At the Tokyo Game Show 2021, Microsoft has shown that it wants to start betting on Xbox Game Pass also in Japan and has done so by including a couple of games of great interest in the catalog. We took the opportunity to write this review of AI: The Dream Files, with some delay considering that the title has been out for a couple of years on Nintendo Switch and PS4. Let's try to remedy this shortcoming now because Kotaro Uchikoshi's game really deserves to be taken into consideration and placed in the spotlight. We take advantage of this excellent opportunity to advise practically all Xbox Game Pass users to proceed with the download and also to many others to consider the possible purchase, because it is a strange and interesting work, which in some way it remains in mind thanks to its really strong character, as often happens to the productions of the director in question.
We recall that Uchikoshi is also the author of the Zero Escape series, now considered a cult among the thriller adventures based on puzzles and storytelling of Japanese origin and that imprint can be easily found even within this game.
However, there are also some variations that make AI: The Somnium Files a separate experience, which develops the author's typical style in a different way: there is greater attention to the narrative construction, with the story advancing in a preponderant way. for a good part of the game almost like a visual novel, but which also turns out to be layered and available at different levels of reading.
On the contrary, the puzzles are probably more abstract and less logical than what we saw in the previous titles, the result of a more bizarre puzzle design, but still built on a different and very peculiar conception of the adventure, in which also the possibility of making different choices and retracing fragments of story to see the different folds of this becomes an integral part of the gameplay.
A strange story of serial killers, eyes and AI
Kaname Date is the protagonist of this one history and he's a decidedly odd type, which makes him perfectly at ease in the bizarre situation he's in. He is a detective who is part of a highly technological and secretive section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police of the future, called ABIS. Date is able to use a complex system called PSYNC to investigate suspects' minds and find hidden evidence. It also has the characteristic of having a replacement eye in which a 'artificial intelligence called Aiba, which acts as a real partner for investigations, able to provide information on any aspect of the case by connecting directly to different data networks and also projecting images and recordings directly into the field of view of Date, as well as the possibility of using x-ray vision X, infrared, zoom and night. Aiba is represented as an eyeball inside a sort of teddy bear initially, only to take the form of a human girl in the phases in which the PSYNC is used or when she intends to be noticed more by the protagonist.
Just the eyes seem to have something to do with the complex case of serial killer on which the protagonist must investigate, given that it is a double murder in which the victims both underwent the removal of an eye, just as happened to Date in a mysterious accident that occurred six years earlier and which also led to lose a lot of memory.
A dark element of the past that has clearly marked the protagonist and on which his handsome boss, head of the police district in which he works and who relies heavily on the protagonist's abilities, seems to know something, but without wanting to reveal anything. It is not the only point of connection between the protagonist and the case, since the victims are also his close acquaintances and parents of the girl who was entrusted to him, so it is clear that this cannot be just any case, but something very more important for Date, involved beyond all limits in this mystery.
Obviously we cannot reveal more, but we limit ourselves to pointing out how the history proves immediately interesting, but reaches a good pace only after the first hours of play, when the twists and the elements of mystery increase, but also the possibility of glimpsing some plot among the pieces that are tried to reassemble.
Storytelling and puzzles
Much of the game takes place in a very guided way, as a sort of interactive visual novel based on investigations in a case with a decidedly thriller tone. We follow the moves of Date passing from one setting to another, exploring the settings by moving our gaze and highlighting characters and objects of interest, with the dialogues to act as the backbone of the narrative, with some minimal choice left to the player on the topics to be explored, but basically with the need to exhaust them all before being able to move on to the next phases. Occasionally we find ourselves in more excited situations, with the possibility of taking part in more dynamic actions that can lead to different results based on how we react, but in the investigation phases in the real world the story unfolds in a rather linear way, with a narrative however well paced and a really excellent writing, which alternates different registers going from yellow to action "hard boiled" to almost horror, but without ever giving up ironic veins that often emerge from the comments of the protagonist and above all in the exchanges between this and Aiba or Mizuki, the very intelligent girl who lives with him.
Where the game takes on more puzzle adventure features is instead in the parts relating to the use of PSYNC, the equipment that allows Date to enter the minds of other characters to discover secrets and collect evidence and clues within the "Somnium", real dreams.
