Current Events > Just finished AI: nirvanA Initiative *spoilers for AI and Zero Escape series*

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm fully aware this stream of consciousness ramble written below makes me look like this.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/4/7/AADAKwAADkED.jpg

.....This fuckin' game series is just a different branch in the Zero Escape series isn't it?

TC-Perge sure gave me Radical 6 vibes.

Then after finishing the game I started looking up plot points from Zero Escape that AI reminded me of but since it's been nearly a damn decade, and I saw the Free the Soul logo.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/5/2/AADAKwAADkEI.png

weeeeeeeeeeelp, that can be easily seen as a type of percent sign, eh?

The 'non canon' ending in VLR, where '?' is in Kyle's body. ? is intended to be the 'consciousness of the player'. Sure sounds like a 'Frayer' or what-not. Also seems like this was the most criticized part of ZTD that it never really touched on this side ending at all and K was said to be sent to 'our 2028' and not VLR's 2028...

Then there is this entire tweet chain of stuff about Kyle and ?.

https://twitter.com/Pain1227/status/762932061883736064

https://twitter.com/Uchikoshi_Eng/status/763340866693963778

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/4/8/AADAKwAADkEE.png

Also the timelines will work. The first Zero Escape game took place in 2027. The events of AI take place in 2020 and 2026.

......I'm setting myself up to be extremely disappointed by AI 3 either never existing, or not at all come close to this interesting... But I was extremely happy to see that the game did finally go through with the wild-ass 'the world is a simulation' thing.

Anyway, hi, I've spent way too long thinking about this. >_>

It's not just you. I've thought it entirely possible for the two series to be connected. I've yet to see anything that shows that AI can't take place in the same game universe as Zero Escape, anyways.

damn i wanna play virtues last reward, but steam has decided that my copy will do nothing but give errors now

Smiffwilm posted...

I've yet to see anything that shows that AI can't take place in the same game universe as Zero Escape, anyways.

I kept looking at various wiki pages for Zero Escape of things I was remembering a little. Nothing conflicted with AI and it is wildin.

Naysaspace posted...

damn i wanna play virtues last reward, but steam has decided that my copy will do nothing but give errors now

I need to replay the series. Maybe I'll get PS4 versions to get the trophies...

Oh shit the platinum for the Nonary Games on PS4 is the same as the trophy title for playing the 3rd class cabin thing in AI:NI @_@

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/6/3/AADAKwAADkET.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/6/4/AADAKwAADkEU.png

Also K's mask is a bonus item once you complete that.

*vibrates with conspiracy energy*

Sigma from VLR is literally me.

Apparently Date from Ai: Somnium is also me >_>

NeonOctopus posted...

Date from Ai: Somnium is also me >_>

The fuck u doin in here if you haven't played AI. Gonna get all the spoils. >:[

Lol It's on my backlog. I didn't read the OP

NeonOctopus posted...

Lol It's on my backlog. I didn't read the OP

A likely story.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/7/6/AADDXjAADkEg.jpg

While we're talking Somnium in two threads, since this one has a full spoiler warning, I'll drop my tier list.

Note: It's second-game-only and not factoring the first game in at all. Date would be an easy S if I were including the first game, and most of the cameo characters would be a lot higher, they just didn't do much in the plot in 2. (Which is honestly fine, I was okay with the focus being on the new cast)

I have no idea how you can indulge in this thinking after Zero Time Dilemma

Doe posted...

I have no idea how you can indulge in this thinking after Zero Time Dilemma

Because the game didn't leave me with blue balls on the whole 'world is a simulation' teasing. I fully expected there to be nothing there like AI 1 was after the short conspiracy discussion. =P

But the conspiracy was actually true all along :v

Nirvana initiative is pretty good but I liked the first one better. Just seemed like everything had more meaning and significance to it. I didnt really care for some of the new characters in nirvana initiative, and while the new somniums were more creative, they lacked relevance to the main plot.

although anything relating to amame is great

anyways overall nirvana initiative was a bit disappointing and didnt live up to the first game, but its not bad overall

I personally thought that the murder mystery was stronger in 2 (the first game's entire mystery becomes outrageously obvious once you figure out the body switching thing and there's just nothing else to really speculate about or further mysteries to solve after that point)

I also probably liked the second game's cast slightly better overall, though it's tough because I enjoyed both a lot.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I liked Kizuna.

One of the loading screens in the first AI when going to the Sunfish Pocket has an advertisement for 999 clearly visible next to the Sunfish Pocket sign, so I'm going with you just going wild with Uchikoshi putting references to the Zero Escape games in his later works.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Lien sucked at first, but he turned around pretty hard by the end. I liked him as a de-facto 'sidekick' for a lot of investigations, and he turned out to be pretty sweet even though his whole "I LOVE YOU KIZZYYYYYY" thing was awful for a while.

Gen was fantastic.

Amame was fantastic and was close to being a new character since she was pretty much nothing in AI1.

Komeji's entire plotline was great. He was a super tragic character.

Shoma grew on me a lot.

I'll admit that Kizuna was a little bit vanilla overall though.