zero escape

Here’s some good news if you’re a fan of the Zero Escape trilogy of games. (If you aren’t, then I’m assuming you haven’t played them yet.) Kotaro Uchikoshi, the creator of 999, Virtue’s Last Reward and Zero Time Dilemma, has announced his next project. It’s called AI: The Somnium Files, and the first teaser was revealed by Uchikoshi’s employer Spike Chunsoft today at Anime Expo. The center character of the game is a detective named Kaname Date with multicolored eyes. He was designed by Yusuke Kozaki (Fire Emblem Awakening)….and that’s all we know at this early date, aside from the target platforms (Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC). There’s no hint here as to whether AI: The Somnium Files will be anything like the Zero Escape games. Gameplay in the trilogy involves escaping deadly traps by searching rooms for clues to unlock doors — it very much resembles the “escape room” businesses so trendy these days. Uchikoshi was ahead of his time (Zero Time Dilemma was actually promoted by publisher