{"id":3200,"date":"2025-07-25T00:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T00:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/?p=3200"},"modified":"2025-07-28T10:13:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T10:13:05","slug":"no-sleep-for-kaname-date-from-ai-the-somnium-files-review-the-third-eye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/no-sleep-for-kaname-date-from-ai-the-somnium-files-review-the-third-eye\/","title":{"rendered":"No Sleep For Kaname Date \u2013 From AI: The Somnium Files review \u2013 the third eye"},"content":{"rendered":"
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AI: The Somnium Files was already similar to Zero Escape and now it has proper escape rooms (Spike Chunsoft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GameCentral reviews the newest AI: The Somnium Files game to see how it fares without series creator Kotaro Uchikoshi as the lead writer.<\/p>\n

At a time when video games<\/a> need to be multimillion dollar hits to even get a shot at a sequel, it\u2019s refreshing to see a modest success like AI: The Somnium Files<\/a> continue to receive new entries, despite being far from a household name.<\/p>\n

Neither the original game nor its sequel sold particularly well when they came out (certainly not enough for developer and publisher Spike Chunsoft to share sales numbers), but they\u2019ve reportedly enjoyed long-term successes and have cultivated an enthusiastic fanbase.<\/p>\n

Even so, it was a shock to see a third game be announced at the June Nintendo Switch 2<\/a> presentation, as one of the console\u2019s first games. As its title indicates though, this isn\u2019t a full sequel but a shorter spin-off that puts the first game\u2019s protagonist, Kaname Date, back in the lead role.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s most surprising is that series director and writer Kotaro Uchikoshi is only involved in a supervisory role, leaving writing responsibilities to Kazuya Yamada. And unfortunately it shows, as No Sleep For Kaname Date feels like a lesser version of the games that came before.<\/p>\n

Set in-between the events of the last two games, No Sleep For Kaname Date begins with internet idol Iris (who\u2019s dressed as a sexy rabbit for reasons the game barely explains and no one even questions) being kidnapped, seemingly by an alien reptilian woman, and forced to play through a series of escape rooms.<\/p>\n

While Date can communicate with her to assist with the puzzles, he also has to uncover the truth behind Iris’ kidnapping and whether aliens really are involved.<\/p>\n

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There’s a lot of flavour text to enjoy, but investigation sections are fairly cut and dry (Spike Chunsoft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like the other two games, your time is split between Ace Attorney<\/a> style point ”n’ click investigations and escape room style Somnium sections, where you dive into a person\u2019s dreams to uncover information they\u2019re either unwilling or unable to share. In a series first, you also have traditional escape rooms where you use items to solve logic puzzles, much like Uchikoshi\u2019s Zero Escape<\/a> games<\/p>\n

It’s probably more accurate to say there are really only two gameplay sections, since the investigation scenes take a backseat this time around. There are no puzzles to solve in these and you spend all your time speaking with other characters to gain info and move the plot along, like an ordinary visual novel.<\/p>\n

As the series’ bread and butter, the Somnium sections work the same as previous games. You move around a 3D space, interacting with objects to bypass mental locks while under a six minute time limit, with every movement and interaction you make taking precious seconds off the clock.<\/p>\n

However, you can earn TIMIEs to help reduce how much time interactions take, providing a layer of strategy to how you progress. Sometimes it can be worth picking the wrong action just to grab a specific TIMIE.<\/p>\n

Since Somniums are literal dream worlds, their biggest problem in previous games was that, sometimes, the logic you needed to follow didn\u2019t always make sense and progressing often required trial and error.<\/p>\n

That’s still the case here but, in what we assume is an attempt to circumvent the issue, the Somnium sections are far more streamlined, with very few incidental items to distract you with. While this does make them more straightforward, this streamlining doesn\u2019t really solve the issue and is akin to throwing a rug over a hole in the floor.<\/p>\n

Visually, The Somniums are still surreal, but they feel toned down and less interesting compared to some of the more warped examples of previous games. There\u2019s also a real lack of fun and unique scenarios, like the second game\u2019s Pok\u00e9mon Go inspired Somnium.<\/p>\n

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