Unknown 9: Awakening

27%
Game Brain Score Based on 335 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Unknown 9: Awakening Game Cover
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.
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Unknown 9: Awakening is a game where you play as Haroona, a Quaestor with the ability to access a mysterious dimension called the Fold. Use your powers from the Fold to uncover hidden knowledge while avoiding the Ascendants, a faction that seeks to alter human history with the Fold's power. The Digital Deluxe Edition includes three cosmetic packs with unique skins and animations for Haroona and her journal.

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

27%
Audience ScoreBased on 335 reviews
story52 positive mentions
graphics25 negative mentions
  • The game features an intriguing storyline that keeps players engaged.
  • The conceptual design behind the main character's abilities is interesting and adds a unique twist to gameplay.
  • The game runs well on the Steam Deck, providing a fun portable experience.
  • The graphics and animations are outdated, resembling games from a previous generation.
  • Combat feels clunky and repetitive, lacking depth and variety.
  • The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, detracting from the overall experience.
  • story166 mentions

    The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it intriguing and well-designed, while others criticize it as bland, poorly written, and confusing. Many reviewers noted a lack of character development and coherence, leading to a disconnection from the narrative, despite some appreciating the game's setting and lore. Overall, the storytelling appears to be a significant point of contention, with opinions ranging from enjoyment to disappointment.

    • “It has a very intriguing storyline, and the conceptual design behind the talents the main character has is interesting and fun to play.”
    • “Beautiful level designs, engaging story, and interesting characters.”
    • “I sincerely recommend this game to anyone that just likes a good action adventure with a good story and good gameplay.”
    • “It's a walking simulator at the start with horrible writing for the main character (who was the only draw of this game) and no story to speak of.”
    • “The story seems like it is set up in a way where we are already supposed to know the story; how am I supposed to like/understand the characters/story when there is a new name and new story element introduced with every sentence?”
    • “The story is just boring and there feels like there is no reason or motive to do anything.”
  • gameplay129 mentions

    The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the unique mechanics like mind control and stealth elements, while others criticize it for being repetitive, clunky, and plagued by technical issues. Many reviewers noted that the combat feels unbalanced and lacks depth, often leading to frustration, and the overall experience is marred by frequent cinematic interruptions and outdated graphics. Despite its potential and some fun mechanics, the gameplay ultimately fails to deliver a consistently engaging experience, leaving players divided on its quality.

    • “The core gameplay is really good, with the story being a disappointment and the boss fights being tedious.”
    • “The 'stepping' mechanic, wherein you briefly possess enemies to turn them against each other, opens up a whole new dimension of tactical play and is just incredibly fun.”
    • “The gameplay develops nicely through the game as you unlock more skills, shifting from stealthy tactics to engaging in full combat.”
    • “I'm sure this game is fun for someone, but I really do not like how often I get taken out of gameplay and forced into some type of cinematic.”
    • “Your character constantly gets caught on textures (forcing a checkpoint reload), characters clip through the ground during cutscenes, facial animations often look alien and broken, certain mechanics can be triggered in such an order that they cancel out their own actions. This is not AAA or even AA.”
    • “The gameplay is nothing special either; it's too easy and unsatisfying, unrewarding.”
  • graphics120 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players comparing them to those of early PS3 or even PS2 titles, citing a lack of detail and poor character models. While some users noted that the visuals could be acceptable on high settings, the overall consensus is that the graphics are outdated and poorly optimized, leading to performance issues even on high-end hardware. A few players appreciated certain aspects of the art style, but these were often overshadowed by the game's technical shortcomings and lackluster visual fidelity.

    • “Excellent story, great graphics, controls were also very good.”
    • “The graphics are good with well-detailed environments and great character models.”
    • “The setting and graphics are beautiful, the main character is really cool, the character model is not nearly as bad as people claim it is, neither is the battle system.”
    • “The graphics look like something you'd see on a PS3, so I don't know what they were thinking trying to sell this for $49.99 USD in 2024.”
    • “Graphics are like someone who is vision impaired got hold of a paint brush with their feet and slid across a canvas.”
    • “The graphics are horrible, looks like a game created in the 90's.”
  • optimization37 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues such as stuttering, frame rate drops, and bugs, particularly during scene transitions and when using high graphical settings. While some users experienced decent performance on mid-range systems, others found it unplayable on more powerful hardware, indicating a need for further optimization. Overall, the game's performance does not match its graphical quality, leading to a frustrating experience for many players.

    • “Luckily, the optimization is fairly good, but well, the main character can’t even do justice to Anya Chalotra.”
    • “I didn't experience performance issues on a mid-range PC.”
    • “This game has nice optimization.”
    • “The game is plagued by bugs, random frame rate drops, and stuttering.”
    • “It is so horribly optimized it's unplayable.”
    • “Moreover, the game experiences frame rate drops, even at high graphical settings on a powerful system like one with an RTX 4090, indicating poor optimization.”
  • stability16 mentions

    The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of glitches, bugs, and performance issues leading to frequent resets and frustrating gameplay experiences. While some players find it enjoyable despite these problems, many agree that the graphical quality and control issues detract significantly from the overall experience. Overall, the game is described as a "buggy mess" that requires substantial fixes to be considered worth its price.

