AI: The Somnium Files

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 366 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 318 out of 366
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 366
  3. Negative: 30 out of 366
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  1. Andrudis
    Sep 29, 2019
    10
    It's a Visual Novel, so there is not much about game-play naturally. It's more like watching interesting anime with you being somewhat involved in what will happen next and see everything from the first person (except cut-scenes).
    Excellent detective story with unpredictable turns. Deep distinctive characters. You naturally get this "just one more dialog/scene/chapter" and its hard to    It's a Visual Novel, so there is not much about game-play naturally. It's more like watching interesting anime with you being somewhat involved in what will happen next and see everything from the first person (except cut-scenes).
    Excellent detective story with unpredictable turns. Deep distinctive characters. You naturally get this "just one more dialog/scene/chapter" and its hard to stop once you get immersed into the story - and that happens extremely fast with each of story branches.
    There are really few games that can match that.
    Definitely can recommend it to anyone interested in highly enjoyable anime-like story experience.    … Expand
  2. MiraiMoon
    Feb 8, 2020
    10
    AI: The Somnium Files is an incredibly intriguing mystery game. While Kotaro Uchikoshi's previous puzzle games (Zero Escape series) had fun puzzles, you can feel that he, Akira Okada, and the rest of the fantastic team have really honed their craft with AI, as the puzzle segments are easily some of my favourite in any video game. With amazing acting from both a cast of insanely talentedAI: The Somnium Files is an incredibly intriguing mystery game. While Kotaro Uchikoshi's previous puzzle games (Zero Escape series) had fun puzzles, you can feel that he, Akira Okada, and the rest of the fantastic team have really honed their craft with AI, as the puzzle segments are easily some of my favourite in any video game. With amazing acting from both a cast of insanely talented English and Japanese actors, and some of the best-written characters I've seen in gaming in a while (Mizuki in particular is a major stand-out!), AI was easily my favourite game of 2019.

