Sigh... This kind of sucks to have to give this game a score like this. I LOVED the first AITSF. And I was so excited to finally play an actual sequel. There was so much room for this to be even greater than the original but... sadly it's not here.
For what it’s worth, this game starts off on a great note. This game is separated in two halves. The first half you play as Ryuki and his AI companion Tama, new original characters in this title. In the latter, you play as Mizuki and Aiba who are from the original. The first half is excellent. It feels like more of what made the first game great, but now from a vastly different, and perhaps even more complex, type of protag than Date. Just as likable as well. Tama is also a fun companion that has some goofy and sweet moments with him. They feel like a good duo who offer different values to the case. Then the second half happens…
Despite Mizuki being the big mascot protag of this sequel, she is AMAZINGLY a step down as a protagonist. I never found her all that compelling. She was great as a supporting member of the cast in the original, but having her lead the story here just never felt as good as Date, or Ryuki. To make it worse, Aiba is BORING AS HELL. Strangely enough, Aiba feels more robotic and two-dimensional here than she does in the original. Uchikoshi basically completed her whole character arc in the first and now she’s just… here. She has minimal chemistry with Mizuki, and it never felt like she had an importance in things beyond just literally being a vessel for the Somnia stuff or assisting Mizuki with her AI capabilities.
Because of all that missing in the second half, it really starts to make you see all the abundant flaws with this game. It’s repetitive as all hell and filled with almost pointless filler to eat up the game’s runtime to I guess… make it feel like Mizuki is making more massive revelations in the mystery? Like, there’s literally a massive serial murder case going on but then the game is like, “wait we have to psync with these people because they’re upset about their love relationship.” Like, are you fucking serious? This game will have you talking to people and randomly examining things for like a good hour or two just so you can FINALLY get something worthwhile out of it. The game just has severe pacing issues. And don’t even get me started on all the pointlessly stupid and unneeded action sequences where you do QTEs fighting a hundred enemies.
The somnia gameplay stuff is an improvement for sure. There’s a little more variety in stuff you do in them. That being said, I feel that the game relies far too much on the somnia stuff in its plot. To the point that it just gets annoying that so much of solving the mystery relies on it. I wouldn’t have minded a few of the somnia levels in this being cut in favor of writing something with a little more effort. Weirdly enough, the last somnia level throws in this evidence mechanic and it just made me scratch my head in confusion. Idk why they didn’t bother to utilize that mechanic throughout all of the game. It would have made Somnia stuff a lot more interesting, while also actually making it feel like you’re solving this stuff and deciphering it. Not just observing.
I don’t have too much to say about the cast. It’s okay. Probably better than the original all things considered, but that’s not saying much. As for returning characters, they’re all far more uninteresting than they used to be and mostly unimportant except Date who is still a total lovable chad. The new characters are all a bit more complex so I guess that’s nice. I still didn’t care much for any of them though to be honest.
For Uchikoshi, this feels like a really messy mystery. There’s one twist in here that I thought was super clever. The rest is kind of mediocre if, albeit, still very wacky and creative. The villains just don’t have enough intrigue and ultimately, when it all becomes clear to the player, you’ll still feel underwhelmed by the culprit since they’re so boringly written and without much depth to their motives. It felt like Uchikoshi started off with a neat premise, but it just falls through and never leaves the same level of awe as the original AITSF. In some ways, Nirvana Initiative exceeds the original game. But it’s mostly just a disappointing dud.
For what it’s worth, this game starts off on a great note. This game is separated in two halves. The first half you play as Ryuki and his AI companion Tama, new original characters in this title. In the latter, you play as Mizuki and Aiba who are from the original. The first half is excellent. It feels like more of what made the first game great, but now from a vastly different, and perhaps even more complex, type of protag than Date. Just as likable as well. Tama is also a fun companion that has some goofy and sweet moments with him. They feel like a good duo who offer different values to the case. Then the second half happens…
Despite Mizuki being the big mascot protag of this sequel, she is AMAZINGLY a step down as a protagonist. I never found her all that compelling. She was great as a supporting member of the cast in the original, but having her lead the story here just never felt as good as Date, or Ryuki. To make it worse, Aiba is BORING AS HELL. Strangely enough, Aiba feels more robotic and two-dimensional here than she does in the original. Uchikoshi basically completed her whole character arc in the first and now she’s just… here. She has minimal chemistry with Mizuki, and it never felt like she had an importance in things beyond just literally being a vessel for the Somnia stuff or assisting Mizuki with her AI capabilities.
