AI The Somnium Files - Nirvana Review

 

Have you ever seen or heard something so strange that you just couldn’t keep your mind off of it? 

These mysteries drive our own curiosity, coaxing us to further explore and understand the world around us. 

And yet there are mysteries that blend the fabric of reality with that of fiction, posing esoteric and philosophical questions that present ideas that were never considered before. 

This has always been at the heart of Kotaro Uchikoshi’s work, and with AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative, he’s not only managed to find the right balance of intellectual challenge and philosophical quandary, but also adds some much needed flavor that elevates the entire experience. 

This is my review of AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative, a serial killer murder mystery, presented in a hybrid-visual novel style that features point-and-click adventure gameplay mixed with science fiction elements, developed and published by Spike Chunsoft. 

A grisly set of murders, dubbed by the police as the Half Body Killings, is at the heart of the mysteries in nirvanA Initiative. Years ago, the right half of a body was found under mysterious circumstances. 

And after lengthy and detailed investigation by the police, its other half was never found; until it reappeared at present time, when it not only show no signs of decay, but there was also reason to believe that the victim had been alive until just recently. 

Utilizing the knowledge and tools at your disposal, it’s up to you to uncover the reasons why this is all happening, all the while uncovering a mystery that spans two different time periods. 

The biggest hook of AI: The Somnium Files is your ability to psync with people, jump into their subconscious and explore their dreams. 

It’s through these Somnium sequences where you get to uncover hidden motives and agendas that you weren’t privy to before. 

But alas, each dive into the subconscious only lasts for six minutes, which is where the gamey aspect of these games come in. 

I mentioned in my review of the first game that this time limit serves as a mercy rule that forces you to reconsider all the steps you’ve made up until that point. 

However, what ended up happening was that players would abuse this system, ultimately turning what should be an intellectual challenge into a trial and error scenario. 

Another way of putting it is that many of us spent much of our time exploring and testing out the rules of these made-up dreamscapes, which, unfortunately, wastes a ton of the time that’s been given to you. 

This had the side effect of making these Somnium sequences tedious, with fans admitting that this was the weakest aspect of the previous game. 

Taking into consideration the feedback following its release, Uchikoshi and his team implemented some clever ways to minimize this tedium that helps cater nirvanA Initiative to a wider variety of players than before. 

The six minute time limit is still present, though you can now choose two additional difficulty settings that not only slows down time even more, but also allows you to retry from each checkpoint ad infinitum. 

I’ve always felt that Uchikoshi’s original desire to add tension to these Somnium sequences worked against the familiar gameplay that we’re all used to, so the fact that he acquiesced, to the point of giving us unlimited retries, tells me that his priorities shifted greatly. 

Apart from a much more forgiving Somnium experience, nirvanA Initiative also rewards players with keys that serve as riddles that, in theory, will help us make more sense of the rules of the current dreamscape. 

These keys are in the form of mad-lib style statements, with each blank being filled in by interacting and exploring the Somnium. 

This not only encouraged me to check anything and everything out despite my limited time, but also made the notion of having to redo everything I just did a bit less tedious. 

And if these keys aren’t enough, there are opportunities where you can continuously expand upon a hint to a point where it’ll bring you as close to the solution as possible without outright revealing it to you. 

Though as with most puzzles, your mileage will vary with this one. 

All told, having the option to collect keys, select more generous retry and time limits, and being able to interact with escalating hint systems, provide much needed structure and assistance while exploring unpredictable Somnium dreamscapes. 

That being said, these quality of life features are just some of the many additions to AI: The Somnium Files that further expands the scope of its gameplay. 

One of my favorite additions has to be the new VR sequences, where crime scenes are digitally recreated to help you discover details that weren’t immediately apparent. 

These VR sequences remind me much of Uchikoshi’s puzzles from Zero Escape in that it further encourages us to explore every nook and cranny of the digital space that just wasn’t possible with the time limits of Somnium, satisfying our craving to pore over every detail, as we further unravel the game’s mysteries. 

In what I can only think of as a nod to Danganronpa, you will often be asked to recreate a series of events by answering some questions about said crime scene and solving puzzles. 

