Game Review: Yume Nikki
Yume Nikki is a game made using RPGMaker 2003 in 2004 by Kikiyama with a pretty large cult following. You play as Madotsuki, a hikkikomori who refuses to leave her apartment. There’s not much to do in her room, but once you fall asleep the fun begins. You travel through Madotsuki’s acid trip dreams to collect various effects, such as a bicycle and a knife.
90% of the fun of Yume Nikki is that nothing is linear. You could explore one area for hours only to find something you’ve never encountered out of the blue. Most of the Effects you collect throughout the game serve no real purpose, such as the various lengths of hair you can obtain, but actually getting to them is the fun part.
Once you enter the dream world you are faced with 12 doors to choose from. Each door leads to a seperate world with any number of effects and NPCs. Nothing in the game is out to kill you (though some NPCs send you to a dead-end area, forcing you to wake up and restart the world), and you’re not really out to kill anyone (but you can). It plays like your ordinary adventure game, except with more 5-armed girls and oozing walls. After you’ve obtained the effects from the world, you wake up (via the 9 key), and you save the game at your desk, presumably writing in your Dream Diary.
You pretty much need to rely on landmarks to get through the worlds. Everything loops and often times you find yourself back at the beginning or just lost in a mess of nowhere/neon colours. The creatures and NPCs in the game are often times oozing or crying or just generally really gross looking. You can kill them (which is deliciously fun), and sometimes get money that you can use in vending machines hidden around the worlds.
It’s hard to properly review this because it’s so open to personal interpretation. Yume Nikki is generally creepy at some points, but I think it’s more psychologically scary then anything. Nothing really jumps out at you and the music is very ambient, but sometimes you discover things that are more then a little eerie (ie: Uboa) and weird. There’s rooms dedicated entirely to monsters that don’t harm you at all, or hidden rooms with a pole rubbing Pacman ghost. It’s one of those games where using an FAQ takes out most of the fun: you NEED to explore this game to enjoy it. Sometimes even just reentering an area can change what’s inside. It’s really not a game for people with little to no patience. Getting to a lot of the effects takes a lot of time and searching with the only reward being the things you find along the way.
For further information and game play, there’s a great Let’s Play of the game on Youtube located here.
I tried this game and I definitely have to agree. It’s got nothing particularly scary, but the game’s entire atmosphere is just downright creepy. Your room is forever dark, and every room you go into has some really crazy effects that just keep nagging at you. I couldn’t help but have this feeling that something’s going to jump at me at any given time. Unfortunately, I’m not really the patient type so… >_>
Ah, me too. Playing the game in the middle of the afternoon was a little lacklustre, but playing at night it was like, “oh shit if I don’t close my door NOW something is going to burst through the tiny crack and bite my head off. Or just wave it’s five arms at me.”
That’s the downfall to this game, though, that it can only truly be explored by the patient. :(
insiteful post! I think that assists me well. Answers a few concerns for me. TY!
Has anyone here ever tried Evony? I suggest checking it out for anyone who wants to play something different, it’s free and will keep you happy for quite a long time. I found a link that gives you some extra start up money when you sign up which helps greatly for newbies so go through that if you want to try it out. Hope you guys enjoy it.