Because of all that missing in the second half, it really starts to make you see all the abundant flaws with this game. It’s repetitive as all hell and filled with almost pointless filler to eat up the game’s runtime to I guess… make it feel like Mizuki is making more massive revelations in the mystery? Like, there’s literally a massive serial murder case going on but then the game is like, “wait we have to psync with these people because they’re upset about their love relationship.” Like, are you fucking serious? This game will have you talking to people and randomly examining things for like a good hour or two just so you can FINALLY get something worthwhile out of it. The game just has severe pacing issues. And don’t even get me started on all the pointlessly stupid and unneeded action sequences where you do QTEs fighting a hundred enemies.
The somnia gameplay stuff is an improvement for sure. There’s a little more variety in stuff you do in them. That being said, I feel that the game relies far too much on the somnia stuff in its plot. To the point that it just gets annoying that so much of solving the mystery relies on it. I wouldn’t have minded a few of the somnia levels in this being cut in favor of writing something with a little more effort. Weirdly enough, the last somnia level throws in this evidence mechanic and it just made me scratch my head in confusion. Idk why they didn’t bother to utilize that mechanic throughout all of the game. It would have made Somnia stuff a lot more interesting, while also actually making it feel like you’re solving this stuff and deciphering it. Not just observing.
I don’t have too much to say about the cast. It’s okay. Probably better than the original all things considered, but that’s not saying much. As for returning characters, they’re all far more uninteresting than they used to be and mostly unimportant except Date who is still a total lovable chad. The new characters are all a bit more complex so I guess that’s nice. I still didn’t care much for any of them though to be honest.
For Uchikoshi, this feels like a really messy mystery. There’s one twist in here that I thought was super clever. The rest is kind of mediocre if, albeit, still very wacky and creative. The villains just don’t have enough intrigue and ultimately, when it all becomes clear to the player, you’ll still feel underwhelmed by the culprit since they’re so boringly written and without much depth to their motives. It felt like Uchikoshi started off with a neat premise, but it just falls through and never leaves the same level of awe as the original AITSF. In some ways, Nirvana Initiative exceeds the original game. But it’s mostly just a disappointing dud.
I had high expectations for this game. The first game even with all it's faults is a nice story, one of the best vns and Uchikoshi works in general.
I want to say to look past it's faults (annoying characters, shitty musicals, Tama and freak from bar (srsly the worst characters ever), long ass investigations and 1 vs 100 fights.)
Uchikoshi before wrote Zero Escape: mostly realistic series with pseudo-science stuff and big plot twists.
In this game most of the plot is based around police being useless. Monitoring crime scenes? Checking the crime scene? One character from police fucking leaves the crime scene unattended and misses the killer. (god I hate them)
In the fist game plot twist is amazing, everything explained chronologically and the ending written in such a way that if a sequel never released it would be a complete story.
There not only plot twist makes you stare at the screen for 30 minutes, you barely get anything explained and when you get really invested you find plot holes and stuff that makes no sense. Oh the ending sucks, it leaves player unsatisfied with a sequel bait and shitty ARG, also enjoy shitty 4th wall breaks as it will probably be a trend in Uchikoshi next games.
The stuff I wrote is only a fraction of problems with the writing, because this review is spoiler free.
Don't buy into hype and wait for sale, for your sake.
I want to say to look past it's faults (annoying characters, shitty musicals, Tama and freak from bar (srsly the worst characters ever), long ass investigations and 1 vs 100 fights.)
Uchikoshi before wrote Zero Escape: mostly realistic series with pseudo-science stuff and big plot twists.
In this game most of the plot is based around police being useless. Monitoring crime scenes? Checking the crime scene? One character from police fucking leaves the crime scene unattended and misses the killer. (god I hate them)
In the fist game plot twist is amazing, everything explained chronologically and the ending written in such a way that if a sequel never released it would be a complete story.
There not only plot twist makes you stare at the screen for 30 minutes, you barely get anything explained and when you get really invested you find plot holes and stuff that makes no sense. Oh the ending sucks, it leaves player unsatisfied with a sequel bait and shitty ARG, also enjoy shitty 4th wall breaks as it will probably be a trend in Uchikoshi next games.
The stuff I wrote is only a fraction of problems with the writing, because this review is spoiler free.
Don't buy into hype and wait for sale, for your sake.
this made my brain hurt good thank you uchikoshi
It is truly a sequel to AI: The Somnium Files. Nothing more, nothing less (well, maybe a little less). The old characters are back but they have no internal tension because that got solved in the last game. It felt like the new characters didn't get enough emotional shading - we've already been in this world, and each little gesture of a new character touches us less when surrounded with so much familiarity. Even then, I'd be hard-pressed to describe more than a few character arcs as "satisfying". The new Big Mystery is quite good, although I wish it had like one more casualty or success. There are an exhausting number of slightly flaccid action scenes in this one, although they could be a lot worse. Finally, the Somnia continue to be good, although it felt like the dream logic was a bit more predictable this time, which was unfortunate since the mental cartwheels you often did in the first game felt to me like they filled in a lot of satisfying journey to the Somnia - in this one, there are frequently options in the Somnia that are too obviously "the silly time-wasting one", and I have no inclination to consider them because the straightforwardness of other answers has not kept me on my toes. Overall, this one's just kind of a classic sequel. Fun enough. Special shoutout to the English voice actors though, once again a real highlight of the game and excellent performances across the board.
