Developer Spike Chunsoft has debuted a new trailer for its neo-noir detective game AI: The Somnium Files at GDC and announced a 25th July release date. The video above gives a first look at gameplay, although it's still a little vague on the specifics.
You play as detective Kaname Date hunting a serial killer in near-future Tokyo. The bleak trailer doesn't give us much to go on, giving us a look at the characters and highlighting a creepy amusement park and a surreal polar bear, but leaving plenty of room for plot twists and intrigue - par for the course for Zero Escape writer/director Kotaro Uchikoshi.
Here's a taster of the story from the game's official blurb:
One rainy night in November, a woman's body is found at an abandoned theme park, mounted on a merry-go-round horse. She had been stabbed repeatedly, and her left eye was gouged out.
Kaname Date of the Metropolitan Police Department arrives on the scene. He recognizes the woman. Suddenly, he hears a noise from inside the merry-go-round.
He breaks into the merry-go-round's central column to find a young girl. And in her hands, she grips a bloody ice pick...
It all looks very surreal and moody, that's for sure. Those characters look great, too, which makes sense; their design comes courtesy of Yusuke Kozaki of No More Heroes and Fire Emblem: Awakening fame.
Details of a special edition - sorry, Special Agent Edition - for both Switch and PS4 were also released. It will include the following:
A-set Acrylic Stand - Approx. 6 inches tall
Outer Box - Original Artwork by character design Yusuke Kozaki
THOUGHTS REMaiN BELOW Artbook - 30+ pages of sketches and concept art
REVERIES IN THE RaiN Soundtrack
A-set's #1 Fan Stickers - 3 vinyl stickers
AI: The Somnium Files for Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 4
Looks nice, although 'outer box' is something of a given when buying physical (we're kidding - we know it's a special extra sleeve with bespoke artwork). If it takes your fancy, the Special Agent Edition will set you back $89.99.
Not much to go on, but what are your thoughts on the trailer and this special edition? Will you be investigating this come July? Let us know below.
Comments 12
Can't wait for this. Absolutely loved Zero Escape so I trust in Uchikoshi to deliver on what appears to be another hit.
I’m so pumped. I didn’t expect a new Uchikoshi game so soon!
Can't wait! Love his games!
My thoughts mirror the previous three folks. I loved Zero Escape to death and I can't wait for Uchikoshi's next wild ride.
This is gonna be good. Hmmmm......Switch or PS4? Can't decide.
Wish it was coming to Vita.
Can't wait for some zero escape like story.
Watched all of the A-set videos yesterday since I never watched any after the first two. I follow Uchikoshi on Twitter so I knew new information would be coming during GDC so I wanted to catch up beforehand.
The game is coming sooner than I expected. I hope it's as good as Zero Escape games. Animations don't seem to be quite as stiff as in Zero Time Dilemma. A-set videos had a lot of variety when it came to animation but it was kind of choppy at times. Also, the lip syncing in those videos is almost nonexistent. It doesn't sync to English and I doubt it works much better in Japanese. I hope they put more effort into mouth movement in the actual game. It's no deal breaker by any mean but it would be nice if it were bit more natural.
Is that date for a western release or a Japanese release?
Thats some god awful generic voice acting
@Yasume It releases on the same date worldwide.
@getyourak Seems fine to me. Sometimes "awful" voice acting has a charm to it, depending on the game.
@dartmonkey
Please could you or another NL staff member find out when / if this will be available to pre-order in the U.K and from where. I'm getting bored of checking amazon.co.uk every day! Thanks very much.
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