i both gained and lost numerous brain cells throughout the game's runtime, but i wouldn't have it any other way
i want to hit kaname date with my car 😍😍😍
this game is flames. extremely compelling characters, a great english voice cast, and a batshit insane plot absolutely carries this shit. there's hardly any boring or slow sections, game's a fucking buffet of hilarious dialogue and oh shit moments.
i think my one complaint is that. i may be stupid but a lot of the somnium puzzles are super trial and error, and i think i prefer the more logic-based puzzles of nirvana initiative. that's not to say they're bad at all, even just hearing aiba and date's interactions during the incorrect puzzle choices makes up for it. it just took a while to really get used to.
if you're a zero escape or ace attorney fan, or. literally just a fan of VNs in general. you need to play this fucking game. uchikoshi is a god damn genius
this game is flames. extremely compelling characters, a great english voice cast, and a batshit insane plot absolutely carries this shit. there's hardly any boring or slow sections, game's a fucking buffet of hilarious dialogue and oh shit moments.
i think my one complaint is that. i may be stupid but a lot of the somnium puzzles are super trial and error, and i think i prefer the more logic-based puzzles of nirvana initiative. that's not to say they're bad at all, even just hearing aiba and date's interactions during the incorrect puzzle choices makes up for it. it just took a while to really get used to.
if you're a zero escape or ace attorney fan, or. literally just a fan of VNs in general. you need to play this fucking game. uchikoshi is a god damn genius
It's got some jank to it, and you can tell it doesn't have a very big budget. But it's so funny and well written, and that last hour is nuts. I wanna torture Kaname Date in a shipping container for a week.
absolutely phenomenal game. love all the characters and the writing. had me laughing one second then sad as hell the next.
I enjoyed it, but dont expect the same caliber as 999 & VLR. The drop in quality for both the writing and puzzles is extremely noticable
peak character design by kozaki as always
Bit of an enigma... on one hand, it has some amazing character moments, I enjoyed the fantastical weirdness of its dream designs (especially a couple dreamscapes in particular that I found to be beautiful), and I couldn't help but smile/laugh at the utter silliness of the ending. And that damn recurring "Invincible Rainbow Arrow" song! Hilariously cringe!
But saying all that, there is also some odd humor that didn't land for me, many perverted moments, poor animations, and ridiculous action scenes (big understatement) that just made me roll my eyes.
Still, the game can be somewhat charming, but I feel it is the worst of Uchikoshi's works - I enjoyed Ever 17 and the Zero Escape trilogy more. I don't think I'll end up playing its sequel.
PSYNCIN' IN THE CAPTaiN (Date's Somnium) - the route this song played in was my favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScHQLUgOxwo
But saying all that, there is also some odd humor that didn't land for me, many perverted moments, poor animations, and ridiculous action scenes (big understatement) that just made me roll my eyes.
Still, the game can be somewhat charming, but I feel it is the worst of Uchikoshi's works - I enjoyed Ever 17 and the Zero Escape trilogy more. I don't think I'll end up playing its sequel.
PSYNCIN' IN THE CAPTaiN (Date's Somnium) - the route this song played in was my favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScHQLUgOxwo
Peak VN thank you Uchikoshi for creating Aiba
One of my new favorite games ever made holy shit
fun game with cool twists, played this because i loved zero escape trilogy but this game does not really live up to me. i didnt find any of the characters very likeable except aiba but the mystery kept me playing. definitely worth playing but holy shit the humor is grating. the joke where hes a porn addict just gets funnier every time they make it!!!! i wish they made it more!!!!
PEAK GAME IM AFRAID
true ending was worth it all
true ending was worth it all
Made me cry multiple times
fun and awesome
Loved playing this so much.
date was a cultural reset for pathetic babygirl archetypes
La primera vez que había escrito una review de Ai Somnium Files fue hace unos años en mi blog, pero ahora habiendo terminado su secuela hace unos meses he apreciado aún más la primera entrega.
