AI the Somnium Files: NirvanA Initiative Review - A Wasted Potential
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2022
- First attempt at making a video essay/review, hopefully I don't come out as aggressive? I love this series a lot.
#aithesomniumfiles #aithesomniumfilesnirvanainitiative #nirvanainitiative #aini #aitsf
[CC AVAILABLE] Apologize for the inconsistent audio quality, please don't put the video player on full volume! /w\
"the first game walked so this game could crawl" banger of an opening
A lot of people seemed to like NI more than original, but I will say I definitely preferred the original more.
ryuki and tama became my faves so i was so upset when they kinda forgot about them in the end. hope ryuki maybe comes back in the next game
I think the perfect way to describe this game would be “Confused”. Sense if doesn’t fully know what it wants to do, so instead of sticking with one concept and going with that, it throws as many at the wall as possible to see what sticks. It kinda just jumps between several different plots and ideas without really fully committing to any of them, all while being a sequel without spoiling the first game. (Which is already problematic by itself) So the story structure was kinda all over the place, and it’s handled even worse than in the first game. So in the end while the story has technically reached a conclusion there are still several unanswered questions and unresolved conflicts. I think if the game just committed to one storyline I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more sense there are so many other ways this games issues could’ve been amended easily. (Like giving Mizuki more screen time with Kizuna without Lien or Shoma, or diving into Ryuki’s traumatic past and brother more ect.) But they don’t do that so it comes off more as a first draft, and that’s weird when the production values look pretty high, (like updating the models and improved gameplay mechanics) still it’s not absolutely terrible all this considered. (It’s definitely a step up from Zero Time Dilemma in my opinion)
This game fell flat for me and is my least favorite across the ZE/AI series. You did a great job summarizing how the plot was convoluted and unsatisfying. The game literally uses psychic readings from crystal balls to advance the plot. Fail
Also, if they do decide to make a 3rd game, I hope they don’t get Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney syndrome, where they just refuse to kill any characters that were previously introduced, I mean how cool and shocking would it be if the game kicks off with Mizuki having to solve the murder of Moma? Not only will it give the player a proper reason to solve the case, it could motivate a good number of characters like Date and Mizuki since Moma saved Dates live in the first game and by extension, Iris and Hifumi, idk I just hope they don’t keep introducing strangers as victims, in the first game it’s fine since it’s the first game, you’re not gonna know anyone, but personally I hope they make it more personal to the player
The game re-plays beats from previous games WAY too often. It reuses too many jokes
my biggest issue with the game was that the main bad guys were already dead by the end. you just had to fight the minions so the final battle just felt really underwhelming. in the first game you beat the bad guy and thats it, happy ending. but this theyre already gone so idk i just didnt like that itd be better if at least one of the 3 main bad guys were still around.
The way they handled the other AI balls in this game is so weird, Date had an excuse because Saito ripped his left eye out, but Ryuki getting his eye manually removed is so dumb, surely there's alternate options like AR glasses or something?
Ironically, I feel that the arg surrounding this game was more interesting than the game itself, also I seriously can’t believe they DOUBLED DOWN on Date’s/Falco’s porn power, also the face mask voice change was the biggest load of horse shit I had seen
Ryuki is (to me) the best main character Uchikoshi has made, I love his story, his relationship with Tama and Date, him being the straight man that the series desperately needed from Iris's cringe and LITERALLY EVERY MALE HORNINESS!!! I honestly would've loved a game analysing his character more instead of sidelining him and tama, hopefully AI 3 does my boy justice!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved the video.
28:24
I think if a third game ever comes out it should follow from the secret ending, not the main route we see play out. It'd make the entire simulation foreshadowing worthwhile, and there are so many insane places you can go with this.
20:30
I felt like this game just shotgunned random half-baked ideas at you. There were enough ideas here to fill 2 games and a spin-off: Meeting the characters again after a 6-year time skip, Ryuki's backstory and Tama, the Mizuki stuff (I wish we got to see Marco a bit at least) the cult and meta stuff (the order of % I was interesting, I thought the reason for the killings was gonna be beef between two cults but they didn't add anything to the story :( )
The first game was way better.
Plot wise for me, I would say the shock factor of the first game hits more. As for this, this game will only make sense once you finish all the routes, its also a fun plot and a much more darker tone than the original.
you took the words right out of my mouth!!! in so many ways aini is better regarding gameplay/QoL but the writing and characters take a nodedive in quality. i’m writing notes as this video goes along bc none of my close friends have finished aini and these thoughts are just bouncing around my head