Yume Nikki

Title screen with the latest version

**Yume Nikki** (ゆめにっき *Dream Diary*) is a 2004 Japanese adventure horror game developed by Kikiyama, using the RPG Maker 2003 program. Players explore the dreams of the character **Madotsuki** (窓付き, windowed). Traveling through her dreams, the player encounters strange creatures and non-player characters in every room in the surreal world.

Since upon its release, *Yume Nikki* received a cult status following outside of Japan; regarded as a key factor of adventure and horror genres in RPG Maker games, influenced several games in recent years.

## Plot

After Madotsuki goes to the bed to sleep, she begins to dream. The player is then presented with a dream world which resembles the same room Madotsuki lives in. In the dream world, the player is able to leave the room, which will lead to a series of twelve doors under the name **Nexus**, with each leading to a different world, including a colorful neon maze, a forest, a world littered with numerical symbols, and a world full of mutilated body parts, among others. The environment behind each door is uniquely surreal in its own way by entering these worlds, in turn, connect to a number of other worlds, forming a large and expansive area for the player to explore.
Upon obtained all the effects and drops them in the Nexus. When Madotsuki wakes up, she will find a small ramp passing over the railings of the Balcony, it shows Madotsuki committed suicide by jumping off of the balcony of her apartment into the ground below. The end screen we see of Madotsuki is a blood-smear, along with the credit to Kikiyama and the final date of production. It is unknown as of yet if this is the only ending to the game, but it is fitted to the storyline considering the plot thus far makes it clear Madotsuki does not have much to live for.

## Gameplay

The player allows Madotsuki to move through two-dimensional fields, interacting with and examining various objects, although few will provide any response. The player can choose to wake from the dream world at any time, by causing Madotsuki to pinch her cheek and awaken. This behavior ensures that the player has a way out of the dream world at all times.

The only goal of the game is for the player to navigate Madotsuki's dream worlds to obtain twenty-four **Effects**, a special object that may change Madotsuki's appearance or equipment, such as changing the color or length of her hair to making her wield an umbrella or knife, when used. Some areas are not initially inaccessible until the character is able to use an effect and using effects around **non-player characters** (**NPCs**) may cause the another to do something different or change into something else. She 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 encounter a game over in the game, though enemies do exist in the form of non-player characters that can teleport the player to inescapable areas, forcing them to wake up or use an effect to return to the same dream. An example of such a non-player character includes a bird-like humanoid with beaks for mouths, called **Toriningen** (鳥人間 *Bird People*), who will chase after Madotsuki. Some like the Triangle Kerchief (which turns Madotsuki invisible) and the Stoplight (which freezes NPCs) can help in avoiding them. Occasionally, a calm Toriningen can be found, who will not chase after or teleport Madotsuki unless she attempts to kill them with the knife effect.

Alternatively, nearly every non-player character in the game can be killed with the knife effect (most will even back away when Madotsuki wields it), but this usually results in nothing more than a muted scream as it fades away. Occasionally, the killing of non-player character leads to the opening of a new area.

It is through this that 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 **Uboa** (who then transports the player to an endless, repeating stretch of map) and experiencing a looping FMV sequence featuring a girl with five arms.

## Characters

*Main article: [List of characters in Yume Nikki Wiki]*
## Development and release

Originally produced a then-unknown project by Kikiyama, built-in the RPG Maker 2003 program in Japan. While in the format of a role-playing video game due to its program title, *Yume Nikki*'s gameplay has more in common with adventure games and omitted most role-playing elements, such as combat, which showcases the power and artistic medium that a simple tool can possess.

The first public release of the game took place on June 26, 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 latest version, 0.10, featured general bug fixes and became available on October 1, 2007.

Since its release of an unofficial English translation, it became popular on 2channel and gained a cult following outside of Japan. After gaining a cult following on 2channel, popularity of the game quickly increased by viral means amongst Japanese gamers.

## Trivia

* *Yume Nikki* is way similar for its gameplay and dream-based atmosphere to Playstation-exclusive adventure game *LSD: Dream Simulator*, although the game drew inspiration to *LSD*.
* *Yume Nikki'*s success became a major key factor that influenced fangames and other RPG Maker games due to its use of no-to-minimal dialogue, surreal environments, and art style, as well as its influential of adventure and horror game genres.
	+ Games such as *Ann*, *Bevel's Painting*, *Ib*, *Lisa* trilogy, *Omori*, and *OneShot*, among others inspired by the game.
* *Yume Nikki* has also been made to closely resemble the *Mother/Earthbound* game trilogy as a homage or influence, which bears strong resemblance to in both music and art styles.
* One of the characters in Yume Nikki, Uboa, appeared as a final boss in a famous Earthbound-fangame *The Halloween Hack*, developed by Toby "Radiation" Fox.

## References

1. ↑ W., Tim (2008-04-07). Freeware Game Pick: Yume Nikki (Kikiyama). IndieGames.com. Retrieved on June 21, 2009.
2. ↑ Rochelle. Gaming Pixie Reviews >> Game Review: Yume Nikki. Gaming Pixie. Retrieved on July 22, 2010.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Release history Template:Ja icon, Kikiyama official website. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
4. ↑ Bug fix history Template:Ja icon, Kikiyama official website. Retrieved 2011-06-05.