No sé si considerarlo una VN per se o un juego point and click, pero esto no es VNDB así que me vale vrga... Está bien, lo admito, tiene algunos chistes medio cringe, especialmente todo lo que involucra a Date (el MC), pero es que fue creado con esa intención y es lo que lo hace especial, ya que su guion se siente muy diferente a lo que puedes esperar de algo japonés y se nota que tomaron inspiración de películas thrillers occidentales con la escenografía y la manera de desarrollar y llevar el guion. Aun con eso el resto del elenco y el mismo Date (Para mí uno de los mejores MC de una VN) son personajes muy buenos y que le dan vida a la obra y en cuanto a la historia sabe manejar bien su tono entre bizarro-serio-comedia, al igual que saber mantener bien el misterio (Aunque el final es... Raro y es algo que incluso en Nirvana Initiative se tocó, pero nunca se dio una respuesta oficial, así que supongo que habrá una tercera y última entrega).
Con esto Spike Chunksoft me ha demostrado que no es una empresa mediocre que solo vive de la basura de sobrevalorada de Danganronpa y la mierda de obras de su creador, sino que puede crear buenos juegos si se lo proponen y usan a las personas correctas.
No sé si considerarlo una VN per se o un juego point and click, pero esto no es VNDB así que me vale vrga... Está bien, lo admito, tiene algunos chistes medio cringe, especialmente todo lo que involucra a Date (el MC), pero es que fue creado con esa intención y es lo que lo hace especial, ya que su guion se siente muy diferente a lo que puedes esperar de algo japonés y se nota que tomaron inspiración de películas thrillers occidentales con la escenografía y la manera de desarrollar y llevar el guion. Aun con eso el resto del elenco y el mismo Date (Para mí uno de los mejores MC de una VN) son personajes muy buenos y que le dan vida a la obra y en cuanto a la historia sabe manejar bien su tono entre bizarro-serio-comedia, al igual que saber mantener bien el misterio (Aunque el final es... Raro y es algo que incluso en Nirvana Initiative se tocó, pero nunca se dio una respuesta oficial, así que supongo que habrá una tercera y última entrega).
Con esto Spike Chunksoft me ha demostrado que no es una empresa mediocre que solo vive de la basura de sobrevalorada de Danganronpa y la mierda de obras de su creador, sino que puede crear buenos juegos si se lo proponen y usan a las personas correctas.
A cyberpunk detective game by Kotaro Uchikoshi, a writer who uses alternate timelines to great effect and in only the way a video game can. Horny, upsetting and sometimes wholesome, I'll be surprised if I play a better game this year.
I wrote this in January 2021, and I stand by it.
I wrote this in January 2021, and I stand by it.
i want to push date kaname down a flight of stairs
A really interesting and beautiful game, the beginning is slow but it picks up quickly. Catchy OST, good characters and well-made and comfortable route division for replaying particular sections. Try it if you really like detective/murder stories.
Cool ideas and some likable characters, mediocre overall
Menús muy buenos, buenas voces (JP), historia interesante que te anima a especular, también bonita; y sabe cuándo ser tonta y cuándo no.
No tan buenas las animaciones de personajes ni la música. Los efectos de sonido bien, pero lo de la música es un punto que lo podría haber elevado mucho.
El gameplay está curioso y presenta momentos graciosos, es un género donde tampoco se puede hacer mucho para no espantar a los lectores de VN.
No tan buenas las animaciones de personajes ni la música. Los efectos de sonido bien, pero lo de la música es un punto que lo podría haber elevado mucho.
El gameplay está curioso y presenta momentos graciosos, es un género donde tampoco se puede hacer mucho para no espantar a los lectores de VN.
My buddy played this game, and then the night after he beat it, he had a dream that there was another route called Wide Ota.
La historia es un PEPINO (a lo que nos tiene acostumbrados Uchikoshi, vaya) pero las constantes bromas cochinas sin gracia y los elementos de escenario a explorar que no aportan nada embarran bastante la experiencia.
Me parece genial con muchos personajes geniales y muchisisima personalidad pero los QTEs, algunos somniums y alguna que otra broma no me entran bien. Also la ruta de Iris es absolutamente horripilante, si no fuera porque el Flowchart es comodisimo y buenisimo habria droppeado el juego ahi
conspicuous magazine power, activate!
