Yume Nikki
Encyclopedia
is a 2005 independently produced
surreal adventure
PC game by homebrew
Japanese developer Kikiyama. The game was created using RPG Maker 2003
, but has few role-playing game
(RPG) elements. The most current version of the game is 0.10, the latest release since October 2007.
Players explore the dreams of the fictional character . It is through dreaming, in which the player is able to view scenes that are recognized as being genuinely disturbing at times, such as being swallowed by a large red sewer-creature, meeting a disembodied head character known as and a full-screen rotating image of a girl with five arms.
, the game gained a following outside of Japan after an unofficial English translation was released. After gaining a cult following on 2channel, popularity of the game quickly increased by viral means amongst Japanese gamers. Yume Nikki was ranked 14 of the most downloaded programs in 2010 from Vector, a popular Japanese download site, out of a total of approximately 100,000 downloadable software, as listed in the 2010 Vector Awards. This was a significant increase over the previous year, where it only ranked number 68. The game also has a significant following amongst Chinese gamers on Baidu Tieba
, Taiwanese users from the anime-manga-game board Komica, and in the rest of the world via *chan imageboard
communities.
named Madotsuki, at home in her apartment, the only area she can explore when awake. Though the apartment has a balcony, attempting to open the door to the outside world results in Madotsuki simply shaking her head. Her only means of entertainment are a television, which shows a simple testcard when interacted with, and a Famicom
-style game console with the game , once described as "the most depressingly futile minigame ever made." There is also a writing desk which the player can use to save data.
When Madotsuki sleeps she begins to dream, and the player is presented with a dream world which resembles the same room Madotsuki fell asleep in, with some minor differences. In this dream world the player is able to leave the room, which will lead to a zone of 12 doors, with each leading to a different world to explore. The environment behind each door is uniquely surreal in its own way. The plot and story of the game is for the user to navigate the main character's dreams and to obtain 24 objects known as effects. "These effects cause all sorts of things to happen, from the pedestrian (acquiring a blanket for Madotsuki to wrap herself in), to the strange (transforming the protagonist into an Oni), to the downright demented (the protagonists' head turning into a large hand with an eye in its palm)." Once the player collects all 24 effects and deposits them as eggs in the nexus room, they gain access to the ending. Both natural and artificial backgrounds like a forest, mountainside, a colorful neon maze and a bizarre number world set a strange tone for the game. The player can attempt to interact with objects, although few will provide any response. The player can choose to wake from dreams at any time, by causing Madotsuki to pinch her cheek and awaken. This behavior ensures that the player always has a way out of the dream world at all times.
The player can also level up and gain hit points by collecting effects, but this is merely an artifact of the game's engine and has no effect on gameplay. There is no way to actually die in a dream, though enemies do exist in the form of NPCs that teleport the player to inescapable areas. Most NPCs mean no harm to the player, though all but those particular enemy NPCs can be killed with the knife effect.
While the game has no "enemies" that Madotsuki can fight, some areas have wild-eyed girls with what appear to be beaks for mouths (named within the game's system files) who will chase after Madotsuki and, upon catching her, teleport her to an inescapable area, forcing the player to "wake up" and return to the real world.
enjoyed the game, comparing its visual theme to EarthBound
and stating "The lack of dialogue or any 'action' fills me with this strange sense of dread."
Gamertell's Jenni Lada scored the game 85 out of 100. She praised the unique premise, distinct art style and abstract gameplay which evokes a "dream world experience". Lada noted the geometry of the dream areas, which allows for loops and exitless rooms, and found that it could be "winding and confusing". Whilst she warned that it won't be to everyone's tastes due to "dark or graphic imagery" and found the ending to be disappointing, she concluded that Yume Nikki was worth experiencing.
John Jackson praised the game for its ethereal dream-like setting and its non-linear gameplay mechanic, stating, "Out of every game about dreams, this is the one that probably comes closest to actually resembling one. He goes on to argue the game's limitations and vast, undefinable architecture forces the player to question their surroundings and the significance of the smallest actions and events that confront them.
Indie game
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
surreal adventure
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
PC game by homebrew
Homebrew (video games)
Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods...
Japanese developer Kikiyama. The game was created using RPG Maker 2003
RPG Maker 2003
RPG Maker 2003 is the third in the series of programs for the development of Role-Playing Games, developed by the Japanese group ASCII...
, but has few role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
(RPG) elements. The most current version of the game is 0.10, the latest release since October 2007.
Players explore the dreams of the fictional character . It is through dreaming, in which the player is able to view scenes that are recognized as being genuinely disturbing at times, such as being swallowed by a large red sewer-creature, meeting a disembodied head character known as and a full-screen rotating image of a girl with five arms.
Popularity
Originally a little-known game that became popular on the Japanese forum 2channel2channel
is a Japanese textboard. In 2007 there were 2.5 million posts made every day. Launched in 1999, it has gained significant influence in Japanese society, comparable to that of traditional mass media such as television, radio, and magazines. As of 2008, the site generates revenue upwards of ¥100...
, the game gained a following outside of Japan after an unofficial English translation was released. After gaining a cult following on 2channel, popularity of the game quickly increased by viral means amongst Japanese gamers. Yume Nikki was ranked 14 of the most downloaded programs in 2010 from Vector, a popular Japanese download site, out of a total of approximately 100,000 downloadable software, as listed in the 2010 Vector Awards. This was a significant increase over the previous year, where it only ranked number 68. The game also has a significant following amongst Chinese gamers on Baidu Tieba
Baidu Tieba
Baidu Tieba is the largest Chinese communication platform provided by the Chinese search engine Baidu. It is an online community bound tightly with internet search services, the main business of Baidu...
