“Continuing this project would not have been sustainable for the future of the studio,” wrote the CEO on LinkedIn. “Regrettably, this also means that there will be redundancies following this decision.”

The CEO also revealed that the studio will not be working on a follow-up to Unknown 9: Awakening owing to the game not hitting the sales performance expected by the company. While Hoerdt refers to Unknown 9: Awakening as having a “rich transmedia universe,” a follow-up would not be in the works.

“The performance of the release didn’t come near the company expectations, after numerous timeline adjustments and investments, both financially and other, and didn’t warrant any further exploration in this universe,” wrote Hoerdt.

The studio has not yet confirmed which teams at Reflector Entertainment will be affected by these layoffs. However, Hoerdt did mention that the back-office staff will be affected, and moving forward, the studio will focus on the development of single projects rather than work on multiple titles in parallel.

Unknown 9: Awakening was released back in October on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. For more details about the title, check out our review.

I mentioned how the game was cinematic earlier, and while it has the framework and elements of a blockbuster film, it doesn’t overly rely on rendered cutscenes to tell its story. Most of the story is told through character dialogue and in-engine scenes, and it’s the former where Unknown 9 really shines. While I do appreciate the occasional scenes, there’s some awkward transitions here and there that gave me scripting whiplash, as it were. One minute we’re arguing on the airship, the next we’re abruptly searching through a jungle by ourselves without context. These jarring scene transitions aren’t prominent through the experience, but you’ll notice them when they occur. By contrast, the dialogue between characters is well-written, with communication occurring organically between the characters and not with the player directly, as so many games clumsily do. There’s a subtlety and wit here that reminds me of classic BioWare at times. Nowhere is that better reflected than through companion conversations aboard your airship hub. You’ll be introduced to the airship a couple levels into the game, returning to it after every other level to interact and catch-up with crewmates.

"Conversing with your crewmates aboard the the airship displays some of the game’s best writing and characterization."

It was in these moments aboard the airship getting to know all the companion characters where I enjoyed Unknown 9 the most. The crew aboard the ship have updated dialogue every time you return after an outing on land in true Mass Effect Normandy fashion. I find the characters’ personal stories and personalities to be a highlight of the game, despite the protagonist’s more abrasive and untrusting persona. I wish I liked the protagonist of Unknown 9, Haroona, as much as the rest of the cast, but even by the end of the narrative, her standoffish distrust and arrogance didn’t really evolve or charm me. That said, Haroona, just like the rest of the cast, have a well-developed backstory that informs their motives. Characters like the quirky navigator trying to get Haroona to listen to opera, or the casual and likeable bartender reminiscing on his time in the American Civil War continued to be the highlight of the whole experience for me, prompting me forward even when other parts of the game kept trying to get me to quit.

As for plot, it follows a more or less traditional structure; the protagonist realizes their potential after losing their mentor and gets embroiled in a wider scheme as they join a ragtag resistance group. I could see some of the plot twists a mile away, but everything is well-told and presented with sincerity, so I didn’t mind when it stepped into tropes. Also, props to the story not beating me over the head with themes or endlessly repeating plot points as if I were an idiot; the game respects the player’s intellect.

"You journey through a number of diverse environments from Indian jungles to Portuguese mansions, all housing numerous collectables."

While we’re on the subject of things Unknown 9 does well, exploring the baubles and furnishings within the airship is a delight thanks to the variety of doodads and scattering of collectables hidden throughout. I enjoy the exploration in general, whether it be the jungles of India or the subterranean caves hiding secrets of the mysterious godlike Unknown 9 and their influence of historical events. Environments are decorated with a high attention to detail, which is helped by the game’s superb graphical quality and dynamic lighting. You really get a sense of the dampness of the Indian forests and the dry heat of the desert locations, but facial animations aren’t nearly as great. Facial animations look stilted, almost like they’re placeholders, which is an unfortunate contrast to the wonderfully textured and detailed environments.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my time exploring the dense jungles and Victorian mansions, the same can’t be said for the game’s combat. We’ll start with what I do like about combat first. Much of the game’s early combat scenarios involve sneaking through tall grass to overcome foes through stealthy back attack assassinations and ranged tampering of explosives through the Crush ability. You can even throw psychic ‘stones’ to distract enemies and use a psychic Peek ability which acts as a survey lens to see enemies and interactables through objects. I rather enjoyed these early stealth-oriented sections of the game and favor them to the more direct tanky approach the latter sections necessitate.

