Game: Yume Nikki
Platform: PC
Producer: Kikiyama
Release Date: 2004
Yume Nikki (literally translated as Dream Diary) is an independently produced game made with RPGmaker. The aim of the game is to collect all of the effects around the map in order to view the ending, although perhaps that's an oversimplification. While that is essentially the overarching goal, the experience and atmosphere the game delivers is far richer and deeper than the goal would suggest. The player begins as a hikikomori (a shut-in) girl called Madotsuki, who refuses to leave her room. All she is able to do is go onto her balcony, play a minigame on her SNES or sleep.
As the title would suggest, the main portion of the game is accessed via sleep, and dreams. Once the Madotsuki climbs into bed and falls asleep, the player is transported to what looks like her room, once again. However on closer inspection the television has only a test card on it, and the room is not quite the same. Attempting to leave the room this time will take the player to the hub world, the centre of the game universe.
In the hub world there are 12 doors, each leading to a different area. These areas are varied in design, and things that can be found in them. The backgrounds in many of the levels are strange almost tribal patterns which move independently to Madotsuki, some of them being huge pictures depicting creatures and faces. The levels are large and continuous, going off one side of the level will find Madotsuki at the opposite side, which makes navigation intentionally more haphazard with the need to use waypoints in the scenery to make sure the player doesn't get lost.
In this game however, getting lost isn't necessarily a bad thing. Madotsuki can always pinch herself to wake up from the dream, and exploration is key to finding effects. Some are in obvious places, there's a lamp effect which can be found extremely easily, however other effects take somewhat more strategy and sometimes even other effects to find. Once an effect is gained, Madotsuki can use it to merge with that effect, such as her head becoming a lamp or a frog's head. Using a guide with this game once you've explored to your heart's content seems like a good idea, if only to make sure that you don't miss out on any experiences.
The music in game is gentle most of the time, a fittingly vague soundtrack to exploration of sometimes barren landscapes, in search of a pathway to the next effect. Just wandering around the world of Yume Nikki is relaxing, although the visuals might seem almost threatening there are a lot of worlds without anything to harm the player, even if it seems like it would make a good horror game. This isn't to say that there's no threat from NPC's, most will stay silent if they're not the effect giving type, but a certain type of NPC can send you to an inescapable world from which Madotsuki will have to pinch herself to escape.
Graphically, although Madotsuki is very 8/16-bit looking as a sprite, the backgrounds and worlds as mentioned earlier are complex and interesting. Sometimes there's a lot of colour, sometimes almost none, there's a staggering difference in the feel and look of each world from the next. Musical changes too add a lot to the atmosphere and feel of the game. One of the most interesting places in the game is "Mars", found by sleeping in a spaceship, until an event occurs where it crashes upon the surface of the planet.
A lot of the in game worlds are surreal environments, just like dreams there's no logic or real sense to them, its more of a feel, an experience. Perhaps this game is not for gamers who are looking for a challenge so much as those looking for something different, a surreal adventure through the mind of a shut-in japanese girl, who has a debatably been scarred by past events. A lot of the explorational charm in the game comes from little touches such as NPC reactions to different effects and their features. The stoplight effect can stop moving NPC's in their path, and the knife effect will scare most of the NPC's.
With each inital world leading to one if not more other worlds, there's a large map to explore, and 24 effects to collect at whatever pace you see fit. Critics of the game may argue that it's empty and there's no incentive to find all of the effects, however I would argue that this is intentional. The journey of discovery feels genuine , and the sometimes sparse worlds give a real feel of lonliness to the player, putting them in Madotsuki's place.
In summary, Yume Nikki is more of an experience than a game. An adventure to be had, that has inspired many fan games and spin-offs. There are arguments over what it all means on messageboards over the internet, but with meaning aside, its a game with almost unparalleled ambience, and although some would say that the ending isn't worth the time it takes to collect every effect, I would say that the adventure you'll have to collect every effect is.
Rating: 77/100
Grade: B
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