Unknown 9: Awakening review: don’t sleep on this surprisingly intricate gem

After spending astir 20 hours pinch Haroona, I genuinely wish I could walk much clip pinch her.

That’s a testament to Reflector Entertainment’s first video crippled endeavor, Unknown 9: Awakening. The action-adventure crippled intertwines engaging gameplay pinch unsocial subordinate strategy done Haroona’s powers, stealth, and biology objects that tin beryllium exploited to crush enemies. It brings maine backmost to nan era of early 2010s games for illustration Tomb Raider (2013), Enslaved: Odyssey to nan West, and moreover Prince of Persia: Warrior Within — successful each of nan champion ways.

Despite immoderate solvable method issues, Reflector Entertainment has successfully crafted an intricate gem pinch Unknown 9: Awakening. Its experimental combat makes tons of room for subordinate agency, and its hero, Haroona, is nan South Asian AAA action-adventure lead I person wanted to spot for decades. Her debut makes maine crave nan boundless globe-trotting adventures and secrets that await her successful nan future.

Stepping up

The communicative starts disconnected pinch Haroona, Unknown 9’s heroine, stowed distant successful a conveyance driven by her mentor. Both are Quaestors and are capable to push and propulsion objects and people, akin to really nan Force useful successful nan Star Wars franchise (though Haroona unlocks much abilities that group her isolated from nan Jedi very quickly). What originates arsenic a elemental revenge communicative of Haroona trying to termination nan caput of nan Ascendents, Vincent Lichter, quickly becomes an full conspiracy theory. Haroona discovers clues astir nan world and finds concealed societies trying to break nan cycles of determinism and demolition of a malevolent evil that was sealed distant agelong agone by a group called nan Unknown 9.

As a Quaestor, Haroona has a assortment of combat skills, powers, and abilities usable passim nan people of her travel to assistance successful taking her revenge connected Vincent. Haroona is simply a skilled combatant who tin usage ray and dense attacks adjacent up, dodge force melee attacks, and reposition by hiding successful gangly writer to get nan jump connected enemies. Where she shines nan astir is her usage of her Quaestor abilities, which tin beryllium utilized depending connected her Am gauge. Am is life-force power that will replenish gradually complete clip and allows Haroona to push and propulsion enemies, lob projectiles that lure foes, and shroud herself by turning invisible. Am tin moreover beryllium utilized to heal erstwhile fights go a spot chaotic; that happens reasonably quickly and gives nan escapade a dependable watercourse of satisfying challenges.

Bandai Namco Entertainment

Unknown 9 does a awesome occupation of introducing its halfway gameplay loops successful a bite-sized mode early on. It was easy for maine to get a consciousness for what Haroona tin do and nan choices I had to hone my play style: sneaking past enemies by utilizing gangly grass, destroying electrical generators to zap enemies, aliases moreover breaking lamps that will time off occurrence successful its spot to past push enemies to watch them pain alive.

The prima of nan show, though, is Stepping. As agelong arsenic you person Stepping Tokens available, this accomplishment allows Haroona to person an enemy. A clip limit ticks down erstwhile moving into a caller body, but clip stops erstwhile possessing an enemy. I tin do immoderate I want successful that clip window. There’s immoderate strategical extent to that system. For instance, I tin return power of an enemy, locomotion toward different enemy, occurrence my gun, person different enemy, and usage my melee shockwave connected nan first assemblage I possessed. After my Stepping Tokens are utilized up, nan full point plays out, and I beryllium backmost and watch arsenic my foes onslaught 1 another.

In those moments, I admit really intricate nan halfway combat feels and really easy it becomes 2nd nature. Even erstwhile I died during a agelong combat brushwood and had to commencement it each complete again, that conscionable meant I had a caller opportunity to research pinch my powers. There is nary 1 measurement to “win” these combat encounters; nan decision-making and scheming are up to you.

Hidden upgrades and puzzles

Throughout Unknown 9, you will find Anomalies, which are collectible pouch spheres utilized to upgrade skills. You person 3 accomplishment trees available: Umbric Abilities, Stealth, and Combat. Through these paths, you tin upgrade your halfway abilities to replenish Am done Stepping, go invisible for longer, deflect bullets, and more. Anomalies are nan only measurement to unlock aliases upgrade these accomplishment trees, which I find refreshing compared to your mean action-RPG level-up approach. I could people hunt for them connected hidden pathways while I searched for different collectibles for illustration documents, blueprints, and dossiers that built retired nan world further. I ever felt free to research since I didn’t person to interest astir perfecting a conflict to get accomplishment points.

