Unknown 9: Awakening Preview – A Body-Swapping Twist on Stealth

When I think of Bandai Namco games, titles like Unknown 9: Awakening don't really come to mind first. They're like the Dark Pictures Anthology to me—known titles, but not immediately a "Bandai Namco game."

So I honestly didn't know what to expect with my preview of Unknown 9: Awakening, but after spending an hour with my hands on the controller, I was pleasantly surprised with what Reflector Entertainment is trying to do.

Starring Anya Chalotra, who you might know as Yennefer from The Witcher Netflix series, this ambitious game is the first step in a transmedia project, involving comics, novels, and even a podcast series. But before we zoom out too far, is Unknown 9: Awakening a good first step?

A Story Full of Secrets

As the first step in this larger story, there's a lot of worldbuilding and terminology to wrap your head around. It's a universe that blends real-world history, mythology, and conspiracy to create a unique narrative.

From what I could tell, a primary part of the plot involves the Fold, a parallel world that exists alongside ours that holds powerful secrets that could change the world. Our protagonist, Haroona, is a Quaestor, a chosen one who can see into and manipulate the Fold.

There's a larger context here involving secret societies (as you'd expect for conspiracies), but needless to say, if you're the kind of person that likes getting lost in fiction, Unknown 9: Awakening is serving up a buffet.

In my hourlong demo, half of it was spent on the run in an Indian city in the late 19th century. A group called the Ascendants were looking for Haroona, and it created lots of opportunity for rooftop climbing, sneaky takedowns, and frantic chase scenes.

In the other half, I explored a jungle, which was crawling with enemy patrols still on the hunt for Haroona. Meanwhile, she was trying to find the location of some magic item, and an American gunslinger named Luther was trying to help her.

It reminded me a lot of games like Uncharted or The Last of Us—very narrative-driven, blockbuster-adjacent action.

A Different Take on Stealth

Where Unknown 9: Awakening really set itself apart for me was the stealth-combat sequences. Between light platforming with some banter, I found myself in little arenas with enemies scattered around.

Haroona's ability to interact with the Fold really manifest during the gameplay here. She can go invisible for a few seconds and set off traps (read: red barrels) from afar. There's also a detective-vision mode to see enemies through walls.

The most interesting mechanic, however, was her ability to take over enemy bodies. This lets you control an enemy, stop time, move them freely, and even queue up one of their attacks.

For example, if an enemy wasn't close enough to a red barrel, I could make them walk over and smack it, leading to their untimely demise and lots of confusion. If two enemies were near an environmental pitfall, suddenly I could turn that into three.

This isn't a hardcore stealth game though—if you're caught, a fight breaks out, and Haroona can decently defend herself. Open combat wasn't too difficult to get ahold of, with your typical light/heavy attacks and dodges.

Plus, you can use your body-swapping powers during combat, opening up your options even more. I saw in the upgrade tree that I could invest in multiple body swaps too, opening the door for all sorts of elaborate setups.

Unlike other games, when stealth doesn't work, I didn't feel like I had to reset. Consistently, I felt like I was making choices, sometimes out of practicality, other times out of vanity. Unknown 9: Awakening gives you lots of tools in these arenas, and it was up to me to find out how I wanted to express myself.

Unknown 9: Awakening Has a Lot to Accomplish

However, if the goal here is to start a larger franchise with novels and comics, Unknown 9: Awakening (and its universe) will need more than exciting stealth combat.

All these fantastic factional fables about the Leap Year Society and the Ascendants are nice and all, but it's the character work that makes or breaks them for me. So far, my exposure to two major characters, Haroona and Luther, haven't moved me too much.

I found their banter to feel a little half-baked. Haroona's the stoic, focused one, while Luther is whimsical but definitely knows more than meets the eye. It didn't bother me, but it also didn't leave me wanting more from these characters. But to be fair, it might take more than an hourlong vertical slice to really let these characters marinate.

Unknown 9: Awakening Preview | Final Thoughts

Montreal-based Reflector Entertainment gave itself a tall order with its first game. It has to not only stand on its own legs, but also establish an entire transmedia franchise. While I'm hopeful the game will be a fun, serviceable adventure, it remains to be seen if I'll be hooked on some comics and novels.

But if I can keep forcing some schmucks to blow themselves up with red barrels, I'm pretty on board with seeing more of what the game has to offer. Luckily, it comes out soon on October 18 for PC and all consoles except the Nintendo Switch.

TechRaptor previewed Unknown 9: Awakening at PAX West 2024 courtesy of Bandai Namco.