Developers Cygames has revealed their new game called Project Awakening. It is an RPG and the team’s first console-exclusive game. Cygames showed off a new trailer for the game at the PlayStation LineUp Tour press conference Monday morning.
Project Awakening was originally announced back in 2016 as a falling-from-the-sky simulator with a CGI trailer. Since that time, little information has come out about the game until now. The gameplay shown in today’s trailer focuses on the player character, a knight referred to in the narration as one of the “wolves of war,” as he fights a large monster in a ruined keep. The game’s aggressive combat and visuals are impressive and reminiscent of other games like Monster Hunter: World, Dragon’s Dogma, and Dark Souls.
Back in 2016, DualShockers reported on that announcement, and noted that Cygames President Kiochi Watanabe was involved in the project. Watanabe directed 2009’s 3D Dot Game Heroes, and has been quietly building a talented team. Artist and character directer Akihiko Yoshida (Bravely Default, Vagrant Story, Tactics Ogre) heads up CyDesignation, a subsidiary that works on game design, illustration, and development.
Developers Cygames was founded in 2011 by CyberAgent. Since then they have developed a variety of massively successful mobile games. In 2011 they launched collectible card game Rage of Bahamut. That game netted Cygames millions of dollars until publisher and Cygames parent company DeNA shut down worldwide servers in early 2016.
Cygames went on to develop Granblue Fantasy, which released in 2014. The turn-based RPG was only released in Japan and features music composed by longtime Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. It has been well-received in Japan, garnering over 10 million downloads by March 2016.
Cygames have branched out from video game development since after their successes. With subsidiaries working on anime series, music production, and more. Project Awakening looks to be a massive investment for the studio and its most ambitious project to date.
