Unknown 9: Awakening

"Unknown 9: Awakening suffers from a clear disconnect between its mechanics, genre, story, and ambition as a AA to AAA title. On one hand, it hints at being a semi-decent action-adventure game with its visuals and okay world-building—forgettable, but at …"

"Unknown 9: Awakening is an ambitious single-player action game that takes some bold swings with regards to its stealth combat, character arcs, and universe building. And though it’s sad that the lack of budget and inability to get out of …"

"If you enjoy linear action-adventure games, Unknown 9: Awakening is worth a try. The game has decent character development, and while its stealth system and melee combat don&s;t quite meet current standards, creative ideas can be implemented through the main …"

"An adventure with a strong emphasis on narrative, plagued by a far from optimal technical side but more engaging than you might believe."

"Had it been released in the middle of the last generation, perhaps Unknown 9: Awakening would have had a different effect. Today it is really hard to be impressed by a video game like this, technically and conceptually too old …"

"Son of a troubled development that lasted much longer than expected, Unknown 9: Awakening is a "victim" of the exaggerated ambitions of a very young Reflector Entertainment, which has chosen to immediately throw itself headlong into the creation of a …"

"In a dated way and with flaws in several aspects, Unknown 9: Awakening is a proposal delivered halfway and without much quality. There are positives to praise, such as the universe presenting and an interesting combat system, but the overall …"

"You know, there are some games that you say, "I played this game, but why did I play it?"... Unknown 9: Awakening is exactly one of those games."

"There&s;s potential in Unknown 9: Awakening. The story and setting are fascinating, since so few games are set at the cusp of World War I. Haroona&s;s powers add an enthralling wrinkle to the stealth and combat systems. The experience falls …"

"Not bad – there&s;s fun to be found with this game. However, technical issues hold it back."

"Mixed feelings for an adventure that has flashes of brilliance, but that fails to live up to the technical and some facets of the gameplay. If you are a big fan of the genre, you can give it a chance …"

"Despite some technical issues and a lacklustre final encounter, Unknown 9: Awakening brings a unique take on combat with an extremely well-acted plot that creates a story truly worth experiencing."

"Unknown 9: Awakening is full of originality, but suffers from some frustrating gameplay decisions despite the interesting mystery of its narrative."

"Unknown 9: Awakening is a game that tries to have its own identity, but that is diluted by decisions that do not convince us. There are very good ideas, such as the possibility of having enemies or the help offered …"

"Even when my time leaping into enemies was interrupted by these technical issues, Unknown 9: Awakening’s excellent cast of characters and inventive soul-hopping combat mechanics kept me invested all the way through its gloriously last-gen adventure. With how depressing this …"

"Unknown 9: Awakening is a thoroughly AA gaming experience. Like a lost gem from the Xbox 360 era, its charm and jank are intermingled in interesting ways, but its commitment to a unique cultural perspective and killer remixing of the …"

"Unknown 9: Awakening is a good debut from a first-time development team. This narrative-driven action-adventure has some rough edges but the beautiful locations, intriguing narrative, and well-written characters make it hard to put down. The gameplay doesn&s;t evolve much but …"

"For all of the ambitious transmedia gimmicks surrounding it, Reflector&s;s first title fails to awaken any sustained interest due to shoddy execution."

"Unknown 9: Awakening&s;s best ideas never clear the landing."

"With some truly interesting ideas and story at times, it is even more of a shame that it&s;s the “game” part of Unknown 9: Awakening that drags down the whole experience. Worth a playthrough certainly, but also lacking in some …"

"Unknown 9: Awakening is a generally solid action-adventure mystery let down by irritatingly repetitive combat encounters in the game&s;s later half. The character dialogue and environmental exploration are a highlight, keeping me playing even when other aspects annoyed me."

"I can&s;t say that I didn&s;t enjoy Unknown 9: Awakening. I liked some aspects of it, Haroona is a likeable character and the world manages to intrigue me. But mechanically and technologically, it&s;s a game lost in time. It&s;s as …"

"Unknown 9: Awakening is more than decent, offering some fun combat and exploration with a cast of mostly likeable good guys and entertaining pantomime villains."

"Unknown 9: Awakening from developer Reflector Entertainment and publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment is a game more about what could have been rather than what turned out to be. With a better story that builds out the world, its characters, and …"

"I really wanted to write about the positives of featuring more cultures in this genre, and about how cool it is to have a famous actor play the protagonist, but sadly the gameplay gets in the way of anything interesting. …"

"Despite it all, Haroona&s;s journey still charmed me."

"Perhaps Unknown 9: Awakening will find fans. Not in me. A game to forget in the flurry of current launches."

"Despite offering an original story and some interesting mechanics, Unknown 9: Awakening’s unpolished execution and derivative aspects keep it from fully realizing its ambitions."

"I went into Unknown 9: Awakening really wanting to like it; to see its transmedia experiment succeed. But it&s;s such a horrible-looking game, featuring game mechanics from fifteen-odd years ago and a story that will put you to sleep, it&s;s …"

"What&s;s worse than a bad game? A boring one. One where the player is unable to process a strong feeling, whether positive or negative. Reflector Entertainment&s;s work does not deserve anyone to be upset about what they&s;ve played. Bandai Namco&s;s …"

"The concept of a transmedia project, with Unknown 9: Awakening serving as an ideal entry point for new users, was intriguing. However, the video game ultimately falls short due to numerous issues. While the story provides a foundation for understanding …"

"A fun and unusual take on the third person stealth game, that suffers from some humourless writing but benefits from a surfeit of peculiar magic powers."

"All up, Unknown 9 Awakening is a competent title with some outdated and flawed designs, but with a larger universe and lore that is undeniably compelling. It’s well worth dealing with the rough edges if that idea excites you (especially …"

"Playing through Unknown 9: Awakening left me with a cocktail of emotions when I finally rolled credits after 13 hours. I usually pride myself in my ability to see eye to eye with a game’s vision and try to find …"

"I really enjoyed Unknown 9: Awakening; I loved its pulpy globetrotting action tone and likable cast, and the combat and stealth were rather a lot of fun. The ability to remote control foes and turn them against their allies was …"

"Despite a few interesting ideas, Unknown 9: Awakening is a bland and janky adventure with a generic story and dull combat."

"Unknown 9: Awakening is a promising start for a new series once you learn to love its combat."

"Capabilities of Reflector Entertainment do not match the grand scale of the idea."