There are plenty of games inspired by Japanese folklore, from Ghost of Yōtei to Okami, but few make you stop mid-trailer just to look at a jacket, a mask, a silhouette. That was my immediate reaction to Kemuri: Hunt the Unseen, the debut project from UNSEEN, the Tokyo-based studio led by game director Ikumi Nakamura. Revealed during PlayStation’s latest State of Play showcase, it’s set in a supernatural city caught between life and death, but the character design is what impresses.
Artist and director Nakamura is best known for her work on Tango Gameworks' The Evil Within series and Ghostwire: Tokyo, and describes Kemuri as a “yokai-possession action game” set in Kemuri City, a vertical sprawl where the boundary between the living and the dead has blurred. It’s known as “the City Closest to the Afterlife”, where people arrive hoping to find something they’ve lost. The premise already has my attention, especially as I enjoyed Ghostwire: Tokyo, but the visual design here just feels like a step above.
