Yume Nikki - (creepy exploration game)

TheoX · Post by **TheoX** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:03 pm

I mentioned this game in the Higurashi topic, and similarly it's something that only people who are looking for something creepy should play. Though it's not very violent.

That being said, Yume Nikki is an exploration RPG of sorts (made in RPGmaker), and a very unsettling one at that. It has no story, but rather leaves the player to interpret what's going on. You control Madotsuki, and explore her dream world, which is VAST and quite disturbing. Yume Nikki is all about imagery, and lots of it has completely creeped me out.

The gameplay: You start in the real world, with the only option being to sleep. Once you enter the bed, is where the real game starts. There is a central hub with many doors leading to different places in Madotsuki's dream world. Your goal is to gather 24 "effects", which are like powerups except they only do weird/disturbing things that generally don't affect the game. The main focus is just to explore.

If you happen to have played this, don't spoil anything. This game is best played with no prior knowledge of it, and i.m.o you should play it at night. I played it right before bed all the time, and actually had interesting dreams because of it.

The controls:
Arrow keys: Movement
Z: Accept; interact with objects (also Enter, Spacebar)
X: Cancel; open the game menu (also C, V, B, N, Insert)
1: Use an effect's ability
3: Cancel an effect's ability
5: Drop an effect on the ground (only in the Nexus)
9: Pinch yourself to wake up and return to the real world

Possible discussion topics:
- Interpretation of things in the game
- Getting lost
- Creepy stuff... there's lots of it.

You can find download links here.

Muzozavr · Post by **Muzozavr** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:37 am

I have heard some good things about this game... will definitely try it out! (In fact, I'm downloading it right now)

From what I've heard, Madotsuki is a little girl who never goes outside her apartment. So... she's just a little girl, right? We're exploring dreams of a little girl, how bad can it possibly be?

EDIT: Well, I've had a little taste of it right now, it's not... THAT bad but it's certainly creepy... and weird. Very weird. This game does not want to make sense at all.

I love how I entered one of the doors that led me to a room with weird blocks and a ringing ambient noise that's just two notes and it drones on and on and it's not by itself creepy, but when you get out of there, it's very unnerving when it STOPS.

Kilicool64 · Post by **Kilicool64** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 3:39 pm

Wow, this game is very unusual.

It took me some time to understand how to play it, but it is interesting.
This is version 0.10 of the game, but I still somehow enyoy it.
Most effect are useless, but a few can be helpful.
I heard this is supposed to become an RPG, but this version doesn't have any RPG elements, yet.
With some enemies you could fight, this game could become awesome.
I really hope it's going to be completed someday.
Thanks for sharing this with us, TheoX.

TheoX · Post by **TheoX** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 2:58 am

Muzozavr wrote:Well, I've had a little taste of it right now, it's not... THAT bad but it's certainly creepy... and weird. Very weird. This game does not want to make sense at all.

Yeah, it is very very odd. I found, though, that some areas of the game are terrifying, if you know where to look. I happen to think that the number world is quite disturbing - look in the first door in the hub, clockwise.

Oh, and the swamp... hard to find, but imo as creepy as Higruashi on first impression.

Muzozavr wrote:I love how I entered one of the doors that led me to a room with weird blocks and a ringing ambient noise that's just two notes and it drones on and on and it's not by itself creepy, but when you get out of there, it's very unnerving when it STOPS.

The ambient sounds are great! Some of them are quite beautiful, while others are disturbing. But I agree; it's kinda creepy when the sounds go away completely.

Kilicool64 wrote:This is version 0.10 of the game, but I still somehow enyoy it.
I heard this is supposed to become an RPG, but this version doesn't have any RPG elements, yet.
With some enemies you could fight, this game could become awesome.
I really hope it's going to be completed someday.

I kind of like it the way it is, and anyway I don't think the gameplay will ever change. I believe the "0.10" is a bit misleading in that way. It may be something slightly lost in translation.

Technos72 · Post by **Technos72** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:35 pm

*BUMP*

I was playing this game for two months and I liked it. I've beaten the game. I can also change the in-game music so that I have Smash Bros Brawl music playing while I go though rooms. Interesting game. Someday I should rip sprites using the Print Screen button and Microsoft Paint.

This section contains spoliers

Some interesting parts in the game, there's this spot where you're in the game Mother (Earthbound).
When you're witch you can fly off the rooftop of the building with the black cat and when deactivated you fall and wake up.
And one of the most known characters in this game, Uboa. He's that black and white sarcastic-faced monster thing that can be seen after going into the igloo in the snow world, going into that pink lake world, and teleporting with balloons to get to some girl's room. You just keep flipping the switch in the room until Uboa appears replacing the girl (no it's not madotsuki) in that room. There was also Mars in the dream but I don't know how to go there.

TheoX · Post by **TheoX** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:49 am

Technos72 wrote:I was playing this game for two months and I liked it. I've beaten the game. I can also change the in-game music so that I have Smash Bros Brawl music playing while I go though rooms.

I'm glad that you have enjoyed the game. I can't imagine playing different music than the Yume Nikki sounds though, since they are such a vital part of the sensory experience! I'll stick to the game's sounds, myself.

Technos72 wrote:This section contains spoliers
Some interesting parts in the game, there's this spot where you're in the game Mother (Earthbound).
When you're witch you can fly off the rooftop of the building with the black cat and when deactivated you fall and wake up.
And one of the most known characters in this game, Uboa. He's that black and white sarcastic-faced monster thing that can be seen after going into the igloo in the snow world, going into that pink lake world, and teleporting with balloons to get to some girl's room. You just keep flipping the switch in the room until Uboa appears replacing the girl (no it's not madotsuki) in that room. There was also Mars in the dream but I don't know how to go there.

I don't know if this stuff really counts as spoilers, but I'll white it out anyway:

I thought the Mother parts were cool. They confused me because they were like a labyrinth. I drew maps of this, and many other parts of the game, to help me explore.

The rooftop is one of my favorite places in the game because the music is so peaceful (compared to the creepiness of most of the rest of the areas). I didn't know that you could fall down and wake up by deactivating the witch power in mid-air. That's interesting, it's like in real life when you wake up when you dream about falling.

I love Uboa. That place is another personal favorite spot - it creeps me out, but I am kind of amused by Uboa in a weird way.

DEVINT · Post by **DEVINT** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 1:29 am

I looked Uboa up and it said that he crashes your game.Am i correct?

TheoX · Post by **TheoX** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:05 pm

Nope he doesn't crash your game, that would be quite disturbing!

In the game Uboa really just makes you have to wake up. The game stays open.