No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES

As a huge fan of ZE and AITSF, this game has been a huge disappointment for me to the point I'm actually mad I wasted money on it. It genuinely feels like it was written by ChatGPT. I don't know what the point of this existing was? It feels like a complete waste of resources that could have been spent making an actual good game with an interesting story like the other two. I did not know Uchikoshi was capable of making something this bad. The only things I will praise about this game are the music and the portrayal of grief from a certain character (not the new one). I found the villain highly unlikeable and cringe and I say this as someone who usually loves villain characters. The jokes are also horribly overdone at this point. I am not joking when I say half the game was just bad dialogue about porno mags. It's also just unnecessary to put Iris in this weird fanservice outfit. I really do not understand what happened in 3 years, to go from Nirvana Initiative with its great twists and strong new characters, to whatever this is.

For a game about a guy getting no sleep, it's pretty woke... 10/10

For context, I am a long time fan of the Zero Escape and AI series. I have the limited edition box sets for the first two AI games on PS4 and love them. I did not see a big limited edition set for sale for No Sleep, so I had waited and gotten it on sale on Steam instead. Took me a while to pick it up since life was busy. Unfortunately, this game was not what I was hoping. You have to go into this with the knowledge that this was a DLC that got a little bigger so they decided to spin it into its own game. After 100% completing the game, I can say that this would have worked better as a shorter DLC. If you are a massive fan of the characters, this game is worth it at a discount. Sadly, I would not recommend this game at full price. Pros: The escape room segments were fun. They had a decent amount of challenge, but in a few areas I think some additional QA could have helped. Dialogue is funny as always. It was taken to the extremes this time and still gave me a laugh. The bonus short novels are funny as well and helped add a bit to the end of the game. Dialogue is also fully voice acted like previous AI games and by amazing VOs. Cons: The story does not have a strong mystery or danger aspect to it. Lacking a murder mystery really hurt this game. The hook was not strong enough to keep me interested. Besides a very small handful of new character modules and rooms, almost everything is re-used assets from previous games (which is expected, but the lack of new characters really made it so everything felt repetitive). Setting this story inbetween the first two held it back since they could not really make any meaningful changes that would impact the story. New character designs are off putting as well. In particular, Iris's outfit is HORRIBLE. I hated having to play her because it forced me to see her horrid costume. It felt meaningless to put her in that. I enjoy silly over the top anime outfits, but this did not fit her when comparing to her other two outfits (and her age in this timeline). I was embarrassed screensharing this game to friends due to her outfit. Spoilers: [spoiler] Despite all the cons, I was ok with this game just being silly until near the end. There is a HEAVY constant emphasis on the idea of AI becoming "human" and eventually needing the same rights as humans. While AI has always been present in these games, it never felt gross or icky. This did. Due to the direction technology is taking now, I just see this game souring over time with the takes they have for the final ending. If it wasnt for the silly bonus endings I did afterwards, I would have ended my game experience feeling upset and disappointed that I spent hours on a game to be fed speeches similar to AI bros. I am kind of shocked I havent seen people mention this before. I wonder if it is because I waited a year to play it and the perception of AI has gotten worse. I work in technology so these scenes hit very close to home for me. [/spoiler] tldr: I would only recommend this to people who enjoy the over the top humor from the previous games and while it is on sale. Do not go into this game for the story.

正直、なんでこの方向に、このシリーズの駒をすすめようと思ったのか、私には分からない。 ソムニウムパートは、1作目では、無意味に難易度が高く、評価を下げる要因だったんだと思う。 だからこそ、2作目では、コレに対応して、ソムニウムパートをすっ飛ばす難易度設定を導入してきたんだと思う。 このことから、このゲームに求められているのは、 無駄な中途半端アクションパートではなく、 この世界観の中で、ソムニウムってシステムを、いかに上手に組み込んだ、ストーリーを見せてくるかってところだと思う。 コイツが決まれば、非常にレベルの高いゲームになってくるはず。。。 ところがだ。今作で中核にしたのは、 前作で、重さを減らす設定の追加までした、ソムニウムパートよりも、酷い脱出ゲームパート。 ストーリーパートの流れをぶった切るし、何を楽しめばいいのか分からないし、 やればやるほど、ストーリーが薄味になっていく。誰が得をするんだか分からない。 しかも、コレまでの作品では、何となく終わり方として、満足感を得られた、 みんなで踊って大団円さえも削除。 あれがあったから、「あぁ良かった良かった」と、一つの作品を読み終えた感が得られていたと思う。 てっきりシリーズ恒例にするんだと思ってたのに。。。 今までの作品は、 めっちゃ面白いわけではないけど、価格と時間に対して、 普通に楽しめるストーリーって印象だったから、悪いゲームではなかったけど。 ストーリー薄くして、中途半端ソムニウムパートを増やすなら、 やる必要のないゲームになってくると思う。

