AI: The Somnium Files - No Sleep For Kaname Date Review.

No Sleep for Kaname Date is the newest release in the AI: The Somnium Files series, and it does not disappoint. The game excels at everything that the original series is known for: from its fantastic world building to exuberant characters, the game will never leave you bored. While the director for the game is different, being Yamada instead of Uchikoshi, you can see that the love for the Somnium Files series is so prevalent in his work. This article goes into a full depth review of No Sleep For Kaname Date. 

Story

The game’s directors have mentioned multiple times that the game is not a full sequel to the first two stories, but I think that the story of the game could honestly work as a fully fleshed out third game if it was slightly longer. While the first games are around 25~ hours, AINS takes around 16~ hours to complete. Despite this, the story is very solid, with 3 major plotlines that we follow. We follow the mystery of Iris Sagan’s disappearance, the mysterious pod and the disappearance of Sakura Asahi. All of these three segments feel complete, and they flow together incredibly smoothly. The components of the game all come together for the final scene, which is so tear-jearkingly beautiful. The story feels similar enough to the first few games that long-time fans will experience the same enjoyment, but is different enough that it truly feels like a special new experience. Also, the story is full of spoilers, even if you choose to do the spoiler-free option. It is a game that, in my opinion, you cannot play without experiencing at least some knowledge of the first game. There are so many references to the first game that I, as a massive fan of the original, adored. All of this results in moments that end up fleshing out the story of the first game, whilst simultaneously preparing the audience for the second game. The story truly feels like a love letter to any AITSF fans. It’s simple, effective, and gives the room for expansion to the series that it desperately needed. The only real complaint that I have with the writing of the game is that some scarcely mentioned jokes from the first two games get repeated into oblivion in this game, which ruins the effect that they had on the player. 

Characters

In my opinion, the characters are where the game shines most. Every character in AINS is given their own moment to shine, no matter how important to the story they are. No character is forgotten about, and they’re all utilised really well to feel important to the story despite some being minor characters. Additionally, such a large portion of the plot is dedicated to fleshing out the new and previously established characters to give them the personality and connection that the story required. The protagonist, Kaname Date, is as incredible in this game as he was in AITSF. His personality has not changed in the slightest, and his humour combined with his… talents works very well to progress the story in a comedic manner. Among the large cast, Pewter, Hina and Iris have a larger role in the story, and their appearances are not wasted for a second. These characters are expanded upon so much in AINS, whether it’s fleshing out previous forgotten aspects of characters or introducing a new, refreshing energy to the cast that had worn out after the dramatic effects of the first game. 

Graphics, Audio and Acting

On a more technical side, the graphics and audio in this game are pretty similar to those of its predecessors. Other than the small upgrades in sprites, the character designs aren’t actually changed at all, with some small changes being made to make certain characters look more lifelike. The animation also looks noticeably smoother . The somniums, however, are stunning. Visually speaking, they’re a vast improvement aesthetically and thematically. Not only do the somniums look incredible, but they manage to do so while fitting the theme and personalities of the characters. You can clearly see that so much effort was put into making them as detailed as possible. Pivoting towards audio, the music is as incredible as it always has been. Keisuke Ito is the composer for this game as well, and he does such an incredible job of making sure that the music fits every moment in the game so well. The ending song, ‘Escape Bunny Moonshot’, is the best ending song to come out of the series. It’s an incredibly catchy song, and honestly a crime that it’s not on most major streaming platforms. The Jpop inspirations are also very clear while listening. While the tracklist isn’t incredibly long, the thought put into every scene really shows in every single song. Also, the voice acting in this game is just incredible. Greg Chun has another really incredible performance as Kaname Date, really giving so much character to the series’ protagonist. Every voice actor really gives their best performance for the game, with the new additions of Michelle Marie and Jenny Yokobori as Hina and Akemi respectively adding such unique voices to an already incredible lineup. Every line is voiced immaculately. 

Gameplay

Gameplay wise, AINS adds a new segment to the game: escape portions. These are honestly such a natural addition to the game that I kind of can’t believe that they weren’t always a feature of the game. They flow incredibly well with the easier somniums, letting long term fans have the challenging puzzles that they have come to expect from Team Zero Escape’s games. All four escape rooms are honestly pretty difficult, with scalable difficulties letting pretty much anybody play the game while still providing a challenge for the more capable players. Personally, I played on Easy mode and found the puzzles to be challenging without making me want to quit the game. Plus, the third eye theming of the games are really witty. Not only does it create a new challenge of trying to find another way out rather than taking the aforementioned easy ways, it lets players be creative with finding funny and creative solutions to the puzzles within time limits. The escape portions also leave room for fun interactions between characters and excuses for a lot of smaller moments that maybe couldn't find their place in the main story. Not only that, but the story of the escape games ties into the rest of the game seamlessly. Putting the escape portions aside, the somniums and investigative portions feel smaller in order to make room for it. That’s not an indication that they were bad, just less extravagant than they normally are. The somniums feel very point-and-click - while they are visually stunning and narratively incredible, they are very simple and leave a lot less room for experimentation than the previous game did. This was made up for in the escape room portions, but might honestly still be disappointing for long term fans. This game feels more in line with the characteristics of a visual novel than the other games in the series. Speaking of which, the investigation sections are incredibly small, and pretty insignificant to the plot, acting more as a device for dialogue and joke endings. 

Overall, AINS is a really incredible sequel to the AI games, and it really only falls short on a few points. This game is absolutely a must play for fans of Somnium files and Uchikoshi/Team Zero Escape’s previous work, and although it may not be as directed towards new fans as other games in the series, would still be a great introduction to the incredible series.