"41205, just a number that I really like"
what the fuck was up with that ending ong like first you make me bawl like a baby and then you do that
ai the somniun files was on my watch for some time now due to me actually having been accustomed to kaname date porn on rule34 and actually wanting to explore more of this character apart from him getting railed like a slut
that being said this is an investigative game made with 2 dimes and a beer to anyone who's interested in doing the character animation which is very bare as I can tell but not for that reason less charming
while I do think this game has a lot of rough edges and the pacing isn't always the smoothest (just a few points though so nothing of note) this was such a fucking treat for its 20 hours runtime what the fucking hell
you play as date who's a hunk of a man absolutely delicious looking pervert tit aficionado part of the police department in the subunit of abis where they explore human minds through dreams via a machine that acts as a bridge for the investigator consciousness to creampie the host
that's easier when you play it than it is to explain it but basically this is just the usual excuse for some investigation tricks and minigames and a damn good plot device for the entirety of the mystery at hand I have never seen paprika till now even though I probably should but I think the main premise is basically the same but paprika doesn't have kaname date so clearly it's the lesser experience
now this plays a lot similar to a danganronpa game but without the over the top character designs and writing substituted by a more muted cast of characters who are some degree of insane or quirky or mad like the pretend they're not danganronpa characters but if you dig deep enough you will find that everyone can be matched with a character in danganronpa sick trick
you investigate you try to solve the mystery I don't have to tell you how a danganronpa game works the investigative parts are passable at best being more of a point and click affair more similar to a visual novel type of deal yknow ace attorney and shit and then the somnium segments who at first I thought were really good soon became a 999-puzzles type of deal where I just began to get irritated by them and look for a guide because they have no real cohesion whatsoever youre like lemme see what happens if I blow on this fan and then 120 seconds will go away and its not even the right action like how am I supposed to know what to do when this shit is completely insane
somehow I can say that they're pretty charming for how out there they are like some weird shit is gonna happen to aiba and youre gonna laugh but since its actually a dream its all good then you can steal the informations from the bad guys and alls well that ends well
so I guess that's the main gameplay loop it's not entirely my thing but I can live with that I definitely preferred the investigative bits because I'm more of a visual novel guy I like to sit back and see the story rolling instead im just not that much of a puzzle lover so the somnium stuff was kinda interesting but not entirely my thing and I actually struggle to call it puzzle because of the fact that its more trial and error-y than I'd like it to be honestly
while the investigative stuff is defo the highlight the characters actually tend to take the spotlight in this one since youre gonna have a lot of deep dive into the characterisation and psyche of these pixels and they all casually move around date I wonder what that means and mind you my favorite pals are iris being my sweet little ray of sunshine and mizuki being my sweet little sumo wrestler and aiba being my sweet little artificial intelligence I love the gals in this one I cannot lie and boss is also a good dominatrix to boot
story wise this can get a bit convoluted and stupid but DAMN is it not gripping and entertaining from beginning to end this one of those multiple endings type of narrative games but the catch is that it's more linear than I thought it'd be if you get in a route where you're not supposed to know some stuff the game is gonna gatekeep you from moving forward and you're gonna have to try and find the right route to unlock that one and then unlock another one and so on pretty good actually and you also get a flowchart I love flowcharts
so one second SPOILER TERRITORY I want to fuck falco also since this is the nick I use all the time it was pretty weird seeing the characters talk about this guy since I thought they were talking about me but at one point I was like wait I didnt have to put no name in the beginning and then the realisation that the guy is falco so as I was saying yeah I want to fuck him so hard but i mean he's also date but date is not date because he's the son of the congressman and date is not falco anymore because it's his deadname now LISTEN this game gets fucking convoluted I enjoyed a lot the little progression and the series of murders and shit here and there but the final revelation of the body swapping gets real confusing real fast sure it's pretty charming and fucked up and needs you to do a lot of suspension of disbelief to actually get ingrained into the whole affair but it pays off uchikoshi wrote a real treat of a sci-fi flavored crime mystery and I cannot really say any bad words about it
some routes hit more than the others or have more meat in terms of story than the rest but when you put them all together you can understand why this game was such a hit honestly and to zero escape fans returning this is gonna be up they're alley
while the body swapping thing gets real crazy I actually digged the whole falco backstory with iris and hitomi that shit was fire and made me lose all the hair on my head im not gonna fuck with you here those were some real good story beats
this is such a fucking ride from beginning to end its so serious at times and so incredibly silly at others but that's the charm of it all youre gonna get somebody talking about terminal illnesses and date will say oh my god boobs also what's up with date being a sex freak while I'm literally here waiting for him to ride me I don't get it
