Dan Da Dan meets Mindhunter in this fresh, futuristic detective game

I’ve been a big fan of the AI: The Somnium Files series since its 2019 debut, and have been a hardcore Kaname Date stan for just as long. So, naturally, upon hearing about the third game in the series, I was hyped – doubly so to see my beloved’s name front and center, as it should be. But does it live up to my expectations? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out in this AI: The Somnium Files – No Sleep For Kaname Date review.

First, a bit of background. Developed and published by Spike Chunsoft (the company behind the Danganronpa games) and directed by Kotaro Uchikoshi of Zero Escape Fame, the AI: The Somnium Files series combines futuristic detective noir vibes with a wonderfully cheeky sense of humor. It also does a great job of balancing some heavy and emotional themes with comedy in a way that makes it feel akin to some of the best anime of all time.

The series so far consists of the original AI: The Somnium Files, followed by 2022’s AI: The Somnium Files – NirvanA Initiative, which focuses on two different characters outside of Date. Now, we’re stepping back into Date’s shoes, facing an even more whacky and wild case than before.

No Sleep For Kaname Date begins with a scene just as wild and ridiculous as I’d hoped. Date is running from a group of foreboding bodyguards in an underground metro station, narrowly escaping capture after unlocking his secret powers by picking up a dirty magazine. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, I think that sets the tone for it pretty well.

However, what follows is a few time jumps and more of Date’s signature memory issues, as you find yourself watching UFOs flying over Tokyo before you take control of Iris – an idol otherwise known as A-set or Tesa – who seems to have been captured by aliens. Not gonna lie, I wasn’t really expecting that. I also wasn’t expecting her to be wearing a bunny costume, but at this point, you’ve just gotta roll with it.

Apparently held captive by a weirdly cute reptilian girl, Iris learns that she’s stuck in a series of escape rooms and reaches out to Date and his AI companion Aiba (who also happens to be his partner and sentient eyeball) for assistance.

In a lot of ways, the story and setting are very similar to the previous games, only it leans heavier into Ota and Iris’ obsession with supernatural phenomena and conspiracy theories. While I do somewhat miss the darker themes and the shock of each murder in the previous games, this feels like a natural development of the characters and the world, and it really embraces the quirkiness that makes the Somnium Files series so unique.

And, as wild as the premise is, the game does a great job of introducing you to both the characters and mechanics here, providing a handy refresher for returning players and a solid initiation for newbies. I mean, I definitely recommend at least playing the first game before tackling this one – both to get to know the characters and world, and because it’s genuinely one of my favorite games of all time – but the use of tutorial boxes, tips, and journals really help you acclimatize. Plus, I promise it doesn’t make much more sense even with the context of the previous games. It’s just one of those situations where you’ve gotta sit back and enjoy the ride.

Following the series’ formula, gameplay is split into different sections. As Date, you visit a bunch of familiar locations from the first game in point-and-click style investigation segments, moving a cursor around to inspect different objects and talk to people as you attempt to unravel the mystery of Iris’ disappearance.

Once again, you have the occasional option to use Date’s thermal and X-ray vision (the latter of which sees his bizarre love of pelvises return), but you also have access to a new feature called Wink Psync. Similar to the normal Psync process from the previous games, Wink Psync uses Aiba’s abilities to give you a brief look into people’s heads. While it certainly has its uses, it’s mostly just a silly little novelty that lets Date’s perverte- I mean, unique personality shine through, and I love it.

There are also the Somnium sections, where Date uses the Psync system to enter a person of interest’s consciousness. Here, you take control of Aiba in a humanoid form, but you’re on a strict time limit as Date can only remain Psynced for a maximum of six minutes. Similar to entering a dream, the Psync levels are pretty otherworldly, with elements representative of different emotions and fragments of reality. When you’re standing still, time does too – but when you’re moving or completing actions, the clock starts ticking.

These sections are like 3D puzzle rooms, where you must balance your time allowance and tools known as ‘Timies’ to gather clues and release different mental locks, uncovering secrets and relevant information in the process. Psyncing is still very much the same as in the original game, with multiple points of interest and a great level of banter between Aiba and Date that helps break up the darker themes. However, the levels feel bigger and more developed than before, and there are some pretty tricky parts that really make you stop and think.

Finally, there are the escape segments, which are pretty much a blend of the other two sections. Here, you generally control Iris inside the reptilian girl’s escape room games, with Date, Aiba, and other friends helping you out along the way. You run around investigating different objects, solving a series of puzzles that become increasingly more difficult as you go.

Most of the puzzles feel really grand and pretty well-thought out, and I enjoy the gradual introduction of different mechanics to keep things fresh. There are certainly some moments where I found myself pretty stuck, too, but the game allows you to independently change the difficulty of the investigation, Somnium, and escape segments at any time. Dropping the difficulty allows for more hints and retries without any negative repercussions, which is very welcome – especially when you’re feeling particularly tired or groggy and just want to push on through.

On the same topic, No Sleep for Kaname Date continues the trend of offering a thorough log, file, and evaluation system that you can access at any time, summarizing all of your notes and the information you’ve gathered so far. The flowchart also returns, allowing you to freely hop between different sections of the game to try different approaches without losing your progress. The game also offers some great accessibility features, including tips that help you stay in the loop, tutorials that you can enlarge, skip, and return to at any time, and more.

Now, onto performance. In the lead-up to launch, I’ve been playing the original Switch version of the game, which naturally has its graphical limitations. It looks very similar to the first game, with some slight artifacting on the character headshots and the occasional mucky texture, and doesn’t really improve a lot upon the original, but boasts an overall clear and clean aesthetic. As I mentioned above, it also feels like the game steps up the scope and complexity of the environments in Somnium and escape sections, and it handles it well.

Load times are fast, frame rates are mostly stable, and it looks pretty decent all around, especially in handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch 2. I’m very much looking forward to trying out the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game as soon as I get the chance, and I’ll be updating this review to reflect my experience with it as soon as I get the chance.

The sound design of the game is as solid as ever, with great voice acting that feels very natural when characters interact and funky background music and sound effects that enhance the experience without getting in the way. I also love the visual designs in this game, and even the new characters fit perfectly with the world.

Overall, No Sleep For Kaname Date is a great new entry into what has become one of my favorite game series of all time. It’s a little sillier and lighter than the previous games in terms of subject matter and doesn’t do a whole lot to develop the series graphically or mechanically, but still feels in line with the series, giving us more of what we love. After all, sometimes more of the same thing is a good thing. If you’ve never played the series before and enjoy games like Master Detective Archives: Rain Code or anime like Dan Da Dan, I highly recommend checking it out.

Still got a hankering for some mysteries and puzzle solving? Check out our guides to the best detective games and the best puzzle games. We’ve also got a list of the best horror games if you miss the gruesome crime scenes of the New Cyclops Serial Killings or the Half Body Serial Killings. As for me, I’ll be heading off to Atami with Date any day now. I swear, it’s gonna happen at some point.