AI: The Somnium Files. 8 visual novel games with the best story

AI: The Somnium Files perfectly combines visual novel and detective adventure. Despite the dialogues kept entirely in the graphic convention of a novel, the game differs significantly from this genre in all other elements. In the areas available to us, we can move freely and click the objects to interact with them. What's more, thanks to technological advances that contributed to the rapid development of AI, we can explore the memories of other heroes. These sequences are set completely in the convention of adventure games with a small, stress factor in the form of a timer – when exploring memories, you should hasten so that they aren't damaged.

In the game, we play the role of a detective who's accompanied in his adventures with an artificial eye. It not only allows him to see what's difficult for an ordinary person to see, but also has artificial intelligence, so we can talk to it as to any other hero; he also often helps us in trouble. As an investigator, with the constant companion safely placed in the eye socket, we solve the mystery of a serial killer menacing Tokyo. The crime story continues throughout the game, which is full of twists and alternative versions of events. We can freely jump between the scenes from the game menu to learn about all the possibilities and paths. In June 2022, this production received a continuation subtitled nirvanA Initiative, in which we play the role of a young heroine known from the first part to investigate further cases.

1. AI: The Somnium Files in our encyclopedia