Bandai Namco Entertainment

As for different good details, each force has a Faze gauge. When maxed out, this allows Haroona to woody a accelerated burst attack, dealing monolithic harm and leaving her invulnerable for a fewer seconds. Faze attacks consciousness weighty, particularly erstwhile I usage them connected aggregate enemies astir maine and past move toward each to inflict a burst attack. This particularly comes successful useful pinch nan fewer leader battles nan crippled throws out, since burst attacks are nan perfect measurement to crockery retired damage.

There are a batch of position nan crippled throws astatine you successful contiguous succession, but nan useful Journal written from Haroona’s constituent of position explains everything successful excruciating detail. I admit that nan UI is not cluttered pinch objectives aliases changeless matter for illustration different action-adventure games, too. This helped maine amended return successful nan scenery, for illustration ample canyons, bustling thoroughfare markets, aliases rushing waterfalls.

At definite points, Haroona tin participate nan Fold, a belief level pinch prints of history and glances astatine alternate histories. There, Haroona has an out-of-body acquisition and solves biology puzzles by redirecting ray sources and channeling Am done different tablet sources to unfastened doors. These visually awe-inspiring segments reminded maine of Tomb Raider’s puzzles, but they travel pinch immoderate method woes — Unknown 9’s Achilles’ bottommost overall. Bugs for illustration 1 wherever I’d transmission my Am correctly pinch nary consequence tin lead to frustrating moments that had maine resetting to clear up problems.

Bandai Namco Entertainment

Another method rumor I had was erstwhile a friends NPC sewage stuck crawling wrong a wall. Again, loading nan past checkpoint fixed this easy and really pushed maine farther pinch nan NPC appearing correct adjacent to me, truthful I had nary qualms. When Stepping into enemies, sometimes their exemplary does not displacement decently to correspond pinch their statement of sight, but erstwhile you do usage nan onslaught wherever you want, nan force will usage it correctly. This 1 is much of a ocular bug that had zero base connected nan combat astatine all, but nan ample puzzle room and nan NPC getting stuck connected clip crawling wrong a wall group maine backmost a spot moreover though nan fixes were executed easy connected my end.

Players will person to dive into nan Fold for extended periods, and those segments make for immoderate of nan champion spiritual, dimension-shifting, time-dissociative experiences you’ll find successful a crippled this year. These could person been little puzzle sections successful immoderate different game, but they’re expansive escapades present that had maine questioning what was happening, what would happen, and what could happen.

Haroona and friends

What really draws maine to Unknown 9 is its characters. Early on, Haroona crosses paths pinch a concealed nine that she must activity pinch to get her revenge. The Morning Star, an airship hub area, allows maine to speak to each of these nine members astir their goals, their lifestyles, and wherever they are from. Each of these characters comes from a wholly different life. I recovered myself eager to speak to each and each 1 of them anytime I returned to The Morning Star. I sincerely wanted to cognize much astir Buchra’s extended knowledge of books, Luther’s sharpshooting cowboy shooting antics, aliases Fortunato’s passion for music.

Bandai Namco Entertainment

These moments time off a existent belief connected Haroona. I tin consciousness her reside shifting depending connected who she speaks to, which is simply a realistic touch that gives her characteristic depth. That taste attraction to item is connected show passim nan adventure. Hearing inheritance characters speak Bengali (that I could understand arsenic I cognize Hindi) made maine consciousness represented successful a measurement fewer AAA titles have. And it accomplishes that while adding much realism to this bustling world.

As for Haroona herself, I emotion her character. Plain and simple. She feels for illustration a leader I would person seen beside Lara Croft and Nathan Drake if this crippled had been released astir nan 2010s. Actress Anya Chalotra, known arsenic Yennefer from Netflix’s The Witcher, is bonzer successful nan role. There is simply a batch of extent successful Haroona and her portrayal; you tin consciousness a batch boiling wrong Haroona. It’s not conscionable her revenge for Reika that defines her. You tin consciousness her alteration erstwhile she discovers a spot aliases a group of group she belongs with. When Reika is taken distant from her, Haroona very overmuch pushes group distant and only lets those adjacent her that tin assistance her to hunt down Reika’s killer. Moments wherever she called retired colonialism endeared maine to her. She is affectionate and existent to herself arsenic champion she tin be. The titular Awakening is not conscionable astir her powers; it’s astir opening her bosom to caller group to fto them inside.

Gaming enthusiasts thin to talk a batch astir really they want all-new games alternatively than playing nan aforesaid tired franchises. Even pinch immoderate method hiccups holding it backmost successful a fewer places, Unknown 9: Awakening delivers a caller fresh world filled pinch memorable characters and an inventive combat strategy that pushed maine to research pinch my powers. It whitethorn person gotten mislaid successful 2024’s engaged vacation season, but I dream much players return to it erstwhile nan flood of caller games slows. It’s nan benignant of hidden gem that deserves to beryllium discovered.

Unknown 9: Awakening was tested connected PlayStation 5 pinch a codification provided by nan publisher.