I liked :)
i'm having a hard time rating this because i enjoyed it a lot at the same time i think it's pretty flawed. i thought the mystery was great and i had fun trying to figure out all the different parts, but some of the twists just didn't land for me and some things weren't adequately addressed or satisfyingly concluded. i thought the somniums were vastly improved from the first game, though.
i want to study ryuki's brain.
i want to study ryuki's brain.
ryuki route is GOATED but the game starts to fall apart in the latter half as it drops some very poorly thought-out twists and retcons, and you start to realize that almost every character and plot element is solely designed to service these twists without having much substance in their own right.
the charm from the first game still carries over though and it's a very fun ride, the big picture writing just isn't up to par for uchikoshi standards
the charm from the first game still carries over though and it's a very fun ride, the big picture writing just isn't up to par for uchikoshi standards
If this game was just the consistently fantastic Ryuki route then I might even say I enjoyed it more than the original, but Mizuki route really brought it down for me. It's not bad, definitely not, but I have mixed feelings on how they handled her and a lot of the side cast on that route. Overall this is a worthy sequel, it's just a shame what could have been one of my favourites has so much wasted potential and weird execution in the parts that truly count.
Somniums were way better at least, they really outdid themselves. Also the game was insanely entertaining from start to finish even in the parts I didn't like, similar to Zero Time Dilemma (though I think this is a far better game than that).
Somniums were way better at least, they really outdid themselves. Also the game was insanely entertaining from start to finish even in the parts I didn't like, similar to Zero Time Dilemma (though I think this is a far better game than that).
While aspects of Nirvana Initiative's story don't measure up to that of the first one (particularly in parts of the true ending), everything else is just as good or even better.
Somniums are much more cohesive and entertaining; the cast of characters, made up of returning and new people alike, is just as enjoyable, with some minor characters from the first game even getting a more fleshed out role now; there's a good soundtrack; the action scenes are surprisingly enjoyable.
The dialog in Aiba's/Tama's room can be a bit cringy however, along with a few other bits of dialog throughout the game. The English localization is mostly good, although there's one too many references for my taste. Also, the "lol porn" humor from the first game makes a comeback, whether you take that as a positive or negative.
Overall, a worthy sequel that was worth anticipating
Somniums are much more cohesive and entertaining; the cast of characters, made up of returning and new people alike, is just as enjoyable, with some minor characters from the first game even getting a more fleshed out role now; there's a good soundtrack; the action scenes are surprisingly enjoyable.
The dialog in Aiba's/Tama's room can be a bit cringy however, along with a few other bits of dialog throughout the game. The English localization is mostly good, although there's one too many references for my taste. Also, the "lol porn" humor from the first game makes a comeback, whether you take that as a positive or negative.
Overall, a worthy sequel that was worth anticipating
This review contains spoilers
I??????
What the fuck. Holy shit.
Alright, so, first off: the marketing tagline that this is standalone from AI1 is...true in a technical sense, but this is so character-driven that I really do think there's aspects to this that won't work without prior knowledge and experience with the cast. I also don't think you can really appreciate just how much of a step-up from the first game this is on almost every level without it, and I say this as someone who regularly ranks AI1 in their top 10 favorite games. The Somnia are better-crafted, more personalized, and varied, the music is excellent as always, the character models are ironed out and emote so fluidly, and the plot. Holy shit, the plot. It's essentially a victory lap for Uchikoshi Game Enjoyers - I called a few of the twists ahead of time, but I found that that made me more engaged because, in typical Uchi fashion, I had no way of anticipating how everything would really fit together in the end. It's a game about love and hate and how, even if we do find that everything is fake, the love will always be real. Just a sublime game. Holy shit. He was forced to play 999
What the fuck. Holy shit.
Alright, so, first off: the marketing tagline that this is standalone from AI1 is...true in a technical sense, but this is so character-driven that I really do think there's aspects to this that won't work without prior knowledge and experience with the cast. I also don't think you can really appreciate just how much of a step-up from the first game this is on almost every level without it, and I say this as someone who regularly ranks AI1 in their top 10 favorite games. The Somnia are better-crafted, more personalized, and varied, the music is excellent as always, the character models are ironed out and emote so fluidly, and the plot. Holy shit, the plot. It's essentially a victory lap for Uchikoshi Game Enjoyers - I called a few of the twists ahead of time, but I found that that made me more engaged because, in typical Uchi fashion, I had no way of anticipating how everything would really fit together in the end. It's a game about love and hate and how, even if we do find that everything is fake, the love will always be real. Just a sublime game. Holy shit. He was forced to play 999
El mejor juego en mi opinion del Team ZE, por lo general no ha habido muchos momentos que pensara que estan creando tension haciendo que de repente los personajes actuasen de forma estupida y creo que es el mejor juego de todos lo que han hecho que mejor han sabido implementar la 4ta pared. Ojo que tambien eso puedo ser yo por ciertas cosas que pasan casi en el final (Dejemoslo en que se cruzan muchas cosas para no spoilear) se me han roto muchos esquemas y puede que se les haya escapado algo, pero eh, lo he disfrutado mucho.
