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Summary
- Unknown 9: Awakening launches today on Xbox Series X | S and Xbox One!
- The team weighs in on working with Anya Chalotra and Haroona’s powers.
- Explore the larger universe of Unknown 9 with new adventures premiering next week.
Unknown 9: Awakening is out on Xbox Series X | S and Xbox One today! Are you ready to step into the unknown and embark on the quest of a lifetime?
Your mission: help heroine Haroona avenge the death of her mentor, Reika, and uncover long-lost knowledge that could safeguard humanity’s future.
Check out the Cinematic Launch Trailer and find out why you won’t want to miss out on the epic journey that awaits you.
Take the Lead Alongside Anya Chalotra who Plays Haroona
Unknown 9: Awakening’s tough-as-nails heroine is fierce, quick-witted, and wields incredible abilities. She’s also portrayed by Anya Chalotra, best known for playing The Witcher’s Yennefer of Vengerberg.
As Awakening Creative Director Christophe Rossignol explains, it was a privilege to work with the actress, whose passion for the game’s narrative and dedication to the role were invaluable in shaping Haroona’s character and pushing the story forward.
But don’t just take it from him! Only by walking Haroona’s path will you get to experience the magic Chalotra infuses into the character.
Command Every Battle by Stepping Into your Enemies
In the world of Unknown 9, “Stepping” involves projecting your consciousness into another person’s body to control them. It’s a skill that allows you to puppeteer your enemies, leveraging their strengths while pitting them against each other.
In its simplest form, Stepping can be used to take over an Ascendant soldier and have them shoot a comrade. Earn enough Stepping tokens through combat and hop from one foe to the next, adjusting each one’s position to set up catastrophic chained attacks.
Whether you rely on this skill as a form of crowd control or use it to reshape the battlefield and set the pace of a fight, it’s an ability you can get incredibly creative with.
Customize your Playstyle Using Haroona’s Umbric Abilities
While Stepping can be performed in an almost endless number of ways, there’s a lot to be said about making use of Haroona’s full Umbric arsenal.
As Reflector Entertainment Senior Game Designer Yoan Le Souder explains, Haroona uses the Fold’s Umbric energy (Am) to fuel a wide range of powers, block attacks, and weaponize whatever lies in her path. It’s up to you to choose the best approach, then select what abilities to use, and when.
Go Stealth
Fly under the radar by using your Shroud ability to turn invisible and dismantle powerful Ascendant technology, like the Anti-Stepping Device which, as the name suggests, prevents you from performing this specific skill.
You can also toss a Ripple of Umbric energy to draw an Ascendant to an isolated location, then sneak up behind them and perform a Takedown.
Fight It Out
Prefer to use brute force? Haroona’s Crush, Push, and Pull allow her to turn almost anything into a weapon. You can also use these skills to clear a path, reel enemies in, or send them flying off ledges and cliffs!
If you want to pull out all the stops, go for an Umbric or Burst attack, the former proving effective at Fazing your enemies and the latter, the ideal way to finish them off.
A Combined Approach
There’s no right or wrong way to tackle any situation in the game. You can fight from the shadows, throw down in hand-to-hand combat, or stick to Stepping. But the true magic lies in using a combination of the three styles.
Game Designer Anna Karina Bermudez likes to start out in stealth to catch enemies off guard. From there, it’s easy to get a few punches in, maybe Push a foe into a wall, Pull others in closer to land a few kicks, then finish them off with a Stepping attack before Shrouding out of sight.
Explore Exotic Locations
Calling all globetrotting adventure fans!
Unknown 9: Awakening takes you from the Mauritanian desert into the bustling streets of an Indian town called Chamiri, through the dense jungles and ruin-filled mountains of northern India, to a gothic mansion in Portugal, and beyond.
You get to discover places rarely featured in today’s games. And though Awakening follows a mostly linear structure, you can still get some exploration in to uncover secrets and collect skill points.
Your Gateway to the Larger Universe of Unknown 9
By playing the game, you’re making your first foray into a universe packed with mystery and adventure. Though Awakening’s narrative is self-contained, it’s one of many interconnected tales that play out across comics, novels, podcasts, and web series.
Starting next week, you can continue the story of the game through Unknown 9: Passage, a web series that takes you aboard the SS Talaria, where a mysterious entity appears to be infecting the minds of the ship’s dwindling crew.
Other stories slated for release next week include Issue #2 of the Unknown 9: Torment comic book series and the third and final instalment of Layton Green’s Genesis Trilogy.
To spot the crossovers, call-backs, and easter eggs, make sure to check out the Unknown 9: Nexus interactive experience, which highlights intersecting plot points, backstories, and more!
Are you ready to brave the Unknown and discover what our narrative universe has in store for you? There’s only one way to find out. Play Unknown 9: Awakening on Xbox today to see where your journey takes you.
Unknown 9: Awakening
Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc.
$49.99
Delve into the mysterious world of the Unknown 9, and uncover mysteries hidden in plain sight.
You are Haroona, a Quaestor born with the ability to venture into a mysterious dimension that overlaps our own, known only as the Fold. On her quest for powerful hidden knowledge, Haroona will learn to master her unique connection to the Fold, which allows her to channel its powers into our world… But such power does not go unnoticed and Haroona quickly becomes the target of a splinter faction calling themselves the Ascendants, who want to use the Fold to alter the course of human history.
Become Haroona – Play as a young and courageous woman who has the ability to dive into and channel powers from a parallel dimension known as the Fold.
Master the Fold – Leverage your mastery of the Fold and choose your own playstyle. Step into your enemies to control them, dodge bullets, vanish in plain sight, hurl Umbric energy at your opponents, and more.
Journey across the world – From the sands of Mauritania and perilous Indian jungles to the gothic landscapes of 19th century Portugal, discover some of the most mysterious locations the world has to offer.
Discover the Unknown 9 universe – Unknown 9: Awakening lies at the heart of intertwining stories, unfolding through a multitude of Unknown 9 products whose events and characters make up a much larger Storyworld.