Yume Nikki is a lovely and atmospheric exploration game in which you have to explore various dream worlds that consist of varied themes. It's a rather simple game, but it manages to be incredibly unique and interesting nonetheless, as shown by its ability to spawn several fanmade works and be referenced through countless indie titles.

The actual exploration of the game is generally what I would consider easy, you simply walk around and take in the atmosphere usually without fear of danger (there are very slight occasions you may need to escape an enemy). Your goal is to collect various "effects" hidden through the dream worlds, and for most of them, it is rather simple to do since finding them is the only true challenge. There are about two effects that might prove challenging to find, but all the others are mostly found in reasonable places to discover naturally. Along the way are plenty of intriguing sights to see, while some of them might be quite unsettling it all comes together to make a lovely artistic style.

As far as complaints go, my only one really revolves around the fact that your movement speed is pretty low. This can lead to the exploration aspect being a bit of a drag if you start needing to revisit locations. The game does have a counter to this, however, which is the inclusion of a Bicycle effect that doubles your speed; I would highly recommend finding this with a guide if you start to dislike the slow walking since it makes that problem null.

Overall, Yume Nikki certainly lived up to its reputation in my eyes and made me once again find the enjoyment of exploration that games like Outer Wilds had to offer. I look forward to trying out some fanmade games of this, it's certainly a formula that works exceptionally well.

Highly recommended.