Trivia / AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative

• Content Leak:
  • Spike Chunsoft accidentally revealed the game's title during the "Nine Eyes TV" ARG with an URL leading to the game's website, mere days before its announcement.
  • The "Fray to Free!" video, which was meant to be discovered after the gameplay trailer was released, was found by a fan after they recreated the QR Code from a low resolution screenshot in a Famitsu scan.
  • An achievement list for the Xbox One version was posted a month before the game's release by popular achievement website Exophase, spoiling the majority of the game's story.
  • An image of the website for the Hidden Bats Alternate Reality Game was discovered before the start of the game, along with names and graphics of all the characters involved. Notably, Iris does not appear here — instead, another new character named "Phia Hanadate" is in her place.
• In Memoriam: Brad Venable is given one in Kagami's character file due to his his untimely death in 2021.
  "RIP Brad Venable. Unlike Kagami, your name will never be forgotten."
• The Other Darrin: Because of Brad Venable’s unexpected death in January 2021, Kagami is now voiced by Austin Lee Matthews.
• Posthumous Credit: Billy Kametz, who provided the voice for Tearer, passed away on June 9, 2022 (which is in the same month for when this game first got released).
  • The fact that Tearer himself is a Posthumous Character for the Present Day half of the game becomes Harsher in Hindsight in light of Billy's death, especially in the finale at the stadium where Tearer's prerecording laments he isn't going to be able to witness the launch of the Nirvana Initiative himself... an especially eerie coincidence for a game with Breaking the Fourth Wall as a central theme. Even moreso that they both died at the age of 35.
• Role Reprise: Almost all of the English voice actors from the first game reprise their roles for the sequel.
• Release Date Change: Much like the first game, it got delayed from Spring to June 24. It also got delayed to July 8 in the EU/Oceania.
• Shrug of God: Uchikoshi prefers to keep Gen’s age a secret.
• Swan Song: Billy Kametz's role as Tearer would be one of his final roles before his death in June 2022, alongside his role in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, which was released the same day.
• Word of God: According to Uchikoshi, the game's Central Theme is opposites. This is reflected with the Half Body Serial Killings, as well as Mizuki and Ryuki. The theme of love also makes a return, but with the theme of hate being introduced into the story as well.
• What Could Have Been:
  • There's an unused 3D model for Marco inside the game's files, implying that they were going to have a major role in the game at one point before being reduced to a minor character. Additionally, they also have an unused dance animation for both "Dance Mode" options in the bonus menu.
  • An unused, untextured room with a gigantic computer resembling an AI-Ball was also found in the game's files. However, it's actually a screenshot of the quantum computer from Zero Time Dilemma. It's possible that said computer was going to be reused like the Rhizome-9 suits from Virtue's Last Reward to serve as the Wadjet System, but nothing else about it is made clear.
  • One of the new locations that was originally going to be included in the sequel was Boss' house, but it was cut from the final game.
  • According to Uchikoshi, Komeji's original design was going to be pixelated to keep in line with his Minecraft-inspired look.
  • Apparently the AI-Balls were originally meant to change their gender to male at one point in the game, but the idea was scrapped. The only remnant of this idea is a concept art of male Aiba.