that being said the highs are high and this game makes you care for its characters too damn much you could find me crying for half of the endings in the games because theres nothing that hurts me more than making me emotionally attached to a character and then seeing them suffer through every evil in the world why would you make me so sad and thats without putting into the equation all the falco x hitomi x iris scenes with all the backstories and shit likeeee it's so fucking sad don't talk to me
final consideration the music is bomb
side note I find it very funny that mizuki has the orichalcum trident in the mermaid cafe and then I realised that's because she's been neglected by her family and she just kept going there not to be alone and then it wasn't funny anymore
and ota route HIT
I read about someone bashing sex humor don't you ever say that to me ever again sex humor is the funniest shit ever don't @ me
"i had a beautiful dream" iris i just wanted you to be happy
what the fuck was up with that ending ong like first you make me bawl like a baby and then you do that
ai the somniun files was on my watch for some time now due to me actually having been accustomed to kaname date porn on rule34 and actually wanting to explore more of this character apart from him getting railed like a slut
that being said this is an investigative game made with 2 dimes and a beer to anyone who's interested in doing the character animation which is very bare as I can tell but not for that reason less charming
while I do think this game has a lot of rough edges and the pacing isn't always the smoothest (just a few points though so nothing of note) this was such a fucking treat for its 20 hours runtime what the fucking hell
you play as date who's a hunk of a man absolutely delicious looking pervert tit aficionado part of the police department in the subunit of abis where they explore human minds through dreams via a machine that acts as a bridge for the investigator consciousness to creampie the host
that's easier when you play it than it is to explain it but basically this is just the usual excuse for some investigation tricks and minigames and a damn good plot device for the entirety of the mystery at hand I have never seen paprika till now even though I probably should but I think the main premise is basically the same but paprika doesn't have kaname date so clearly it's the lesser experience
now this plays a lot similar to a danganronpa game but without the over the top character designs and writing substituted by a more muted cast of characters who are some degree of insane or quirky or mad like the pretend they're not danganronpa characters but if you dig deep enough you will find that everyone can be matched with a character in danganronpa sick trick
you investigate you try to solve the mystery I don't have to tell you how a danganronpa game works the investigative parts are passable at best being more of a point and click affair more similar to a visual novel type of deal yknow ace attorney and shit and then the somnium segments who at first I thought were really good soon became a 999-puzzles type of deal where I just began to get irritated by them and look for a guide because they have no real cohesion whatsoever youre like lemme see what happens if I blow on this fan and then 120 seconds will go away and its not even the right action like how am I supposed to know what to do when this shit is completely insane
somehow I can say that they're pretty charming for how out there they are like some weird shit is gonna happen to aiba and youre gonna laugh but since its actually a dream its all good then you can steal the informations from the bad guys and alls well that ends well
so I guess that's the main gameplay loop it's not entirely my thing but I can live with that I definitely preferred the investigative bits because I'm more of a visual novel guy I like to sit back and see the story rolling instead im just not that much of a puzzle lover so the somnium stuff was kinda interesting but not entirely my thing and I actually struggle to call it puzzle because of the fact that its more trial and error-y than I'd like it to be honestly
while the investigative stuff is defo the highlight the characters actually tend to take the spotlight in this one since youre gonna have a lot of deep dive into the characterisation and psyche of these pixels and they all casually move around date I wonder what that means and mind you my favorite pals are iris being my sweet little ray of sunshine and mizuki being my sweet little sumo wrestler and aiba being my sweet little artificial intelligence I love the gals in this one I cannot lie and boss is also a good dominatrix to boot
story wise this can get a bit convoluted and stupid but DAMN is it not gripping and entertaining from beginning to end this one of those multiple endings type of narrative games but the catch is that it's more linear than I thought it'd be if you get in a route where you're not supposed to know some stuff the game is gonna gatekeep you from moving forward and you're gonna have to try and find the right route to unlock that one and then unlock another one and so on pretty good actually and you also get a flowchart I love flowcharts
so one second SPOILER TERRITORY I want to fuck falco also since this is the nick I use all the time it was pretty weird seeing the characters talk about this guy since I thought they were talking about me but at one point I was like wait I didnt have to put no name in the beginning and then the realisation that the guy is falco so as I was saying yeah I want to fuck him so hard but i mean he's also date but date is not date because he's the son of the congressman and date is not falco anymore because it's his deadname now LISTEN this game gets fucking convoluted I enjoyed a lot the little progression and the series of murders and shit here and there but the final revelation of the body swapping gets real confusing real fast sure it's pretty charming and fucked up and needs you to do a lot of suspension of disbelief to actually get ingrained into the whole affair but it pays off uchikoshi wrote a real treat of a sci-fi flavored crime mystery and I cannot really say any bad words about it
