AI: The Somnium Files
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
AI: The Somnium Files Trailers
AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES Investigation Trailer | PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam)
AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES Character Trailer | Nintendo Switch, PS4, Steam (PC) English Dub
AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - GDC 2019 Trailer | PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam (PC)
Critic Reviews for AI: The Somnium Files
Equal parts tense and unpredictable, this serves the kind of memorable experience that makes exploring branching storylines a joy.
AI: The Somnium Files is the perfect successor to the Zero Escape series and a must-buy for any fan of director Kotaro Uchikoshi.
The various twists and turns of AI's wild sci-fi, dream-exploring detective tale will keep you engaged and intrigued until the very end.
It's hard to go into what makes AI: Somnium Files so extraordinarily great without spoiling key elements, but it's truly a title that grips quickly and doesn't let go.
AI: The Somnium Files starts out slow but once you've traversed a few of its delightfully surreal Somnium dreamscapes and got to an ending or two, working your way back through your flowchart and striking out in different directions, it becomes an engaging and tense affair. Fans of the Zero Escape games will feel right at home here, and director Kotaro Uchikoshi's talent for putting the player into increasingly unsettling circumstances ensures everything takes flight in a very satisfying way as you work your way through the many strands of the loopy central mystery towards its various different endings.
AI: The Somnium Files has to be easily one of the best visual novels I've ever had the joy of playing, maybe even ranks as one of the best games I've played this year. With superb visuals, engaging gameplay, likeable characters, and a twist-filled story to rival that of M. Night Shyamalan, this is definitely not a visual novel to be slept on (sorry).
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.
Ultimately, AI: The Somnium Files is a game that has moments of brilliance that are obscured by a disjointed narrative and investigative process. Aside from the Somnium sequences – which are, admittedly, very cool – the game failed to motivate me to truly engage with its overarching story. I just didn’t find it appealing.