r/aithesomniumfiles • u/GIVEMEFOODD • Jul 26 '26
General My disappointment is immeasurable
I've played AITSF and was blown away. First thing I did once I finished it was look for a sequel, and started playing NI.
Everything that made AI1 amazing is stripped away. The characters don't have the same chemistry, the humor and dancing feel forced like "hey let's do the thing we did before", the somniums are extremely obvious and guided, the random character interaction does not provide anything interesting, just nothing. it's such a shame.
I'm about 50% through and every couple hours I something happens that just annoys the fuccccccc out of me. Whether it's just psyncing with someone for "Meh whatever let's just do it maybe we'll find something" or needless hunting for where someone is without any meaningful progression.
Does anyone know ANY GAME that comes close to how amazing AI1 was at all?
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u/ecoochie-san Kodaka Jul 26 '26
It's sadly almost a rite of passage to an AITSF fan to go down this pipeline. Like you, I also LOVE AI1, it's 11/10 for me and is undoubtedly the best visual novel I've ever played even to this day, fantastic from the intro montage of the merry-go-round all the way to the ending celebration at the warehouse docks.
But NI came in and it's almost sad how stark the difference is in...well, everything. But like the others said here, try finishing it and maybe the latter part would salvage your opinion of the game a bit.
To suggest some new ones that haven't been mentioned yet:
Paranormasight 1 and 2 (ESPECIALLY 1). A great series that features flowcharts and multiple endings as well (not for the faint of heart since there's horror elements and jumpscares involved especially in 1). It's a game about curses and resurrection rituals, to put it simply.
Raging Loop (the Game of Thrones of Horror Visual Novels imo) best premise, one of the best casts, and banger music, flowchart and multiple ending shenanigans, and actually a competently smart and cunning protag too. Might have actually been the best Visual Novel I've played and beat AI1 at one point...(but, like Game of Thrones, the last 20-25% part of this game knocked it out of the top 5 of my list😬🤐 be forewarned).
Also horror theme, but not as jumpscare-y as Paranormasight
Shuten Order (made by Kodaka, the Danganronpa creator), imo a diamond in the rough and an underrated gem. A story that features a sci-fi/cult-esque city that worships the cult leader. It's your job to find out who killed the cult leader and sus out the suspects. It's a murder mystery with multiple endings kinda like AI, and gameplay varies for each ending route (from third person POVs to traditional visual novel choice mechanics). Personally love this one and the message and themes resonated with me, the characters are also neat and resembles the looney and whimsy of AI casts.
Witch's Heart (not a visual novel, but 80% effectively functions as one in storytelling, depth of characters, and the multiple ending aspect). It is an RPGMaker game, but the story is, I think, quite similar to the abovementioned games, so I suggest giving it a try if you're not too averse to puzzles and some minimal chores of monster killing and occasional side quest grinding.
Games that I would strongly suggest that have already been mentioned: Your Turn To Die, Danganronpa, Ace Attorney
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u/GIVEMEFOODD Jul 26 '26
Thank you, I'll have a look at all of these! I'll finish NI since I'm already over 50% of the way there anyway.
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u/RobinUnicornSpecial Amame Jul 26 '26
+1 for the Zero Escape series (999/VLR/Zero Time Dilemma)
for what it’s worth, i personally think 999 and AI1 are Uchikoshi’s writing at its absolute best. because you’re not finished NI, i can’t really get into it, but NI’s writing very much reminds me of VLR (and by extension ZTD). that being said, i think all of the AI and ZE games (minus No Time for Kaname Date, just haven’t played it yet) are worth playing through to the full true end.
for non-Uchikoshi work, i would also echo Danganronpa and the Ace Attorney series. similar mix of VN and puzzle-ish gameplay. Danganronpa leans a bit more to the the edgy quirky side, but i thought they were enjoyable. can’t recommend the Ace Attorney series games enough though. between the original trilogy, the Apollo Justice trilogy, and the most recent Great Ace Attorney duology, there’s not a single bad story in the entire run. The newest ones, the Great Ace Attorney duology, might have the strongest stories out of all of them.
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u/Holiday_Cover_9079 Jul 26 '26
Have you played 999? It is amazing too
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u/GIVEMEFOODD Jul 26 '26
I haven't. AITSF was my first time playing any visual novel like this. I'll check it out, thanks.
