Developed and Published By: Spike Chunsoft
Categories: Adventure, Action
Release Date: 07.25.25
Price: $39.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review
Before this year, I’ve had very little experience with the Somnium Files games because I was never a fan of visual novels. Because of that, my only experience with the franchise was watching Sean Chiplock stream the game on his Twitch.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have played No Sleep. But that changed a few months ago when I played another game by Kotaro Uchikoshi. The game in question is The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-, and it quickly became my Game of the Year candidate.
The reason I loved it so much was because of its phenomenal story, and I later learned that many of the scenarios were written by Uchikoshi. So when I was offered the chance to play No Sleep For Kaname Date, I took it because I wanted to see what his other stories were really like.
The game takes place between the original and its sequel and features two protagonists in Kaname Date and Iris. Right at the start, Iris is kidnapped by aliens and forced to participate in a series of escape rooms. These escape room segments are pretty simple and straightforward but can get confusing because there will be moments where it’s simply not obvious about what you’re supposed to do next.
Depending on the difficulty mode you’re playing on, you’re allowed a number of hints, but I found that these ran out quickly. If it’s too hard for you, there’s a barebones story progression mode that will straight up tell you what to do if you spend too much time on a specific puzzle. I thought it was a nice touch because I suck at escape rooms in general.
When you’re playing as Date, you’re trying to figure out the truth behind Iris’ kidnapping through your average point and click style adventure and with somnium segments. The two sides come together to tell a fairly decent story that I thought was pretty intriguing.
Just like with Hundred Line and other works by Uchikoshi, the game has many branching paths. Once you’ve beaten the game, it’s advised to go back and revisit sections to explore other endings. I love games that play like this, and it’s also an extra bang for your buck because I was able to get a few extra hours of content by going through additional mysteries.
I’m personally not a big fan of escape rooms. I love puzzles and games that make you think, but escape rooms are usually too smart or top slow for my liking. I was tolerant of them here because they’re so integral to the story and because of the mode that makes them easy.
Just like with Hundred Line, the gameplay was never my real reason for playing. I was constantly intrigued by the story, characters, and world. That’s what kept me going. Because of my experiences with visual novels and escape rooms, I didn’t find the game to be inherently fun, but it was a brilliant storytelling experience. It’s a solid experience if you play the regular Switch version as well.
9/10
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