Dreams are strange beasts. Accessible to many, few have control. Dreams are usually under control of the mind, being as close to earth or as out of this world as it wants it to be. Few even remember their dreams, and others forget shortly after they awaken. Some have control, but many lose it. Some may be lucid, only to fall victim to the dreams control yet again.
And some may even fall into nightmares.
Dreams are the premise of Yume Nikki, a Japanese Horror Indie game released in 2003. In it you follow Madotsuki as you traverse her dreams in order to find every dream effect and...do something I guess.
This game is actually quite popular, spawning a few fan games an a LOT of fan theories and speculation. The beauty of this games horror is the strange things you'll find in Madotsuki's dreams, from strange areas to strange creatures.
This is the part where I explain more, but Yume Nikki is strange in the fact that there's basically no plot, and no objective. Sure you're supposed to find every effect, and sure there is an ending, but the game provides little in the way of explaining and giving hints, so there might as well not be. Really, your true objective is to just go around and see the strange things these dreams have to offer. To me, Yume Nikki is an experience, one that you choose to enter, and one that you choose what you get out of it. To show that, I've compiled my playthrough over several days, detailing my adventures in Madotsuki's dreams. Save for knowing about the infamous Uboa, I went in blind. Make what you will with my stories, but hopefully these will show you if this is for you more than a traditional review.
Day 1
My adventure begins in Madotsuki's room. Then it immediately continues in her dreams. With very little instructions on how to progress, I grasp on to the one thing I knew prior to playing and head to the snow world. Heading to where I'm supposed to go, I set off until I run into a small girl. I try to talk to her, but rather then getting a response, I get my first effect, the snow woman effect. Thanks! Accidental progress is the best progress! Moving along, I head to the igloo that I think has the portal, but outside I see a strange creature. I get the feeling I shouldn't try talking to this one. Besides, I saw its face in the manga, and I don't get the feeling it wants to talk back. The igloo I went in turned up empty, and as a walk out, the creature is right on top waiting for me. I'm out. Running as fast as my slow legs carry me, I find the entrance to the Pink Sea. After some fiddling around here, I find the house and prepare to face my only known fear in this game. I step in and turn off the lights. And again. And again. And again. Why don't the monsters show up when I'm actively searching for them? After five minutes of trying, its time to wake up and try somewhere else.
Day 2
With my only known thing about this game gone and for naught, its time to go back to sleep and find more things. I enter another door and I'm immediately surrounded by weird colors and numbers. Oh no, this game knew about my fear of sixth grade math. I wander around and eventually find a few doors that take me elsewhere. Soon I find myself in a black area, with a few walls in the center. In the center of the center, I see something, but a stroll around the walls show no entrance. I intend on heading back, but I wandered too far of my path, and now I'm lost in this void. Now's not the time to meet Exdeath however, so time to wake up.
Day 3
After entering the next dream, I take some time to admire Madotsuki's room. I turn on the TV, and an eye greets me, staring me down. I then head over to the chair where I usually go to record the dreams, but this time, the chair keeps me captive, not letting me go. At least I can still move, albeit painfully slow. I go back into the Nexus and select a new door. In it are very strange creatures that make weird sounds when I run over them with the chair. I intend on exploring more, but this chair is so slow. It pains me to waste a perfectly good dream, but time is of the essence, and I'll lose that time if I stay on this chair. Let's try again tomorrow.
Day 4
With my final dream, I enter another dimension, this time with lots of black and a strange moving background. Moving forward, I find faces. Just faces. And eyes. Just eyes. And lips that gave me kisses. How sweet of them. However I couldn't find anything else in this dimension, so I work my way back to the door and enter another dimension. This one has a bunch of big weird paintings. But after some wandering, I find a creepy mouth creature moving around by a pile of blood. That can't be good. I step up to it expecting the worse, but he didn't mind. I tried talking to it and it gave me an effect (yeah remember those) that gave me blond hair. Thanks! Not too long later I find another one of these creatures this one gives me an effect that gives me long hair. Not sure if I needed to be in a dream with a magic effect to do that, but thanks anyway! Intentions to explore the rest of the Nexus are planed, but I lost my path to the door again, so with one final pinch, I wake up and record the dreams you just read.
There's a lot to Yume Nikki that I didn't find in my playthrough, and that's why you should play it. No amount of words could describe everything you can find in this game, and like many experiences, everyone will find different things. The graphics do a good job of being simplistic but scary, and the music is well done and really draws you in. Should playing the game not appeal to you, there are other ways of seeing its story. First is the recently released light novel, detailing the story in full. I haven't read it, but I imagine it does a good job. Second is the previously mention manga, which I have read, and is very well done. Yes you'll have to wait for all the chapters to come out, and then get translated, but it really is a good way to experience the story. Yume Nikki is free on the PC however, so there's no real reason not to download the game and experience these strange dreams for yourself.
The Silent Protagonist only lucid dreamed once. And it was the only dream where he ever got killed. Bloody typical.
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