rionaleonhart | Tes... Testicle... Testicle Videos. Yeah, Testicle Videos.

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Tes... Testicle... Testicle Videos. Yeah, Testicle Videos.

I've just got my first ending in AI: The Somnium Files: nirvanA Initiative, so it seems a good time to gather my thoughts on this bizarre game so far!

A text Ginger sent to our household chat shortly after Tem and I started playing this game:

Ginger: All I just heard from the lounge was Riona and Tem saying in unison 'eyeball tamagotchi'.

Why does this game have a feature where you raise a tamagotchi of an eyeball? I have no idea, but I'm delighted.

When I opened the in-game menu, a pop-up that said 'Worried about life?' appeared. I said yes, and the protagonist's AI eyeball tried to give us therapy.

And my more spoilery thoughts are beneath the cut! I'm up to... hmm, I'm not confident on the names of the characters, and I don't want to look them up in case I get spoiled. The Shoma and Komeji ending? The kid and his disconcertingly square-headed comedian father.

When we started this game, it immediately hurled us into a quiz show that asked me, the player, whether I'd played the first game, so it knew whether it could include spoilery material. I said yes, truthfully. It quizzed me about a relatively minor detail from that game, which I got wrong, and then decided it didn't believe me. I had to restart the game so I wouldn't miss out on any content.

I can't believe Date now wears a mask of the murderer who removed his eye and stole his body. I realise it's so this game can include Date without spoiling that particular revelation. But it's still ludicrous.

(Also, if this is a world with masks that can perfectly mimic human faces, I feel Gen should invest in something less alarming than his current outfit.)

Have Naix realised they're in a videogame? Is their goal to break out of the videogame?

Ryuki doesn't seem particularly horny, but all the other characters treat him like he must surely be extremely horny, because even the game itself can't comprehend the idea of a non-horny Uchikoshi protagonist.

I DON'T THINK YOU CAN ATTACH HALF A CORPSE TO A BLACKBOARD BY REMOVING ITS INTERNAL ORGANS AND USING IT LIKE A SUCTION CUP

Riona: What do you think the odds are that Tama's going to say something horny when I examine this fountain?
Tem: Extremely high.
(I examine the fountain)
Tama: Wow, it's spurting out so vigorously.

You can't demote Ryuki; he had his eye surgically removed for this job! It really seems like he should be able to sue in that situation.

I can't believe there's a whole involved backstory for how Date gained his porn-related superpowers by having a near-death experience the first time he saw a porno mag.

Here are my predictions so far, based largely on the sort of magnificent bullshit I've come to expect from Uchikoshi games:

- Ryuki is not the twin he believes himself to be.
- The masked woman is Mizuki from the future.
- Date's going to get cut in half in the six-years-ago timeframe.
- Naix are right: this world is a simulation, specifically a videogame, specifically AI: The Somnium Files: nirvanA Initiative.

Of course, there's a fair chance I'm wrong on all these counts and the truth is something much stupider. I'm looking forward to finding out.

Rei: Why do I always walk in during the weird sex parts of your game?
Tem: Because this game is entirely composed of weird sex parts.

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This is a lot of eyeball removal! And apparently a tamagotchi of one?

I DON'T THINK YOU CAN ATTACH HALF A CORPSE TO A BLACKBOARD BY REMOVING ITS INTERNAL ORGANS AND USING IT LIKE A SUCTION CUP

I think that doesn’t sound likely to actually work.

I can't believe there's a whole involved backstory for how Date gained his porn-related superpowers by having a near-death experience the first time he saw a porno mag.

…I have questions.

If I do well at deciphering someone's dreams in the game or raising my eyeball tamagotchi, I'm rewarded with several hundred eyeballs, which I can use as currency to buy clothes for my AI eyeball.

Date discovered a porn magazine when he was in third grade. While he was flicking through it, he was bitten by a venomous snake and passed out.

