Unknown 9: Awakening Review — A World Worth Exploring

Reflector Entertainment’s debut title Unknown 9: Awakening follows the story of Haroona, a Quaestor who, for years, has been searching for a man named Vincent Lichter after he killed Haroona’s mentor in front of her own eyes in what acts as the prologue of the game. Throughout the quest to avenge her mentor’s death, Haroona also embarks on a deeper quest, one that would uncover the origin of her powers and the dangerous forces that lie within another realm attached to ours called the Fold.

Anya Chalotra plays Haroona and does a phenomenal job of portraying the character. Anya brings a strong presence to Haroona that makes her feel powerful and vulnerable simultaneously. Haroona is a character you can’t help but fall in love with. Her inner dialogue, while it could have been explored deeper, was brimming with personality. I was enamoured with Haroona, which was inconceivable to me before I started the game.

Haroona is joined by two main companions throughout most of Unknown 9: Awakening, who are quite forgettable as characters go. Haroona as a character is explored quite intimately, which I feel wasn’t explored enough with the supporting characters in the game. I wanted to care about them as much as I cared about our heroine, but it would’ve felt forced.

Wide glimpses of inspiration drawn from the Uncharted series are presented in the game, but unfortunately, it falls short with its less engrossing narrative. The plot had its moments of captivation but I was never on the edge of my seat awaiting what was next.

Despite the pitfall in the plot, the world-building and cultural influences that are presented in Unknown 9: Awakening are fantastic and are a standout. Set in fictional India, the game deploys a tremendous degree of authenticity and respect to a culture not often represented in mainstream video games. Early on in the game, Haroona is navigating her way through a bustling city that feels so lively, which is a moment that sadly isn’t really replicated later on in the game.

Haroona has a decent amount of Umbric abilities, including a possession mechanic called stepping, which allows Haroona to overtake an enemy’s body and target other enemies or other objects in the environment. She has the ability to push and pull enemies, crush objects in the environment, take down enemies, and my favourite, is the Shroud ability, which allows Haroona to become invisible for a short time. These Umbric abilities had a bold premise to begin with but were ultimately let down by a plethora of uninspired enemy encounters. Vincent Lichter’s goons are called the Ascendants and have a somewhat diverse range of weaponry and AOE attacks. Though, despite the dozen or so different enemy types, the combat started to feel very uninspired towards the end of the game.

Enemy encounters felt unfair at times with how janky the enemy AI can be. Enemies would frequently shoot me even when their guns were facing a further 90 degrees away from me. Haroona’s companions never felt like they were contributing to the fights in any way. The inconsistent difficulty curve was undeniably one of the strangest parts of the game. Playing on the standard difficulty, I found myself breezing through the game quite easily. But there was a boss fight two-thirds of the way through the game, which had difficulty paralleling that of a Dark Souls boss. So I went to the delicatessen and bought some cheese to overcome it. There are some stimulating mechanics throughout the game that block Haroona’s Umbric abilities, which I appreciated, but they weren’t that much of a hindrance.

Haroona can sharpen her skills in combat, umbric abilities, and stealth by using a skill tree. The tree can not be fully completed, which really prompts players to choose which of the nifty skills to learn. Choosing the right skills to align with your combat style is immensely satisfying, and by the end of the game, you’ll be quite proficient in utilising Haroona’s unique skillset.

What struck me during my playthrough is how blisteringly gorgeous this game can look. Unknown 9: Awakening is not afraid to showcase beautiful landscapes and imagery across the different environments the narrative takes you. Whether it was the scorching sun in the desolate Mauritanian desert or the peculiar set pieces found in the Fold, there’s rarely a landscape that doesn’t offer a screenshot op.

Unknown 9: Awakening feels like it belongs on a console from two generations ago, which is endearing. I felt a similar way to Evil West in 2022. The bolstering charm is not lost despite this game’s flaws. It took me a while to muster my overall thoughts on my experience with Unknown 9: Awakening. How will people react to a game like this in 2024? That is what is truly Unknown.