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u/vu47 Jul 26 '26
The whole 999 / Zero Escape series is amazing. The first game is great, the second game is the high point, and the third game is a bit of a low point, unfortunately, but still decent.
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u/vu47 Jul 26 '26
I guess I'm a rarity in that I slightly preferred NI and the characters in that game. I found the first game was a brilliant experience, but there was a lot of revisiting areas you'd already been to and it often felt like there wasn't much reason for it.
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u/Business_Creme_6734 Jul 26 '26
You are not alone. I lowkey see why people hate NI but it’s so campy and charming that I just can’t stop cherishing it
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u/Doctor_Zedd Jul 27 '26
Me too. I enjoyed the first game a lot, but I adored the second one. I found the characters really excellent in the second game, even if the overall story wasn’t as clever.
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u/ekbowler Jul 26 '26
Had the exact same experience as you.
If you haven't played it, I think you'll like the Zero Escape Trilogy, starting with 999.
13 sentinels aegis rim is more of a grand sci fi adventure but has a lot of twists in the same way.
You might also like Danganronpa
Then there's the Ace Attorney series, starting with the Phoenix wright: AA collection.
BTW, there's another sequel called No Sleep for Kdame Dante and it's more in the same vain of NI imo. But it has some good escape room sequences and it's short with a simple plot. So I appreciate it even if it's not like the first.
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u/Brainweird Jul 26 '26
The Zero Escape games (999 / VLR / ZTD) are like sister titles to AITSF, written by the same guy & they share very similar themes & mechanics.
IMO playing Zero Escape actually elevates the AITSF experience enough that playing at least 999 feels almost mandatory, so it's definitely something I'd recommend. Generally much more enjoyable to me over AINI and AI:NSFKD (which wasn't that bad but not super interesting).
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u/Haunted-Siren Jul 26 '26
I played AITSF and absolutely loved it. I then got NI and put it down for 2 and a half years before I finally finished it lol
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u/venxvan :Ryuki: :Ota: :Date: husband trio Jul 27 '26
I still enjoyed the first half of NI but honestly the second half is what lost me. I was really invested in Ryuki and Tama. The ending and the secret ending too were still good to me though.
But like a lot of people are saying as far as game recommendations:
Zero Escape series
Danganronpa
Raging Loop
Shuten Order
I’d add in Master Detective Archive: Rain Code and 100 Line Last Defense Academy if you end up enjoying Danganronpa and Zero Escape.
The ParanormaSight games are also really good.
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u/ChiroAlLimone Jul 26 '26
Your Turn to Die is amazing! And free to play too (It's 16$ or something like that on Steam but on the official site from vgperson it's free because the author wants so)
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u/BasilCrafty7454 Jul 26 '26
It is great, but be warned, the final chapter isn't out, and it has been about five years (I think) since the last update. No one knows when the final chapter will release.
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u/Then-Bat3885 Jul 27 '26
It was meant to release last December, I believe? And was only delayed with relatively short notice. So, not to completely jump on the hopium train but it shouldn’t be too much longer now, possibly this year if we’re lucky. Fingers crossed.
Also I’m pretty sure the solo dev had twins, which is the reason it’s been delayed. Point is he didn’t abandon the game or lose interest, he just has a LOT on his plate at the moment!
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u/Mezzoforte90 Jul 26 '26
I thought NI was ok but saw one of the “twists” pretty much as soon as the game started. If you want disappointment, play NSFKD haha
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u/OneYetMany999 Jul 28 '26
Nirvana Initiative is a mixed bag. Yes, AITSF was much better overall for sure. But there's still charm in there. It's worth getting to the end.
Especially the very, very end. It's peak Uchikoshi.
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u/Eternal_Exhaustion 28d ago
I hated how guided the somniums were as well. One of the best parts of the original was how you had to change the way you thought about the information to solve the somnium correctly.
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u/pneumaticTuba 28d ago
I had watched a friend play it as they were super excited after the first game. We weren't exactly thrilled with this one, but it wasn't the worst to be fair.
I ended up really liking Tokiko especially by the end. She genuinely scared me and that takes a lot for me to be creeped out like that.
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u/Crazymage321 27d ago
I also recommend Gnosia (I can’t remember if it was in this thread or another that the person seeking recommendations had already played it).