some routes hit more than the others or have more meat in terms of story than the rest but when you put them all together you can understand why this game was such a hit honestly and to zero escape fans returning this is gonna be up they're alley
while the body swapping thing gets real crazy I actually digged the whole falco backstory with iris and hitomi that shit was fire and made me lose all the hair on my head im not gonna fuck with you here those were some real good story beats
this is such a fucking ride from beginning to end its so serious at times and so incredibly silly at others but that's the charm of it all youre gonna get somebody talking about terminal illnesses and date will say oh my god boobs also what's up with date being a sex freak while I'm literally here waiting for him to ride me I don't get it
that being said the highs are high and this game makes you care for its characters too damn much you could find me crying for half of the endings in the games because theres nothing that hurts me more than making me emotionally attached to a character and then seeing them suffer through every evil in the world why would you make me so sad and thats without putting into the equation all the falco x hitomi x iris scenes with all the backstories and shit likeeee it's so fucking sad don't talk to me
final consideration the music is bomb
side note I find it very funny that mizuki has the orichalcum trident in the mermaid cafe and then I realised that's because she's been neglected by her family and she just kept going there not to be alone and then it wasn't funny anymore
and ota route HIT
I read about someone bashing sex humor don't you ever say that to me ever again sex humor is the funniest shit ever don't @ me
"i had a beautiful dream" iris i just wanted you to be happy
true hidden gem. fun puzzles, very quirky but likeable characters, and a story filled with fantastic twists. marred by its innate anime nature, which ruined the tone of a few scenes, as well as the horrible, eyeroll inducing quicktime event sections
This game is pretty good. I get the hype, but I still personally think I liked the first two games in the Zero Escape trilogy just a bit more. Not quit as meh as Zero Time Dilemma, though. The main character in this one is a riot, and despite its morbid call to action, this game is actually usually pretty light-hearted and fun. I had issues with some of the characters and voice acting, but other than that? A solid game!
I've rewatched this game like 16 times at this point and it never gets old. Genuinely peak fiction.
I streamed this game a while back, but I finally got to posting up ALL the screenshots I took....I'm a bit of a screenshot addict tbh.
My stream
So this game, in case you did not know, is from the same creators of Danganronpa and The Nonary Games. If you like those kinds of games, this is certainly something that you'll enjoy with the mysteries and funny/interesting characters.
You start out arriving at the scene of a murder that was phoned in and after studying the body, with the help of a AI, you discover that they were killed and had their eye torn out pre-mortem. After this we discover the child of the deceased with the murder weapon in her hands nearby.
The main mechanics of the game involve the typical VN kind of interaction with choice of questions, QTEs and the main interaction in this game is the ability to enter people's dreams to discover what they may know in regards to the case or perhaps to gleam through their memories for a forgotten memory figment that's just in the back of the mind somewhere. This system is super secret, which is why you normally knock people out before doing this and as it's such a national secret, your AI also has a in-build self-destruct system to keep that information out of the hands of those who would abuse it.
If you enjoyed the previous games made by this company, this game is closer to The Nonary Games than the others since you don't have free roaming unlike Danganronpa and Zanki Zero.
If you still aren't certain, try checking out my images and videos (which I title spoiler in them so you don't spoil it for yourself) to come to your own conclusion about this game.
My stream
So this game, in case you did not know, is from the same creators of Danganronpa and The Nonary Games. If you like those kinds of games, this is certainly something that you'll enjoy with the mysteries and funny/interesting characters.
You start out arriving at the scene of a murder that was phoned in and after studying the body, with the help of a AI, you discover that they were killed and had their eye torn out pre-mortem. After this we discover the child of the deceased with the murder weapon in her hands nearby.
The main mechanics of the game involve the typical VN kind of interaction with choice of questions, QTEs and the main interaction in this game is the ability to enter people's dreams to discover what they may know in regards to the case or perhaps to gleam through their memories for a forgotten memory figment that's just in the back of the mind somewhere. This system is super secret, which is why you normally knock people out before doing this and as it's such a national secret, your AI also has a in-build self-destruct system to keep that information out of the hands of those who would abuse it.
If you enjoyed the previous games made by this company, this game is closer to The Nonary Games than the others since you don't have free roaming unlike Danganronpa and Zanki Zero.
If you still aren't certain, try checking out my images and videos (which I title spoiler in them so you don't spoil it for yourself) to come to your own conclusion about this game.