Unknown 9: Awakening was supplied by Bandai Namco for overview. Thanks!
I really like when video games develop their tales in distinctive methods exterior of their unique sport. Often, that is accomplished with sequels or spin-off sequence, and my favorites have been the League of Legends universe (RIP) and what Nexon is beginning to do with the Dungeon Fighter On-line universe, however Unknown 9 is far more distinctive. As a substitute of simply video video games, Unknown 9 expands into different media like comedian books, novels, and even podcasts. Whereas there are different larger sequence which have accomplished this, like Star Wars, there’s one thing particular about seeing it with different smaller media or ones which have roots in types of media exterior of films.
The universe began comparatively just lately, and Unknown 9: Awakening is their first foray into video video games, and it’s beginning on a really robust level. The world and lore sucked me in, and whereas there are some points that I’d like to have seen ironed out, it was in the end a extremely pleasing expertise and an effective way to dive into the unbelievable story behind it.
In Unknown 9: Awakening, you play as Haroona, a younger girl who’s mastering her powers and changing into a Quaestor. She is ready to work together with a supernatural dimension known as The Fold and channel it into distinctive powers known as Umbric Talents. After confronting an outdated scholar who has began meddling with powers that might hurt society, her grasp, Reika, loses her life, and Haroona escapes along with her life. Now, 4 years later, she has been coaching for vengeance and can find yourself occurring an journey to grasp her powers and be taught extra about her connection to The Fold.
Whereas the story does evolve into one thing extra predictable, it’s considerably saved by the unbelievable voice appearing, particularly from Haroona’s voice actor Anya Chalotra. I preferred the characters and the way they had been implanted into the story. There’s a number of lore as properly, and in the event you aren’t and need to be taught a few of the particular vocabulary they use, it might really feel overwhelming. I did benefit from the story it advised total although, and was curious all through how the story would finish.
The fight does have some minor points, however I ended up loving it. Preventing enemies whereas utilizing the Umbric Talents is exhilarating, and I beloved combining all the mechanics to create some actually superior moments. Whereas you should utilize gentle and heavy assaults, you’re additionally in a position to make use of your powers to distract, pull, and push enemies and even management them. Every mechanic could be mixed with one another in fight to make issues a lot extra thrilling and funky.
For instance, I used to be preventing a bunch of enemies and was a bit overwhelmed, however from there, I stepped into somebody and used their gun to shoot an individual within the head. Then I took over one other individual and smacked the bottom close to a generator that might explode. After that, I went again into my very own physique and pulled an enemy in the direction of that generator proper earlier than it blew up, taking down three of them without delay. I ran to the primary individual I took over and used heavy assaults to take them down, which replenished considered one of my tokens to take over one other individual. With two enemies left, I took over considered one of them and smacked the opposite, killing them. I then hid, and when the final individual overpassed me, I crawled behind them and stealth killed them.
I had so many moments like this, and it felt unbelievable with the ability to chain all of those talents collectively. Nonetheless, there are a few points I discovered when in lively fight. The lock-on system would typically unlock, and I’d lose sight of an enemy once I was attempting to punch them. Haroona does not gravitate in the direction of enemies both, and I discovered myself typically attacking the air round enemies. They will additionally dodge actually successfully and block your assaults to interrupt combos a bit too typically, and it acquired a bit annoying since typically my heavy assaults would miss, and they might be capable to hit me earlier than I recovered.
There are some stealth parts that do work, however with the janky fight total, it may be a bit obnoxious. If this was a bit extra refined, the fight can be top-notch, and whereas I did discover some enjoyment once I was utilizing all of my powers successfully, like taking management of somebody to get in entrance of a bullet that was shot at me, it may be introduced again down as quickly as you begin to combat along with your fists. The digital camera can even get in the way in which at instances in these conditions, which solely makes it a bit extra aggravating.
I additionally had a love-hate relationship with Unknown 9: Awakening’s development system. You’ll find yourself having to go around the globe to search out nodes to present you ability factors to unlock new talents and improve your well being and power. One of the simplest ways to search out them is peeking into The Fold, which highlights these and collectibles, however there have been a number of instances I forgot to do that and I’m positive I missed some factors to get extra powers. Nothing on the ability tree stood out to me as notably attention-grabbing, nevertheless it did the job.
