AI: The Somnium Files is a detective adventure that deals extensively with the unknown. The newest title in the series, No Sleep for Kaname Date, is the third game created, but it takes place between the other two titles in the series.
Game Name: No Sleep For Kaname Date: From AI The Somnium Files
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch (Reviewed but played via Nintendo Switch 2), Nintendo Switch 2, PC
Developer(s): Spike Chunsoft
Publisher(s): Spike Chunsoft
Release Date: July 25th, 2025
Price: $49.99
One month after the events of the first game AI: The Somnium Files, Iris gets kidnapped and taken by a UFO. She has become a participant in a deadly escape game. When asked the person who gets to be on a call with her to win the game, her answer is special agent Kaname Date. Now it is up to Kaname Date to help figure out how Iris landed on a UFO and where it is located to bring her back home.
Escaping Death
One of the main segments of gameplay in No Sleep for Kaname Date are the escape rooms. You will control Iris as you figure out the puzzles the mysterious Akemi has laid out for you. You will be able to move Iris throughout the area and examine and investigate areas of the rooms where you get trapped. There are number puzzles, shape puzzles, color puzzles, and logic puzzles throughout all of these rooms. You will also have to make sure you pay attention to the dialogue, as it can give you clues on the solutions.
Alongside the escape rooms, a staple from the series makes a return as Kaname Date can psync into the Somnium. The Somnium is when Kaname Date syncs his consciousness with another’s and can explore their consciousness like a dream state. He uses this in the game to figure out who is inside a mysterious pod. While in Somnium you have a limited amount of time before Date is forced out. If you don’t figure out the mystery, then you will have to restart it. Luckily, the game is generous with letting you have checkpoints throughout to choose from.
If you regret that one choice you made in the middle of your psync, you can just go back to before that choice and give yourself more time to finish the puzzle. Each action or choice you make while in the Somnium takes a predetermined amount of time. You can use special Timie actions that can cut down the time an action takes or even remove most of it completely. If you are starting to lag in time, it is useful to use your Timie resources and get further in the mystery.
Exploring As Kaname Date
Outside of the gameplay of Somnium and the escape games, Kaname Date gets to do some detective work. In detective mode, you will be able to look around the areas and maps of the game as well as talk to characters in the game. When the title is No Sleep for Kaname Date, they really mean he is always busy doing stuff even when all the other characters aren’t a part of the narrative. He does not get any sleep while he is focused on finding out where Iris is.
I was not expecting to get a dead end from pushing a button I found, since I am addicted to clicking on everything, but yes, you can get Date killed by not being smart during the detective work part of the game. Kaname Date will need to use the clues he finds from talking to people, x-raying things around the map, and just observing the terrain to find details about what happened to Iris. A new feature of this game compared to the other titles is wink-psyncing. If you wink-psync, you can get inside a person’s head and see their immediate thoughts on a situation. Especially helpful if they aren’t being up front with you.
From AI: The Somnium Files
I recently played through the first AI: The Somnium Files game to get myself prepared for this entry in the series and I have to say, they used a lot of things they learned from that game into this one. No Sleep for Kaname Date reuses a lot of the characters, locations and gameplay to tell a different story in the same world. I actually think it was smart to reuse a lot of these assets as that is what Kaname Date knows and deals with a lot on his jobs. Going to ABIS and seeing the changes that occur because of the events of the first game was also emotionally telling. Not seeing certain characters pop up because of what happened to them in the first game hits those who played the first game like a ton of bricks. Even with the same buildings and locales, you fully expect certain characters to appear, but they don’t because they are gone.
No Sleep for Kaname Date is the third game in the series but it takes place in between the other two games. That means the only required game you need to play is the first Ai: The Somnium Files. Though if you did play through the other game, Nirvana Initiative, there are still easter eggs you can find.
No Sleep for Kaname Date continues the trend in these games of being fantastic stories with mind-melting narratives. Getting from point A to point B is always a fun time, and the story does a great job of keeping a solid pace. Some of the puzzles I will admit I could get stuck on if I didn’t write down most of the clues you find in the escape game or the Somnium experience.
No Sleep For Kaname Date
Overall, if you are a fan of the AI: Somnium Files series, No Sleep For Kaname Date is another one you will want to put on your docket. I would recommend this game to fans of the series. If you are interested in the series, start out with the first game in the series AI: The Somnium Files. It is a game that is regularly on discount and currently on sale for $3.99 on Steam, and the PlayStation Store.
No Sleep for Kaname Date will release on July 25th, 2025, for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
Review Disclosure Statement: No Sleep For Kaname Date: From AI The Somnium Files was provided to us by Spike Chunsoft for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.
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Summary
No Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: The Somnium Files is a fun experience with tons of wacky times with Kaname Date. It also has some great storytelling.
Pros
- Voice Acting is great
- Digestible escape room sections with plenty of variety in gameplay
- Impacting decisions return from the previous games
Cons
- Would not recommend it to those who haven’t played the first game in the series.
- Hints don’t always help through the log. Write down all that you can to figure out the puzzles.