Mi mayor queja con mucha diferencia es las escenas de accion, son extremadamente cutres, mas incluso que el anterior juego, por suerte hay opcion de no hacer quick times y puedo relajarme viendo como el anime es un error.
En resumen un must para a quien le guste un buen misterio
Mi mayor queja con mucha diferencia es las escenas de accion, son extremadamente cutres, mas incluso que el anterior juego, por suerte hay opcion de no hacer quick times y puedo relajarme viendo como el anime es un error.
En resumen un must para a quien le guste un buen misterio
The definition of complex feelings. There are some good things in this game, in particular some of the characters and one of the main reveals (for how good they are they didn't reach the highs of AI1 for me). But there's also just unambiguously bad stuff (in the second half almost entirely) that is dealt with very poorly. AI1 was lightning in a bottle and I wish this sequel didn't exist if this is how they decided to continue the story... but again. It had some redeeming qualities so it isn't all bad really
I was hoping that this game would improve on the first.
And it did. By a landslide. The somniums in this game felt so much better designed than they were in the first game, and also the game didn't crash ever, unlike the first game. Also, the playable characters in this game were... actually bearable to play as! Actually they were better than that--they were great characters. Unlike the first game where it was just Date the whole time and it was annoying.
Anyways, the story in this game was pretty good, and most of the twists felt pretty clever, though one of them felt kinda cheap. The characters were all really fun, and I like the character arcs as well. It had great music too.
I think where this game shines most is the atmosphere though. It was a lot more of a horror game than I was thinking it would be, and it ended up being a bit much for me in a couple places, but the atmosphere was done so well. Everything felt exactly how I thought it should. If you like horror games, and also murder mystery games, play this game. It's a really good time.
I could have done without all the singing in this game though lol
And it did. By a landslide. The somniums in this game felt so much better designed than they were in the first game, and also the game didn't crash ever, unlike the first game. Also, the playable characters in this game were... actually bearable to play as! Actually they were better than that--they were great characters. Unlike the first game where it was just Date the whole time and it was annoying.
Anyways, the story in this game was pretty good, and most of the twists felt pretty clever, though one of them felt kinda cheap. The characters were all really fun, and I like the character arcs as well. It had great music too.
I think where this game shines most is the atmosphere though. It was a lot more of a horror game than I was thinking it would be, and it ended up being a bit much for me in a couple places, but the atmosphere was done so well. Everything felt exactly how I thought it should. If you like horror games, and also murder mystery games, play this game. It's a really good time.
I could have done without all the singing in this game though lol
rating revised LOL the more i think about this game the more it falls apart and the more bitter i get, i genuinely don't understand how people love it, doesn't even have a pinch of what makes the first one good, old characters get flanderized and new characters are extremely underexplored or uninteresting, and there are many decisions that retroactively ruin aspects of the original, gameplay wise the somniums are good, but i think they lost the abstract confusing charm that made the first one so special in the first place, half of them are so direct they feel like therapy sessions rather than dreams, a shame, really, oh well, praying if theres ever another game it doesnt have any returning characters besides cameos at the very least, i really wanted to love this game, i really did, but it just misses so many of the biggests marks i just don't see how it was all worth it, even the big twist felt like a huge joke, ryuki&tama + komeiji, shoma and amame are the only redeeming aspects of this game, rant over.
Nirvana Initiative is just about everything I could expect from a new Uchikoshi game and a follow-up to Somnium Files. As difficult as this is, I will keep this review spoiler-free. The game features a huge new cast of characters with a new serial murder case to investigate. You play as two different protagonists as you explore both new and old locations as you piece together the series of murders.
The story itself is pretty entertaining and you can definitely tell this is an Uchikoshi game, for better or for worse. It's an ambitious story that does unfortunately go on just a little bit too long with some rough pacing at times, but the payoff for your investigation is worthwhile.
There are also some new mechanics and features too. There are some third-person investigation scenes where you can re-enact scenarios in a similar way to the Danganronpa series. The Somniums themselves are also a lot less clunky and more varied, making them more unique and memorable this time around. There's also neat extras, like more incentive to find collectibles with art and costume items for your AI-Ball companion, additional trivia, and even a tamagotchi-like feature. From a technical standpoint too, this game seriously runs and plays REMARKABLY better. Menu animations are quicker and snappier and it runs pretty flawlessly.
