Regarding the AI Somnium Files games, I think the beginnings of both games are the weakest parts. I actually gave up watching them both the first go-round because I was bored by the beginnings of them. But one of the streamers I like to watch was getting into them so I'd come back to a future stream to see how things were going and got hooked on the later story elements. This literally happened over a year apart. I had the exact same reaction to each game.
The first game's the stronger story but the weaker somniums. I enjoyed Poledoo (Oodelop), Materwelonz, and Millbeeful's playthroughs.
So I'm gonna rant a bit and spoil some stuff... just some of my issues with the story-telling in the game. In summary, I actually do enjoy the overall story and most of the characters within the game. If I didn't, I wouldn't be watching multiple playthroughs of both games. But there are issues here that hamper the enjoyment a bit.
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The pr0n-loving, semi-amnesiac protag of the first game, Date, has all of these interpersonal relationships that could've been further developed in the second game: with adoptive daughter Mizuki, who's upset at him and wants to kick his ass; with former girlfriend Hitomi, a lonely teacher; with Hitomi's airheaded idol daughter Iris; and with his investigation partner AI eyeball the sassy Aiba. Those are the significant relationships. In a twist worthy of Shyamalan, Date even finds out he's not even in his real body in the first game. He's in the villain's body, who is the psychopathic son of a powerful politician. The first game ends with the villain dead and Date in his real body celebrating with all of his friends.
Second game...
-After getting his original body back in the first game, Date... dresses up in the same clothes and wears a mask of the villains' face in the new game. In other words, his appearance and voice is 100% identical to how he was in the villain's body.
-Date gets amnesia again. For six years. He has literally spent more time having amnesia than he's actually spent with his adoptive daughter. How does she even consider him a father at this point?
-Mizuki is still upset at Date and still wants to kick Date's ass. The relationship never softens or becomes more familiar. This is extra disappointing because the first game has a non-canon route where they get very close and form a bond. So we got to see what could've been.
-Since Date has amnesia again, his poor girlfriend gets abandoned again.
-Date literally goes Super Saiyan off of pr0n, pervs on his girlfriend's daughter watermelon vids, and asks his AI eyeball to stream pr0n to his brain. I get that it's his schtick but it was already overdone in the first game.
I think Spike Chunsoft didn't want to spoil potential new players to the first game so didn't bother changing much. But this stagnates the world in exchange. Honestly, I like Date but he should've been written out of the game if they were gonna do this. Streamers I watched were all happy to see him re-appear so I accept I'm an outlier. But he didn't add much of anything to the game. If anything though, I would've loved to see him in his original body with his girlfriend and bonded with his adoptive daughter and potential step-daughter. But instead let's, uh, keep him a drunk creep!
And this doesn't get into the game itself. The second game has the stronger somniums. They're very creative and engaging in telling the story. However, the story itself is weaker. It's a weak story with strong characters. Except for the villain. I found him lame.
First game villain:
-literally sick in the head due to a chemical imbalance
-also crazy in general (killed animals, murdered people as a child)
-also came from a rich, connected family so used privilege to get away with his past crimes
-had additional motivation against the protag specifically because the protag cop has his body
-sicko wants his body back and killed people close to protag for this reason
-is intelligent and activity tricks others and makes shit happen
Second game villain:
-literal-who orphan harvested for organs; he's technically the first villain's half-brother but that fact has no meaning or consequence in the game
-believes the world is a simulation and wants to be free of it so decides to be evil or something; i don't get it tbh
-splits people in half so that others can figure out coordinates so he can show them a rocket launching at a stadium that he already told others was going to be launching at the stadium???
-has no personal vendetta against main characters and barely interacts with them
-has armies of paid goons at his disposal at all times to do whatever he wants them to do even when he's dead
-kills approximately one person we're actually capable of feeling sorry for
-rips off Zero from Zero Time Dilemma with a shitty mask and voice changer
-DEAD FOR OVER HALF THE FUCKING GAME
Maybe I shouldn't be writing this out. Maybe I should make one of those chad/virgin meme pictures.
The game also has a protag issue. Instead of bonding with Date and Aiba like in the first game, we have three protags and two eyeballs to split time with and it makes the level of investment that much harder. Ryuki's the strongest one out of the three just because of the shit he's going through. We get to see him going crazy but are given no resolution other than a glorified pep talk at the end of the game. It would've been nicer for the player to get to work through Ryuki's trauma.
AND THEN....
THEN...
The game does the worst thing they could've done: a tertiary character delivers the big twist of the game by directly spoonfeeding the player specifically. In retrospect, it was a really cool twist. The music, the mood, the delivery was also all A+. But the fact that it's delivered this way ruins the investment within the story itself. There is no journey with a main character learning this twist. The twist of the last game was discovered together with Date and Aiba. The main characters of the second game don't even need to learn of the twist here because the twist was only against the player of this game to ONLY fool the player of the game.
I mean, Ryuki is playable for almost half the game and he's losing his mind. It would've had more impact to have the character losing his mind regain his sanity and with it reveal the game's twist. Then it'd be the player AND Ryuki experiencing it together. Instead, Ryuki is effectively written out for the latter portion of the game despite being the only playable character for the first part of it. So the player gets blueballed when it comes to learning what's going on with Ryuki.
Take from all of this what you will.