Date: They found me out there the next morning. I was on the verge of death for three days and three nights, but I managed to pull through. And that is how I acquired my porno mag powers.
Ryuki: You mean it was a side effect from the snake venom...?
Date: No... it was more of a mental thing. I had a near-death experience immediately after experiencing a porno mag for the first time! As a result, Eros and Thanatos inside me... Libido and Destrudo... they merged together in total harmony. In other words, I've come to be acutely aware of death whenever I get aroused. To put it in even simpler terms... I'm pushed to the verge of death whenever I see a porno mag. You know how humans can exert tremendous power in life-or-death situations? It's because the adrenaline triggers a fight-or-flight response. The same thing happens when I see a porno mag.

Okay, I apparently vastly underestimated the extent to which the game is about eyeballs.

…Date, I think you may have some slight issues when it comes to your feelings about sex.

(Also, if you wanted to do fic about the sex life of a guy who, whenever he gets aroused, is both pushed to the verge of death and filled with intense physical power, I’d read that.)

Someone put this full scene riona quoted from on youtube because of course they did, so if you wanted to see it and be more baffled (he goes on about it for a bit longer than quoted), it's here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGVwhgTbnkU

Greg Chun voice acting it so seriously is rather funny.

Thank you! That is wonderfully strange! And I love his seriousness in saying “And that is how I acquired my porno mag powers.”

ETA: “That is the reason I continue to climb the mountain known as pornography” THIS IS AMAZING, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Edited 2022-08-28 13:28 (UTC)

This game sounds like a hentai author’s fever dream.

I think that's the best description I've heard of a game that largely defies description.

When I opened the in-game menu, a pop-up that said 'Worried about life?' appeared. I said yes, and the protagonist's AI eyeball tried to give us therapy.

I love this for the entirely meta reason that it suggests that ABIS looked at their history of hiring agents and then went "Hmm, yeah, we probably need a therapy app. Surely all of our problems can be resolved with therapy."

You got the names correct! That was also my first route. I liked Komeji a lot. He is not when I expected from his design, lol.

Interesting, who did you put for the first question on your first run through? It is a very minor detail which is quite funny when that question is harder to answer than the more blatant "who was the killer?" spoiler. I also got the first question wrong, but the game took pity on me and let me have another try because I was close enough. (If you're curious, I put Moma. The game's response was something along the lines of "you're right, Moma did get shot - but in the stomach, not in the leg! Understandable mistake to make though, so have another go.")

I realise it's so this game can include Date without spoiling that particular revelation.

A lot of people don't seem to realise this or think the spoiler mode thing should toggle which model Date should have. Can you imagine the confusion that would cause? ("Hey, I saw someone else play this game, and that was a completely different guy!") Having said that, as hilariously stupid as it is, that was Date's body for six years, and he had no memories prior to that. It's probably still a considerably more familiar face to Date (and I can't remember if the first game ever clarified to what degree Date's memories returned - all of them, or just some?).

(Also, if this is a world with masks that can perfectly mimic human faces, I feel Gen should invest in something less alarming than his current outfit.)

Maybe Gen just wants to shove people away so the best solution is A TERRIFYING CLOWN MASK OR SOMETHING.

I DON'T THINK YOU CAN ATTACH HALF A CORPSE TO A BLACKBOARD BY REMOVING ITS INTERNAL ORGANS AND USING IT LIKE A SUCTION CUP

HOW DO YOU KNOW? HAVE YOU TRIED? YOU CAN'T DISPROVE IT IF YOU NEVER TRY. :p

You can't demote Ryuki; he had his eye surgically removed for this job! It really seems like he should be able to sue in that situation.

The real question is whether or not they'd take Tama back or if she'd also be fired and could stay with him as, like you say, he had his eye removed - he'd need a replacement, and I'm sure ABIS wouldn't want their shady eye removal practises being exposed.

I am enjoying your commentary and look forward to seeing how it evolves and to having a chat about some other stuff when you are at appropriate points. (This is a bit easier to comment on the previous game as this game is more linear in its approach to branches, as you may have noticed. There are some you can do in whatever order - like your Shoma and Komeji branch, you could have gone straight down the other route - but some of the branches you need information from one branch to go down the other.)

-timydamonkey

ABIS looked at their history of hiring agents and then went "Hmm, yeah, we probably need a therapy app. Surely all of our problems can be resolved with therapy."