I did discover a lot of the areas and world attention-grabbing to have a look at, and it’s lovely below some gentle. The extent design is okay, and it does not really feel as fluid because it might have been as a consequence of some restrictions, like not with the ability to leap. It is a very linear, sluggish expertise on this sense, and I’d have beloved with the ability to leap round and use my powers to extra rapidly traverse the world and the cool areas they did have on show.
And whereas it’s a bit troublesome, the sport is technically playable on the Steam Deck.
Unknown 9: Awakening – Steam Deck Efficiency
Unknown 9: Awakening is the proper instance of a sport that ought to have a 2.5 star ranking. It’s technically playable, and doesn’t look dangerous, however there’s are positively framerate drops that may crop up. A whole lot of these drops occur in closer-up cutscenes, however they will drop whereas operating round and in battles. I’ve by no means seen it drop beneath 25 FPS exterior of those cutscenes, and that’s at nearly the bottom settings. The sport pushes the GPU actually arduous, preserving it near 99% nearly all the time.
I did discover that setting upscaling too low would assist efficiency however develop into manner too pixelated, and setting too excessive would trigger extra drops. RAM additionally will get a bit near max however by no means acquired to the purpose of crashing. There have been a few stutters right here and there, however nothing unreasonable. It is a number of compromise, however ultimately, I discovered it playable.
So, with this in thoughts, I’ve two methods to play.
Beneficial Settings
My favourite approach to play does have some drops, nevertheless it seems first rate and feels fairly easy when accomplished in most scenes. With a 30 FPS cap, we could have the bottom settings on with FSR upscaling at Balanced. We can even be setting the decision to 1152×720. I normally wouldn’t change the decision, nevertheless it introduced some scenes from 26 FPS to 30, and I didn’t really feel it had a big picture high quality discount. There are nonetheless going to be some spots that drop, however they aren’t too dangerous. With a 30 FPS cap, it feels okay regardless of the slowdowns, and I by no means actually felt fight endure from it an excessive amount of.
There might have been one time the place a slowdown impacted my skill to dodge, however I’m horrible at it even when there aren’t slowdowns. The sport feels nice for essentially the most pat and it held 30 greater than I anticipated it to, apart from in some cutscenes.
Extra Steady Settings
I additionally needed to make a bunch of settings that had been steady, and whereas it’s a massive compromise, it’s at the least steady. We are able to maintain the decision at 1280×800, however with all different settings on low, FSR at Balanced, and a framerate cap of 24 FPS/72Hz. It positively doesn’t really feel almost as easy as 30, nevertheless it’s not unplayable and does keep steady extra typically. Some cutscenes will nonetheless drop, which is a disgrace, nevertheless it won’t fluctuate as a lot or really feel impactful when it drops.
I do not essentially suggest this approach to play as 30 FPS is my private commonplace, however I needed to incorporate this as an possibility for individuals who do not care about framerate in any respect and would somewhat have much less noticeable drops.
Accessibility
There’s a particular accessibility tab within the sport for Tritanopia, Deuteranopia, and Protanopia, in addition to toggles to auto-target and change goal in fight, toggle digital camera shake, and activate audio cues. You can too change controller scheme and icons, invert digital camera, change UI aspect shows and scale, change audio sliders, and alter language and subtitles.
The sport does assist 16:10 resolutions, controllers, and cloud saves. There aren’t any HDR choices.
Conclusion
Unknown 9: Awakening left me with a blended feeling, however I in the end had fun. I really like the lore and world that’s being constructed by this sport and all the opposite types of media round it, and the voice appearing is great in opposition to the mediocre story. The powers you might have actually shake up fight lots, and it’s so a lot enjoyable when chaining every part collectively, however the janky digital camera and small points all construct up and create an obnoxious when not utilizing the skills you might have. And whereas it’s technically playable on Steam Deck, it does require compromises and could have drops.
However, in case you are searching for a linear journey with PS3/Xbox 360 vibes, you’re in the suitable place and could have a good time right here.
Our overview is predicated on the PC model of this sport.
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