    My sole complaint is how horny the men (especially the main protagonist) are in the game - it's a joke that's overused to the point of it being more annoying than entertaining.    … Expand
  3. Morriganfaye
    Dec 27, 2019
    10
    One of the best games I have played. I have been a gamer for 31 years. I play all genres and this was overall one of the best story telling, great voice acting (especially when the main character laughs at the ai when she does odd stuff) the stories are all different and you can choose so many paths. I normally don't like games with multiple endings but this one found a way to make youOne of the best games I have played. I have been a gamer for 31 years. I play all genres and this was overall one of the best story telling, great voice acting (especially when the main character laughs at the ai when she does odd stuff) the stories are all different and you can choose so many paths. I normally don't like games with multiple endings but this one found a way to make you want to do every possible one.… Expand
  4. valenti
    Feb 8, 2020
    10
    Amazing game and easily one of the highlights of 2019. One of the best Visual Novels I've ever played.
  5. nintendana
    Feb 9, 2020
    10
    If you like murder mystery storylines, visual novels, and don't mind a hint of perverted cringe this game is fantastic. I enjoyed playing through each individual route and seeing how differently they played out, yet still involved all the characters. I was very pleased with the character design, it was fully voiced, and overall visually pleasing to look at. Great game!
  6. Jimb
    Feb 10, 2020
    10
    Uchikoshi back at it with the amazing work. For the first of it's series, it has a lot of potential to grow into something even better in later installments.
  7. Darigandevil
    Oct 7, 2019
    10
    A brilliant follow up to Zero Escape fleshed out with meaningful characters, bad (amazing) puns and ongoing jokes lasting throughout the game.
    The story was great and as is typical of Uchikoshi had a brilliant twist to wrap it all up amazingly. The production quality with full voiceacting throughout was excellent.
  8. Sigerson317
    Feb 10, 2020
    10
    Fantastic work as usual! Uchikoshi’s games are always enjoyable, and this is no exception!
  9. riceandpotato
    Feb 10, 2020
    10
    Ai the somnium files is a wonderful game, I love the story and the character. It is really sad that there are review bomb of this game.
  10. WeedleSenpai
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    Easily the best game released in 2019, if not the best game released in the past few years. An excellent find for any fans of the visual novel detective mystery genre. From the mind of the man who brought us the Zero Escape series, fans will see welcome returning elements such as the timeline flowchart, however it does depart from the zero escape formula at times, with pleasing results.Easily the best game released in 2019, if not the best game released in the past few years. An excellent find for any fans of the visual novel detective mystery genre. From the mind of the man who brought us the Zero Escape series, fans will see welcome returning elements such as the timeline flowchart, however it does depart from the zero escape formula at times, with pleasing results. This game is a lot more emotionally charged than zero escape titles ever were, focusing a lot on comedic dialogue, paralleled with some deep and often heart wrenching character development moments. Make no mistake, while this game does seem to focus on emotional impact there is no shortage of clever twists and turns in the narrative, as one would expect from the genre… Expand
  11. Phosics
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    Great game and awesome twisted story.
    One of the best visual novel that exists.
  12. ParkerDk
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    So good game.It's better than Zero Escape 999.And the The quality of the game performance has improved a lot.And I love aiset.She is sweet.
  13. Devinpd15
    Feb 10, 2020
    10
    Another amazing work from Uchikoshi, this time displaying his outstanding narrative skills as always while also showing off an amazing character study.
  14. noteven_jupiter
    Feb 10, 2020
    10
    I adore this game. I've been a long time fan of Uchikoshi for a long time, and this game was everything I could have hoped for. If you love wacky murder mysteries, found family, funny tit-man jokes, and lovable characters, this is definitely for you.
  15. BaconBiscuit
    Feb 10, 2020
    10
    This game was awesome, hilarious, and best of all: super weird. It has an incredible story but never takes itself too seriously. The fact that people are review bombing this fantastic game is incredibly disheartening. Don't listen to the bad reviews, check this game out! It will definitely be worth your time.
  16. midgart
    Feb 10, 2020
    10
    Great visual novel style game! If you've played and liked the Zero Escape series, you're likely to enjoy this one as well!
  17. eonflamewing
    Feb 10, 2020
    10
    all around lovely and fantastic game. if you're review bombing this because it's pro lgbt then you are a coward and will be removed by natural selection.
  18. MizukiOki
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    One of the best game I’ve played, I was pleasantly surprised by the many plot twists. A must play for everyone who loves murder mysteries!
  19. betternamefever
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    Another amazing game by Uchikoshi! This game was unique and interesting the whole way through. I can't wait for what he makes next!
  20. fuzi
    Feb 11, 2020
    9
    My English is poor, but I still want to say that this is a good game. This girl is a mature child. She may not have contact with LGBT people, so she has limited information. But it doesn't represent the producer's viewpoints, these are the role's viewpoints.The “MAMA”in the game is a kind person, a common person, I like her very much. This is a complete and interesting game, and some ofMy English is poor, but I still want to say that this is a good game. This girl is a mature child. She may not have contact with LGBT people, so she has limited information. But it doesn't represent the producer's viewpoints, these are the role's viewpoints.The “MAMA”in the game is a kind person, a common person, I like her very much. This is a complete and interesting game, and some of the content is touching. I don't want this game to get a bad score because of misunderstanding.… Expand
  21. Tatsu_chan
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    I'll keep it short. A great game from the creator of Zero Escape with a nice story and characters. Also it may be a small line but as a gay guy myself I love the positive LGBTQ+ message.
  22. Kenmei
    Nov 10, 2019
    8
    This game was brought to us by the people who did the Zero Escape series, something that I don't feel got enough attention during what little advertising was done for it. This is a visual novel told in the same style that the Zero Escape series was. in the fact that the story is told in different branches of the overarching narrative and answers questions that are brought up in differentThis game was brought to us by the people who did the Zero Escape series, something that I don't feel got enough attention during what little advertising was done for it. This is a visual novel told in the same style that the Zero Escape series was. in the fact that the story is told in different branches of the overarching narrative and answers questions that are brought up in different points of the other parts of the story.
    The story here is pretty good, with a few minor missteps along the way. You are Kaname Date, a detective trying to solve the murder of one of your friends ex-wives. You have an AI partner implanted in your left eye that is the crux to figuring out puzzles and completing the other component of the game, entering into peoples dreams to figure out the answers to your questions. Without giving anything away, the story is about on par with the Zero Escape games. Its definitely in the realm of Science Fiction but its got a surprising amount of heart to go along with its narrative.
    However not everything works. The "action sequences", if you can call them that, are horribly out of place and do nothing to move the narrative forward other then to have action set pieces put into a Visual Novel. Plus some of the story kinda falters in the end and doesn't answer a very important question that I personally thought would have been a fairly obvious thing that anyone who has played the Zero Escape series would know about.
    In the end AI is a game I would recommend to people who very much enjoy a very good narrative focus and some decent puzzle solving. Basically if you enjoyed the Zero Escape series then you'll enjoy this very much so. Hopefully they don't include any unnecessary action sequences for the next game though.    … Expand
  23. pyrofire95
    Feb 10, 2020
    8
    From the brilliant mind of Kotaro Uchikoshi who made the Zero Escape series and Ever17 here is yet another mind bending hard science game that begs you to just try to figure out what's going on. There is a ton of heart put into the dialog and a world that goes beyond the game as Tessa has a YouTube channel like many Vtubers and some charactes have To-witter (Twitter)
    Both the mystery and    From the brilliant mind of Kotaro Uchikoshi who made the Zero Escape series and Ever17 here is yet another mind bending hard science game that begs you to just try to figure out what's going on. There is a ton of heart put into the dialog and a world that goes beyond the game as Tessa has a YouTube channel like many Vtubers and some charactes have To-witter (Twitter)
    Both the mystery and the search for legitimately funny scenes will keep you interested all the way through. Some of the action scenes are pretty cringy but over the top and fun.You may like Zero Escapes story more overall as I did but there is still so much to love and if you crave a complex narrative and interesting problem solving grab this game. You will laugh, you might even cry.    … Expand
  24. Serendras
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    A nice game about murder and dream world with some nice plot twists and different endings. It's close to other Spike Chunsoft games like Danganronpa and has a really fun atmosphere and interesting characters.
  25. yoho
    Apr 29, 2020
    10
    If you like anything with a good story, you will love it. Don't expect too much about interactivity and somnium scenes, as you will only have to follow predefined paths. But my! It's the fist visual novel I play and what a game !!! Even in movies, I've never seen a scenario which is so deep while still being coherent and understandable. Definitely deserves 10/10
  26. ChatonPute
    Feb 11, 2020
    9
    Fantastic game for anyone who like visual novel
    Great characters, cool art
  27. Arma15
    Jun 9, 2020
    10
    As always, amazing story from spikechunsoft. Unpredictable as always, extremely twisted in every way. I loved it.
  28. katpjs
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    This is one of the best VN’s ever made! This story is interweaving and complex and features lovable characters throughout. It has multiple different endings that leave you guessing and filled with theories till the end. Highly recommend to any fan of good ole fashioned VN mysteries with incredibly good stories!
  29. Digiclone
    Jul 19, 2020
    9
    story: Inspired by Freud's work on dream interpretation, we follow a story that revolutionizes the concept of police investigation in fiction. The game is divided into routes with countless charismatic characters and funny or bizarrely violent dreams that can even look like a horror game. There are several twists and turns that will leave you jaw-dropping.

