Kemuri is “Semi-Open World”, Release “Just a Bit Further Down the Road,” Says Unseen Studio CEO

Unseen’s Kemuri received a new Developer Diary recently, providing more details on its setting and gameplay. As an online co-op action PvE title, it sees the human and spirit realms encroaching upon each other. Players control Yokai Hunters that peer into the spirit realm and battle Yokai, ultimately gaining their powers.

With all the talk of verticality, it’s perhaps unsurprising to hear studio CEO Ikumi Nakamura describe the world as “semi-open.” It’s not on the scale of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, but also not entirely linear.

Speaking to IGN during its Fan Fest, Nakamura admitted, “It’s kind of hard to describe, but [I don’t want to] actually say open world. We won’t say that either, because that expectation is very different…I don’t know, like Cyberpunk or Fallout. Skyrim is an open world. It’s a ginormous map. It’s not what that is.

“But at the same time, it’s not a linear game either, and it’s quite hard to describe. So [I] want you to look forward to actually playing the game in the near future.”

Describing it as more of a “large island” or even a “peninsula”, Nakamura said that exploration is free-form and players aren’t “told to go one specific direction.” Players have several traversal options, from grinding on rails and running across walls to grappling onto different structures.

Kemuri doesn’t have a release date, but Unseen will venture into extensive “playtesting and development.” Nakamura that the title’s launch is “just a bit further down the road.” Perhaps we’ll learn more about its platforms and witness more gameplay. Stay tuned in the meantime.