I would say that fans of the previous game will certainly enjoy this one, and I hope we get perhaps one more game in this series to make for a trilogy as memorable as Zero Escape.
The story itself is pretty entertaining and you can definitely tell this is an Uchikoshi game, for better or for worse. It's an ambitious story that does unfortunately go on just a little bit too long with some rough pacing at times, but the payoff for your investigation is worthwhile.
There are also some new mechanics and features too. There are some third-person investigation scenes where you can re-enact scenarios in a similar way to the Danganronpa series. The Somniums themselves are also a lot less clunky and more varied, making them more unique and memorable this time around. There's also neat extras, like more incentive to find collectibles with art and costume items for your AI-Ball companion, additional trivia, and even a tamagotchi-like feature. From a technical standpoint too, this game seriously runs and plays REMARKABLY better. Menu animations are quicker and snappier and it runs pretty flawlessly.
I would say that fans of the previous game will certainly enjoy this one, and I hope we get perhaps one more game in this series to make for a trilogy as memorable as Zero Escape.
i wish eyeballs were real
Uchikoshi game, if you love them, you'll probably enjoy this. I thought it was excellent, parts of the finale didn't work for me and I felt like the big twist was clearly designed to prey upon his fans which was fun but also frustrating as it was difficult to piece together and confusing when revealed. Some of his best character work, I really became attached to the new characters and they all got their time to shine for the most part.
Switch performance very bad, crashed twice and lagged frequently.
Since I beat the game within 48 hours of release, I'm obviously biased towards these types of games.
Switch performance very bad, crashed twice and lagged frequently.
Since I beat the game within 48 hours of release, I'm obviously biased towards these types of games.
God damnit, GOTY. Uchikoshi has stolen my heart once again.
I suspect most people are going to praise this game like a masterpiece or one of the best uchikoshi game (which by the way, is not entirely one, he isn't credited as the director this time), and it's mostly due to the fact that it appeals to everything the modern western VN audience likes.
True, the writing can be good at times and the way relationships evolve between characters, mostly in tandem (Lien and Kizuna, Gen and Amame, ...) really makes the reader attached to them and all of their independant stories, eventually linking back to the main plot and themes. This is where Uchikoshi's writing shines the most in Nirvana Initiative to me.
I'd say it has its highs and lows, but the lows are terrible. A lot of pacing issues makes most of the game a repetitive sequence of going from a location to another and exhaust dialogues, which was already a problem in the first game but I felt it way more in this one. The somniums are somewhat refreshing tho, I liked most of them and especially the ones with good ol' puzzles. Also the addition of the virtual reality thing where you look for clues on the crime scenes was nice to have. QTEs as expected were useless and often just ended up being long ass sequences of nothing, way too many battles in this game serve no purpose, and giving the player a false sense of interaction through these QTEs was probably the worst decision to make.
Also thanks to the translation team, I now know Iris wants to "chug jug with me". I get the character is supposed to be jovial and cringe, but when it's the case EVERYTIME you talk to her, it just makes her insufferable for no reason. She used to be a character with depth in the first game, granted the plot was more focused around her story but still, it doesn't make it ok to just wipe all of her character traits like that. Other than that, I felt there were a lot of missed opportunities to go deeper in the concepts the game evokes. Quantum physics and simulation theory, among other things, most of the talk about that was really surface level and felt more like a pretext to give substance to the motive of some characters.
Getting a bit spoilery here, so be warned.
As expected from an Uchikoshi VN, there had to be a trick somewhere. Well, the first plot twist caught me off guard, I didn't expect it at all and just thought there were a lot of plot holes during my playthrough. The fact that it manages to be effective by altering a core mechanic of the genre (which doesn't have many to begin with) without being obvious when it drops is a success in my book. Also it may seem like a super gimmicky move from Uchikoshi but it actually goes further once you reach the REAL True Ending (which is really easy to miss if you don't pay attention to earlier chapters) and it explains clearly (more or less) what and how it happened. If anything, I thought the meta elements were pretty well done without going too far either.
While it's far from a great game it was still enjoyable for the most part somehow. I can only hope Uchikoshi will be more truthful to his previous style in the future.
Also watch out for the last bonus the game gives you, it's worth playing.
True, the writing can be good at times and the way relationships evolve between characters, mostly in tandem (Lien and Kizuna, Gen and Amame, ...) really makes the reader attached to them and all of their independant stories, eventually linking back to the main plot and themes. This is where Uchikoshi's writing shines the most in Nirvana Initiative to me.
