75%PlayStation 4

A really good game with a story that kept me on my toes for the entirety of the duration of the game. Required repeat playthroughs to unlock new routes as expected from an adventure/visual novel game. Detective levels themselves were interesting and had some mind-bending and disturbing visuals at times. Voice acting is decent, and the production value of the game was good. Was taken aback during my first playthrough that it was a visual novel on a console, something I had never experienced before, but the atmosphere along with the interesting narrative did not let up in terms of intrigue, shock and awe.

75%PlayStation 4

Given VLR is my least favourite of the Zero Escape games, I'm glad to see that this improves on most of my complaints about that game specifically. I only encountered 2 story locks on my playthrough, & I'm pretty sure they're the only two there are, versus VLR, where the entire midgame was spent encountering story lock after story lock along every branch of the branching path. The banter from VLR is returning, too, & even funnier than before. Hearing Date & Aiba rib each other constantly throughout the entire game always put a smile on my face. (even though very little will ever be able to live up to Tenmyoji's paramedic line from VLR in my book, which is still the funniest line Uchikoshi's ever written)

There's a lot of complaints made about the overwhelming horniness throughout the game, & yup, it's definitely very present. After a certain point, though, the jokes ceased being about the vulgarity & instead being about the absurdity. All the jokes are at Date's expense, & the comedy starts being about just how pathetically he expresses his libido, & just how many ridiculous situations he'll end up in because of his inability to think with either half of his real brain, & not the one down there. I donno, after a while the game just sorta wore me down on that front, I guess. The two joke endings with the receptionist at Lemniscate got me good, & I'm glad I did the porn mag shootouts (yes, there's 5) in the order I did, because the joke then became, again, their increasing absurdity, leading to a very amusing subversion at Date's expense in my final one. (& no, it's not the homophobic variation you might be thinking of. In fact, the game has quite a few queer characters, & they're all handled incredibly well. We love Mama.)

The gameplay is simple, & god knows why a game from 2019 still has QTEs, but I love that this actually feels like an investigation. Sure, the game is very handholdy, making sure that you as the player never come to an incorrect conclusion based on the evidence at hand, but the characters are often misled by that evidence, & you always get to see where those conclusions lead, sometimes to disastrous ends. It's only on the true ending path that you're given the requisite knowledge to begin piecing the true mystery together, but even before that, it plays fair, & even after that, you've still got a few hours before the game starts putting the pieces in place for you, so you've still got plenty space to figure these out on your own.

But, despite my distaste for Uchikoshi's taste for story locks, I felt that I unravelled a bit too much of the mystery too quickly by having the green path (on the top left of the flowchart) as my first run through the game. It shows just a little too much of the tipped hand, & I think I'd have had more fun figuring puzzle pieces out if I'd gone through the right side of the flowchart first. As it stood, a lot of the ending was spent recapping stuff I'd figured out a few too many hours in advance as if it was the first time I'd seen it.

But! What an ending it is. I love the final somnium, & while the twists (& general 'turning the premise on its head' moments) are fewer, further between, & less insane than is typical for an Uchikoshi story, this is still great & is probably the best starting point for anyone curious about his work, being as accessible as it is.

85%Nintendo Switch

It blew me away. Usually, visual novels and the like aren’t my thing, but I’m glad I gave it a shot. The multiple timelines were all unexpected, and the real ending was super satisfying. I thought about this game all week while I was going through it. The gameplay is also fairly engaging considering the genre.

75%Nintendo Switch

Good I guess

85%PC

i love this game, not only in spite of its flaws, but along with its flaws

90%PlayStation 5

Complicated murder story with silly Japanese jokes

70%PlayStation 5

Slick interface and good story and characters. The be stuff isn’t the best though.

90%Nintendo Switch

Great game with some flaws, but ultimately great characters and gripping story make up for all faults.

70%PC

Good and immersive story. Connecting all dots might make you guess what's about to happen before the actual game reveals it lol. But that's part of the fun :)

7/10⭐

75%Nintendo Switch

Good story, but a guide is required for psynching

80%PC

Boa história e gráficos, apenas parei de jogar por causa da morte de uns personagens que me pegou desprevinido mas pretendo terminar ainda (só que não agora)

70%PlayStation 4

This game ultimately gets a 7 because it was really slow for like...15-20 hours. Once it picks up it really picks up and I got way more into it, but the first big chunk of the game I wasn't super feeling. I think I may be biased from other Spike Chunsoft games that have a good mix of gameplay and visual novel, whereas this game is like 95% visual novel, 5% gameplay.

