With all the talk of verticality, it’s perhaps unsurprising to hear studio CEO Ikumi Nakamura describe the world as “semi-open.” It’s not on the scale of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, but also not entirely linear.

Speaking to IGN during its Fan Fest, Nakamura admitted, “It’s kind of hard to describe, but [I don’t want to] actually say open world. We won’t say that either, because that expectation is very different…I don’t know, like Cyberpunk or Fallout. Skyrim is an open world. It’s a ginormous map. It’s not what that is.

“But at the same time, it’s not a linear game either, and it’s quite hard to describe. So [I] want you to look forward to actually playing the game in the near future.”

Describing it as more of a “large island” or even a “peninsula”, Nakamura said that exploration is free-form and players aren’t “told to go one specific direction.” Players have several traversal options, from grinding on rails and running across walls to grappling onto different structures.

Kemuri doesn’t have a release date, but Unseen will venture into extensive “playtesting and development.” Nakamura that the title’s launch is “just a bit further down the road.” Perhaps we’ll learn more about its platforms and witness more gameplay. Stay tuned in the meantime.

Kemuri is billed as a “supernatural online cooperative action PvE game” with the real world merging with the Yokai’s. As Yokai Hunters, players utilize “Fox Window” to peer into the spirit world and use supernatural abilities to fight the Yokai. Game director Misuzu Watanabe explains that utilizing the window can be “quite dangerous” as enemies will notice you.

“Engage in battles, negotiation, and acquire Yokai to possess and increase your power. Unleashing the power of the Yokai, you change your visual appearance, using fashion to take action beyond human knowledge.” Players can collect various Yokai, which Watanabe says will add “high replay value to the game.”

Animation director Raul Ibarra also discusses the eye-catching animation and character movement. “The characters move in a unique way, both in terms of animation, in terms of gameplay that enables players to interact with the world we have.”

Gameplay engineer Aaron Packard adds, “The thing about the movement in the game, it’s really about player expression, and that is about enabling the player to just be funky and do it the way that they really want to do it.” To that end, the team avoided motion capture in favor of keyframe animation.

Watanabe also feels that players will be “surprised” by the vertical level design. “I think players are going to be excited about matching our extremely cool animation with this amazing traversal system and then pairing that with some really vertical spaces that get you to use those game mechanics in a fun way.”

Kemuri doesn’t have a release date or platforms, so stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

Unseen has announced Kemuri, an action-adventure game that will take players to “a realm where the unpredictable meets the extraordinary”. Set in an urban jungle-esque city, the game’s world will be populated by Yokai, whom players will hunt using their Fox Window. As per the announcement trailer’s YouTube description, players will “hunt yokai in style, collect their powers, and face even greater challenges.” Check out the trailer below.

There’s no word yet on when Kemuri will launch, or what platforms it will be available for when it does.

Now, she has unveiled her newly formed independent game development studio, named Unseen. Nakamura says that she envisions the studio, which will have “a mix of cultures”, as “a breeding ground for new ideas.”

“I want it to be a place where developers can come and go as they please, like nomads,” she added in an interview with IGN. “It’s a new style of office.”

Work on the studio’s first game is underway, with the project being in the early stages of production, with an emphasis on characters and “an open-minded setting.”

“I want to make a game with characters that reflect real-life personalities and minorities, with an open-minded setting that represents multiple cultures,” Nakamura said.

While more details on the project are obviously scant for now, Nakamura says it’s very much being shaped by her interests and where her expertise lies in terms of flavour and genres. “I like mystery, I like horror films, I love zombies, and the supernatural and science fiction,” she said. “I find these genres fascinating, and I’m good at them, so I want to keep working on games related to these subjects.”

You can learn more about Unseen on the studio’s official website, and check out the team’s unveiling trailer below.