Without spoilers how does this compare to the first game

[ripjaw345]

Title is self-explanatory, just curios on how this game compares to the first one.

[Redblaze27]

A lot of people seem to lean on the original being better for various reasons, but they mainly feel more satisfied with the mystery from the first game.

Personally I feel its around the same level but for different reasons.

[tipsyConfection]

Originally posted by Redblaze27:

A lot of people seem to lean on the original being better for various reasons, but they mainly feel more satisfied with the mystery from the first game.

A lot of people from the steam forums and 4chan (the latter also en masse drove towards steam forums as well to fuel the fires.), but not inside the Uchikoshi and AI community specifically, where the game is absolutely praised for being better than the original in every way. As an example of such, you can visit the Uchikoshi AI discord.

[Grimm Carrolls]

It's funny that people can point out the good qualities of the first game, but not really for the second. It's almost like the AI 2 just isn't really that good. Visionless rehashing.

[Lynfinity]

Originally posted by Smo Queed:

It's funny that people can point out the good qualities of the first game, but not really for the second.

Anyone can point out good qualities of the sequel if they actually liked it. It's just that, from the looks of it, quite a lot of people who prefer the original want to rub the "No, AI1 is objectively superior. End of story" statement in everyone's faces, for whatever reason.

Originally posted by Smo Queed:

It's almost like the AI 2 just isn't really that good.

If you take it way too seriously and intentionally look for something to complain about, AI1 isn't really that good either. S'all depends on one's own mindset.

[MaChao]

Personally, AI1's case felt a lot more imminent and personal.
AI2's is so outlandish that i find it hard to to get immersed.
The twist just feels too far fetched while the actual victims have no impact whatsoever.

Personally, i also don't like the protagonist / AI duo in AI2.
The AI is designed around a very obvious theme that never really comes into play.
Instead, she's just annoying, moody and aften shouts for no real reason.
The agent on the other hand almost feels sedated in comparison.
A charisma black hole completely devoid of energy except...for shouting anime quote every once in a while.

All in all, AI2 definitely feels like the weaker package.
It does plenty things much better, some much worse. But AI1 felt like a rounder experience.

[Llyes]

Counterpoint the "agent" is a fairly complex and interesting character, and the AI speaks in a very particular way because of that. The game offers a much more bittersweet resolution to each character's arc and this upsets some people. The twist is certainly ridiculous, but the game would not function in any way without it, and the sheer amount of detail that was put into the game to accomplish it is mind boggling. All in all I view it as the least flawed Uchikoshi game, even though I still like the first AI better.

[Banshee]

In my opinion, the scenario started as well as the first opus with very intriguing elements.
But the development on the other hand is very bad. A lot of scenaristic facilities and nonsenses, a less good humor (very repetitive with a lot of jokes from the first game).
Also more linear in the branches or in the resolution of the "Psyncs".
Besides, it's a bit of a pity this last point, because the "Psyncs" are very personal in relation to the subject, the graphic elements, the way of solving things.
I also regret that this new opus misses some elements of the background, characters or events would have deserved to be a little more worked and developed.

The first game wasn't necessarily perfect, but the investigation seemed more credible, the differents branches of the scenario were better done, the whole thing made sense.
Here, a lot of things don't make sense, so the player has to find an excuse to find one...
Honestly, there are really good ideas, the general idea and the main twist are interesting, but the execution is poorly done, there are too many flaws and not very believable elements that accumulate for it to be acceptable.
Much more than in the first one anyway.

[Israly]

I liked 2 way more than 1...but i loved 1 as well.

[UwU OwO]

1st was sadder but 2nd is better in every way

[Zaltys]

- The action scenes are much better choreographed.
- There's some twists that I found silly, but nowhere on the level of Zero Time Dilemma.
- Maybe a bit too long, the first one was better paced.
- Some very annoying somniums, but also some great ones.
- Didn't like the soundtrack as much this time around.
If the first one was 9, this one would be... hmm, 8.2. Certainly don't regret playing it.

[Matt]

First ones better; this one is still great however and worth your time

[Luquinhas]

Spoiler free for those on the fence, like I was before playing:

Story-wise, this game is a huge letdown compared to the first one. It retcons a lot of things, and the story is not meticulosly well written like the first one.

I would say that AI1 is a mystery story where everything and everyone ties together, while AI2 is a story about a few characters and everything is there for the sake of "mystery".

While in terms of story it's not even half as good as the first, the gameplay aspect is much better. Huge QOI improvement, better UI and The Somniums actually makes sense now.

Personaly, I miss Date. Normally I don't care about changing protagonists (I was looking forward to play with Mizuki and Ryuki), but Date is a strong part of the experience IMO and a big part of what makes the first game special.

So if you want a good story like the first one, be aware. But if you want more gameplay, than go for it,

But, even though I think AI2 is a bit disappointing, it was fun and enterteining. It's just not good as AI1, that's all.

[Llyes]

Originally posted by Luquinhas:

Spoiler free for those on the fence, like I was before playing:

Story-wise, this game is a huge letdown compared to the first one. It retcons a lot of things, and the story is not meticulosly well written like the first one.

I would say that AI1 is a mystery story where everything and everyone ties together, while AI2 is a story about a few characters and everything is there for the sake of "mystery".

While in terms of story it's not even half as good as the first, the gameplay aspect is much better. Huge QOI improvement, better UI and The Somniums actually makes sense now.

Personaly, I miss Date. Normally I don't care about changing protagonists (I was looking forward to play with Mizuki and Ryuki), but Date is a strong part of the experience IMO and a big part of what makes the first game special.

So if you want a good story like the first one, be aware. But if you want more gameplay, than go for it,

But, even though I think AI2 is a bit disappointing, it was fun and enterteining. It's just not good as AI1, that's all.

There's no retcons, and the attention to detail dwarfs the first one, though the game is much more dour and overall connects you to the characters less since they remain suspicious in their own endings.
There were several hours of Date, they wanted to focus on other characters.

[Luquinhas]

Originally posted by Llyes:

Originally posted by Luquinhas:

Spoiler free for those on the fence, like I was before playing:

Story-wise, this game is a huge letdown compared to the first one. It retcons a lot of things, and the story is not meticulosly well written like the first one.

I would say that AI1 is a mystery story where everything and everyone ties together, while AI2 is a story about a few characters and everything is there for the sake of "mystery".

While in terms of story it's not even half as good as the first, the gameplay aspect is much better. Huge QOI improvement, better UI and The Somniums actually makes sense now.

Personaly, I miss Date. Normally I don't care about changing protagonists (I was looking forward to play with Mizuki and Ryuki), but Date is a strong part of the experience IMO and a big part of what makes the first game special.

So if you want a good story like the first one, be aware. But if you want more gameplay, than go for it,

But, even though I think AI2 is a bit disappointing, it was fun and enterteining. It's just not good as AI1, that's all.

There's no retcons, and the attention to detail dwarfs the first one, though the game is much more dour and overall connects you to the characters less since they remain suspicious in their own endings.
There were several hours of Date, they wanted to focus on other characters.

Let's not discuss the story in this thread. It's only informative for people who is concerned about how the experience compares to the first one.

[Llyes]

Originally posted by Luquinhas:

Let's not discuss the story in this thread. It's only informative for people who is concerned about how the experience compares to the first one.

Says the person that was addressing the exact same points, bit of a weak excuse for not wanting to be contradicted.