5/5 ★ – asoola's review of No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES.

KANAME DATE IS BACK! Here I am again talking about AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES, no one is surprised and honestly I had high expectations and hopes for this game from the moment it was announced. I’ll start by saying at first I was a bit scared about this game having a new writer and director but I’ll have to say Kazuya Yamada did a good job writing and directing. Uchikoshi still supervised but I have to give credit where credit is due the new writer did a good job. Now that’s being said the game’s story absolutely does not disappoint it’s written very well (as expected) and every little thing told in the story was explained extremely well when the case was solved. It’s not a big case like the Cyclops Serial Killings or the HB Serial Killings BUT it’s a good case filled with mystery! I’ll discuss spoilers starting now ‼️ The plot twist in the game is actually very brilliant I say plot twist but there’s two I feel, first was who the mastermind is at first I thought it was Hina then Asahi but it’s neither which made me shocked to my core. Akemi is the hostess of the game which is obvious but what shocked me was the fact that she is an AI made by using Asahi’s personality. The second one was the opening scene I thought it was Date from the future but actually it’s Date from the past and that’s why he was recalling running away from Saito. Long story short the plot twists were hinted at but they were still unpredictable and shocking! Unrelated to this case itself but I love how this game gave information and explanation here and there about things that happen in AINI. (Now I know why Date was a bit skeptical of going back to ABIS in that one route) That’s all I have to say about the fantastic story. I will mention that this game presents the positives of AIs like Aiba, Tama and even Akemi and the conversation Date had with Akemi and Hina and later on Gen is a conversation I loved listening to. Artificial Intelligence is a big part of the series so it was nice to see the characters seeing AIs as their equal and being considerate of their feelings. Now I wanna talk a little bit about the characters as always all of the characters are handled very well and written very well too. Kaname Date coming back as a protagonist is something I wanted because I wanted to see more of him in AINI, and he came back! He’s still as silly as ever but also smart and the game manages to convey his silliness and seriousness perfectly while making sure both qualities don’t overshadow each other. (As always he’s handled like that in all three games) Iris, Mizuki, Hitomi, etc were all perfectly written as I said and each character relationship with Date was handled delicately! Pewter character and how he’s handled in this game was another shocker for me they made me feel sympathy for him in a way I never felt before while making sure to not make his crimes be a light issue. Mizuki’s feelings and how she handled being the new CEO is information that was so welcome and as her number 1 fan it made me love her character more. (I even started acknowledging that Renju is a flawed yet caring dad) I appreciate the fact that some of the new characters from AINI came back too because I loved that game so much. The new characters Hina, Akemi and Asahi are actually very well done characters too I didn’t expect to like Hina as much as I did but she’s genuinely one of my favorite characters now. All and all the characters are very well written! Moving on to gameplay as a ZERO ESCAPE fan YOU BET I LOVED THOSE ESCAPE GAMES SECTION! I played ZERO ESCAPE in 2020 and yet this game made me feel nostalgic when the “Seek a way out!” showed up. I’ll say sure there was ZERO ESCAPE elements and inspirations but the game itself still felt like an AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES game which is great! The Somnium section was also really fun of course this time Date Psync three times with two subjects the twist is this time we don’t know who they are and I think that added more mystery to the Somniums! The investigation section was also good I loved using the Wink Psync with Date (even though he used it half of the time for unnecessary stuff 😂) Date interrogations hit different and I think it’s because he’s more experienced when he gets serious he genuinely is scary in a good way because you know he’s very observant and nothing is missing his or Aiba’s eye. There’s no routes this time around but the multiple endings (especially the secret ending) were fun to watch. The Novel and Alternate Alternate end unlocked for me and I’m still in the middle of watching everything but the Novels went with the full funny detective short drama I swear they’re so funny! The soundtrack is also good and the new ending song oh it’s on repeat! Escape Bunny Moon Shot is a song that grows on you with every listen I fear I was dancing with the characters at the end. 😂 (I also was tearing up because of those lyrics which is something that always happens with AITSF songs) The ending dance number is a tradition that I love very much! In conclusion the game is so well written and it’s just as good as the first two games despite being a spin off. If another game releases you bet it’ll be a first day purchase that’s for sure! 💜