Uchikoshi should not write sequels. It just seems like he has no interest or ability in writing a compelling sequel that is actually a reasonable continuation of a plot. 999 was a really good story, had a great twist that made sense in the context of the game, and best of all had a good ending. Then VLR came along and might as well have been it's own game, the world is different, any returning characters have had their personalities transplanted, and the game ends on a cliffhanger. The less said about ZTD the better really, but suffice it to say that returning characters once again have new personalities and despite supposedly being the resolution to VLR the plot has almost nothing to do with either of the previous 2 games.
Frankly, I had basically given up on him as a writer after ZTD, but then he knocked it out of the park with AI: The Somnium Files. The game was a fantastic mix of silly and serious, the characters were great, the twist made all the pieces of plot fall into place without being ridiculous or unbelievable, and the big dance number out of nowhere at the end made it into one of my favorite endings to a video game ever. However, with the release of Nirvana Initiative it's clear the cycle is beginning again. Now AINI does have a few advantages over VLR, namely that it actually has an ending, and it also is more closely related to its predecessor which is a double edged sword. Now I'm going to take this opportunity to rant about AINI for a long while.
First off, much has already been said about the decision to make AINI spoiler free. Obviously this was a huge detriment to a story that ostensibly continued directly from the conclusion of the last game. Most notably all the character development that Date and Mizuki underwent in the previous game has been erased. Date is once again a perverted man-child, despite the fact that much of his horniness was stated to be a side effect of the drugs used to normalize Saito's body. Once he was back in his own body at the end he seemed much more stable. But all that is gone and he's wearing... a mask... of a serial killers body... for the ladies... Man, who thought that was a good idea, seriously? Anyway, I don't know why they even did it because he's barely even in the game anyway.
Mizuki is just Mizuki, except there's 2 of her now. She doesn't undergo any development, unless you consider acquiring a clone development. Both Mizukis act interchangeably despite living radically different lives. I guess it's nature over nurture as far as AI is concerned. Also, it's weird but Mizuki tends to act more like Date now that she's the protagonist, especially when commenting about the environment. Actually, so does Ryuki. It's like there's this 'protagonist' trait that they all acquire and end up saying the same stupid stuff about sofas or whatever. Kind of sloppy writing. Boss, Pewter, Iris, Hitomi, Ota, and So also briefly make appearances, but contribute almost nothing
The game in general cribs too much from the last game. Jokes that were funny in the first game are retread ad nauseam, like Kagami and Atami. Kisuna is basically Iris 2.0 complete with her own song and dance and fanatical admirer. And you know, as much as I loved the dance number in the first game, when you do it a second time it just doesn't feel special (though I do appreciate they remembered to make a separate animation for Hitomi and her arm). Also, Invincible Rainbow Arrow was the better song, fight me. The villain is once again an illegitimate child of So. That makes the world feel small and kind of silly.
Now let's talk about the twist. The twist is stupid, straight up. Second worst out of all of Uchikoshi's games I've played (VLR is a near third, mind). First it's a twist for the sake of having a twist. It has no relation to the plot or characters or anything. See, in the first game there are a ton of details of the mystery that just don't seem to work. The prime suspect keeps getting killed, and nothing fits. Then, you learn the twist, the body swapping ability of the psync machine, and everything falls into place. You re-evaluate everything you know and suddenly it makes sense. This twist is nothing like that. The mysteries that could not be resolved were only mysteries because the game was lying to you. It's a twist for the player only, not the characters. Well you got me Uchikoshi. I had assumed that when characters suddenly referred to Komeji as only being dead 3 days or having recent entries in their journal about Chikara it was sloppy writing or a translation error, but you planned it the whole time. Congratulations. It's still fricking stupid! What, nobody changed their clothes, or hair, or painted the walls, or rearranged the furniture, or aged, or did anything for six years?! Mizuki Kurunushi looks, dresses, talks, and acts exactly as Mizuki Date, despite living completely different lives? They even drive identical rocket powered scooters? Yeah right, and nobody ever directly mentioned the old man in the wheel chair either, you bloody cheater. Also, I saw the 'Q head', "nobody ever called him Q" my foot.
The other twist about simulation theory is pretty dumb too, but doesn't really require much discussion. The world is a simulation you say... almost like, I'm playing a video game and it's all fictional. Yeah, I was trying to ignore that fact and get into the story, thanks for breaking the illusion.
Tearer is kind of a bust as well. He acts all omniscient, like he's got a plan for every eventuality, and he's working toward some big important goal. He effortlessly hacks Tama and Wadjet Eye. He's got hundreds of nameless fanatics ready to throw their lives away at his command. Then he gets punked out by a mermaid with a wrench. Like, come on, I thought you were supposed to be smart? You invite the girl who's father you murdered over to see your secret lab and then turn your back on her? What did you think was going to happen, idiot? How did he survive without his organs anyway? Like a kidney, ok, and some skin, sure, but they were harvesting his organs for a decade! There aren't that many you can live without, they don't grow back either. Also, what about Jin's bone structure? Just because you take someone's skin doesn't mean you'll look like them, or did they take half of Uru's bones too?
I guess the last thing I want to talk about is Gen and Amame's ending. This is something that really makes ABIS look like a slapdash organization. Mizuki is close friends with most of the people connected to this investigation, but especially with Gen and Amame. You don't let people investigate their close friends and relatives, especially not a teenager. This case should have been handed over to one of the other psyncers for obvious reasons. But it's not, and Mizuki realizes that Gen and Amame have been acting really suspicious the entire game, and finally calls them on it. Only for them to do a runner, and her to let them go. Then Boss, realizing what a sham this has all been, calls in back up to make the arrest, only for the game to suddenly act like she's betraying everyone. Dude, she's doing her job, there is (half) a body in Gen's freezer! This is grounds for arrest! But instead both Date and Mizuki are suddenly fighting the police, and I'm just sitting there thinking "what the heck is going on?!" This is only made worse when we find out in the true ending that, yes, Amame is a murderer, as suspicious as she seemed, and it was entirely justifiable to arrest her. But nobody in ABIS seems to care much for making arrests. Nobody ever arrests the hundreds of goons that make up the interminable action scenes (I swear the action scenes weren't this numerous or tedious in the first game), and rather than bringing Tearer (The Killer!) back to headquarters while they have him unconscious, they bring him to warehouse in the middle of nowhere to do the psync and then lose him! Frankly, it's shoddy work like this that makes me lose all respect for this organization. Also, kind of tangential, but I thought it was really weird that it was a big shock to Mizuki that Shoma and Amame were siblings. Like, for how long they've all been friends and how important family is to Amame, you'd think it would have come up.
Anyway, all this is to say that I thought the first game was a lot better and that Uchikoshi should stick to writing one shots. I know that franchises are a lot more profitable, but sequels are not where his talents lie.