Pretense: I have completed both AI games before this game. This game is not a sequel to the AI games, it's a Spin-Off based on ChunSoft's Nonary-Games series. The puzzles are convoluted, and unless you're really into either bashing your head into a wall or you have a 5-head giga brain, this one might not be for you. Additionally, no spoilers here for what happens, but this game takes place shortly after the end of the first game in terms of canon. Iris is put into a Bunny-girl outfit the entire game, there's character swapping to and from people to solve puzzles in different rooms simultaneously, and their voice lines can be really annoying after spending 30 minutes on the same puzzle. It really just feels like it was a cash grab. I would say 'low effort cash grab' but they clearly did put SOME effort into the game. It's just really, REALLY not what I wanted out of a game carrying the Somnium Files name. I can't personally recommend it. If you do enjoy the Nonary games however, or puzzle games, then give it a try.

cleverly disguised zero escape fanservice under the rouse of ai the somnium files

No Sleep for Kaname Date was… fine, I suppose. It maintains the essentials that were the best parts of the previous two games – the humorous dynamic between Psyncers and AI-balls, recurring jokes surrounding the cast of weird characters, and the interplay between comedic methods applied to serious events – yet it lacks anything beyond those core elements to help it stand apart as its own title. And that might be understandable given its shorter length and status as a spinoff title, but it still leaves the game feeling noticeably unremarkable. -------------------------- There are a handful of points I can say in this game’s favor. The humor is still solid and I generally enjoyed the character interactions. Having Date back in the protagonist’s seat was a welcome return, while the other returning characters were used to decent effect. Many only got a scene or two, enough to carry on the recurring jokes from the previous games, but those that remained over the long run had plenty of good interactions to give me a few chuckles. The gameplay was also quite enjoyable, particularly the new escape room sections. While they aren’t as complex as anything from Zero Escape, I liked their structure much more than the somniums. Since there were actual puzzles to solve instead of vibing based on dreamlike hints, there was a fair bit to enjoy about the escape rooms when they managed to put a good puzzle together and weren’t overly linear. -------------------------- The flaws, however, weigh much more heavily in my mind. Both of the other games had interesting sci-fi plot elements and twists that defined their narratives, characteristic of Uchikoshi’s overall approach. Even in Nirvana Initiative, though I had a lot of issues with its execution, those elements were still genuinely interesting. But while the sci-fi is still here, the story itself is remarkably straightforward and the late-game revelations don’t add anything interesting to the overall narrative. If anything, the story seems absurd at the beginning and then gradually becomes more mundane until ending with a whimper. While the stories were an integral part of the first two games, this time around it feels like set dressing to facilitate the gameplay and character interactions rather than anything worth caring about in its own right. -------------------------- Ultimately, there isn’t much to this game worth remembering. Now that it’s done and a little time has passed, it’s already slipping from my mind and I highly doubt it will stick around in my memories like either of the previous games did. It’s just a consistently middle-ground experience, swaying between slightly positive and slightly negative in such a way that it’s impossible for anything in it to leave a lasting impression. While it’s still a decent time, that moment-to-moment experience is about all there is to it.

20 hours to finish, ran well on the Deck. For something that costs just as much as the mainline games, it’s essentially an overpriced filler episode rather than a worthwhile entry of its own. It takes place between the previous two games, reusing the vast majority of assets while still having stripped-back mechanics. The story lacks the creativity from, and isn’t as grand as, the previous entries. There’s no branching timelines, route splits, or any real narrative twists at all. Once you’ve exhausted someone’s dialogue in the visual novel segments, the game prattles along with an unremarkable A-to-B plot without any real deduction required and only 3 forgettable somniums along the way. What's new is a few escape-room segments that had some interesting puzzles, but half the time the characters just give you the answers anyway. Aiba and Date also constantly sound like they genuinely hate each other, their relationship feels broken rather than like a partnership as though they forgot everything from the first game. Every character is also a one-note flanderization of themselves, ESPECIALLY Date who’s been reduced to an inept punching bag. Practically every joke in the series gets repeatedly run into the ground, and all the absurdity comes without any of the emotional stakes that balanced it out in previous games. I never got invested into the story at all, which was especially disappointing for a series I loved so much. You can get it if you're a superfan that’s desperate to see the characters again, but you're honestly not missing much if you don’t.