History VideoGame / YumeNikki

The game [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/650700/Yume_Nikki/ got a Steam release]] on January 9, 2018, still free of charge, as a [[https://promo.kadokawa.co.jp/gamecountdown/ lead-up]] to the next ''Yume Nikki'' project. At the end of the countdown, a new 3D adventure game called [[http://yume-nikki.com YUMENIKKI -DREAM DIARY-]] was announced and would be supervised by Kikiyama. It was released on both Steam and Playism on 23 February, 2018. Unlike the original, this one is a 3D exploration and puts more emphasis on puzzle-solving and light platforming. Here, Madotsuki must collect eggs hidden behind the worlds of the nexus. Playism later released a 2.0 version for the game, which adds new content to the game, on 24 May, 2018. A port for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch was released on 21 February, 2019. Here's the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZx47XHhmaQ teaser trailer]] and [[https://youtu.be/QLqIffOZI6s the gameplay trailer.]]

* FatGirl: The Fat effect substantially increases the size of Madotsuki's belly.

Despite being a small, minimalistic game, ''Yume Nikki'' became very influential in the indie game sphere. The surrealism combined with the lack of dialogue and defined plot made the game very popular for theorists and creators of fan works that run with many different interpretations. The simplistic design has also inspired a whole slew of fangames that take the formula and apply it to their own dream worlds (enough to have [[https://yumenikkifg.fandom.com/wiki/Yume_Nikki_Fangames_Wiki their own very active wiki]]), and more broadly, it was one of the games that [[TropeCodifier popularized]] the ExplorerHorror genre; even outside of direct fangames, many indie titles, particularly of the horror variety, [[https://yumenikkifg.fandom.com/wiki/Games_Inspired_By_Yume_Nikki openly take inspiration from this game]], such as ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'', and the ''VideoGame/{{Lisa}}'' trilogy.

*** One particular event - possibly the same one - has the game start glitching if the player checks one tile over and over again, eventually leading to a 'hard lock'. This one is in reference to a similar glitch in ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}''.

* DreamLand: The entire premise of the game. It take place in dreams, so of course there's going to be dream worlds

* AcidTripDimension: Madotsuki's dream world certainly qualifies.

* AllJustADream: The entirety of Madotsuki's adventures. Of course, this is no secret.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Mainly the people in {{the Mall}}, but there are strangely colored people in other areas too, like Shitai.

* CheshireCatGrin: [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/yumenikki/images/6/60/Monoefullpicsmall.png/revision/latest?cb=20171120005517 Monoe]].

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The White Desert and Spaceship areas.

* DreamLand: The entire premise of the game.

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: Actually, even this is ambiguous. In fact, some cite the fact that dream world jellyfish appear near Madotsuki's blood pool as proof that Madotsuki didn't die, or that [[EpilepticTrees the real world was ALSO]] AllJustADream (as in another layer in her dreams). Although, others say they are shinigami or messengers of death and others say that they symbolize that Madotsuki wouldn't be able to escape her dreams even in death]] Either way, it is still unclear if [[spoiler:she ACTUALLY died]] and what is seen is left up to speculation.
* HeroicMime: Indeed there isn't any dialogue to be shared in the first place.

* JumpScare: Invoked by several events. For example, encountering Uboa, getting eaten by Big Red, the Aztec Rave Monkey in the Wilderness, going through the door with FACE in it...

** The "KALIMBA" event on Madotsuki's TV.

* TheBlank: The "Faceless Ghost" (Nopperabou) effect.

%%* MoodWhiplash: The Toriningen picnic.

* {{Retraux}}: The [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]] World.

%%* ScareChord: From Uboa when you encounter it.

For French Tropers, the game was fully translated in Molière's language and is available for download [[http://www.rpg-maker.fr/jeux-556-yume-nikki-version-francaise.html here]].

In February 2013 yumenikki.net (no longer active) began offering merchandise. The most notable of such products was a manga, created by Hitoshi Tomizawa of ''Manga/AlienNine'' fame. Here, Madotsuki is a girl who finds herself trapped in the dream world, and collects the effects while exploring in an attempt to find a way out. Soon, a sinister plot by eldritch forces is unveiled, and it becomes apparent that Madotsuki is far from their only victim.

See also ''VideoGame/LSDDreamEmulator'', a game with a similar premise, only in 3D and with randomized environments. It is the UrExample of games like this.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]] in Madotsuki's room suggests that the game could take place as far back as TheEighties (though one of the dream world is a clear {{homage}} to ''VideoGame/{{Mother|1}}'', which was released in Japan in 1989), but it could otherwise be set anywhere between then and the TurnOfTheMillennium (when the game was made).