This creates a distinct demarcation between exploration sequences and puzzle gameplay, making it quite clear when the former ends and the latter begins. 

And much like the Somnium you explore, these timeline recreations also have their own escalating hint systems. Outside of VR and Somnium psyncing, you’ll also be asked to interrogate and ask eyewitnesses questions on occasion. 

This is where another new gameplay addition, Wink Psyncing, comes in. 

Unlike the deep-dives you can perform with Somnium Psyncing, Wink Psyncing allows you a momentary glimpse into the mind of your target, giving you a small peek into their psyche as you converse and ask questions.  

This is a fairly unobtrusive process, and I encourage everyone to use it whenever possible, as you may encounter situations where you’ll just miss any and all opportunities to use it. 

Taking all of these new quality of life features and gameplay implementations into consideration, AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative finally has some solid gameplay foundations that back its ambitious concepts and ideas. 

By reducing the tedium of its Somniums and expanding on its investigative gameplay, you’ll feel more like a futuristic detective than its previous outing. 

And with the kind of mysteries begging you to unravel them, you’ll feel more immersed into this world than ever before. 

Which leads me to the ultimate question many newcomers ask when encountering new series to play: Can you play AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative without ever playing the previous game? The answer to this is a big ol’ hearty, “Absolutely yes!”. 

The reason for my enthusiastic response isn’t meant to dismiss the previous game, of course. By playing the first game, you’ll get some added context to some of the characters in nirvanA Initiative that it simply doesn’t have the time to properly go over.

That being said, many of these same characters are changed individuals after the events of the previous game, with new goals, relationships, and connections. 

In what is quite possibly one of the most considerate acts that any developer has done for its audience, AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative slightly alters its narrative context depending on your relationship, or lack thereof, with the previous game. 

The game spends a good chunk of time at the beginning to assure you that both games are totally unrelated, followed by a prompt asking if you’ve played the previous game. 

If you indicate that you have, you will be quizzed to make sure that you’ve done so, though failing to answer this question will merely give you additional reassurance that prior knowledge isn’t needed here. 

If you do pass this simple question, you’ll find that your experience of the story will contain added context that relates some of your experience in nirvanA Initiative to that of the events of the previous game. 

One other way to think about this is that it’s an additive incentive; a bonus, if you will, for players who have been around since the very beginning, which doesn’t diminish the mystery in any way for folks who choose to play nirvanA Initiative first.

When we remove these prior game references, you’re left with a perplexing mystery that doesn’t waste any time getting established. 

You’ll question the boundaries of reality and fiction, as Uchikoshi has done many times in the past, while struggling to find out how all of these puzzle pieces fit together. 

You’ll be introduced to concepts like Nonuples and the Philadelphia Experiment, which harkens back to games where he’d introduce foreign yet very real real-world concepts that’ll open up many more questions than there are answers. 

And yet, at some point during your investigations, pieces will start to interlock and take shape, begging you to replay sections with this added clarity, all the while enveloping you in a mystery that is worthy of Uchikoshi’s best work. 

This feeling of plunging into an abyss of uncertainty, ambiguity, and the blurring of the lines between fact and fiction, is something long-time Uchikoshi fans are quite familiar with, particularly, in his more famous Zero Escape trilogy. 

And with the added consideration given to folks who’ll experience AI: The Somnium Files for the first time, this ensures that more people will find much to love in the mysteries that nirvanA Initiative is hiding deep within itself. 

While the original AI: The Somnium Files served as a good first attempt at this unique style of narrative storytelling, nirvanA Initiative is the exclamation point that makes the case for the series’ continued expansion. 

It is a self-aware sequel that not only acknowledges and builds upon the foundations of its first outing, but also manages to address more nuanced concerns, even paying special attention to newcomers to the series. 

The intriguing murder setup might’ve been the thing that hooked you into playing the game, but its more streamlined detective gameplay, coupled with a mystery that will have you reeling back during its reveal, will have you wanting to discover more. 

That’s the moment when you realize that nirvanA Initiative’s got you invested for the rest of the ride, which makes it easy for me to proclaim it as one of the must play games of the year.