I'd say it has its highs and lows, but the lows are terrible. A lot of pacing issues makes most of the game a repetitive sequence of going from a location to another and exhaust dialogues, which was already a problem in the first game but I felt it way more in this one. The somniums are somewhat refreshing tho, I liked most of them and especially the ones with good ol' puzzles. Also the addition of the virtual reality thing where you look for clues on the crime scenes was nice to have. QTEs as expected were useless and often just ended up being long ass sequences of nothing, way too many battles in this game serve no purpose, and giving the player a false sense of interaction through these QTEs was probably the worst decision to make.
Also thanks to the translation team, I now know Iris wants to "chug jug with me". I get the character is supposed to be jovial and cringe, but when it's the case EVERYTIME you talk to her, it just makes her insufferable for no reason. She used to be a character with depth in the first game, granted the plot was more focused around her story but still, it doesn't make it ok to just wipe all of her character traits like that. Other than that, I felt there were a lot of missed opportunities to go deeper in the concepts the game evokes. Quantum physics and simulation theory, among other things, most of the talk about that was really surface level and felt more like a pretext to give substance to the motive of some characters.
Getting a bit spoilery here, so be warned.
As expected from an Uchikoshi VN, there had to be a trick somewhere. Well, the first plot twist caught me off guard, I didn't expect it at all and just thought there were a lot of plot holes during my playthrough. The fact that it manages to be effective by altering a core mechanic of the genre (which doesn't have many to begin with) without being obvious when it drops is a success in my book. Also it may seem like a super gimmicky move from Uchikoshi but it actually goes further once you reach the REAL True Ending (which is really easy to miss if you don't pay attention to earlier chapters) and it explains clearly (more or less) what and how it happened. If anything, I thought the meta elements were pretty well done without going too far either.
While it's far from a great game it was still enjoyable for the most part somehow. I can only hope Uchikoshi will be more truthful to his previous style in the future.
Also watch out for the last bonus the game gives you, it's worth playing.
This review contains spoilers
the longer i let this sit the more i see its flaws, particularly in regards to the questionable twists
i was pretty disappointed getting towards the end of the game because i feel like everything past the ryuki route was a pretty big downgrade. somniums and characters were better than the first game. it was a pretty fun mystery overall, but the ending left me kinda unsatisfied especially after how the game tried to tie into the ARG at the end and how the ""secret"" route was like a 5 minute thing, could have been neat.
i was pretty disappointed getting towards the end of the game because i feel like everything past the ryuki route was a pretty big downgrade. somniums and characters were better than the first game. it was a pretty fun mystery overall, but the ending left me kinda unsatisfied especially after how the game tried to tie into the ARG at the end and how the ""secret"" route was like a 5 minute thing, could have been neat.
step on me TAMA MOMMY
Ah yes, the Uchikoshi crackpipe
aging up mizuki to be an adult is terrible for the economy but we got the best game ever made out of it so thats cool
LITERALLY BEST GAME EVER IT ACTIVATED MY SCHIZOPHRENIA
I've always admired Kotaro Uchikoshi for his ability to write mystery stories that feature a intricately constructed and well thought-out narrative while still developing and focusing on the characters featured in it. And those qualities are still here, which I'm glad about. Both AI games feature a central twist that's clever but so complicated in its consequences that I literally couldn't wrap my head around them. I do get the twist of Nirvana Initiative, and I trust Uchikoshi enough to be convinced that it makes sense, but I can't really comprehend its implications fully. The characterization is also well done and has some nice moments, but it's the overall narrative I somewhat struggle with.
Putting the twist(s) and nice character moments aside, the rest of the story is quite choppy and messy. Most of the time the characters have no idea what to do or what's even happening and then just go to every place on the map to get some chunks of information, one of which leads them to the next important plotpoint. It really doesn't feel organic (which it also kinda... can't, because of the central conceit of this game). The writing often intentionally misdirects you, which is sometimes fun but it also seometimes feels VERY cheap. The story also heavily oscillates between "Here's one straight hour of hints for you regarding the central mystery" and "Have an hour of really emotional and/or traumatizing stuff happening to the characters". Those parts don't really blend into each other all that well, which is a little sad.
All that said though, I still enjoyed my experience with Nirvana Initiative. It's a very charming game with some clever bits of writing and a grander scope than its predecessor. That may be the central reason why I like the first game more - the smaller scope allowed for a more focused story. This one is way messier, but well, there's something to like about that as well.
Putting the twist(s) and nice character moments aside, the rest of the story is quite choppy and messy. Most of the time the characters have no idea what to do or what's even happening and then just go to every place on the map to get some chunks of information, one of which leads them to the next important plotpoint. It really doesn't feel organic (which it also kinda... can't, because of the central conceit of this game). The writing often intentionally misdirects you, which is sometimes fun but it also seometimes feels VERY cheap. The story also heavily oscillates between "Here's one straight hour of hints for you regarding the central mystery" and "Have an hour of really emotional and/or traumatizing stuff happening to the characters". Those parts don't really blend into each other all that well, which is a little sad.
