This review contains spoilers
When I think about games that came out of nowhere, just to suddenly blow my mind, AI the Somnium Files is the first to come to mind. I had no background of the Zero Escape games…so when I got it based on a few recommendations here and there, I didn’t expect it to grip me like it did. It has this slick cyber-noir outline, and it’s really silly, but despite all the high concept nonsense, it could get real down to earth when it wanted to. That edge it has to its personality is something I grew to really appreciate in retrospect. Now, a sequel has finally arrived, and well…it’s none of these things. AI the Somnium Files 2 is a bloodbath of labyrinthian plotline, speeding at 1000 misdirections per second. Impossible Sci-Fi jenga-stacked on top of layers of copy-pasted Wikipedia articles.
We’re guided through this much wilder sequel through the lens of 2 very different protagonists.
Ryuki’s storyline frontends the game’s first 10-15 hours in conjunction with Tama, a contrastingly different duo than our first game’s. Ryuki’s timid exposition, and general dryness in contrast to his sidekick almost reminds me of Apollo Justice, or something. There’s unreliability to his perspective that comes in conjunction with his established mental instability. It helps let the mystery flow more naturally without recreating the amnesia plot from the first game, it’s great. Tama is pretty silly, but her immediate confrontation of Ryuki’s problems ends up making her feel like a very different character from Aiba. She’s much more emotionally honest than Aiba was.
The second route of the game stars Mizuki and Aiba from the first AI game, and there are a lot of problems with this side of the game. They’re both fun protagonists, but at the same time, their development in AI 1 was conclusive, so they don’t really have character arcs here. As a result, their presence in the plot feels loose - like they’re commentating over a storyline that isn’t really theirs. On the other hand, Aiba and Mizuki aren’t the worst commentators, they’re both really likable characters.
Over the course of the game, I just kept having thoughts like this. This is a great game, but does it exactly make sense as a followup to AI 1? Kaname Date carries over none of the great character development he had over the course of the game, he just shows up to make porn jokes. So many characters are awkwardly placed in the game when you don’t have the context of the development they had in the first game. It takes out so much tension from the long investigation segments when half the characters you’re talking to are ruled out of the mystery, since they were innocent in AI 1. Watching them try and fail to stretch jokes over the course of 2 games, like having Tama and Aiba comment on the receptionist’s boobs, or asking Kagami what his name is another 50 times…it just gets old. Luckily, all of the new characters are great, albeit not great all the time.
Kizuna and Lien end up being really likable characters, but their introduction is atrocious. I particularly liked Lien’s positive story of coming clean, but also…why is he a stalker? Who wrote this shit?? If there’s anything this game taught me about the AI writers, it’s that maybe they should lay off the romance… Then again, maybe I’m underestimating the full potential of the people who made a compelling narrative out of a dude who looks like Steve from Minecraft.
This time around, the mystery is a lot more immediately complex, evoking paranormal activity from the beginning. How could this seemingly impossible mystery have taken place? Combining that with the strange happenings of Ryuki lets the game immediately plant seeds of doubt in your mind, forcing you to keep it open to any strange misdirection you hear. I felt like the mystery was a lot more involved this time around overall; we go deeper into the criminal underbelly, and learn about the conspiratorial backgrounds of many. The twists in this game reel you in, and the truth of the plot truly made me feel like I had to rewind back to figure out its full implications. These are some seriously replayable mysteries, I watched some scenes back, and this game really dangles some of those hints right in your face.
The game’s shift to a grander cinematic story does have its faults, though. The biggest one is its shift to making all the fight scenes serious brawls with multiple characters involved. These go on for dangerously long times, and follow the same format every single time. I was shocked at how rigidly they stuck to one style, there’s not a single fight scene in the whole game that isn’t against a wave of faceless lackeys. I’m down for campy action sometimes, but I feel like I saw the same fight scene 10 times across the whole game. Nirvana Initiative definitely isn’t without pacing issues, from the lengthened investigation segments, to the bad QTE scenes.
What really helps Nirvana Initiative stand on its own - both as a game, and as a sequel, are those Somniums. Somniums in this game have gotten a complete facelift in the gameplay department, now using strictly unique concepts for each Somnium. There are just so many moments in which the imagery infused puzzles and plot implications intertwine and create something so satisfying and engaging. Sprawling through trauma nightmares, or participating in quiz shows made of your darkest secrets. It gets so much more out of the Somnium system than the first game did, and there’s so much variety too. When one’s not particularly puzzle-centric, it always feels earnt; this game manages to find some really neat alternatives. This time, Somniums aren’t the only gameplay either. There’s a new gameplay style where you recreate the sequence of events at a crime, and they’re pretty fun - a relaxed and patience requiring alternative.
I’m a bit conflicted over Nirvana Initiative. On one hand, I certainly liked the overall mystery more than I liked the original’s. On the other hand, AI 1 felt a lot cleaner and consistently worthy of my appreciation. I wondered if this game would’ve been better off as an independent sequel, though I’m sure it wouldn’t exist yet without those AI 1 assets. I definitely felt my excitement deflate quite a few times over my playthrough; awfully repetitive fight scenes, some indefensible romance threads, and poor pacing during some investigation segments. But despite everything that pulls the game down, I know the plot held an iron grip over me the whole way through. I just keep thinking back to those Somniums, and I know there’s something really special at the core of this game. This game just pulls so many unforgettable tricks, I’ll be citing it as a wonderful example of ludonarrative design for years to come. This is the best type of scope creeped game—the type that still impresses you with its scope.
