On October 3, 2024, fans of Unknown 9: Awakening had an opportunity to engage directly with the Reflector Entertainment development team on the Unknown 9 Discord channel!
Creative Director Christophe Rossignol, Animation Director Marie-Chantal Larocque, and Senior Game Designer Yoan Le Souder shared insights about several aspects of our narrative action-adventure game. From the inspiration behind the story and the creation of our heroine to features, and more!
Below are a few of the answers* they gave in response to the community’s top questions.
Here’s what the Unknown 9 community wants to know!
What was the inspiration behind Unknown 9: Awakening’s creation? (@Jodaine)
That is a tough question to answer… As with any creative work, inspiration and ideas don’t come from a single source or a single person. It’s a collective mix of personal inspiration, as well as books, movies, games, etc.
At Reflector Entertainment, we wanted to create more than a game right from the start. We wanted to tell a story across different mediums. To achieve this, we needed [to create] deep lore. We realized early on that we needed [to define] a set of rules that would become canon. This would ensure the cohesion of the universe while giving us a framework.
For this first project, we wanted to tell a story about humanity, about us, about our evolution. We wanted to bring some “magic” into the world, reminding people that there is more to discover, there is knowledge we cannot yet comprehend, there is hope!
Once we defined this framework, one of the original sources of inspiration that emerged was “the 9 Unknown” (and now you have an idea of where the name of our universe comes from).
–Christophe Rossignol
How was Haroona’s character created? Was the decision to make her South Asian taken at the beginning? As a young Indian woman, it’s refreshing to see more characters like me in video games and adventure stories! (u/anyachalotraupdates)
Creating a character is a long, collaborative process, as you can imagine. We defined her while building multiple versions of the gameplay, the story, and character backgrounds.
Through multiple iterations, one thing never changed…Haroona was from India.
–Christophe Rossignol
“It’s probably something more personal than anything I’ve ever done before.”
What was the inspiration for Haroona’s fighting style? (@Dreadwolf)
Haroona comes from the streets and doesn’t have proper training, so we had to come up with our own inspiration [as opposed to focusing on] a defined style. The stunt actress who plays Haroona has amazing skills! She was able to see herself in the character and bring her own vision of her to life.
So, it was part brute force, part natural talent, with a hint of Fold fusion!
–Marie-Chantal Larocque
What main advantages [does the] video game offer, as opposed to the podcast and the comic? Will the plot of the video game be closed, or will it be necessary to consult other media from the Unknown 9 universe to understand the ending? (u/anyachalotraupdates and @Serkenobi)
Each medium has its strengths. The video game is an interactive medium that gives us a different set of possibilities. It’s more active. As a player, you’re not only witnessing the story of Haroona, you’re experiencing it. It kind of becomes your story too, your adventure. That’s why the game offers a skill tree and allows you to customize her to your playstyle, but also gives you the freedom to overcome most encounters the way you want.
–Christophe Rossignol
It isn’t necessary to consult the other stories. The game plot can be understood by itself. But knowing about the other stories will help you learn more about other characters, the world building, etc. Every product in the Unknown 9 universe is designed to be a first step into this world and connects to the stories being told in other mediums.
–Yoan Le Souder
What was it like working with all the actors & actresses in the game? (@Dreadwolf)
They are your partners in crime. They bring the characters to life as much as the director does. Sometimes they don’t have to be forced into the character. Sometimes you get lucky, and they already feel and breathe like them! Its definitely a partnership.
–Marie-Chantal Larocque
Partners in crime! Ha! I love it. Indeed, we were very lucky to have Anya Chalotra, who is such a talented actress, portraying our main protagonist Haroona, and adding her amazing skills to push the emotion and story further.
–Christophe Rossignol
What accessibility options are available in the game? (@xelgameshow)
We have visibility accessibility features that allow to adjust for color blindness as well as HUD, and subtitle scaling.
But a key accessibility feature is our rebinding mapping system, which allows you to change any keyboard/controller key as well as their input type to match everyone’s needs.
–Yoan Le Souder
What are you most excited for players to experience with this game? (@michellenreed)
I’m excited for players to experience Stepping, but also to combine this move with other combat and stealth abilities, to have fun with it, to be creative with it.
I would also love it if everyone who plays the game gets curious about the lore and the larger universe we’ve built and started to look into the other stories set in our universe, like the Unknown 9: Echoes comic book, or the Unknown 9: Out of Sight podcast, and many other stories to be unveiled very soon.
–Christophe Rossignol
To dive into the full Ask Me Anything, join our Discord Channel.
Have you pre-ordered Unknown 9: Awakening yet?
There’s just over one week to go before the game’s worldwide release, so now’s the time to pre-order your preferred edition, secure up to four cosmetic DLCs, and join the countdown!
*These questions and answers have been edited for clarity.