All that said though, I still enjoyed my experience with Nirvana Initiative. It's a very charming game with some clever bits of writing and a grander scope than its predecessor. That may be the central reason why I like the first game more - the smaller scope allowed for a more focused story. This one is way messier, but well, there's something to like about that as well.
An improvement over its first entry in pretty much every way that matters, Nirvana Initative uses the original's concepts and takes them way further, with more interesting somnia, deeper twists, very emotional dynamics and the sort of Uchikoshi-isms I'd expect from an Infinity or ZE title.
I went into this game scared that AI's mainstream appeal would keep Uchikoshi from being his usual weirdo freak self when it comes to using conventional narrative tropes to fuck you over, but I'll be damned. This game sure fucked me over big time.
My thirst for another Infinity game is not quite quenched, but I'm at least glad he can be just as wacky with his ideas, and I'm excited to see what he pulls next.
I went into this game scared that AI's mainstream appeal would keep Uchikoshi from being his usual weirdo freak self when it comes to using conventional narrative tropes to fuck you over, but I'll be damned. This game sure fucked me over big time.
My thirst for another Infinity game is not quite quenched, but I'm at least glad he can be just as wacky with his ideas, and I'm excited to see what he pulls next.
As a big fan of the first Somnium Files, I was thrilled to hear that not only a sequel was in the works but that Mizuki would be the lead with Aiba this time. I was initially curious how this would follow the first given that its story ended pretty definitively, but for the most part it’s unrelated to its events as it tackles a different standalone case
Newcomers can even opt to omit any mention of spoilers for the first game, though I would highly recommend playing it beforehand cause it’s great and you’ll have a better connection with the characters. How this new case matches up in comparison I won’t get into too much detail as with these games it’s best to go in as blind as possible, but it has a similar level of intrigue and I came away impressed in the direction it goes
That said, as a mystery I think it was a bit weaker than the first simply because it was less connected to the main characters themselves. And as a result it felt kinda messy by the end? It also got a little boring constantly going around to the same few areas looking for bits of info this time since a lot of the original cast weren’t as relevant to the case as they were before
The dialogue is about the same quality though, a lot of it is still very funny but also pretty horny as Uchikoshi’s writing tends to be. But I personally didn’t mind, and the banter between the characters remains the best thing about Somnium Files for me. This goes for Mizuki/Aiba but also the new protagonists Ryuki and Tama, who fit right into the cast and have a dynamic that’s just as entertaining. Special mention to the dub performances too, it’s as excellent as before and the line delivery makes the humor even better
A particular flaw of the first was the gameplay portion where you jump into Somniums, which as a concept had charm and heart but to me felt more like a annoyance to go through than anything. That was improved here as they’ve been given a bigger focus on variety and solving logic puzzles instead of just the trial and error investigating of the first. There’s also cool portions where you can reenact the crime scene which does more for the gameplay. Though could’ve done without the QTE action parts where they fight a bunch of randoms who all have the same model, they still aren’t good and felt like a waste of time
I’m not sure I’d say it matches the first overall as I feel the core mystery and character connection weren’t as good as before, but Nirvana Initiative does still manage to surprise in its own interesting ways and I still love the characters just as much
Newcomers can even opt to omit any mention of spoilers for the first game, though I would highly recommend playing it beforehand cause it’s great and you’ll have a better connection with the characters. How this new case matches up in comparison I won’t get into too much detail as with these games it’s best to go in as blind as possible, but it has a similar level of intrigue and I came away impressed in the direction it goes
That said, as a mystery I think it was a bit weaker than the first simply because it was less connected to the main characters themselves. And as a result it felt kinda messy by the end? It also got a little boring constantly going around to the same few areas looking for bits of info this time since a lot of the original cast weren’t as relevant to the case as they were before
The dialogue is about the same quality though, a lot of it is still very funny but also pretty horny as Uchikoshi’s writing tends to be. But I personally didn’t mind, and the banter between the characters remains the best thing about Somnium Files for me. This goes for Mizuki/Aiba but also the new protagonists Ryuki and Tama, who fit right into the cast and have a dynamic that’s just as entertaining. Special mention to the dub performances too, it’s as excellent as before and the line delivery makes the humor even better
A particular flaw of the first was the gameplay portion where you jump into Somniums, which as a concept had charm and heart but to me felt more like a annoyance to go through than anything. That was improved here as they’ve been given a bigger focus on variety and solving logic puzzles instead of just the trial and error investigating of the first. There’s also cool portions where you can reenact the crime scene which does more for the gameplay. Though could’ve done without the QTE action parts where they fight a bunch of randoms who all have the same model, they still aren’t good and felt like a waste of time
I’m not sure I’d say it matches the first overall as I feel the core mystery and character connection weren’t as good as before, but Nirvana Initiative does still manage to surprise in its own interesting ways and I still love the characters just as much
This review contains spoilers
It's difficult for me to judge this game when compared to the first. Overall, story/writing wise, I would personally say that the first game trumps this one by a pretty noticeable margin. However, this game added upgrades in the gameplay department, with a wide selection of new Somniums that have interesting and fun gameplay mechanics. I won't lie, there were particular Somniums that frustrated me more than anything and felt unpolished (namely the Bibi Somnium) but it's hard for me to judge how much of that is faulty mechanics/design and how much of it is just me making mistakes. With that in mind I'm not judging that too harshly, I think the gameplay is without a doubt upgraded from the first game. This includes the Somniums as well as Investigation sequences. I don't care for QTE events but I didn't in the first game either, that's just a personal preference.