"The Step ability grants you control of an enemy’s body until your Umbral meter drains, giving you the upper hand in most encounters"

Integral to to most encounters is Haroona’s Step ability, which grants control of an opponent for a limited time, allowing you to attack other enemies or set off explosives. Step is particularly useful when overwhelmed by large groups, something that happens far too often halfway through the game. While I do like the kit available to Haroona, the abundance and size of the enemy encounters halfway in the game don’t accommodate her Umbric abilities very well. Haroona is no tank, and your occasional combat companion barely does anything to help you overcome your foes, making a majority of the later encounters feel tedious and mismatched. Sure, you have a magical shield with parries and a brief invisibility trick to evade potential disaster for a time, but there’s only so much you can do when there’s devices that restrict those abilities in tandem with heavy ‘mini-boss’ enemies.

"Gearhead enemies restrict your Step ability. Many other machines and enemies restrict other Umbral abilities as well, although you can overcome some restrictions by advancing in the skill tree"

Take Gearheads for instance. Your first encounter with a Gearhead is awful, as you have no defensive terrain to hide behind nor tall grass to fall back to. Worst of all, you cannot use Step on Gearheads, rendering your most valuable tool worthless. So many of these fights whittle down to clunky melee bouts where your coolest Umbral abilities are taken away, and there’s a tad too many of them considering how emphasized the stealth and Umbral abilities are in general. It doesn’t help that the number of bugs increases as more opponents get thrown at you. I’ve had several instances where I couldn’t jump across gaps because my character was stuck in a combat animation, resulting in a swift death. I’ve also been stuck in terrain during certain fights involving busier terrain featuring rocks and the like. Unknown 9 is at its worst during these large group battles with heavy opponents that restrict certain Umbral powers. The melee in this game isn’t great, due to inconsistent lock-on and vague punch hurt boxes, yet the second half of the game insists on overwhelming you with waves of these kinds of enemies.

"Overwhelming combat encounters featuring a dozen-plus opponents are common mid-way through the game, unfortunately"

Repetitive melee-based encounters aren’t the only hiccup in Unknown 9’s gameplay though; character dialogue and banter often gets cut off when progressing or triggering an encounter. In a different vein, companions often nag on you to “hurry up”, repeating their demand incessantly until you follow the main path forward. This nagging really discourages exploration, which as I stated earlier is one of the game’s best qualities. I was especially annoyed when being yelled at for not progressing the main story aboard the airship; I wanted to hear all the companion dialogue and explore the wonderful environment, so why doesn’t the game want me to?

Some other slight niggles are the absence of performance or graphics modes on console. I was stuck with the game hovering around 40 FPS, with frames getting choppier during some of the overwhelming group fights. Oh, and you cannot change difficulty after you start up a new game, so select between the four difficulty settings wisely because you’ll be stuck with it.

"Despite its flaws, Unknown 9 delivers some wonderful story moments and fun gameplay when it wants you to explore"

I really was beginning to fall for Unknown 9: Awakening as I approached the midway part of the narrative, but then the game insisted on me going melee and threw repetitive enemy encounters at me like it forgot what makes it tick. The game shines in its explorative moments, and especially so when conversing with the crew aboard the Morning Star airship. The game’s combat works well when it encourages stealth and allows you to use your umbral abilities without abandon, making me question why they threw enemy waves at you like they do during the second half of the game. The story and worldbuilding are a treat though, and you’re bound to find one or two characters to grow attached to throughout your time in Unknown 9’s world. I’ll be interested to see the related projects within the Unknown 9 universe since Awakening has shown promise with its worldbuilding, despite its gameplay irritations.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

A new cinematic trailer offers another glimpse at the many high-flying powers that protagonist Haroona (played by Anya Chalotra) will be able to unleash in both stealth and combat, including being able to temporarily possess foes to set off deadly chain reactions of attacks and combos. The game will see Haroona travelling to a number of different locations on her journey to stop the Ascendants, which we also see some glimpses of in the trailer. Check it out below. 

Unknown 9: Awakening is out later this week, on October 18, for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. 

UNKNOWN 9 UNIVERSE

Unknown 9: Awakening is technically a new IP, of course, but as Bandai Namco and Reflector Entertainment have stressed on a number of occasions, it’s also part of a larger multimedia franchise, spanning books, comics, and more. The game itself is, however, going to tell a standalone story, focusing on protagonist Haroona, played by Anya Chalotra of The Witcher fame. Haroona possesses unique supernatural abilities that allow her to tap and venture into the Fold, a mysterious dimension that overlaps the real world. That sets her on a path to uncover hidden, long lost knowledge, though not, as it turns out, without consequences.

STORY DETAILS

In Unknown 9: Awakening, Haroona is going to have to contend with a villainous group known as the Ascendants, a splinter faction of the Leap Year Society, which itself is a group that aims to uncover forbidden knowledge to help hasten human advancement and progress. The Ascendants, however, have nefarious goals of their own, with plans of using knowledge taken from the Fold for the purposes of altering human history, and in doing so, messing with powers that they do not understand. Haroona, who has the ability to tap into the Fold, catches the Ascendants’ attention, kicking things into motion, while she and her companions also know that they are the only ones who can stop the Ascendants.

