AI: The Somnium Files

Despite the occasional frustration in exploring its dream landscapes, the whole of AI: the Somnium Files winds up being a fun, thrilling, and engaging experience. The story is filled with intriguing twists and shocking surprises, and the characters and their individual arcs inspire you to care about what happens to them. The somnium dream worlds add a layer of psychological horror to the ongoing mystery, and Date and Aiba’s constant back-and-forth interactions provide levity to make every investigation all the more amusing. AI's unconventional detective story is one you won’t soon forget.

Investigating gruesome murders in AI: The Somnium Files is fun even though it’s not particularly challenging. What really makes this game worth playing is its gritty sci-fi story and engaging characters. The mix of oddball characters work perfectly together to make you experience a rollercoaster of emotions, and piecing together all the threads of the story will reveal some surprising plot twists.

While the story and characters of AI: The Somnium Files are both great, the presentation itself lacks the same polish when it comes to the 3D models. There are some interesting action sequences that are instead acted out offscreen while the camera pans elsewhere and many of the sight gags lack any real visual cues. Thankfully, the writing more than makes up for this, so often times it’s best to consider The Somnium Files to be more like a visual novel with some extra animations thrown in.