The word for this game, in the best possible way, is whiplash. This is one of the funniest, most charming games I've ever played. It's also a gripping murder mystery that had me pacing around the room, audibly gasping as more information was revealed. A mother's tearful monologue made me cry. And, most importantly, there were boob jokes that were very funny. AI: The Somnium FIles can do it all. If you can't handle this much whiplash, then you probably aren't tall enough to ride the ride. But if it's up your alley, it'll become your newest obsession.

Something I admire Spike Chunsoft for immensely is their sheer bravery to try new things. The end product isn’t always all that good, and believe me there’s some stinkers out there, but they have balls of steel. I'm happy to report that AI: The Somnium Files is indeed so much more than a stinker. It stands toe to toe with the Danganronpa series, one of my favorites of all time, while still having a completely distinct identity.

While Dangan is a detective story where you as the player have to uncover each and every crime for yourself, AI: The Somnium Files uses its detective genre as a tool to tell a story, and an exceptionally creative and neatly tied one at that. By the end I was stunned at the sheer amount of thought that was put into every detail of the story up to that point, which is why I'm pleased to say it has my favorite ending to any game, full stop.

It's also an incredibly charming game. While I have a softspot for the many Danganronpa casts and think specific characters in those games are written excellently, that series could never dream to have a cast this emotionally complex, fun, and generally consistent. It's also surprisingly hilarious at times, I laughed out loud repeatedly from start to finish.

It's still got some weaker elements, like a rather mixed bag of quality in the game's titular Somniums. They could be as emotionally resonant as Mayumi's, or as boring and confusing as #89's. I also wouldn't have minded some more required deduction on the player's end, though that's mainly just a symptom of a different approach to the genre compared to something like Dangan or Ace Attorney.

Would recommend to fans of detective stories, sci-fi, and visual novels alike. While Spike Chunsoft's future is comfortably uncertain, I'm praying this series sticks around.

After suffering through all of Danganronpa and being disappointed by modern Ace Attorney, AI: The Somnium Files is a welcome refresher. Detective VNs could learn a lot from this game's approach to dialogue and presentation. Playing was really a very pleasant experience, with no frustrating gameplay moments and no glaring writing issues other than some backloaded filler. The vibes were immaculate, and the cringeworthy JP media tendencies were at a minimum.

If you're a fan of the genre, it's worth a play for sure.

A really good murder mystery game with a fun cast of characters. Date as a protagonist is a carefree, unserious person, and his AI companion named Aiba is always there to keep him on track. The way certain characters react to Date is so hilariously realistic, mostly due to how cruel they can be. The gameplay mechanics are very similar to games like Zero Escape and Ace Attorney. Multiple different pathways to get to the truth make this game very unique, because the endings leave you with more questions than answers. Some of the writing may not be many people’s cup of tea, but it worked for me. I liked seeing little Easter eggs in the dialogue. Overall I really loved my time playing this game, and it kept me second guessing constantly.

when I'm in a mediocre mystery game competition and my opponent is spike chudsoft

I don't know about this. I kinda like the plot, generally, and it's impressive that they managed to tie it all together, but it's also like... insanely immature? Tonally stupid?

The many overarching paths means several pieces of information you will simply read like 3 times. Luckily there's a skip button, but once you discover it it's hard to not use it constantly to skip the awkward facial animations and filler dialogue that takes forever to appear, and just use the log to read it instead. I'm usually a cutscene enjoyer, but maybe the fact that I expected like a modicum of any sort of gameplay (beyond 3 QTE sequences and trial-and-error-point-and-click puzzles with barely any logic behind them) when starting this cracked my patience, or maybe this game really does just keep yapping, or maybe watching too many Youtube Shorts finally fried my brain. I'll leave that up to the reader's imagination.

Nevermind the dance number at the end, every action scene being centered on a porn mag kinda really took me out of it. Not that I dislike heheh booby comedy, but it didn't really feel like they handled it well. It's weird. Also despite playing the game in Japanese the final dance number is completely in English, which only made it feel even more out of place - I'm not like allergic to English or anything, I swear, but it's suddenly completely different voice actors. Plus a character whose life was completely ruined is just uh, yknow, dancing. Just really weird. Odd game. I won't play the sequel. I wouldn't do that even if I liked it because everyone apparently hates that, but now you know. If you even care about me...

AI: The Somnium Files is another excellent detective game developed by Spike Chunsoft, these developers really are the masters at mystery solving games. The Somnium Files follows Kaname Date, a member of a special team on the police force called ABIS, which solves crimes by psyncing into people minds and entering their Somniums, which is a dream world reflecting their true thoughts. The main mystery you’re trying to solve is the new cyclops killer, a serial killer who kills by removing people’s left eyes. Gameplay has you investigating different places and talking to different characters in the real world, and controlling your robot partner Aida in Somniums. Aida interacts with the Somniums which uses up a specific amount of time, as you only have six minutes to complete a Somnium. The main draw of the game is the characters and multiple routes. I loved many of the characters like Date, Iris, Boss, Mizuki, and Aiba. I followed Mizuki’s route and I loved how her relationship with Date as her adopted guardian changes throughout the route. It really made me feel for these two characters, and I would love to go back and replay the other routes, specifically Iris’ route as I’m very interested in her character. The only aspect I can really complain about are the Somniums themselves. They can be kind of annoying when you don’t know what to do and run out of time, but the rest of the game more than makes up for their shortcomings. AI: The Somnium Files is a fantastic mystery game that I think almost anyone can enjoy, especially fans of Danganronpa.