COMBAT DETAILS

Combat will take a couple of different forms in Unknown 9: Awakening, with players being given a few different options in how to approach situations. Your most basic, straightforward approach will be to engage in melee combat, using your fists to chip away at enemies’ health bars. Alternatively, you can also use abilities known as Umbric talents to fill up an enemy’s gauge, which, once filled, will leave them temporarily weak and vulnerable, following which you can unleash more powerful melee strikes to deal higher damage, or even finish them off. As for when you want to take a quieter approach…

STEALTH DETAILS

Unknown 9: Awakening give players a number of interesting options for when you want to deal with enemies quietly. Using her Fold abilities, Haroona can spot enemies in her vicinity even through walls, can lure them to specific spots to isolate them from their companions, and can attack them from distances- while the good old fashioned method of walking up behind someone and silently taking them out yourself will, of course, also always be an option. Meanwhile, Haroona always has access to an ability called Shroud, which lets her temporarily turn invisible, and can even be triggered in the middle of combat. As you might imagine, that’ll probably come in pretty handy when stealthing around.

Oh, and speaking of Haroona’s abilities…

STEPPING

Stepping is probably one of Haroona’s more high-flying and useful abilities (or seemingly useful, at the very least). Stepping allows you to step into the Fold, following which you can possess a number of enemies in turn, using them over short windows to set up all manner of explosive chain reactions. How far you can take things with Stepping will depend on how many Stepping tokens you have, which you gain by defeating enemies and performing successful takedowns. The more tokens you have, the more steps you can take while Stepping, letting you unleash more powerful attacks.

MORE ABILITIES

Stepping and Shroud aren’t the only abilities that Haroona has at her disposal. For instance, she can use Umbric abilities known as Push and Pull, which do exactly what the name implies, allowing you to telekinetically push or pull enemies towards or away from you. You can also use these abilities on objects in the environment to your advantage in a number of ways, like Pushing an enemy off a ledge, or Pulling an explosive barrel into an enemy’s back. On the stealth side of things, there’s the Ripple ability, which attracts the attention of nearby foes, drawing them to a specific point. So you can, for instance, use Ripple to drawn multiple enemies to an explosive, and then trigger that explosive while you’re a safe distance away yourself.

ENEMY TYPES

Unknown 9: Awakening will throw a number of different enemies at you as you make your way through its story, and each will present unique challenges in combat, from muscular brutes who dole out hard-hitting knuckle-breakers to those that like to keep their distance and attack you with ranged weapons, to those that come equipped with a variety of different melee weapons, and more. As you might imagine, not only will that be something that you have to contend with during combat and stealth sections, but on the flipside, while using your Stepping ability, you’ll also be able to use these different enemy types’ unique abilities to deadly effect yourself as well.

PROGRESSION

By its very nature, Unknown 9: Awakening is obviously not going to be this huge, sprawling RPG, but the game will make use of its own set of focused progression mechanics to allow Using rifts known as anomalies – which can be found scattered throughout the game – to invest in skill trees that allow you to both power up Haroona’s abilities, and also customize them in unique ways, letting you alter them (at least to some degree) to fit the way you want to play.

LOCATIONS

Unknown 9: Awakening is, as we’ve mentioned, going to be a linear experience, though there’s still going to be a fair bit of variety in the environments that you’ll traverse and explore. Over the course of Haroona’s journey, players will find themselves in all manner of locations, from 19th century Portugal and dense and overgrown jungles in India to gorgeous, sandy locales in Mauritania and more.

PC REQUIREMENTS

For those who’re looking to play Unknown 9: Awakening on PC, the game’s system requirements thankfully aren’t terribly demanding (which isn’t surprising, given that this is very much being billed as a smaller, AA experience). On minimum settings, the game will require any processor with either 4 or 6 cores and 8 threads at a base 3.6 Ghz, along with an 8 GB VRAM GPU, and 12 GB of RAM. On recommended settings, meanwhile, you’ll need a processor with 6 cores and 12 threads at a base 3.4 Ghz, along with 16 GB of RAM, though your GPU requirements remain the same. On either setting, you’ll also need an SSD and 55 GB of free storage space.

The story follows Haroona as she attempts to learn more about the Fold, an alternate dimension granting her mysterious powers. An organization called the Ascendants are also interested in the Fold, and together with her allies, Haroona must prevent them from exploiting it to their own ends. While she can engage in combat with various Ascendant foes, there are other abilities to rely on, like Shroud and Stepping.

Stepping is interesting because it allows for possessing enemies to use their abilities. As you take down foes with stealth or combat, you get Stepping Tokens for more steps and lethal attacks during possession. Of course, there are ability upgrades, such as Bracer Overdrive, for increased damage and movement speed if you deal a bunch of damage and don’t get hit.

