Won't say too much about this as there's a lot of spoiler stuff I'd rather not get into even with the spoiler warning tag but easily the best work of Uchikoshi's, not even close.
I enjoyed 999 and I can kinda understand why people enjoy VLR (personally I didn't) but I think this is a far stronger cast and story he's put out than any of the Nonary games. On top of that I didn't hate nearly any of the 'Somnium' sections of the game as opposed to some of the nonary games' puzzle rooms which I thought were pretty hit or miss.
Its still an Uchikoshi game at heart so its filled to the brim with contrived/stupid plot points, characters and jokes but I think it's tied together by writing that takes its time more often to actually develop said characters meaningfully. I liked quite a bit of the nonary characters through and through but if I had to be honest there's only a handful that I truly cared about or enjoyed thoroughly. Like comparing Date to Junpei doesn't feel too fair because Date has way more time to talk about his shenanigans/vices/bits than Junpei can being in a sinking ship, but ultimately that's why AI is gonna stick harder in my head than most of the nonary titles. There's way more down time for a good chunk of the cast to actually get thoughts out and talk about their lives and role in the greater narrative ̶r̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶r̶u̶p̶t̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶a̶n̶g̶e̶n̶t̶i̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶t̶a̶p̶h̶y̶s̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶c̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶u̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶v̶i̶s̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶n̶o̶v̶e̶l̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶a̶r̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶e̶v̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶s̶o̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶g̶o̶d̶d̶a̶m̶n̶ ̶p̶l̶o̶t̶. Hell even the corny jokes hit harder as the game goes along since you revisit locations constantly and there's usually a few running gags that felt rewarding to see each time they changed the flavor text.
Date and his gang are an enjoyably obnoxious mix of cringe and stupid non-jokes that I honestly can't help but love. Aiba and Mizuki are extremely good foils for Date's cringe/perverted/dad-joke tangents, and Iris is pretty good at deflecting these as well during her route.
Somnium sections are alright although I do think the """time limit""" they impose, while not too bad, does hamper enjoyment. There's times I know one option might lead to funny bit/flavor text, but I don't have much time on the clock to waste on them. Thankfully its easy to super speed through dialogue/scenes you've already seen but I wish you could explore somniums more thoroughly without worrying about spending too much time.
I think the best thing I can about AI is that when I finished 999 and got partways into VLR I started thinking they could have just stopped at 999 and it would have felt stronger (hell if VLR was stand alone i feel like it could have been better). In contrast, I feel as though AI is not only a breath of fresh air for Uchikoshi's style of writing but also has a world/cast that's more ready for a sequel. Incredibly excited to see what Nirvana Initiative brings.
I enjoyed 999 and I can kinda understand why people enjoy VLR (personally I didn't) but I think this is a far stronger cast and story he's put out than any of the Nonary games. On top of that I didn't hate nearly any of the 'Somnium' sections of the game as opposed to some of the nonary games' puzzle rooms which I thought were pretty hit or miss.
Its still an Uchikoshi game at heart so its filled to the brim with contrived/stupid plot points, characters and jokes but I think it's tied together by writing that takes its time more often to actually develop said characters meaningfully. I liked quite a bit of the nonary characters through and through but if I had to be honest there's only a handful that I truly cared about or enjoyed thoroughly. Like comparing Date to Junpei doesn't feel too fair because Date has way more time to talk about his shenanigans/vices/bits than Junpei can being in a sinking ship, but ultimately that's why AI is gonna stick harder in my head than most of the nonary titles. There's way more down time for a good chunk of the cast to actually get thoughts out and talk about their lives and role in the greater narrative ̶r̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶r̶u̶p̶t̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶a̶n̶g̶e̶n̶t̶i̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶t̶a̶p̶h̶y̶s̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶c̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶u̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶v̶i̶s̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶n̶o̶v̶e̶l̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶a̶r̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶e̶v̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶s̶o̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶g̶o̶d̶d̶a̶m̶n̶ ̶p̶l̶o̶t̶. Hell even the corny jokes hit harder as the game goes along since you revisit locations constantly and there's usually a few running gags that felt rewarding to see each time they changed the flavor text.
Date and his gang are an enjoyably obnoxious mix of cringe and stupid non-jokes that I honestly can't help but love. Aiba and Mizuki are extremely good foils for Date's cringe/perverted/dad-joke tangents, and Iris is pretty good at deflecting these as well during her route.
Somnium sections are alright although I do think the """time limit""" they impose, while not too bad, does hamper enjoyment. There's times I know one option might lead to funny bit/flavor text, but I don't have much time on the clock to waste on them. Thankfully its easy to super speed through dialogue/scenes you've already seen but I wish you could explore somniums more thoroughly without worrying about spending too much time.
I think the best thing I can about AI is that when I finished 999 and got partways into VLR I started thinking they could have just stopped at 999 and it would have felt stronger (hell if VLR was stand alone i feel like it could have been better). In contrast, I feel as though AI is not only a breath of fresh air for Uchikoshi's style of writing but also has a world/cast that's more ready for a sequel. Incredibly excited to see what Nirvana Initiative brings.