In light of Nirvana Initiatives 2 year release anniversary being yesterday, I thought it would be a great idea to do a review of a series that I didn't think I'd enjoy as much as I did. Buying AI: The Somnium Files in 2019 was weird, I had no idea what I was getting myself into and what type of game this would turn out to be. What I can say, is that this series seriously surprised me in so many ways. Despite being extremely cringy at times, it really does deliver a great story, through a murder mystery, with fun interactions, and a fun gameplay system for a visual novel. There's a lot that I can praise this game about but I'll try to keep this brief.

The story is pretty great. I love myself a game with multiple routes, and this game continues to deliver on that front. I find it interesting that each player has a different first route based on the decision that they make in the first (second if you include the tutorial) somnium. I love a murder mystery, and this was especially intriguing, considering it was about a serial killer. The deaths actually felt so damn brutal as well. Discovering different evidence in each route was really interesting, and the different characters and events in each route was great. I'm satisfied with how the entire mystery unfolded, and like I said before, am truly surprised by how much enjoyment I got from this game, ranging from the dialogue, to one liners, to flavour text with any object in any room, and from the story itself.

The characters are great, they truly make you care for them (despite how annoying some of them can be cough Ota cough). Date is such a unique character that they wrote to perfection in my eyes, he is a great protagonist. He's kind of a dork, but he's serious when he needs to be during an investigation. Aiba and Mizuki are also standouts for me as characters because they just mesh so well with Date, and the three of them bounce off of each other so well. I appreciate how this game uses different characters to develop others, and it's just great overall.

The gameplay. I love the concept of somniums. Having only six minutes to complete an entire somnium sounded completely impossible to me, but the amount of effort that was put into these somniums blew me away. You have different options, ranging from funny, stupid options, to the more 'normal' options. Some of the somniums did infuriate me quite a bit (skill issue), but I still enjoyed them overall. Each somnium had a different theme, whether one felt dark and horrific, upbeat and fun, or silly and dumb, they were all quite enjoyable (especially the ones that made me quite emotional). Also, being able to hear witty banter between Date and Aiba was just the icing on top.

This game mastered flavour text. I just love clicking on everything in a room before continuing on with the story, each piece of dialogue made me love this game even more, despite how stupid and weird a lot of it was. It was the little thing such as the flavour text that made me enjoy this game tenfold.

This game was one I was unsure of at first, but ended up being such a great game. Just writing this review makes me want to replay it again.

The Invincible Rainbow Arrow is such a bop.

Persona 4 is an interesting piece that explores the value of truth and acceptance. It serves as a welcome addition of a more light-hearted approach following its predecessors. The way the game approaches the importance of truth poses very interesting scenarios. Sometimes the truth will hurt, sometimes the truth will provide security. Other times, the truth shouldn't decide the lives you live in the now. The best you can do is seek your own truth and if you don't like it? Overcome that truth and be the change you desire. Many are quick to point out flaws in Persona 4's character writing, however I feel it to actually be a strong suit. Most if not all character arcs tend to lean into the overall theme and different ways it can impact an individual leading to different opinions and outcomes for you to resonate with yourself. I won't disregard some issues within particular dialogue choices the game tends to lean into however I feel as though when you consider what the game is trying to tell you within these arcs, you'll find that the core of what it's saying is worth the investment.

I do not like this game. From a gameplay standpoint, the game is fun enough. Albeit a bit too easy at times, there's still a lot of enjoyment to be had. However, narratively it more than falls flat. The premise is riddled in hypocrisy and self-righteousness to an annoying degree. Persona 5 wishes to challenge the structure of societal power and the influence it has on community. The solution? Continue the cycle and engage in a dystopia where the law of morality is treated as black and white decided by a standalone group. This foundation has the potential to be interesting had they recognized this glaring issue in ideology and explored the repercussions this line of thinking presents but it doesn't. It seems like the game sort of acknowledges this, having few moments of doubt that are quickly washed away because the protagonist group are surrounded by "Yes Men". The motive behind your actions are treated as reforming society to further enable free will, this justification gets immediately invalidated when you consider that the Phantom Thieves don't just target those in power but also normal citizens. Brainwashing even a person for simply cheating in a video game. One piece of praise I can give is that the new Royal section of the game does a good job in reflecting the behavior presented through a more extreme yet arguably more well intended motive than yourself making for an interesting foil. Moving on to other aspects of the narrative, the character writing is also weak. Nearly all of the characters unfortunately fall into backwards development. Whenever their respective arcs end, they immediately fall back into their previous selves and the surrounding casts don't learn from their actions. Ann continues to be sexualized by her friends despite being a subject of harassments, Morgana continues to treat Ryuji poorly despite learning the impact his words have, Makoto continues restricting her peers. The negativity I feel is also amplified from the sheer amount of smug these characters have for what they're doing making them unbearable at times to listen to as a player. The game relies on containing hype moments and high stakes to make you feel something for the story but when you take a step back and consider what it's trying to tell you, it sucks.

I respect Kanon for its efforts in pioneering the nakige genre, however I can't help but find its entry in the KEY library to be overly bland. It's difficult to piece together my thoughts on it because by all means it deserves praise for the impact it had on the medium but I believe that it shouldn't be a bad thing to admit that it has been far surpassed in every form by its successors. Acknowledging the message of remembering to cherish the time you've had and the importance of memories is where my compliments end. It had an idea and committed to it but it didn't save itself from being exceedingly boring in the process. The slow pace doesn't do itself any favors when the world and characters it set up didn't do anything to make the journey any more interesting. The majority of the routes in this game ranged from alright to downright uncomfortable. Makoto in particular is hindered by the nature of originally being an eroge making the whole relationship between her and the protagonist Yuuichi more unbearable for me to sit through. If I were to recommend Kanon to anyone, I would say Shiori is still worth your time. Her story was much more engaging than the others and the relationship development between her and Yuuichi was really satisfying to watch unfold even with the existence of future titles that executed the concept in better ways. Overall, Kanon was great for what it accomplished and I will always hold respect for it. Though I would say it's a good thing that many were able to take what it put down and do much more appealing and thought-provoking things with the genre.