90%Nintendo Switch

Pretty great game! The plot was a little predictable but only because I've played other games by the same writer.

85%PC

goofy

80%Xbox Series X/S

A solid new series from Uchikoshi. Not my favorite still, but overall great.

60%PC

作为一款ADV，本作的游戏性还算可以，但是逻辑性欠缺，由于是背景是在梦境中，所以各种选项都有猜测和赌的成分，失败就只能回档重来，有些恼人。艺术表现上满满的二次元，有些血腥场面的表现也令人感到揪心，没有什么很出戏的感觉。剧情除了战斗部分一直在开黄色玩笑有些令人无语之外整体还是较为优秀的一款悬疑ADV，多线叙事可以选择章节也免去了重复看剧情的需要。

75%Nintendo Switch

不到26小时完成全收集。开始玩时以为是个大故事，不过不论大小现在的游戏能讲得完整清楚就是个好故事了。真弓的梦境差点没憋住哭出来。

这游戏不是特别适合switch，优化得不好，慢、卡顿，文字颜色看不清，手柄舔图也很辛苦，导致直到十几个小时后直到第二条故事线中期了，才算是比较有动力持续玩下去。

希望续作的印度味儿能少点儿😂。

90%PC

This game is absolutely amazing. It's full of crazy twists, and I love the characters.

90%PC

one of my favourite games of all time, incredibly well written mystery story told in a unique way with characters that feel real and have a genuine impact on the way that the story is told

90%Nintendo Switch

I love you, Uchikoshi-san!!
Also, Kaname Date.

85%PlayStation 4

Great game.

65%PC

I'm a little disappointed in this game.

I really do like the Zero Escape games, and so I went into this game expecting a similar level of polish because I trust Kotaro Uchikoshi to write at least an interesting story with entertaining characters. I wouldn't call myself a big fan, but Virtue's Last Reward is a personal favorite VN of mine. This game has some great ideas with similarly incredible moments. However, there are many problems with this game that soured my impression.

Spoilers ahead.

This a visual novel first and foremost, so it goes without saying it should have great writing, right? The writing IS the game. I don't go into a VN expecting high-octane gameplay. I'm expecting an interesting story and premise with characters you should get invested into. But it speaks volumes when I got to the end that found myself really only caring about Mizuki, Hitomi, and Boss. The reason why comes to the interactions between these characters.

There is a frustrating obsession with this juvenile sense of humor that is in every single part of the game. I've seen people say this game has incredible writing and humor but I cannot understand how anyone could possibly think that. If you think constant innuendos are an absolute barrel of laughs, then yeah, I can see how you might think this is funny. And it's not like I absolutely hate jokes of any lewd nature. Junpei from 999 and especially Sigma from VLR aren't exactly pure characters and I still enjoyed those games.

The difference, however, is that those jokes are done much more sparingly. On the other hand, you can barely get through any room or Somnium without some mention of a sex joke. It is constant and excessive. So much so that I began to dislike some characters. Ota, Iris, and Moma especially. Moma and Ota have such an obsession with Iris that ends feeling more disturbing and creepy than it is funny. This type of stuff can be kinda common in anime and other Japanese games. I don't like there and I definitely don't like here. However, I would be willing to look past it if the gameplay or story was entertaining.

However. . .

Somnium is the main gimmick of this game. The first somnium makes you think that you have to figure out the "rules" behind each dream. Sounds interesting, right? Nope. Because it ends up being a guessing game where your choices rarely make much sense. Maybe that is intention of the Somnium. They are dreams after all, and dreams rarely make sense. Sure, that's true. But they're not fun to play through.

There are also the QTEs where Date usually ends up using his pistol to shoot something. There's nothing particularly offensive about QTEs in general. I don't enjoy them but as long as they're used in moderation I won't hate it. The offensive part is not the QTEs itself, but rather the context that surrounds each event, which almost always some action scene. I cannot take this game seriously because the game itself does not take itself seriously. How do you expect me care about the story and characters when Date throws a porn magazine at the enemies IN THE MIDDLE OF GUNFIGHT and then they stop firing to crowd around the porn magazine.

Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh. The actual story besides that is not bad either. The relationship between Date and Mizuki is genuinely good and Mizuki's ending is the best in my opinion. Voice acting is on point and matches each character well. Music has some memorable parts to it too.

Ending is kinda ridiculous and I guess that's what this game really is. It just fully embraces how off the wall and absurd it is. I wasn't really expecting that which probably why I bounced off of it. If that's something you want, you will like this game. I still enjoyed the game, and it's definitely not as bad as ZTD (admittedly a low bar to pass).