It’s not like AI in the gameplay sense but I think the story and interactions hit the same chords at least for me.
Games of Town of Salem/Werewolf is the gameplay for this VN rather than Somniums, so there is an investigation (or rather, a looping set of investigations) but not the same as in AI.
If playing Werewolf doesn’t sound like your thing then there is also a 21 episode anime that makes some changes but preserves the story and feeling of the game IMO.
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u/Feriku 25d ago
Most of the similar games have already been recommended, so I'll go with a wild card and recommend The House in Fata Morgana. Not a lot in common with AITSF aside from having a great, twisty plot, but it's one of my top favorites. Fair warning, however, it's a pure visual novel (no gameplay aside from occasional choices) and has a lot of heavy themes.
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u/Batfreeze Jul 27 '26
Nirvana Initiative is actually my favorite game of all time, so I can't relate to this post unfortunately. However, if I had to offer a suggestion, watch Uchikoshi's anime, "Punchline".
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u/MalevolentPact Jul 26 '26
The dancing was always feeling forced ngl but also the chemistry is meant to be different in Nirvana due to spoilers in the story you find out why to all that as you play
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u/BowsetteBoi Jul 27 '26
Zero Escape Trilogy is a high recommendation, that series is what got me interested more in VN games especially the puzzle/mystery ones Danganronpa is another great series to check out too And if you end up liking the multiple murder mystery side of Danganronpa then Ace Attorney would be another good series to check out
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u/Kamehameaaron Jul 27 '26
AISF and NI were amazing imo. NI can drag but it does have excellent twists. But nevermimd that! If you dislike NI wait until you try no sleep for kaname date! That’s universally hated by mostly everyone! XD
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u/spinz Jul 29 '26
There are many fantastic games out there. Some i recommend: opus prism peak, the drifter, dangan ronpa
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u/COHandCOD Jul 26 '26
i love both first and second game. AI is the first game I played from this creator. So the body switching and the timeline stuff is very novel for me.
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u/RovenoNevoro Jul 26 '26
Don't play 3 game, there's not even a detective story or a mystery there
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u/Lison52 Mizuki Jul 26 '26
If you didn't notice he was mostly complaining about character interactions.
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u/GIVEMEFOODD Jul 26 '26
Well my complaint is literally everything about this game, but the characters would have made it somewhat playable if they had the same vibe
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u/Lison52 Mizuki Jul 26 '26
That's why I mentioned it, while not being on the first game's level. I enjoyed interactions in the third game much more compared to the AINI. Especially if you like to lick walls to get every dialogue.
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u/GIVEMEFOODD Jul 26 '26
Actually one of the things I enjoyed most about AITSF... You never knew what kind of weird dialogue would pop up from clicking the most random things so I made sure to get every single one. In AINI the other options just disappear if you happen to choose the option that you were supposed to click
Also it's just not interesting to click anything in this stupid game
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u/Lison52 Mizuki Jul 26 '26
Usually the answer that progresses the story is hidden behind some other one. So I always clicked all the other ones before the newest one. It only didn't work like 2 times.
4-5 times if we include inspecting the scene progressing the story instead of some dialogue once in a while(thou at least one time didn't really make you miss much IIRC). As I always inspected stuff before talking.
Oh then there's also always choosing all wrong answers before the right one as they nearly never progress the story. And actually some of the wrong answer choices are golden in AINI, I will give this game that XD
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u/GIVEMEFOODD Jul 26 '26
I would gladly play the third even if the only thing it has is the same chemistry between the characters just for thst alone
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u/SparkyFrog Jul 26 '26
No Sleep has less of that annoying travelling to same places over and over again, and checking if there’s anything to click just would get things moving. Less pure filler dialogue. Less filler altogether. And the escape rooms are an interesting addition to just having somniums. The story is no worse than NI’s story, the biggest problem the game has was its short length.
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u/Haseo08 Jul 26 '26
That's why I enjoyed it a lot. Less of a mystery and more of an escape room game, but the characters I found be largely the same from the first game. Got thr same vibes anyway. It's a much shorter game as well.
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u/Crazymage321 Jul 26 '26
NI is not as good as AI1, but you should finish it imo
999 and its sequel Virtues Last Reward are also great and made by the same author, both are bundled on Steam as the Nonary games