 |
| Eye-catching. |
From Spike Chunsoft, the developers behind the hit Danganronpa and Zero Escape series comes their latest offering, AI: The Somnium Files --with "Somnium" being Latin for "Dream". A detective story where you're tracking a serial killer with your AI partner, it's an adventure that hooks you in with its mystery while also surprising you with wacky humor. I heard about the game when it got announced, but it fell out of my radar with how 2019 was packed with great games. Now having finally experienced the game, is AI: The Somnium Files as good as Spike Chunsoft's previous works?
The story follows Tokyo detective Kaname Date, who investigates a gruesome series of murders where a serial killer steals the left eye of his victims just before killing them. Joining him is his AI partner Aiba, who helps him in investigations as she's in Date's prosthetic eye. What begins as a simple murder case slowly unfolds into a conspiracy surrounding those close to Date and even connecting to his fragmented past. Without giving away too much, the story was engaging and full of intricate twists, as expected from Zero Escape writer Kotaro Uchikoshi. The main cast of characters were well-written and the chemistry between Date and Aiba was fantastic, as both compliment each other's personalities well.
 |
| The story was great, with a strong cast and unexpected twists. |
AI: The Somnium Files is a visual novel game mixed with third-person puzzle solving. When you're not watching the story as Date, you'll dive into somnium levels where you must enter the subject's consciousness as Aiba in order to uncover the truth behind a murder by reenacting events from their point-of-view. Somnium levels are timed at 360 seconds and every action taken will consume the time meter (including walking), so it's mainly trial-and-error till you get the hang of a level. You progress through a level by mainly interacting with environments and solving a few puzzles, unlocking new paths and learning more about the subject. Thankfully, if you mess up during a somnium, you can retry to a previous checkpoint, which is bound to happen in the longer ones. Each somnium was varied and I enjoyed the banter between Date and Aiba in them.
 |
| The somnium levels are a neat concept and the best part of the gameplay. |
Aside from that, you'll be investigating crime-scenes, interrogating suspects based on pieces of evidence, and fighting in shootouts via quick-time-events. It's obvious that the somnium are the game's main highlight, as the other segments were decent at best. The game took around 25 hours to complete, and that included getting all endings and achieving 100% completion, so the game will entertain you for a good while.
AI has a colorful aesthetic with slick anime designs from designer Yusuke Kozaki (No More Heroes series, Fire Emblem: Awakening/Fates). Backgrounds and character models were neatly done, though the unique somnium levels were standouts, with one being a direct homage to Minecraft. That said, the animations are mostly stiff and clipping issues were small, but noticeable. I've been surprised by the English VA, as the performances were fantastic and nailed each character well. The soundtrack was great, packing a wide range of tracks that compliment the game's ever-changing tone. My favorites were the main theme, the diner theme, and ending theme.
 |
| AI has a lot of style, which is nothing new for Spike Chunsoft. |
AI: The Somnium Files was a fun experience that "eye" ended up enjoying. Its gripping story, likeable characters, and neat gameplay are up there with Spike Chunsoft's best works. That's not forgetting the great production-values too. Sure it has some shortcomings as it lacked more puzzles to solve and gameplay depth outside of somnium levels, but the game was fun nonetheless. If you're a fan of Spike Chunsoft's games or visual novels in general, AI: The Somnium Files is worth a look.
Comments
Post a Comment