80%PC

It's good but it kinda drags on too long and the ending was kinda shit. Also the focus is really not where i wanted it to be. I was way more intersted in anything coming from the org i was working for then the actual plot. However, that minecraft level was really funny.

100%Xbox One

Man WHAT. A. TRIP.

80%PC

Fans of the Zero Escape trilogy will find a lot to like with AI: The Somnium Files, as there are many similarities with its branching narrative structure, themes and characterizations, which makes sense as both series share the same creator. Whereas all the Zero Escape games significantly feature puzzle solving as a core gameplay mechanic, AI is nearly a 100% pure visual novel experience. The lack of puzzle solving and depth to the "Somniums" was more than disappointing, but made up for it in how they magnificently propelled the narrative and contributed to developing the game's cast of characters. It wasn't what I expected going in, but thankfully the characters, writing and memorable sci-fi/noir crime story carry the game, and in many ways surpass what the Zero Escape games achieved.

80%Nintendo Switch

A very good thriller courtesy of the lunatics who brought as Danganronpa and that is quite clear as the dialogue and especially the main character, Date is utterly hilarious. Chunsofts superb character and story telling is full throttle as usual with insane twists and characters that interact with each other organically in a way that doesn't feel forced. Date's and Aiba's relationship is so sweet and funny that you can't help but like them.
Now as for the gameplay...well chunsoft focuses on that last. The sominium sections, while cool are almost mostly trial and error and all the other "gameplay" I hesitate to call it is simple button mashing bits or a quick time event. If what you're looking for is raw gameplay this is absolutely not for you.
All in all this was a fantastic, heart pounding, gut busting story. There are multiple endings which for some kinda sucks but trust me, It's not as bad as you think. 8.4/10, awesome. Time to start the sequel.

60%Nintendo Switch

Fresh and unique take in solving a murder mystery. I played this game instead of sleeping. Not the wisest choice in the middle of hectic work week but.. it was worth it. The game was more intriguing than my own wild dreams. I even tattled about it to my poor work colleagues.

90%PC

One of my favorite puzzle/VN games. A few cringe "funny" parts here and there but not enough to sour the experience.

90%PC

I really enjoyed this game, the writing is incredible as well as voice acting. It is a real pleasure to watch the author non-stopping chaining names and concepts one to another and wrap it all in this story. It for sure has its flaws and plotholes, but the positives are so beautiful they make it all up.

90%Nintendo Switch

While it’s endearing, some characters are just unbelievably stupid. Date always going for porno mags, boss and pewter knowing about (SPOILER) and not being able to connect the dots, etc. still an awesome story to see unfold and really fun.

100%Xbox Series X/S

Одна из лучших визуальных новелл

95%Nintendo Switch

Go play this game
It’s weird as hell and feels like a fever dream inside another fever dream, but I promise you it is worth your eight dollars (it’s a common sale on all platforms)

80%Nintendo Switch

Story was engaging, though dark. Good voice acting helped maintain the pacing and made it harder to see the final ending.

100%PC

Crazy VN in all the best ways. Lots of plot twists and different timelines

70%PC

BIG fan of the Zero Escape series so inevitably had to play this!

Whereas the Zero Escape games are 2/3 visual novel and 1/3 escape room gameplay, Ai: The Somnium Files is 100% visual novel.

The dream sequences -- which is what they consider gameplay sections -- are really more visual novel in disguise, since those sequences are entirely trial-and-error clicking on stuff in the background. There's nothing that I would consider a puzzle or game. Without any genuine gameplay, the whole thing feels like it drags on 10 hours longer than it should.

The characters are mostly interesting and the voice acting is exceptional. There's frequent lewd humor, but, frankly, without it, the dialogue would be too dry. The story isn't bad, but veterans of Zero Escape will probably deduce the biggest twists well in advance.

I'd recommend this is if you like sci-fi visual novels, but if you need some gameplay, stay away. And if you liked Zero Escape, you might be a little disappointed.

100%Xbox One

One of the best game I have ever played with incredible story.

70%Nintendo Switch

Interesting story and good gameplay but puzzles felt nonsensical and the game forces you to experience all the incorrect endings before allowing you to progress to the true ending.

80%PC

This game has very memorable characters and I didn't solve the mystery until when they mystery is basically solved in the game. That said, I think there are somethings that just annoyed me. One in particular is that the in-game dossiers don't update as you find more information regarding each character or location. What is the point of them then outside of just facts that barely have anything to do with the game???