In these situations we also have the possibility to actually modify the course of history, because depending on the decisions we make and what we discover it is possible to open new narrative paths through various ramifications in the plot which can lead to different endings.
In this regard, it is necessary to point out the presence of a particular function in AI: The Somnium Files, which may seem secondary but instead has great importance for fully exploring all aspects of the game. From the options menu it is possible to enter the "Flowchart", which allows you to review the entire flow of the scenes that make up the story of the game, with the indication of the crossroads that we have faced, perhaps without realizing it at first. From here it is possible to review the scenes and tackle them again, perhaps making choices different from the initial ones and possibly opening new paths in the story, which will be indispensable for reaching a complete understanding of the story with a solution similar to that seen also in World's End Club, by the same author.
The mental gameplay of PSYNC
The phases in which the system is used PSYNC they are those closest to the classic Zero Escape-style puzzle, even if they are often so abstract that they are not very logical and understandable. In these situations, Date mentally connects to the suspects through a machine that allows Aiba to enter the dreams of the various subjects - or "Dream", as they are called in the game - with the need to unlock a certain number of mental blocks in order to discover their secrets and obtain essential information for the continuation of the investigation. In this case we directly control Aiba in a condition more similar to the classic third-person adventure, with the freedom to move within the environments unlike the fixed positions we assume in the standard phases of the game. Being dreams, the settings are strange, surreal and abstract and so even the puzzles do not necessarily respond to an iron logic, so the consequences are often all to be discovered. The problem is that we only have 6 minutes to solve the puzzles and open all the mental blocks present, because that is the time limit in which we can act in the mind of others without being trapped, which gives considerable weight to the choices to be made.
Each action we choose to perform consumes a certain amount of seconds, in addition to those that pass simply by moving within the environment: when we interact with an object, we are faced with several choices preset, each of which consumes a different amount of time and leads to different results.
It therefore becomes essential to better manage every second, perhaps using the "Timie", which are bonuses that can slightly increase the amount of time available, but whose use must be strategically dosed. Considering that the choices we make within PSYNC lead to the main ramifications we encounter in history, it is also important to retrace these phases to see the different repercussions of the solutions of the puzzles throughout the story, which is particularly useful also because, as mentioned above, such solutions and consequences are not always predictable according to logical principles, given their strangeness.
An interactive anime
From a technical point of view, AI: The Somnium Files is quite ordinary as regards the representation of the settings, with some creative flashes regarding the sections within the Somnium in the phases of PSYNC, but otherwise we are not really of in the face of something surprising on the graphics front. However, where the game particularly shines is in the representation of the characters: a sort of particularly advanced cel-shading is used, able to perfectly restore the effect in anime style, as we have already seen in various recent Japanese titles. However, what stands out particularly is the rendering of the facial expressions of the characters, which within the limits of a graphic style, however tending to the cartoon, are able to convey a considerable range of emotions in a rather convincing way.
Il strength of AI: The Somnium Files, from an aesthetic point of view, is probably this excellent collaboration between the character design of Yusuke Kozaki (No More Heroes, Fire Emblem Awakening and Fates, Xenoblade Chronicles 2) and the excellent work done by graphic designers and character animators.
Comment
Tested version Xbox Series X Digital Delivery Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop Price 39,99 € Resources4Gaming.com8.3
Readers (10)7.2
Your voteAI: The Somnium Files tells an engaging story and does so with a good attitude and some very interesting narrative solutions, such as allowing the player to act on the development of events, disassembling and reconstructing the ramifications of the plot. It takes a while to get going, then finds some very intense moments thanks above all to the good characterization of some characters and some notable twists. As an adventure, the investigation is linear and guided for much of the time, except suddenly revived in the exploration phases of the Somnium, in which the player's interaction has a considerable weight in directing the story. It's a weird game, just as you'd expect from Uchikoshi, but the wraparound tale easily catches anyone, even beyond some excessive quirks in the puzzles, sticking to it as a good story. On Xbox Game Pass this is a highly recommended download.
PRO
- Interesting and engaging story, especially after the first few hours
- Playing on the flow of the plot in search of ramifications is a nice idea
- The alternation between more narrative moments and the Somnium with puzzles keeps a good pace
- Some characters are well characterized
- Little meaningful interaction during investigation phases and dialogues
- Some puzzles are too bizarre to understand the consequences of choices
