Yumenikki -Dream Diary-

YUMENIKKI -DREAM DIARY- is a commercial remake of a free adventure game Yume Nikki that was released in 2004. The original version was developed by a man known as Kikiyama and the new version was developed by Active Gaming Media in cooperation with Kodakawa company.

Plot

The story presented in the remake is faithful to the original Yume Nikki. The plot revolves around a woman named Madotsuki who lives in Japan. Her life is far from perfect – since she’s a hikkomori, someone who never leaves their apartment.

The woman spends days in her house, wasting time on watching TV and playing games on an old console. Each night, after she falls asleep, she journeys to the dream worlds. Some of them are terrifying and all of them are weird.

Mechanics

YUMENIKKI –DREAM DIARY– is an exploration adventure game. The title is very minimalistic. It even lacks dialogues. The players are exploring surrealistic realms and they sometimes solve riddles.

The players can visit six dream worlds. In each of them, they must find effects, magic items that can change the look of the protagonist. There are twenty-four effects to find in the campaign.

The players can wake up Madotsuki at any time, causing her to return to her apartment. The protagonist can’t die, but during the exploration she must avoid monsters. If they catch her, they can take Madotsuki to a place without an exit. Then all that’s left is to end the dream and start the exploration of the realm from the beginning.

YUMENIKKI -DREAM DIARY- isn’t a pure remake. Compared to the 2004 version, the title is expanded with features that the creator of the original game planned, but failed to implement due to the shortages in time. The game also features a new minigame on the console in the apartment of the protagonist.

Technical aspects

The graphics and sounds are the greatest change when compared to the free original version. The simple, two-dimensional graphics powered by RPG Maker were replaced with three-dimensional locations and characters. The title remains faithful to the tune of the original version thanks to the consultations with the creator of first Yume Nikki.

Last updated on 29 January 2019