Yume Nikki - A Derpy Review

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4 Comments
Yume Nikki is a psychological adventure game created by a Japanese guy named Kikiyama in 2005. It was developed using RPG Maker software. In this game you will assume the role of Madotsuki, a hikkikomori girl who lived in a small apartment. There is very little to do in your room but playing a SNES game called NASU (which is as depressing as this game itself) or Madotsuki can call it a day and go to bed to have some nice dreams. Then the entire dream world is yours to explore. Of course that's not all.

Yume Nikki is not your typical video game. It has dark, surrealic atmosphere that can be quite frightening. The dream world consists of 12 different areas. These areas themselves also divided to several other places. These places are meant to be explored by Madotsuki. The objective of Yume Nikki is to collect 24 pieces of "Effect". These so called Effects are scattered all across the dream world. Some effects have advantage usage such as Bicycle (which can make you travel faster), Knife (to kill creatures), or Lamp (to brighten the area).

When I first played Yume Nikki I was confused as hell. I didn't know what to do because this game had no proper manual. Just a brief instruction that made it even more confusing. Getting lost in this game is easy as cake. But once I got there it was really a well deserved experience. I love that feeling when I discovered a whole new place that I've never been there before.

There is no actual background story in Yume Nikki. All is left open to fans intepretation. There is also no dialogue. Even the ending was so ambiguous. The strange and creepy places were filled with various nonsensical NPCs like Toriningen, Eyeball, and Uboa. Somehow the surreal atmosphere in Yume Nikki reminds me of one in Cat Soup OVA.

Despite being an unfinished indie game, Yume Nikki has gained a massive cult following both in Japan and Western. It spawned a lot of theories and fanarts regarding the story of this game. Hell, they even created an Yume Nikki-exclusive imageboard. Even though Yume Nikki's popularity is like skyrocket, too bad that we never heard anything from Kakiyama since 2007. Fortunately there are several fan made games that can be considered as spiritual successor of Yume Nikki. Some of the most popular games are Yume 2kki and .flow.

Yume Nikki has one of the best fanart
Conclusion
For me, Yume Nikki is more like an experience rather than a game. It was truly a great game for those who itching to have an adventure in a strange world that haven't been imagined before.

Gameplay: 4/5
Story: 1/5
Visual: 4/5
Audio: 3/5
Replayability: 5/5

Extras:

Download link
Much better review
Uboachan
Speculah

4 comments :

  1. AnonymousJune 14, 2011 at 4:41 PM

    I tried playing this once. At first, I thought this game was one heckuva BITCH.

    After a couple of hours, I realized that I had other things I'd rather do. And I kinda abandoned it in the end.

    I DO understand it's charm though.

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  2. minoruJune 14, 2011 at 7:23 PM

    Yes, this is rather a bizzare game for most of people. But once you understand the concept of the exploration of this game you will have a nice time adventuring through the dream world.

    Just a bit advice, don't play this game through one sitting. You'll get bored easily. You'd better play this a few minutes when you feel like it. I've played this game long ago and only finished it last week.

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  3. めDecember 12, 2012 at 5:48 PM

    Mad thing, but also one of the games I have ever played! Check out my blog, I started it yesterday and I'm running out of ideas! :/

    ReplyDelete
  4. minoruDecember 12, 2012 at 11:52 PM

    I know right. It's such a charming game.

    ReplyDelete

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