Getting into the story, I'm not going to do a super deep dive into either game's story but I will say that in my personal opinion I thought the first game's plot was more well written and had much more interesting and satisfying plot twists. It also felt to me that this game has a lot more "fluff" or "filler" than the first game did, which I see as a negative.
Additionally, as far as new characters to this game go, I can't say I cared much for the additions overall. The game sort of baits you into thinking that Ryuki is going to be much more interesting than he actually is. Not a big fan of Tama either, she just feels like budget horny Aiba and has way less of a personality than her. As far as the new characters in the supporting cast go, I liked Bibi, Gen, Amame (not technically a new character but you get what I mean) and Tokiko. Tokiko was a character that really surprised me with how intriguing she was and the "nil number" was rent free in my head the whole game until I got it. Apart from those though, I couldn't care less for Shoma/Komeji, I thought perhaps the game was building towards a romantic subplot with Mizuki and Shoma but nothing of the sort happens. Komeji is impossible for me to take seriously because they gave him a square head for no reason but I didn't really think he was well written anyways. I found the Kizuna/Lien story very cliche and cheesy (albeit cute at times) and wasn't exactly enthralled by it either. The first game also had a similar problem of having some weak members of the supporting cast, but I felt like I was really into every character that got a route (I didn't like Ota, but thought his route/ending were very good). Not the case this time. As you could surmise from my earlier statements, I thought Komeji/Shoma ending was the worst, and I didn't personally care for the Kizuna/Lien ending either. Also, hate to say it, but Iris's song is way better than Kizuna's.
The tribute to 999 that you unlock after completing the secret ending honestly made me consider raising my rating. I audibly laughed at that, it was amazing.
All in all, since these games are so heavily story driven, that is the main thing I have to judge the game off of. With that said, I do think that overall I liked the first game better, with story being the determining factor. I enjoyed this game though and would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first.
Getting into the story, I'm not going to do a super deep dive into either game's story but I will say that in my personal opinion I thought the first game's plot was more well written and had much more interesting and satisfying plot twists. It also felt to me that this game has a lot more "fluff" or "filler" than the first game did, which I see as a negative.
Additionally, as far as new characters to this game go, I can't say I cared much for the additions overall. The game sort of baits you into thinking that Ryuki is going to be much more interesting than he actually is. Not a big fan of Tama either, she just feels like budget horny Aiba and has way less of a personality than her. As far as the new characters in the supporting cast go, I liked Bibi, Gen, Amame (not technically a new character but you get what I mean) and Tokiko. Tokiko was a character that really surprised me with how intriguing she was and the "nil number" was rent free in my head the whole game until I got it. Apart from those though, I couldn't care less for Shoma/Komeji, I thought perhaps the game was building towards a romantic subplot with Mizuki and Shoma but nothing of the sort happens. Komeji is impossible for me to take seriously because they gave him a square head for no reason but I didn't really think he was well written anyways. I found the Kizuna/Lien story very cliche and cheesy (albeit cute at times) and wasn't exactly enthralled by it either. The first game also had a similar problem of having some weak members of the supporting cast, but I felt like I was really into every character that got a route (I didn't like Ota, but thought his route/ending were very good). Not the case this time. As you could surmise from my earlier statements, I thought Komeji/Shoma ending was the worst, and I didn't personally care for the Kizuna/Lien ending either. Also, hate to say it, but Iris's song is way better than Kizuna's.
The tribute to 999 that you unlock after completing the secret ending honestly made me consider raising my rating. I audibly laughed at that, it was amazing.
All in all, since these games are so heavily story driven, that is the main thing I have to judge the game off of. With that said, I do think that overall I liked the first game better, with story being the determining factor. I enjoyed this game though and would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first.
what the fuck
uchikoshi step away from the "teenage girl is stalked by a significantly older man and it's treated as an endearing sign of love" trope and nobody gets hurt