    gameplay: The game has two    story: Inspired by Freud's work on dream interpretation, we follow a story that revolutionizes the concept of police investigation in fiction. The game is divided into routes with countless charismatic characters and funny or bizarrely violent dreams that can even look like a horror game. There are several twists and turns that will leave you jaw-dropping.

    gameplay: The game has two styles of gameplay, one where it looks like a visual novel where you can interact with the scenery and characters by pressing a single button to advance the dialogue. And the other you against a character with a camera in third person in dreams being able to perform actions that discount time within your limit to solve the puzzles. And yes, the puzzles are incredible.

    art: Even having an anime style, the characters have a character design that resembles futuristic stories and each one is very unique. The dreams gain all the attention in this aspect, some seem to have come out of horror stories, others inspired by other video games, there is a lot of design variation.

    soundtrack: That was the point that convinced me to buy the game, the music of the first dream, damn it, the soundtrack of that game can accurately convey all emotions and create unforgettable moments.    … Expand
  30. mrfroglegs
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    a fantastic game. An excellent detective story, with some truly bizarre plot twists. I highly recommend it fully.
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Awards & Rankings

74
#74 Best PS4 Game of 2019
40
#40 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Cubed3
    Jan 7, 2022
    50
    When the story hits some of its high points, AI: The Somnium Files is really good, and feels like the same kind of high 999 gave… but it is largely crippled by just how slow and repetitious it all is. Random slapstick and outright unrealistic scenes draws players out very quickly from the attempt at being a serious plot. It goes nowhere fast, and the whiplash between attempts at humour and serious moments are too ham-fisted. The overall plot could easily be cut by more than half, and the overall experience would be better for it.
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  2. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Oct 22, 2019
    90
    Superbly voice acted, and with great-looking animation and environments, AI: The Somnium Files is a decadent production giving you one of the best videogame detective mysteries this generation. [Issue#168, p.78]
  3. GameGrin
    Oct 17, 2019
    90
    A murder mystery that is masterfully told to keep your eyes on the screen until the very end. The visuals are lacking when it comes to the environments, but you quickly forget about them when you discover what plot twist is introduced next.
    Read full review
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