Another thing is the rate of repeitition. I understand that the nature of the game is to make different decisions and see how they pan out, IF ONLY THERE WAS A WAY I COULD LOOK UP INFO I HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO IN SOME FORMAT THAT UPDATES AS I ENCOUNTER THEM.

anyways. I enjoyed it ;P

60%PlayStation 4

I miss Zero Escape ...

90%PlayStation 4

My first visual novel, amazing mystery with phenomenal characters

70%Nintendo Switch

This replay was an absolute drag. I really like the mystery the settings and most of the characters, and I should love this game to pieces, being a big fan of Zero Escape, but... I really hate Date's obsession with porno mags, and all the age gaps (too many), and the flirting with Iris but also her mom that's weird man, and that all of these things are played as a joke... I can't. I know it's an anime thing but it's so super old-fashioned and they should have cut that shit out.
Other than all that, good game I guess. I liked the art style, colorful cast. Somniums are generally fun, but I used a walkthrough for some towards the end because I got bored this replay and wanted to get the story over with. The ending ties everything together in a satisfying way.

I wonder if (character name) is in the sequel? I'mma play it soon (reason for this replay)!

100%PC

I was extremely surprised, this game is oozing with creativity and style.
It one of the most refreshing game experiences in a while.

80%Nintendo Switch

Funny and smart. Though it's obvious it's not a very high budget title. Love it nonetheless.

70%PC

After playing all the Zero Escape games and 100%'ing all of them, I was super excited to hop into Kotaro Uchikoshi's next big project.

I'm both pleasantly surprised yet also disappointed at the same time.

Before I continue I just wanna say this: This game is fantastic and has amazing things about it. I only have one real issue with the game which I'll get to later. Also, if I never played the Zero Escape trilogy before this, I'd probably eat this game up for breakfast. But BECAUSE I have played the entirety of the Zero Escape trilogy and 100%'d it, I guess I made some weird expectations.

The Good:

The writing for this game is really great. All the characters are pretty damn likeable. Even characters I didn't like at first like Iris ended up being pretty neat near the end. They all have great twists about them and are really enjoyable. The story itself is fantastic though. When it's not throwing in a terrible sex joke or being "uwu anime", it's genuinely fantastic stuff. The murder mystery aspect of the game seriously shines especially near the end of the game. The story is definitely top notch. The music is also really good too. Nothing crazy memorable, but a lot of them will live rent free in your head for a good while.

The Bad:

My BIGGEST problem with this game and why I cannot say it's better than Zero Escape is the Somnium; the main gameplay of the game. It's bad. REALLY BAD. Compared to Zero Escape's fantastically crafted puzzle rooms, the Somnium is just this awkward 3D area full of trial and error. Tons of potential dialog lost due to the stupid time limit, lots of trial and error cause most choices waste way too much damn time, and it discourages exploration which the outside world fully encourages. The camera is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awful too. If you don't cap your game to 60 FPS, the Somnium world completely breaks and has tons of flickering and terrible graphical issues. It has tons of flashing lights cause of it and can seriously be problematic for epileptic people. The camera sucks too and is either way too zoomed out or way too zoomed in. It's never consistent with the Field of View.

The humor is pretty hit or miss though. Most of the jokes are just sex=funnee, but there are some actual humor thrown it. But a lot of the humor REALLY does ruin the game sometimes during the really intense scenes. This isn't an issue in the last fourth or fifth of the game. But in every other part of the game, they throw in some ♥♥♥♥♥♥ porno mag joke and it just completely ruins the tone.

Conclusion

It's obviously not required to play Zero Escape before playing this. But coming from Zero Escape, it's a TINY bit disappointing, but still a great game all things considered. Minus the gameplay in the Somnium world, the rest of the game is really great and definitely worth your time. I'm looking forward to playing the sequel so we'll see how that goes. Definitely get this game if you even remotely like Visual Novels or liked Zero Escape. Otherwise, if you hate anime, stay away from this game like the plague. lmao

80%Nintendo Switch

I enjoyed my time with the game and its system a lot.

The way the story unfolds is really satisfying and I liked the main character(s) a lot. Sure, there's a lot of dirty jokes in there I could've done without, but it didn't impact the story for me.

