This review contains spoilers
ai: the somnium files - nirvana initiative(aini) is the “direct” sequel to ai: the somnium files(aitsf) that i was honestly pretty excited to dive into. i (mostly) enjoyed aitsf, and i always love seeing characters i enjoy going on another adventure. unfortunately, i was very let down by aini. i’ll quickly talk on gameplay, art, and music, and then move into the story, since that is the meat of the game.
-gameplay, art, and music-
i don’t have much to say about these three because they aren’t really what you play the game for. the gameplay is pretty similar to the first game, and while the somniums look a bit better, they didn’t play any better. i never wanted to solve these somniums, and always just used a guide. i think if the time limit was removed, i may like them, but they just kinda annoy me. they feel like watered down escape rooms to me, and i just don’t like them. they, more often than not, felt like the game just wanted to have some gameplay to break up the text.
the art and models for this game are really like ok i guess? the models look solid, and the character design is mostly solid. there was really nobody where i was super impressed or into their character design besides maybe tama.
the music in this game is also mostly fine. there are a few tracks i quite like, lien and the masked woman’s somnium themes, but they mostly were just there for me. they weren’t bad or anything, but not super amazing either, similar to the first game.
-story-
quite possibly the biggest decider of if you like aini is the story, since that is what nearly everyone plays for. to be honest, i dug the story for about the first half. i’m again not a fan of the gaining of knowledge from other timelines, but i guess it’s fine and “will be explained in the sequel”(which is what i’d hoped would be true after aitsf, but you can’t always get what you want). tama and ryuki are the backbone of the first half of the game, and if they weren’t as charming as they are, the game would really suffer. most of the rest of the cast is kinda uninteresting besides them, and i really only cared because they had good interactions with ryuki.
a big problem i’d like to address now is how the game tries to not address aitsf to not spoil someone who has not played it by walking back on some good moments in aitsf, particularly date’s real face(and voice). this annoyed me to no end. it should not be the game’s fault that the audience hasn’t played the prequel, especially when it’s just as accessible as the sequel. a lot of the relationships that should’ve been explored more after date’s “arc” aren’t in favor of not spoiling aitsf, which really pissed me off. after all that date and mizuki learned about family in aitsf, this game should’ve developed their relationship more, but instead they do the exact opposite to avoid spoilers. it sucks.
let’s talk about the twist, the biggest reason i had a 180 on the story. the twist that the timeline is out of order is so incredibly convenient and unsatisfying. first, the game doesn’t even reveal it in an interesting way; they just have mama pause the game, stare at the game, and tell the player the twist. that might be the laziest thing ever written. it also undercuts the mystery of how bodies traveled through time, which was the coolest part of the mystery. the solution to the problem being that the audience was just lied to is so lame. it also relies on so many stupid coincidences to work besides that. mizuki needs to have a twin clone who looks, speaks, acts, thinks, etc EXACTLY like her six years in the past that nobody thought to tell her about. she was ALSO genetically modified(shit twist), wore the same clothes, had the same ai-ball, had a mother who works with mizuki and date but won’t tell them, are you getting the point? this twist is beyond contrived, and it completely turned me off of the game. ryuki also needs to get plot convenient crazy disease and then be cured at exactly the right moment so nothing breaks. i really hate the second half of this game. the actual killer(mame) isn’t even that bad, but the buildup is just so stupid that i lost any interest in the story before i could care about her generic villain motivations.
also ryuki diverge is the same as the alt:end in vlr and means nothing and was pretty undercooked.
-conclusion-
overall, aini is a game that starts strong but tanks halfways. the twist is just so bafflingly badly written that it kills the game for me. i will definitely be playing ai3, but my expectations will be incredibly low.
-gameplay, art, and music-
i don’t have much to say about these three because they aren’t really what you play the game for. the gameplay is pretty similar to the first game, and while the somniums look a bit better, they didn’t play any better. i never wanted to solve these somniums, and always just used a guide. i think if the time limit was removed, i may like them, but they just kinda annoy me. they feel like watered down escape rooms to me, and i just don’t like them. they, more often than not, felt like the game just wanted to have some gameplay to break up the text.
the art and models for this game are really like ok i guess? the models look solid, and the character design is mostly solid. there was really nobody where i was super impressed or into their character design besides maybe tama.
the music in this game is also mostly fine. there are a few tracks i quite like, lien and the masked woman’s somnium themes, but they mostly were just there for me. they weren’t bad or anything, but not super amazing either, similar to the first game.
-story-
quite possibly the biggest decider of if you like aini is the story, since that is what nearly everyone plays for. to be honest, i dug the story for about the first half. i’m again not a fan of the gaining of knowledge from other timelines, but i guess it’s fine and “will be explained in the sequel”(which is what i’d hoped would be true after aitsf, but you can’t always get what you want). tama and ryuki are the backbone of the first half of the game, and if they weren’t as charming as they are, the game would really suffer. most of the rest of the cast is kinda uninteresting besides them, and i really only cared because they had good interactions with ryuki.
a big problem i’d like to address now is how the game tries to not address aitsf to not spoil someone who has not played it by walking back on some good moments in aitsf, particularly date’s real face(and voice). this annoyed me to no end. it should not be the game’s fault that the audience hasn’t played the prequel, especially when it’s just as accessible as the sequel. a lot of the relationships that should’ve been explored more after date’s “arc” aren’t in favor of not spoiling aitsf, which really pissed me off. after all that date and mizuki learned about family in aitsf, this game should’ve developed their relationship more, but instead they do the exact opposite to avoid spoilers. it sucks.
let’s talk about the twist, the biggest reason i had a 180 on the story. the twist that the timeline is out of order is so incredibly convenient and unsatisfying. first, the game doesn’t even reveal it in an interesting way; they just have mama pause the game, stare at the game, and tell the player the twist. that might be the laziest thing ever written. it also undercuts the mystery of how bodies traveled through time, which was the coolest part of the mystery. the solution to the problem being that the audience was just lied to is so lame. it also relies on so many stupid coincidences to work besides that. mizuki needs to have a twin clone who looks, speaks, acts, thinks, etc EXACTLY like her six years in the past that nobody thought to tell her about. she was ALSO genetically modified(shit twist), wore the same clothes, had the same ai-ball, had a mother who works with mizuki and date but won’t tell them, are you getting the point? this twist is beyond contrived, and it completely turned me off of the game. ryuki also needs to get plot convenient crazy disease and then be cured at exactly the right moment so nothing breaks. i really hate the second half of this game. the actual killer(mame) isn’t even that bad, but the buildup is just so stupid that i lost any interest in the story before i could care about her generic villain motivations.
also ryuki diverge is the same as the alt:end in vlr and means nothing and was pretty undercooked.
-conclusion-
overall, aini is a game that starts strong but tanks halfways. the twist is just so bafflingly badly written that it kills the game for me. i will definitely be playing ai3, but my expectations will be incredibly low.