Most people think of Keanu Reeves saying “You’re breathtaking” when they think back to the darling moment of E3 2019. And for good reason: It was an off-the-cuff, almost intimate moment that went viral AF, despite the backlash that Cyberpunk 2077 (the game Reeves was at E3 to promote) would later receive.
But for others, myself included, there was a far more endearing and wholesome — and almost truly otherworldly — moment that stole the collective hearts of the internet. I am talking about, of course, Ikumi Nakamura’s exuberant, gosh-darn breathtaking (see what I did there, Keanu?) reveal for the elusive Ghostwire: Tokyo (on which she served as the creative director), a game I am still struggling to decipher all these years later. In a matter of minutes, Nakamura was able to connect to our typically otherwise jaded gamer souls with her exuberant and almost magical enthusiasm — not only for the game she was presenting, but seemingly for all of life and existence itself.
I mean, purely from the standpoint of this being a part of a Bethesda conference, Nakamura stood in stark contrast to the like of Todd Howard and (God bless him) all of his leather-jacket smarm about stuff just working when, c’mon Todd, we all know it just don’t.
At the time, I didn’t much vibe with Ghostwire: Tokyo, but I could see that Nakamura did, and that was good enough for me. Shortly thereafter, though, Nakamura would depart from Tango Gameworks, citing health concerns. For a brief moment, it seemed like the industry had lost a truly special, passionate, competent veteran developer. This was someone, mind you, that had worked as an artist on games like Okami, Bayonetta, and The Evil Within (and its sequel).
But, as it turns out, that wasn’t the end. Ikumi Nakamura is back in the biz, this time with a studio all her own.
To unveil the creation of UNSEEN, Nakamura’s new studio, the world has been graced with one of the most beautiful studio announcement videos I have ever seen. I mean, this thing is a gorgeously produced and shot in a documentary-film-slash-treatise-on-life style. Are you kidding me? If this is any indication of what can be expected, production-wise, of whatever their first video game project might be, I am all in, baby. And considering Nakamura seems to have a penchant for horror titles, we might be in for a real treat whenever the studio’s first game does materialize.
You can check out the video below. I strongly recommend you do, because it is truly incredible.
