The cult indie RPG Yume Nikki may have released back in 2004, but it's having its moment in the spotlight in 2018. The game, created with RPG Maker 2003 by Japanese developer Kikiyama, is available on Steam via publisher Playism, and it now enjoys a new period of popularity beyond its first debut.
That's probably why Kadokawa Corporation has announced a new project based on the original indie game, titled Yume Nikki: Dream Diary. There aren't any additional details about the game floating around online, other than the fact that it's related, so we can't say for sure if the new game is a sequel, a remake, or some sort of successor. But one thing we do know is that the eight-minute teaser trailer made to promote the game is pretty trippy.
The trailer itself is called "We Can Not Wake Up" and simply rotates through some bizarre imagery that doesn't offer any actual information about the game. It's pretty intriguing to watch, though, at the very least, in a very lo-fi, arthouse kind of way. Luckily, there are some additional details about the game expected to arrive once a countdown clock on the project's official site reaches zero.
For the uninitiated, Yume Nikki is a lo-fi role-playing game with surreal, disturbing themes surrounding sleep and dreams. Players step into the shoes of a young girl named Madotsuki, a "hikkikomori" who doesn't like to leave her house. Starting at her apartment while awake, she explores strange lands while in her dreams as she keeps a "dream diary," as the game's subtitle suggests.
The dream world leads her through various doors with reaching hands, bizarre NPC characters, and nonsensical messages. There's a method to the game's madness, but it's certainly an acquired taste. It's an excellent game and one that's always deserved more attention from mainstream gamers. Hopefully, this new project and everything it entails means more will be able to play the game, especially since it's made its official Steam debut. The game received a fanmade sequel in the form of Yume 2kki, but this will be the first "official" project, beyond a group of users from the Japanese imageboard, 2chan. It’ll be interesting to see what ends up coming of this announcement, for sure.
