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