, Taiwanese users from the anime-manga-game board Komica, and in the rest of the world via *chan imageboard
Imageboard
An imageboard or image board is a type of Internet forum that revolves around the posting of images. The first imageboards were created in Japan, and many English-language imageboards today are centered around Japanese culture...
communities.
Gameplay
Players begin the game as a female hikikomoriHikikomori
is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive people who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement because of various personal and social factors in their lives...
named Madotsuki, at home in her apartment, the only area she can explore when awake. Though the apartment has a balcony, attempting to open the door to the outside world results in Madotsuki simply shaking her head. Her only means of entertainment are a television, which shows a simple testcard when interacted with, and a Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
-style game console with the game , once described as "the most depressingly futile minigame ever made." There is also a writing desk which the player can use to save data.
When Madotsuki sleeps she begins to dream, and the player is presented with a dream world which resembles the same room Madotsuki fell asleep in, with some minor differences. In this dream world the player is able to leave the room, which will lead to a zone of 12 doors, with each leading to a different world to explore. The environment behind each door is uniquely surreal in its own way. The plot and story of the game is for the user to navigate the main character's dreams and to obtain 24 objects known as effects. "These effects cause all sorts of things to happen, from the pedestrian (acquiring a blanket for Madotsuki to wrap herself in), to the strange (transforming the protagonist into an Oni), to the downright demented (the protagonists' head turning into a large hand with an eye in its palm)." Once the player collects all 24 effects and deposits them as eggs in the nexus room, they gain access to the ending. Both natural and artificial backgrounds like a forest, mountainside, a colorful neon maze and a bizarre number world set a strange tone for the game. The player can attempt to interact with objects, although few will provide any response. The player can choose to wake from dreams at any time, by causing Madotsuki to pinch her cheek and awaken. This behavior ensures that the player always has a way out of the dream world at all times.
The player can also level up and gain hit points by collecting effects, but this is merely an artifact of the game's engine and has no effect on gameplay. There is no way to actually die in a dream, though enemies do exist in the form of NPCs that teleport the player to inescapable areas. Most NPCs mean no harm to the player, though all but those particular enemy NPCs can be killed with the knife effect.
Themes
Many locations serve no purpose in reaching the end of the game, and appear to be included for aesthetics. There are several extremely large, wide-open maps that can only be navigated by finding landmarks or wandering aimlessly. Nearly every NPC can be killed with the knife, however this usually results in nothing more than a muted scream as it fades away.While the game has no "enemies" that Madotsuki can fight, some areas have wild-eyed girls with what appear to be beaks for mouths (named within the game's system files) who will chase after Madotsuki and, upon catching her, teleport her to an inescapable area, forcing the player to "wake up" and return to the real world.
Reception
Freelance video game journalist Lewis Denby stated it is a "genuinely upsetting" game and that, "there's more to her (Madotsuki's) existence than almost any other videogame character you'll ever meet". Independent game developer Derek YuDerek Yu
Derek Yu is an independent game developer, game artist, and blogger.While he may be best known for his early work on freeware titles such as Eternal Daughter, Yu continues to make games...
enjoyed the game, comparing its visual theme to EarthBound
EarthBound
EarthBound, also known as EarthBound: The War Against Giygas! and released as in Japan, is a role-playing video game co-developed by Ape and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console...
and stating "The lack of dialogue or any 'action' fills me with this strange sense of dread."
Gamertell's Jenni Lada scored the game 85 out of 100. She praised the unique premise, distinct art style and abstract gameplay which evokes a "dream world experience". Lada noted the geometry of the dream areas, which allows for loops and exitless rooms, and found that it could be "winding and confusing". Whilst she warned that it won't be to everyone's tastes due to "dark or graphic imagery" and found the ending to be disappointing, she concluded that Yume Nikki was worth experiencing.
John Jackson praised the game for its ethereal dream-like setting and its non-linear gameplay mechanic, stating, "Out of every game about dreams, this is the one that probably comes closest to actually resembling one. He goes on to argue the game's limitations and vast, undefinable architecture forces the player to question their surroundings and the significance of the smallest actions and events that confront them.
Release versions
The public release of version 0.00 of the game took place on 26 June 2004, as a demonstration preview of an incomplete game. With each following version from 0.01 to 0.09 new features and content were progressively introduced, along with various bug fixes. The final version ever released, 0.10, featured general bug fixes and became available on 1 October 2007.Official merchandise
On March 26, 2011, the first official merchandise of Yume Nikki, a rubber mobile phone strap featuring a Madotsuki design, was introduced by anime online retailer Surpara. Merchandise released later on include capsule seal characters, clear files and T-shirts, all bearing the official Yume Nikki mark by Kikiyama.See also
- LSDLSD (video game)LSD: Dream Emulator is a video game released in Japan in 1998 for the Sony PlayStation video game console and is one of three products based on Lovely Sweet Dream, a dream journal that Hiroko Nishikawa, a staff member at Asmik Ace Entertainment, had been keeping for a decade...
- A PlayStation game with similar dream-based themes and gameplay.
External links
- Yume Nikki & Kikiyama's Official Website
- Madotsuki's Closet - Extensive Fansite - English version download available
- Uboachan - A Yume Nikki Imageboard - English version download available
- Yume Nikki Wiki
- Yume Nikki - tvtropes
- 夢日記(ゆめにっき/Yume Nikki) - KomicaWiki
- 非公式ゆめにっき
- Japanese Yume Nikki guide
- http://www.paulthetall.com/page39/styled-84/page374.html - Mac English Download Available