The Japanese publisher Spike Chunsoft has just released a 1 minute 50-second character trailer for their upcoming mystery adventure title AI: The Somnium Files. You can check the video out to see for yourself below.
Set in a technologically advanced Tokyo in the near future, AI: The Somnium Files follows the story of detective Kaname Date from the Advanced Brain Investigation Section (ABIS) of the Tokyo metropolitan police department. Kaname Date is in the middle of investigating a slew of serial killings that has plagued the city. So far, the serial killer’s calling card for his murders is that the victims’ left eye has been gouged out, eerily similar to Kaname Date’s experiece wherein he also lost his left eye six years prior to the events of AI: The Somnium Files.
His main tool in solving the murders and getting the perpetrator behind bars is to access witnesses’ and suspects’ memories, sort of like the Black Mirror episode “Crocodile”. Ironically, the way he does this is through his artificial left eye, powered by an artificial intelligence named Aiba (Aiba being a pun on ‘eyeball’) unit connected to his consciousness.
The character trailer revealed a number of personalities that will be helping Kaname Date in his quest, such as the creator of Aiba, Pewter who also works at ABIS. High school student Iris Sagan, who is a YouTuber, a few of Date's co-workers at ABIS, and Date's boss (endearingly named “Boss”), are also present. As of the recent update, you can also check out the full trailer in English, which sheds more light on what the characters' roles are in the game.
AI: The Somnium Files is set to release for the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch on September 17 in North America, September 19 in Japan and September 20 in Europe. Currently, you can add it to your Steam wishlist, and will be available for PC worldwide on September 17.
Spike Chunsoft has been on a tear lately with their announcements regarding their visual novel and RPG titles such as Robotics;Notes ELITE which will release in 2020, and Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars, coming later this year.