We’re guided through this much wilder sequel through the lens of 2 very different protagonists.
Ryuki’s storyline frontends the game’s first 10-15 hours in conjunction with Tama, a contrastingly different duo than our first game’s. Ryuki’s timid exposition, and general dryness in contrast to his sidekick almost reminds me of Apollo Justice, or something. There’s unreliability to his perspective that comes in conjunction with his established mental instability. It helps let the mystery flow more naturally without recreating the amnesia plot from the first game, it’s great. Tama is pretty silly, but her immediate confrontation of Ryuki’s problems ends up making her feel like a very different character from Aiba. She’s much more emotionally honest than Aiba was.
The second route of the game stars Mizuki and Aiba from the first AI game, and there are a lot of problems with this side of the game. They’re both fun protagonists, but at the same time, their development in AI 1 was conclusive, so they don’t really have character arcs here. As a result, their presence in the plot feels loose - like they’re commentating over a storyline that isn’t really theirs. On the other hand, Aiba and Mizuki aren’t the worst commentators, they’re both really likable characters.
Over the course of the game, I just kept having thoughts like this. This is a great game, but does it exactly make sense as a followup to AI 1? Kaname Date carries over none of the great character development he had over the course of the game, he just shows up to make porn jokes. So many characters are awkwardly placed in the game when you don’t have the context of the development they had in the first game. It takes out so much tension from the long investigation segments when half the characters you’re talking to are ruled out of the mystery, since they were innocent in AI 1. Watching them try and fail to stretch jokes over the course of 2 games, like having Tama and Aiba comment on the receptionist’s boobs, or asking Kagami what his name is another 50 times…it just gets old. Luckily, all of the new characters are great, albeit not great all the time.
Kizuna and Lien end up being really likable characters, but their introduction is atrocious. I particularly liked Lien’s positive story of coming clean, but also…why is he a stalker? Who wrote this shit?? If there’s anything this game taught me about the AI writers, it’s that maybe they should lay off the romance… Then again, maybe I’m underestimating the full potential of the people who made a compelling narrative out of a dude who looks like Steve from Minecraft.
This time around, the mystery is a lot more immediately complex, evoking paranormal activity from the beginning. How could this seemingly impossible mystery have taken place? Combining that with the strange happenings of Ryuki lets the game immediately plant seeds of doubt in your mind, forcing you to keep it open to any strange misdirection you hear. I felt like the mystery was a lot more involved this time around overall; we go deeper into the criminal underbelly, and learn about the conspiratorial backgrounds of many. The twists in this game reel you in, and the truth of the plot truly made me feel like I had to rewind back to figure out its full implications. These are some seriously replayable mysteries, I watched some scenes back, and this game really dangles some of those hints right in your face.
The game’s shift to a grander cinematic story does have its faults, though. The biggest one is its shift to making all the fight scenes serious brawls with multiple characters involved. These go on for dangerously long times, and follow the same format every single time. I was shocked at how rigidly they stuck to one style, there’s not a single fight scene in the whole game that isn’t against a wave of faceless lackeys. I’m down for campy action sometimes, but I feel like I saw the same fight scene 10 times across the whole game. Nirvana Initiative definitely isn’t without pacing issues, from the lengthened investigation segments, to the bad QTE scenes.
What really helps Nirvana Initiative stand on its own - both as a game, and as a sequel, are those Somniums. Somniums in this game have gotten a complete facelift in the gameplay department, now using strictly unique concepts for each Somnium. There are just so many moments in which the imagery infused puzzles and plot implications intertwine and create something so satisfying and engaging. Sprawling through trauma nightmares, or participating in quiz shows made of your darkest secrets. It gets so much more out of the Somnium system than the first game did, and there’s so much variety too. When one’s not particularly puzzle-centric, it always feels earnt; this game manages to find some really neat alternatives. This time, Somniums aren’t the only gameplay either. There’s a new gameplay style where you recreate the sequence of events at a crime, and they’re pretty fun - a relaxed and patience requiring alternative.
I’m a bit conflicted over Nirvana Initiative. On one hand, I certainly liked the overall mystery more than I liked the original’s. On the other hand, AI 1 felt a lot cleaner and consistently worthy of my appreciation. I wondered if this game would’ve been better off as an independent sequel, though I’m sure it wouldn’t exist yet without those AI 1 assets. I definitely felt my excitement deflate quite a few times over my playthrough; awfully repetitive fight scenes, some indefensible romance threads, and poor pacing during some investigation segments. But despite everything that pulls the game down, I know the plot held an iron grip over me the whole way through. I just keep thinking back to those Somniums, and I know there’s something really special at the core of this game. This game just pulls so many unforgettable tricks, I’ll be citing it as a wonderful example of ludonarrative design for years to come. This is the best type of scope creeped game—the type that still impresses you with its scope.