AI: The Somnium Files

AI: The Somnium Files is a surreal new murder mystery game by Kotaro Uchikoshi, and might just be his finest work yet.

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.

AI: The Somnium Files has to be easily one of the best visual novels I’ve ever had the joy of playing, maybe even ranks as one of the best games I’ve played this year. With superb visuals, engaging gameplay, likeable characters, and a twist-filled story to rival that of M. Night Shyamalan, this is definitely not a visual novel to be slept on (sorry).

With an endearing, violent, and engaging story, AI: The Somnium Files is an adventure game that fans of the visual novel genre should not miss. With a novel puzzle-solving mechanic and impressive voice performances, this game is a dream come true.

AI: The Somnium Files is a fantastic game. Visual novels normally aren’t my thing, but I quickly found myself engrossed in the mystery. It has one of the best scripts I can remember in a game, and truly stellar voice acting. While this one is on Game Pass if it sounds at all interesting to you then I implore that you check it out.  “Shadows!” “Threat, silhouette, A-set!”

It must be really frustrating sometimes to be a police officer, especially when you know that a suspect or a witness is withholding information from you. There’s not really a lot that you can legally do to force someone to talk, but imagine if there was a technology that allowed you to dive deep into someone’s subconscious.

Questionable humour aside however, the icing on the murder cake is the way that AI: The Somnium Files has you revisit scenes, following different plot branches to produce a different outcome (sometimes radically different) without needing to start all over again. Date may not be a great detective, but there’s no doubting that AI: The Somnium Files is a great detective game. It blends humour and human horror to deliver an engaging, mind-bending experience that’s a cut above most visual novels.

When it comes to utterly insane and often non-sensical plots to video games, Kotaro Uchikoshi’s usually on the tip of my tongue. His unique style of storytelling, filled with foreshadowing the most obscure of plot twists, makes him one of my absolute favorite directors of the visual novel medium. From The Nonary Games to Punch Line, each of his games have had a lingering effect on me that I can’t stop thinking about. When Spike Chunsoft approached me about covering his latest adventure, I knew that I simply couldn’t turn down a chance for an early look at Uchikoshi’s latest murder mystery. The...

What a weird and wild ride AI: The Somnium Files is. At its heart this is a detective thriller styled as a visual novel, but that basic description sells this consistently bonkers title very, very short. The characters, their interactions with one another, and the world around them are all over the top and comical to some degree, yet the game is able to tell a serious and at times gripping story. It's a balancing act that shouldn't work, but somehow, AI: The Somnium Files gets away with it time and time again.

This might be one of the hardest reviews I’ve ever written, and the reason for that is twofold. One, I’m still not entirely sure just what to make of the overall story of AI: The Somnium Files. And two, there are so many good ideas here that are bogged down by poor execution, pacing, and weird writing.

The advertising for AI: The Somnium Files really relies on the pedigree of its creator. Kotaro Uchikoshi brings us his first game following the success of the Zero Escape series of games, which if you’re in any way a fan of visual novels, are must plays. As a fan of the Zero Escape series, I’ve been very excited to see what kind of adventure game Uchikoshi could create. What we got is basically another visual novel/point-and-click adventure. And sadly, it’s not nearly as creative as any of the Zero Escape games.

As silly and strange as this game is, it's not without heart, which is probably best exemplified in Mizuki and Date's relationship. Both of them are dealing with internal issues: Date questions his own identity because of his amnesia and Mizuki blames herself for her parents' recent divorce and why they needed Date to take care of her.