Unknown 9: Awakening launches on October 18th. Head here to see more gameplay of Haroona’s abilities.

A new trailer is also available, mixing live action with gameplay showcasing some of the abilities players can harness. Utilizing Stepping, Haroona can possess enemies and use their weapons against each other. Telekinesis is also available to push enemies, but you can pull them close for melee attacks.

If an up close and personal approach doesn’t suit you, entering stealth and surprising targets is a viable strategy. Haroona will tackle more challenging threats on her journey, but the sights are gorgeous enough to deal with them.

Unknown 9: Awakening will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Besides the Standard Edition, there’s a Deluxe Edition, which includes the base game and three DLC packs containing other unique outfits for players to don. There’s also a physical Collector’s Edition with some goodies like a Quaestor’s Journal, Metal Amulet, and more.

The focus here is on showing protagonist Haroona’s set of supernatural abilities, with details and commentary on the same being provided by creative director Christophe Rossignol. Several abilities are shown off, as well as their uses in combat and stealth (primarily the former), including Stepping, which allows players to momentarily possess enemies; Ripple, which attracts enemies to a nearby environmental hazard; using a Shroud to turn temporarily invisible; being able to telekinetically push and pull foes, and more.

The gameplay walkthrough also showcases some stealth gameplay, melee combat, and a number of different locations that players will be exploring throughout the runtime of the game. Details are also revealed on different enemy types, as well as exploration. Where the latter is concerned, players will get plenty of opportunities to go off the beaten path, with the gameplay showcasing some light traversal and exploration mechanics in a dense, overgrown environment. 

Check out the walkthrough below for more information. 

Unknown 9: Awakening will launch this fall for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It will also be playable at Gamescom next month.

Unknown 9: Awakening will see players playing as Haroona, a young woman with the ability to jump into a mysterious dimension known as the Fold, which gives her a number of high-flying abilities, from stopping bullets mid-flight to being able to jump into and possess her enemies for short periods. Check out the trailer below for a glimpse at the gameplay, and more details on the story.

Bandai Namco and Reflector Entertainment have also announced a delay for the action-adventure title. Previously scheduled for this summer, Unknown 9: Awakening will now launch for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC sometime this fall. A specific release date has yet to be announced.

Players control Haroona, who possesses powerful abilities tied to the Fold, like a barrier that stops bullets and leaping into and controlling her enemies. You can play stealthy, engage in full-blown combat or combine the two while mixing some abilities in.

Haroona is looking for revenge after a “life-changing loss”, but it quickly becomes a “globetrotting journey, uncovering powerful hidden knowledge.” She’ll eventually battle the Ascendants, led by Vincent Lichter, and stop them from utilizing the Fold for their own purposes.

Published by Bandai Namco, Unknown 9: Awakening is seemingly a “gateway to the larger narrative world of Unknown 9, a universe encompassing a set of interconnected stories told across different media formats. The game’s lore seeps into every tale set within this world.” How that will pan out over the long term remains to be seen but Reflector has “dedicated much time to ironing out specific details and features to get the overarching story and its resulting experience just right.”

Unknown 9: Awakening will receive more details before its launch this Summer, so stay tuned for more gameplay over the coming months.

Unknown 9: Awakening was recently rated by Singapore’s classifications board, the Infocomm Media Development Authority. That in and of itself is usually indication of a game’s launch being in the relatively near future, but on top of that, Unknown 9: Awakening is set to launch in 2024, suggesting that we might be hearing more about the game soon. Perhaps at The Game Awards on December 7?

A description of the game accompanying the rating also reveals some story and gameplay details. It reads: “Played typically from a third-person perspective, the protagonist will traverse between reality and The Fold in exploring a variety of environments to advance in the game. Gameplay involves fighting and defeating human enemies with a variety of moves. These include melee combat, telekinetic shock waves and possession, gunfire, stealth attacks and denotating explosive materials. A turret gun can also be used to fire at incoming enemy planes during a game event. Progress can be enhanced by recovering health and gaining points to acquire new skills.

“Moderate violence can be encountered during gameplay. Scenes portray characters getting electrocuted or disappearing in puffs of smoke without blood effects when they are attacked or killed. When the protagonist is struck and low on health, red flashes appear on the fringes of the screen. Stronger depictions include a cutscene of a character who is stabbed in the chest with blood spurts seen.”

Additionally, as per the rating, Unknown 9: Awakening will be coming to PS5, PS4, and PC. Back when the game was announced in 2020, it was said to be coming to PC and next-gen consoles, so it seems plans may have changed since then.

Unknown 9: Awakening developer Reflector Entertainment was acquired by Bandai Namco in 2020. Read more on that through here.