The spin-off manga and the light novel received a cool reception, and were criticized exactly because they tried to explain too much.Įven the Yume Nikki project, the website that handles the official merchandise, stresses that the additional material does not reflect Kikiyama’s original vision of the game.
Without any canonical answers, the fandom has been left free to theorize.Įvery time the fans get something resembling an explanation, they reject it. The Yume Nikki fandom has never received any explanations from the game's creator Kikiyama though, who may as well be a non-person, a mysterious figure who always refused to reveal any details about themselves or the meaning of their game. Because there must be an explanation for all of this-for the gaping mouths, the monochrome cripples, for the spaceship crashing on Mars and for the girls with a bird’s face. It’s a voyeuristic exercise in psychoanalysis, a vivisection of a girl’s fantasies in a desperate attempt to understand why she is so broken.īecause she must be broken. Some people theorize that she’s an abuse survivor. Others think she is the bully-or worse, a psychopath. Some people theorize Madotsuki has been bullied. Because Yume Nikki is not just an abstract walking simulator: it’s a dream. What kept the community together after more than a decade are the countless fan theories that try to explain all the weirdness found in the game. The fandom isn’t made only of memes like Uboa.
It was a walking simulator before walking simulators were a thing, and it felt lonely and mysterious in a time when the internet was just starting to feel crowded. Madotsuki can't level up, buy equipment or spend her money-Yume Nikki is a game without a true 'gameplay loop,' with no real reason to wander apart from curiosity. It can't be used to attack the aggressive monsters that force Madotsuki to wake up: she can only butcher the innocents, and the coins they drop are just worthless, grim mementos of her rage. The Knife, the only Effect you can use to confront your nightmares, ends up being the most worthless of them all.
Most are useless, though, like the one that makes Madotsuki blonde or the one that deletes her face. Some Effects are useful: a bicycle to move more quickly, a hand that lets you return to the starting area, an umbrella that summons rain. It was a walking simulator before walking simulators were a thing There are 24 of them, hidden in nooks and crannies, and collecting them all is necessary to unlock the ending. Acts of aggression are possible thanks to the Knife, one of the many 'Effects' Madotsuki can find while exploring.