What I liked:
* The way you could redo the Somnium if you got it wrong. There's not big penalization like in Ace Attorney where you have to go back to a previous save or the beginning of a super lenghty trial.
* The way exploration works. I always wanted to click on everything new in the room because of the conversations some started up.
* The characters
* The Japanese voice acting

What I didn't like:
* It got a little tiny bit tedious at the end where I started to forget what happened in previous storylines, but all-in-all it was a great experience.

I'm looking forward to playing the sequel even though I know it's going to be different judging by the cast of characters.

90%PC

The beginning half of the game has issues with striking the tone between funny and serious before it hits a good balance of both - although it uses the porno jokes a little too much.

The mystery elements are really good, and a lot of the groundwork is laid out in front of you from the beginning that ends up becoming more involved much later on. I really liked the cast of characters and thought the english VA was outstanding too. This is the first visual novel I've played and I see myself engaging in quite a bit more!

The soundtrack was also pretty good but not phenomenal; I also think that the gameplay sequences in the Somnium were only 'ok' most of the time. It started to make more sense after the 3rd attempt or so of being in there and you could start to reasonably figure things out. I wish the puzzle aspect was fleshed out a little more and there were more consequences for messing up than just being locked out of some achievements/trophies.

In all though this was one of my favorite games this year, definitely worth playing!

60%PC

After finishing the Zero Escape trilogy, I was curious about Spike Chunsofts other games so I decided to play AI: The Somnium Files. In this game you play as Date, a detective with an artificial eye that hosts an AI named Aiba. This Ai can help Date find clues by using special tricks like zoom and x-ray, and by looking of stuff with it's wireless connection. Data also has access to a machine that allows him to enter the dreams of other people, which can be used to find clues or proof of crimes. When a serial killer starts killing people he knows in person, Date can use all the help he can get to find out what's going on.

Like Zero Escape, this game also has multiple story paths based on your decisions. I was initially disappointed by the first ending I encountered, but after finishing the other endings (including the true ending) I realized how brilliant the story is. The characters and dialogs are also very well designed and the voice acting is truly excellent. Only thing that bothered me were the lame "sex" jokes which occur way too much and don't fit the story or characters at all. For example, a bunch of professional mercenaries dropping their weapons during an intense firefight because they see a porn magazine is completely ridiculous.

Sadly, the "puzzle" parts of the game which are played when you enter someone's dream, were a HUGE disappointment for me. The clever puzzles from the Zero Escape games have been replaced by brainless trial and error puzzles. You can interact with objects, but because the "rules" in the somniums are different than in the real world, it's impossible to predict what the outcome of each action will be. Therefore, solving these puzzles is nothing more than trial and error and hoping that you're lucky. To make things worse, each puzzle has a time limit and time decreases by performing an action or by walking around. When your time is up before completing a somnium, you have to start again. This was extremely frustrating for me, and as a result, I completed most somniums with a walkthrough to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Tldr: AI: The Somnium Files is a bad game with a great story, and would have been better as a pure visual novel imo. Only worth playing for the story.

70%Xbox One

Ugh. Schwer zu bewerten. Im großen und ganzen sehr gut. Spannende (wenn auch hahnebüchene) Story, sympathische Charaktere die einem ans Herz wachsen, und auch die Somnuim Puzzles fand ich im Großen und Ganzen ziemlich gelungen. Aber der Ton ist echt all over the place. Extrem, also wirklich *extrem* düster teilweise und dann in anderen Momenten so over the top und lächerlich, dass es die guten Momente fast zerstört. Es kommt einfach nicht gut zusammen. Ich glaube man hätte die lächerlichen Sachen komplett weglassen können und sich auf die düsteren und herzerwärmenden Momente konzentrieren sollen. Diese "Comedy"-Einlagen machen es nur schlechter.
Außerdem bin ich kein Fan von den meisten Character designs der Frauen. Warum haben die fast alle so kurze, kurze Röcke an?!
Naja. Sollte man es spielen? Nur wenn man Visual Novels a la 999 und VLR mag (gleicher Autor), ansonsten vllt eher nicht.
Kann man dann Spaß mit dem Spiel haben? Ich würd sagen ja.

Und ich muss sagen, das Spiel hat die schlechtesten Actionszenen die ich JE gesehen habe. Holy shit waren die furchtbar.

Durchgeprügelt in 2 1/2 Tagen. Was ein Wochenende.

80%PC

The action set pieces in the game are ridiculous and learning the true purpose of the Pysnc machine in one of the routes more or less reveals the suspense of the final routes. Somniums can get difficult sometimes since some clues are confusing and there is a time limit. The game was decent, and definitely worth trying out.

80%PC

Oh god I hate Ota.