress us. The game looks like a project that was made solely for the previous generation of consoles in mind. On our PlayStation 5, the game looked extremely muddy, and the characters had a lot of jagged edges. The facial animations weren’t up to snuff either, and there was barely any variation when it came to enemy models. Not everything was bad, however, as the game did have a few nice-looking sceneries and some environmental textures did balance the scales a bit again. Even so, this felt like a project that needed a lot more visual polish before it was released. It’s a shame, as it doesn’t do Anya Chalotra’s digital avatar any favors.
Sound
In terms of sound design, Unknown 9 fares a lot better. The supporting soundtrack is fitting for the grand-scale adventure that unfolds. The voice acting, however, is the highlight of the narrative-driven experience. As mentioned, Anya Chalotra backs up the project, which does add a bit of quality to the mix. The SFX are decent, but there is not that much variety here. You’ll always hear the same impact noises, the same explosion noises, and so on.
Gameplay
Unknown 9: Awakening is a fairly linear action-adventure title that probably went under the radar of many gamers. In the game, you’ll play as Haroona, a young woman who has the power to enter the so-called Fold. Thanks to this, she can use spirit-like powers to subdue her foes. The offset is fairly straightforward, as you just go from one area to the next, either stealthily taking out enemies or facing them head-on. The gameplay elements are actually extremely simple here, as the mechanics remain fairly basic throughout the experience.
There is minimal exploration present in Unknown 9, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We too enjoy a game from time to time that is not filled to the brim with utterly useless side content. In Unknown 9, you can sometimes take minor side routes to find a few collectibles, skills points, or passive upgrades. That is basically all the side content the game has to offer, and we didn’t mind. Your main focus is your objective to locate Vincent, and you’ll have to do so by going through Ascendant outposts. To dispose of your enemies, you have your regular hand-to-hand combat, but you can also use the powers you channel from the Fold. You can take down enemies when sneaking up on them, or you can ‘Step’ into their bodies, controlling them for a short period. These mechanics feel okay, even though the hand-to-hand combat doesn’t really have any weight to it. It’s almost impossible to interrupt enemy attacks, even when kicking them in the face. The so-called stepping mechanic was entertaining, and it made the combat feel like a puzzle where you could trigger several attacks in a row when planned properly. Sadly, Unknown 9 fails to keep combat engaging enough throughout the experience. You’ll notice that almost every battle feels the same. For some reason, this world is also littered with explosive barrels and torches, as there’s an explosive barrel next to almost every enemy. This feels a bit cheap. Boss battles in particular also felt tedious, as it was just a matter of dodging until you could get a punch or two in. Things become slightly more interesting the moment you start investing a few skill points in your skill tree, but even then, the combat remains fairly barebones.
Even though there aren’t that many opportunities to get lost in the game, a map or a mission marker would have still been appreciated. You can stare into the Fold, however, which does highlight certain key items, such as climbable surfaces and destructible items. On top of that, it also shows enemy characters, which makes it easier to approach certain encampments. The overall system is decent, but a simple marker could have also done a lot here.
When all is said and done, Unknown 9: Awakening still presents the player with a fairly enjoyable experience. The flow of the game isn’t too bad, and it’s a bite-sized adventure. We managed to play through the game in roughly 9 hours, albeit without getting every collectible or upgrade in the game. We didn’t really feel like the collectibles were worth it in the grand scheme of things. We do feel like the current price tag is a bit too high for what’s on offer here.
Conclusion
Unknown 9: Awakening is one of those games that has an interesting concept but fails to bring all the individual components of it to life. The narrative was fairly intriguing for what it was, albeit convoluted at the beginning, and the gameplay had all the right building blocks to be entertaining but not enough variety or polish to actually captivate us completely. This is one of those games that is a lot of fun if you can pick it up at a hefty discount, but it’s also once again a case of a title that should have stayed in the oven for longer. If Unknown 9 managed to flesh out its gameplay and visuals, this could have been a great game to kickstart a full franchise. As it stands now, however, it’s fairly forgettable.
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