Pfft, yes, that's probably exactly how it went.

I liked Komeji a lot. He is not when I expected from his design, lol.

I really wasn't expecting the guy with the big square head to be involved in so many serious, dramatic scenes! I suppose Ota's parents also had unusual designs but serious stories in the first game.

Interesting, who did you put for the first question on your first run through?

Tem looked up the answer and said 'Saito', not having realised xe had actually stumbled across the answer to the second question, so I entered that.

Having said that, as hilariously stupid as it is, that was Date's body for six years, and he had no memories prior to that.

It does make sense that he'd identify with that face! But, at the same time, I might hesitate to wear a mask of the guy who shot my adoptive daughter when I'm around her.

Maybe Gen just wants to shove people away so the best solution is A TERRIFYING CLOWN MASK OR SOMETHING.

Well, he's evidently not that good at shoving people away if he and Date are so close they've seen each other's buttholes.

I was wondering whether he'd be allowed to keep Tama, too. She seems like valuable equipment, but you can't just leave him eyeless! This whole demotion proposal is clearly a bad idea.

Yeah! His voice acting is good, too. The original AI game also had a strong dub, so I'm glad to see they kept this up. Some of the more minor characters are a bit one note, but I like the range that a lot of the characters in the AI games get to show. Maybe that's why the voice acting sounds good - because the actors are getting to flex their range and a bit of complexity. It's not equal for every character depending on when and where and how they pop up in the story, but I think it's nice.

Speaking of voice acting, I was surprised to see that Kizuna (Mizuki's friend who sings, if you've forgotten - I'm not sure if you'll have seen her since your very early game sessions pre-covid) is voiced by amalee (or "leeandlie" on youtube) who does a lot of anime song covers on youtube. I knew the voice sounded familiar!

Ah, that makes sense - I can understand why Tem may have got that mixed up! (And it's such a minor detail that even though I would count myself as knowing the first AI very well, I didn't remember it.)

I might hesitate to wear a mask of the guy who shot my adoptive daughter when I'm around her.

I can totally buy this never occurring to Date. Heart in the right place, but emotionally sensitive, he is not!

Well, he's evidently not that good at shoving people away if he and Date are so close they've seen each other's buttholes.

The only other friend we heard of Date's before this game is Renju. Maybe after the terrible parenting of Mizuki aspect he decided to get better friends and TERRIFYING MASK was a step up in the world.

-timydamonkey

i'm not reading the spoilery thoughts because i'm not very far into AI:NI (my brother and i were playing it together when it came out, but both of us have gotten distracted in the intervening months), but the disconcertingly square-headed comedian haunts me. why is his head a cube? is he from Minecraft? uchikoshi, why ._.

Both Rei and Ginger independently asked why we were talking to a Minecraft character. Maybe he escaped from Iris's Somnium in the first game.

ahaha, that's probably as good an explanation as any we're going to get xD

And now I kind of want to play this and the previous one.

They're good fun! If you enjoy twisty mysteries that are frequently absolutely ridiculous, it's definitely worth picking up AI: The Somnium Files.

When we started this game, it immediately hurled us into a quiz show that asked me, the player, whether I'd played the first game, so it knew whether it could include spoilery material. I said yes, truthfully. It quizzed me about a relatively minor detail from that game, which I got wrong, and then decided it didn't believe me. I had to restart the game so I wouldn't miss out on any content.

ok i have never heard of this game before, but this alone kinda makes me wanna try it. that's such an amazingly trolly lil opening :P

I feel this game is trolling us at all times, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Its predecessor, AI: The Somnium Files, is also magnificently ridiculous. It's actually how Tem and I started our tradition of playing games together, because Tem saw me playing it and went 'Please don't play any further without me; I desperately have to know what bullshit happens next.' If you play it, I'm definitely going to want to hear about the experience.

RIONA IF YOU CONVINCE ME TO PLAY YET ANOTHER RIDICULOUS GAME I WILL—

—have an excellent time, in all likelihood, 13 Sentinels was fun as heck :P putting this one somewhere on my list, lol

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