Yume Nikki (Video Game Review)

At first glance, Yume Nikki looks as if it is a wannabe attempt at a genre. Made with RPGMaker, and retaining a description which seems like it’s equal parts Fran Bow and Alice: Madness Returns, it would be easy to write this off as an experiment by a first time developer. However, this is another example as to why you should never judge a book by its cover. Yume Nikki is a masterpiece rendered in 16-bits, and the best part is that it’s absolutely free.

The game advertises itself with the following synopsis “This is a game in which you traverse the extremely dark world inside a dream.” That’s really all you need to know, and all that you should know when going into this one. This is a game of exploration, and as such the real reward comes from the sense of exploration and reflection which is born of the game. There is a great deal of mystery and speculation to be found in the game’s messages, and you might find yourself redefining your views on the player character’s life as you see more of it unfold through each image.

Many of its messages are told non-verbally and work purely through the mechanics of the game. By traversing through mazes, cope with shifting mechanics and hunting down items required to progress throughout the game. Threats emerge in the form of surrealist creations and folklore monsters, and their presence builds upon the nihilistic undertones found within each level. While the monsters themselves cannot outright kill you thanks to the lack of a Game Over screen,  the way in which they teleport you to impassable areas forcing you to restart manages to create more dread. There’s a greater sense of loss when you’re forced to start over, by your own hand rather than being bumped off, and little in the way of falling back to a previous save point.

Because of its thematic nature and lack of direct conflict, in many regards, Yume Nikki is a walking simulator but one done right. It puts you at the centre of the ongoing story rather than trying to follow a previous narrative by someone else, and you are a direct part of what unfolds. What’s more, you can directly interact with the environment and make dramatic changes, to the point where you can kill off every single last NPC you encounter via a knife to the throat.

The only true flaws within Yume Nikki stems largely from the fact that it requires a Sixth Sense level edge. It needs the player to enter with as little knowledge of the game’s inner mechanics as possible to pull off its engaging moments, and for the player to complete them with no outside assistance. Forewarning a player against its tricks or trying to replay the game again means it lacks much of the magic from that first impact. As such this is likely to be a game you play once and remember fondly, but you will find no replay value within it. Then again, given it’s being offered up to the public with no price tag attached, it’s difficult to call this much of a failing.

Unfortunately, what is a much more notable failing is the English translation, which is laughably direct at times. While it doesn’t quite seem like the entire script was run through Google Translate, there are more than a few times where the grammar becomes almost painful to read, and many cultural definitions are lost in the details. This is especially evident when it comes to the game’s attempts to utilise creatures of Japanese mythology.

This is one of those few games which anyone with any degree of familiarity in this medium should experience. With no objectives tethering you to a single path, and with a strong narrative which remains vague yet engaging to the player, it’s a melancholic and bizarre creation which nevertheless remains resplendently beautiful from start to finish. If you can stomach a fair degree of surrealism, and an unfortunately rushed English translation, definitely set aside a few hours to experience Yume Nikki.

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