During a Nintendo Direct broadcast in late March, fans of theAI: The Somnium Filesseries were surprised by the announcement of a new game:No Sleep for Kaname Date. No Sleepis the third game published in Spike Chunsoft’s puzzle mystery series, following the originalAI: The Somnium Filesin 2019 andAI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiativein 2022. However, it will not be the third game in the timeline. Instead,No Sleep for Kaname Dateis a “mid-quel,” taking place between the two games. It also may reference “Hidden Bats,” an online ARG run by Spike Chunsoft prior tonirvanA Initiative’slaunch.
No Sleep For Kaname DateTakes Place Between The First Two Games
A press release from publisher Spike Chunsoft revealed thatNo Sleep for Kaname Datewill take place “one day after the New Cyclops Serial Killings was resolved.” The New Cyclops Serial Killings is the case investigated by Date inthe originalAI: The Somnium Files, in which multiple victims were found with their eyes removed. The titleNo Sleep For Kaname Datemay reference the fact that Date has to begin investigating a new case one day after closing his previous assignment.
InNo Sleep for Kaname Date,the idol Iris Sagan, also known as A-set, finds herself kidnapped by a UFO and forced to participate in an escape game that seems to take place in space. Date must team up with his AI-ball partner Aiba to find and rescue Iris in time. The game will include both the return of Somniums, puzzle segments in which Date explores a person’s memories and mental landscape to uncover secrets, and the addition of escape room-like segments similar to those featured in series director Kotaro Uchikoshi’s previousZero Escapegames.
It Is Unclear If nirvanA Initiative Characters Will Appear
AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiativetakes place in two timelines: one happens a few months after the events of the first game and the other happens six years later. BecauseNo Sleeptakes place between the two games, characters from the second game, such as new protagonist Kuruto Ryuki and his AI-Ball Tama, may not appear. However, one keynirvanA Initiativecharacter, the waitress Amame Doi, appeared in the first trailer forNo Sleep for Kaname Date,hinting that there may be some connection to the second game.
No Sleep For Kaname DateMay Cover The Events of The “Hidden Bats” ARG
“Hidden Bats"was an alternate reality game (ARG) conducted over Twitter in early 2022, with the goal of generating hype fornirvanA Initiative.Three pairs of characters were kidnapped by a mysterious organization, and forced to solve puzzles with the help of Twitter users. Ultimately, Twitter users participating in the game got to determine whether each character lived or died. Iris was part of the third pair of kidnapped individuals, leading fans to theorize thatNo Sleep For Kaname Datemight cover these events.
Fans were somewhat surprised when the events of “Hidden Bats” were not referenced duringnirvanA Initiative,and theorized that it may have been because Twitter users voted to kill returning character Iris, who was already confirmed to appear in the game.No Sleep for Kaname Date’splace in the timeline and inclusion of escape room-themed puzzles hint that “Hidden Bats” might actually have happened in-universe after all. The ARG featured a dark story, with multiple characters dying in a “deadly game” that was compared to theDanganronpaseriesor theSawmovies, so it would be fascinating to see in game form if it is indeed the subject ofNo Sleep For Kaname Date.