In 2004, Japanese {{freeware}} AdventureGame developer Kikiyama created a game titled ''Yume Nikki'' (Japanese for "Dream Diary") in UsefulNotes/RPGMaker. The result was a surreal, abstract ArtGame with elements of PsychologicalHorror about lucid dreaming which gained a dedicated cult following in its heyday. Much of the appeal comes from the fact that everything in ''Yume Nikki'', from the story to the imagery, [[DeathOfTheAuthor is left up to the player to interpret]].

In 2004, Japanese {{freeware}} developer Kikiyama created a game titled ''Yume Nikki'' (Japanese for "Dream Diary") in UsefulNotes/RPGMaker. The result was a surreal, abstract ArtGame about lucid dreaming which gained a dedicated cult following in its heyday. Much of the appeal comes from the fact that everything in ''Yume Nikki'', from the story to the imagery, [[DeathOfTheAuthor is left up to the player to interpret]].

* ScareChord: From Uboa when you encounter it.
* SecretLevel: There are tons of areas that Madotsuki can explore that aren't necessary to complete the game, but [[SignatureScene make up some of the most memorable moments]].

In February 2013 [[http://yumenikki.net/ yumenikki.net began offering merchandise]]. The most notable of such products was a manga, created by Hitoshi Tomizawa of ''Manga/AlienNine'' fame. Here, Madotsuki is a girl who finds herself trapped in the dream world, and collects the effects while exploring in an attempt to find a way out. Soon, a sinister plot by eldritch forces is unveiled, and it becomes apparent that Madotsuki is far from their only victim.

* DevelopersForesight: Turning yourself into a snowman (without using the Yuki-Onna effect) and going down to the fire by the Storage Room's entrance causes her to slowly melt.

See also ''VideoGame/LSDDreamEmulator'', a game with a similar premise, [[UpToEleven only in 3D and with randomized environments]]. It is the UrExample of games like this.

* KnifeNut: The Kitchen Knife effect returns as Madotsuki's main weapon.

* KnifeNut: Most [=NPCs=] don't react to you at all when you try to interact with them. So what else can Madotsuki do to get an interesting reaction out of them? Stab them!

* NothingIsScarier: The message boxes, which appear before the "Glitch" event, are unsettlingly empty. So is the entire dungeon area, which is dark (necessitating the use of the Lamp effect if you wanna see where you're going), and the room where the event occurs is an eerie, nondescript dead-end. See also the EmptyRoomPsych example above.

You play as Madotsuki, a {{hikikomori} shut-in who refuses to leave her apartment. There isn't much to do beyond sleeping, but that's where the game really kicks off. Madotsuki enters different worlds in her [[DreamLand dreamscape]] and explores them, interacting with strange, alien-like creatures and collecting "Effects" which appear in the form of eggs. The goal is to collect all 24 effects and drop them off in the nexus, after which the ending will be unlocked. There [[NoPlotNoProblem isn't really a definitive plot to speak of]], only vague implications of a background story, and very little (if any) instruction is given to the player.

You play as Madotsuki, a hikikomori shut-in who refuses to leave her apartment. There isn't much to do beyond sleeping, but that's where the game really kicks off. Madotsuki enters different worlds in her [[DreamLand dreamscape]] and explores them, interacting with strange, alien-like creatures and collecting "Effects" which appear in the form of eggs. The goal is to collect all 24 effects and drop them off in the nexus, after which the ending will be unlocked. There [[NoPlotNoProblem isn't really a definitive plot to speak of]], only vague implications of a background story, and very little (if any) instruction is given to the player.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In contrast to the original, the game takes a page from a popular fanmade AlternateEnding and has [[spoiler:Madotsuki finally getting the courage to leave her apartment after facing an assortment of truly bizarre nightmares]] as the main ending.

* AmbiguousDisorder: [[spoiler:Poniko]] is given several PTSD-like association tests at the hospital, and she responds negatively or aggressively at certain prompts.

* AscendedExtra: Poniko gets a much larger role here [[spoiler:as the narrator]].

* {{Manchild}}: Many of Madotsuki's actions in the dream are described as very childlike, doing whatever she wants and not paying mind to how horrific her surroundings are.

* NarratorAllAlong: [[spoiler:After about a dozen of chapters in, the narration switches from "you" to "I" when Madotsuki meets Poniko in her room. From there on Ponkio takes the central focus.]]
* OmniscientHero: [[spoiler:Poniko]] can narrate what exactly Madotsuki is doing even when not in the same world as her.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Chapter 6 focuses mostly on [[spoiler: Masada's]] turn in the Dream World.

* SilenceIsGolden: [[AvertedTrope Averted]], in contrast to the video game.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the game, Toriningen just teleports you to an enclosed area if they catch you. Here, they instead strangle you to death, though in a dream DeathIsCheap.

* AuthorAvatar: Since the novel is explicitly stated to be the author's interpretation, and [[spoiler:Poniko]] is a MotorMouth who overanalyzes all of the dream's environments, it's clear that Akira is projecting through her.