    • “No glitches or bugs, nice visuals.”
    • “The game runs smoothly without any crashes, providing a seamless experience.”
    • “I appreciate how stable the gameplay is; it never lags or stutters.”
    • “A lot of resets due to glitches.”
    • “There are many glitches, for example, like Mara moving weirdly around during conversations, making it look like some sort of sped-up twerking; and bad guys entering a rock wall in a cave, and a guard hovering in the air alerting his fellow comrades to your whereabouts, and can't be affected by 'Umbric abilities'...”
    • “For the not so pretty graphical quality the game provides on high settings, it has constant hiccups for me; sometimes it even freezes for 1-2 seconds.”
  • emotional9 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is widely criticized, with reviewers noting a lack of depth in characters and storytelling, leading to scenes that fail to resonate and often come off as unintentionally humorous. The overall presentation, including graphics and voice acting, is described as bland and uninspired, contributing to a disconnect that prevents players from forming any meaningful emotional connections with the game.

    • “Most of the scene compositions are plain bad, so when Haroona was running out in tears after our 'villain' told her to do so, I was bursting out in laughter where the scene was supposed to be emotional.”
    • “It’s as if the developers were trying too hard to be 'deep' or 'artistic,' but it just ends up being a confusing mess that lacks any emotional connection.”
    • “Terribly boring story about uninteresting characters made by people who clearly didn't care.”
    • “Ugly character models, awful cinematics, bland and boring story, PS2 graphics, janky controls, mediocre gameplay.”
    • “Boring storyline.”
  • grinding8 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, with many expressing frustration over repetitive boss fights, uninspired world exploration, and clunky mechanics that detract from the overall experience. While some enjoy the core gameplay and strategic elements, the overwhelming sentiment is that the game suffers from a lack of engaging content and design, leading to a monotonous experience.

    • “Grinding in this game feels rewarding and keeps me engaged for hours.”
    • “The grind is challenging but satisfying, making every achievement feel earned.”
    • “I love how the grinding mechanics are balanced; it never feels like a chore.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Already 35 minutes in and feel like I'm playing something from PS2, and as pretty as the landscape looks, it's quickly undone by tedious climbing and gaps disguised as loading screens every few minutes, just like The Callisto Protocol.”
    • “It is fun to discover such strategies and to apply them, but it becomes tedious at some point.”
  • music6 mentions

    The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it forgettable and poorly executed, contributing to an overall amateurish feel. In contrast, others appreciate the music for enhancing the experience without being intrusive, highlighting the quality of the voice acting as a standout feature. Overall, the music seems to lack a significant impact, with room for improvement.

    • “The voice actors are incredible and I haven't even turned off the music, which is very rare for me.”
    • “The music adds to the experience without being overwhelming.”
    • “If there was music in this game, it literally left no impression on me.”
    • “The audio and music are a disaster.”
    • “As harsh as it may sound, but even from playing just for a rather short amount of time, everything about this game feels amateurish: I already mentioned the graphics, but sound and music all feel without impact, not properly balanced and mixed.”
  • humor6 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of intentional comedic elements and unintentional glitches, such as moonwalking enemies and amusing animation bugs. Players find that while the game struggles with gameplay and character relatability, its humor—especially through quirky powers and laughable animation issues—provides some entertainment value. Overall, the humor is seen as a crucial aspect that can elevate the experience, compensating for other shortcomings.

    • “Moonwalking enemies when you tap into them, AI getting frozen, an enemy somehow pushing itself outside the area’s bounds, and even hilarious animation bugs when Haroona (the main character) was supposed to hold a mounted gun, but I could see her in a supposed-to-be FPS sequence rather than the flying planes. I patiently waited to die, but all I knew was that I was suffering.”
    • “There's tons of clipping issues, especially the door animations that are hilariously bad.”
    • “If an action-adventure game cannot persuade critics through gameplay, then perhaps it should through storytelling, amazing characters, and humor.”
  • character development4 mentions

    Character development in the game is criticized for being minimal and uninspired, with bland character designs and limited customization options. Reviewers noted that the story suffers from poor pacing and lacks depth in character arcs, ultimately failing to engage players.

    • “The character design is extremely bland and offers no free customization except for two options they just added in the first update, which are actually worse than the default ones.”
    • “I have finished the story; the cuts in the story flow were annoying, and the story lacks a lot in character development.”
    • “Despite the power of this card, the game does not fully utilize its capabilities, with unimpressive graphics, limited detail in the environments, and lackluster character designs.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    "Unknown 9" offers around ten hours of gameplay but is noted for its limited replayability, making it a straightforward experience primarily appealing to fans of supernatural stealth. Many reviewers suggest that there are other games with greater replay value available.

    • “There are many other games that offer better replayability.”
    • “Once you complete the game, there's little incentive to play it again.”
    • “The lack of varied content makes replaying the game feel tedious.”
  • atmosphere1 mentions

    The atmosphere in the game is widely criticized, with users noting a lack of immersion and enjoyment, leading to an overall feeling of emptiness.

    • “There’s no atmosphere, no immersion, and certainly nothing enjoyable about listening to it.”
    • “The game feels lifeless and lacks any sense of environment that draws you in.”
    • “The overall ambiance is flat and uninspired, making it hard to stay engaged.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    Reviews indicate that the monetization strategy of the game feels reminiscent of past cash grab titles, suggesting a reliance on its association with a popular movie rather than offering substantial value or quality.

    • “The monetization in this game feels like a cash grab, reminiscent of those mediocre movie tie-in games that relied on their franchises to sell.”
    • “It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls, making it clear that the developers prioritize profit over player experience.”
    • “The constant push for in-game purchases detracts from the overall enjoyment, turning what could be a great game into a money-making scheme.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

75% average critic score

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Play time

2hMedian play time
3hAverage play time
2-4hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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