Cygames’ Project Awakening early gameplay video shown behind closed doors at E3 2018 [Update]

Cygames showed members of the press an early gameplay video of Project Awakening, its 2016-announced “high-end console” game in development at Cygames Osaka, during a behind closed doors presentation at E3 2018.

The gameplay video, which was one minute long, featured detailed, photo-realistic ruins and a fighter armed with a sword and shield, who encounters and battles a dragon. Cygames said that it represents a game far from completion, as the team has mainly been at work on the concept and engine, and for that reason it will not be released to the public.

Platforms for Project Awakening have yet to be announced. However, Cygames Osaka was established in 2015 with a focus on PlayStation 4 development. Its team includes Junji Tago, who was the technical director of the Fox Engine at Konami‘s Kojima Productions.

Update 06/14/18 at 7:43 p.m.: Game Informer offers a more detailed description of the footage:

There wasn’t much to the game shown, but the footage was impressive looking. The development team includes Junji Tago, who was the technical director at Kojima Productions working on the Fox Engine, and it definitely shows in the game’s graphics. While Cygames didn’t confirm platforms, the short trailer we saw looked a step above a lot of current-gen games.

The trailer showed a fantasy knight, not in any way tied to Cygames’ popular Granblue Fantasy series, in a crumbled stone arena. He fights a scaly lizard-like monster that Cygames pointed out moves realistically. The fighting seemed like a hybrid of different influences like Monster Hunter and Dragon’s Dogma, but Cygames shied away from confirming any specific titles as inspirations.