I genuinely can't believe they went from 999, VLR and the first Somnium Files to this. It's so fucking bad.

The game takes everything good from the first game and refuses to give us more of it.

The characters are much worse than in the last game. All of the first AI characters are here just for the sake of being here. They don't do nor provide anything to the plot besides standing there and being the target for questions that they never know the answer for. Ryuki is SO BAD as a protagonist. Mizuki is a bit better but still, I can't believe they went from Date to this. Date carried the first game hard, he made it interesting and his funny bits are ALWAYS funny. These 2 new protagonists are nothing like him.

The plot is utter garbage. Perdiod. I'm almost sure Uchikoshi decided to ask his 5 year old cousin to write a story for the second AI game. The twists are boring and predictable, the pace is TERRIBLE (one of the worst I've ever seen), they force you to go around asking stuff every time the plot moves 1 fucking milimeter and every question our character asks we both already know the answer for and is useless. God I loved how the first game set up the mystery, the murders, how you NEVER knew WHO or WHEN the next murder was going to happen. How BIZARRE some of the routes where... I genuinely can't believe how we are here.

Now for the comedy... Listen, the first game had a good balance between seriousness and comedy. The comedy was there but wasn't predominant, they threw bits here and there in the most stupid places ever and it felt good, it made me at least crack a smile, but this one... God it's awful, at the very least half of the game is pure comedy, it NEVER takes itself serious. Comedy is fine but don't lose focus, we ain't here for Comedy Central, we are here for a good suspense, murder mystery plot with time travel and the rest of the shennanigans on the Uchikoshi games. This ain't fucking IT.

I honestly don't understand how ANYONE thinks this is a good game. It feels like the author basically wanted to test how much they can laugh at the players. I genuinely don't see how they make a third game or go from here, it is THAT bad.

The kind of twist that at first makes you go "This is really dumb", then after a while it s coming together, it starts to make sense, only to realize afterwards that no, nothing about this works, it is a really dumb and pointless twist.

Intensly frustrating. I love the first game, I love the cast, I love the tone, the music, the creativity. But through it's structure and twist Nirvana Initiative becomes much less than the sum of its parts.

THe secret ending and its implications slap though.

Well, what can I say, I was really quite disappointed with the game overall. Where the predecessor was for the most part still reasonably down-to-earth and offered an interesting mystery, this game goes towards infinity on the bullshit scale :D Unfortunately, the humor doesn't work for me at all, the over-the-top moments that were still used selectively in the predecessor are here non-stop. I actually really liked the Somnium levels, but there was also a certain randomness in some places that made solving the puzzles unnecessarily difficult. To be honest, I find the "big" twist towards the end very cheap, as it has no justification in the game world and is only there to confuse the player. It could have been solved more elegantly. The main plot is nice, but it's riddled with anime bullshit at every turn. I lost count of how many times I had to fight hordes of the same enemy morons, who of course use their firearms almost exclusively in close combat, only to watch them limp away afterwards. Pacing was another problem. I spent more time with the predecessor and yet it felt shorter because the story was simply told faster and better. So overall I found it rather lame, the characters pretty flat, the story ok, the twists cheap and the overall experience just mediocre.

I wish I could give AINI the same praise I gave to AITSF. On one end the performance issues on switch were fixed and the QTEs were given an accessible easy mode, and the animated sequences look much more impressive thanks to utilising mocap. I'd even say as well that this could've been a genuinely solid story... as its own thing.

As an AITSF sequel, however, it falls apart for me. The plot of AINI for me demanded less investment of the characters over Uchikoshi's newest "mindbending meta twist", which is the complete opposite of the first game where the plot was simpler in favour of the character dynamics and theme of family. It especially clashes when the character endings feel borderline unnecessary this time, not really providing the characters any resolution not already depicted in the main story with one exception. The somniums also feel much more like narrative vehicles than surreal weirdness, which on its own isn't so bad, but the subsequent railroading and genre shift to more conventional puzzles was a little underwhelming.

The two greatest offenders for me ended up being AINI's main twist, and its treatment of one specific character. The twist does absolutely nothing for the characters and basically serves to make the experience more frustrating for the player - it interests me in concept, and maybe trying it outside the AI series could've worked, but the execution just ultimately pissed me off with how pointless it was. It also requires multiple convoluted events to happen and a full retcon of a major plot point from AITSF, not to mention the complete ignorance of specific characters and dynamics in order to preserve it. The mystery is great without it as well! Meanwhile, the character I mentioned started as deeply interesting, only for their endgame role to completely destroy any pre-established nuance to their personality. I would've preferred if they had LESS depth if it meant this role was less unsatisfying.

I really don't want to just ramble on with misery, though, because AINI still has multiple shining lights that kept me playing the whole way. Ryuki is my favourite character in the entirety of the AI series, he's incredibly entertaining while also being a genuinely interesting and serious character, and his dynamic with Tama is a joy to witness. I also found new additions such as the crime scene recreation really enjoyable despite their simplicity, especially since they're the source of some of AINI's funniest scenes. Despite my criticism of the somniums most were still enjoyable, and some of the more unique gimmicks stuck with me! Also the soundtrack banged as always.

But yeah, I'd honestly still recommend AINI, but... in my opinion if you've played AITSF, don't play it like it's a sequel, play it as its own thing. That way you'll go through less disappointment at worst, and maybe find extra enjoyment from the game at best too if you end up loving what I wasn't able to.

Same overall opinion as for AITSF: on the positive side I prefer Somnia over escape rooms, on the negative I find the mood of the game too silly goofy. Man, I miss Zero Escape.

Gotta say, the cast of characters and the Somnia has improved since AITSF.

AITSFNI + ZTD spoilers ahead

Sorry, I don't buy "that", it's the ZTD bs all over again. It's too excluded from the narrative for me and I feel like it doesn't really serves a purpose besides an afternote at the end (which isn't that deep anyway). I wish Uchikoshi stopped trying to implement the unreliable narrator trope this way, it just doesn't work. I know that the mistery would be too straightforward without it, but imo arbitrarily obfuscating the narrative as a "puzzle" loses a ton of value if it doesn't provide anything meaningful besides a twist and putting your brain to work for a while.