After Zero Escape I was looking forward to Uchikoshi next game and followed the game in somewhat close detail, including the made-up youtube account and twitter account in order to advertise the game - which is a very clever idea, considering the character doing the videos IS in the game too -, and after the release I was eager to give the game a try as I was really eager to play anAfter Zero Escape I was looking forward to Uchikoshi next game and followed the game in somewhat close detail, including the made-up youtube account and twitter account in order to advertise the game - which is a very clever idea, considering the character doing the videos IS in the game too -, and after the release I was eager to give the game a try as I was really eager to play an adventure game with heavy story...and the game is good but it does push the wrong buttons for me.
AI is an adventure game done in first person - and less reminiscent of a VN - and the game follows Kaname Date, a police officer of the MPD and the ABIS in the search of the Cyclops Killer and the game starts with him investigating the death of a first victim.
From here you can see how the game doesn't shy away to show you graphical content: the victim has blood on it, misses an eye, and later on you'll see more of it in the most gruesome ways. It doesn't ALWAYS show all of its gore details but it will show some bloody details too from time to time...afterall the game is rated 18/M so it has to!
But on the other hand, the game doesn't also hide its lightheartedness and often puts in silly lines and scenes just to make the scene lighter in mood and funny...and it works! In such a gritty, often depressing and serious game, the funny lines don't really seem to be unfitting and they did make me chuckle more times than I wanted.
It helps that the roster is very likable too: Date is an enjoyable character and funny character, Iris is very mysterious but cheerful since she's an Idol, Ota starts out annoying but he becomes much better later on in his ending, as well as Mizuki and even the secondary cast such as Boss, Pewter, Mama and Moma - this one, in particular, is just hilarious, guaranteed you'll laugh in some parts of the game. And of course there's Aiba who's an AI put inside an Eye in your eye socket - and yes that's the pun about her.
So maybe it's not that the funny lines are funny because they fit, but it's because the characters are well written, are likable and overall are flawed people with issues that are believable so it works very well. Add a story that is...good for the most part, despite its hiccups here and there, and you get a very solid game, right? Well...I have ONE reason why this game doesn't score higher, ONE sole reason that ruins this game to be a must-buy for everyone: the Somnium sections.
During the story, you'll occasionally jump into people's minds to discover truths and other things and you'll basically dive into what's a Somnium (latin for Dream), a place where you visit the patient's mind and discover hidden truths. The first time you enter it's very exciting, you get to see the rules that dominate the dreams and it's all intriguing and disturbing at the same time. After the first somnium you know you want to do it again...but then you actually do it and here comes the fatal flaw of this section: the time limit of SIX MINUTES!
Let me start by saying this: the six-minute time limit is a plot critical detail that will later return when it's time, so it's not there randomly...BUT STILL couldn't they have made the time limit just a plot-relevant point and NOT a gameplay mechanic?!? It heavily limits your interactions as each interaction option CONSUMES time too! So not only you got a time limit but you also have actions that will shorten time even further! And yes it's not fun at all!
I CANNOT stress more than enough that this time limit put into the somnium is what killed the mood for me: whenever there was a somnium I KNEW I would be spending at least an hour doing it and trying to figure out what to do within the time limit, only to run out of time and have to restart. There's no penalty either so why even bother?! I just cannot understand this choice really.
If they just made the time limit something unrelated to the gameplay you could have explored the somnium and figure out the solution, explore everything and have fun with it...you know, LIKE THE ZERO ESCAPE TRILOGY DID?!
I just feel so sad that the major gameplay focus of the game is just a wreck because of the limit - and believe me you WILL replay them at least a couple times, guaranteed. - which lowers the score from a possible 8 to a 7.
There are other issues like how some plot points aren't well explained but that's all spoilers so I won't comment.
Is the game worth it then? Yeah, it is, but get a guide for the somnium sections and just get rid of those asap. A missed opportunity to make a fun adventure game with a dream section and let me say the game is very well done, with incredibly good English dubbing and a lot of great animations - and the character models aren't bad either, designed by the same artist who made fire emblem Awakening and Fates.
It's just this one part of the game that makes it really hard for me to give it a higher score.… Expand
AI: The Somnium FilesYour Score0 out of 10User Score
