I think, above all else, what makes Yume 2kki stand out as unique in not just RPG Maker games, or even just video games, but media in general, is how it still manages to impress years after its release. For all that I appreciate about my other favorite games, including those that so obviously inspired 2kki, none have managed to continuously leave me speechless so long after I initially played it like this free indie game has. If games are art, Yume 2kki is a canvas the size of the Louvre.

The fact that 2kki advertises itself as a mere fan sequel to Yume Nikki is an ultimate understatement. To be clear, Yume Nikki is fantastic, it's a 10/10 classic, and it’s an arguably equal game to 2kki. That said, it’s still a cute little hour-long experience that’s fun to drop into from time to time in order to immerse yourself in its vibrancy and its melancholy. 2kki is a monster. Yume Nikki fans can easily count all of its worlds; I’m not sure if anyone has ever experienced all of 2kkis worlds. Yet Yume 2kki, even with its massive amount of locations, would be considered like any other fan game if it just stopped there, but what makes the game stand out is that it just keeps going. Yume Nikki games stop when the player obtains all of the effects, but in this one, that’s when the game really gets started. Collecting wallpapers and menu themes, and digging as deep as possible for the most obscure worlds and events is what really turns this game from a fantastic tribute to something all of its own, completely enjoyable as its own experience and even more impressive as a tribute to Yume Nikki and its community.

It's no secret that this game’s range of quality varies wildly from world to world. That’s naturally going to be the case with this type of game. Some moments will feature some of the best pixel art and dark ambient music you’ll ever hear, the next world will look like a 10 year old’s MS Paint portfolio, but I can’t help but feel that even these utterly mediocre worlds serve as a bonus to the overall experience. Despite a lack of artistic ability in some of these areas, they’ll often simultaneously feature a lot of great ideas (see the Dream Park), and help further establish Yume 2kki as a passion project of passion projects.

Even if these stylistically lesser worlds bother you, that shouldn’t take away from the best this game has to offer, which goes far above and beyond what any other Yume Nikki game, dream simulator, or “walking simulator” has to offer. Any vein of worlds made by qxy or wataru fit nicely within this category. It’s so easy to jump to my favorite section of this game, the path to Lavender Waters, which provides such bittersweetness yet bliss as the player goes deeper and deeper into its worlds. It feels like it’s own game entirely, yet it, and qxy’s other worlds perfectly showcase 2kki’s mix of emotions. Traveling through the Cotton Candy World, the player can continue into the surreal loveliness that world has to offer, but they may find themselves drifting into the horrors beyond the surface. I’ve never been outright terrified playing Yume 2kki, but the ways that horror works itself into areas one wouldn’t expect made those few horrific moments stand out (see the Infinite Library and Static Noise Hell for my favorite examples of this).

Most importantly though, these sudden moments of horror call back to 2kki’s crowning achievement: no other game quite recreates dreams and nightmares in the way that this game has. Most dream simulators are limited in the sense that they often simulate the dreams of its small team of developers, maybe even just one person. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that 2kki’s state of being as a free, international, community-led project has led to a far wider, more realistic portrayal of dreams. The only other game that comes even close is the relatively new B3313, fittingly another community led, free project. Even that game only goes so far though. Yume 2kki really takes RPG Maker to its limits. The engine itself has often been viewed as an outlet for the independent developer, writer, musician, or artist, and in that sense, 2kki is an even more accessible outlet, by already giving developers the game’s defined mechanics and just letting them explore.

To be fair though, so many dream simulators don’t even really try to accurately simulate the average dream. Take the original Yume Nikki, for example. That experience serves less as a simulator of dreams, and more of an open window into a tortured mind. Yume Nikki tells a story, and that makes it a different beast entirely from Yume 2kki, which has no greater story to tell (realistically, most Yume Nikki fangames come with a clear story to decipher). To call 2kki’s symbolism and exploration meaningless would be a flawed perspective, though. Again, Yume 2kki is a canvas for the surrealist, and ultimately, these developers have their own story to tell. It’s as if a character and a world were presented to a room of writers, and every one of them then crafted their own wildly different, yet similar stories out of them.

Still though, 2kki doesn’t really have a main plot, and much like Yume Nikki, all of the endings are very short. A short ending isn’t too big of a deal in a short game, but after spending maybe 30 to 40 hours getting 95% of the wallpapers for 2kki’s final ending, only for it to be a 30 second abstract scene, might hit players the wrong way. The same might be the case regarding how obtuse the exploration can be sometimes. Realistically, the 2kki wiki is a requirement to complete the game, and it’s a great wiki. I find exploring the website to be akin to some kind of treasure map, especially when there’s a menu theme or a cool wallpaper attached at the end, but some might find a constant referral back to the wiki to take them out of the immersion. Neither of these issues bother me too much, what my main issue tends to be is that some worlds are just a bit too convoluted for their own good. Sometimes, great art can get in the way and make worlds actively harder to navigate through, and other worlds just boil down to massive mazes that are easy to get frustrated by without, again, a constant referral back to the wiki. Far from a dealbreaker for me, obviously, though it does turn some potentially fantastic locations toward mediocrity.

For more or less two and a half years, Yume 2kki has been my go-to video game. It stands out so clearly among a sea of open world games where areas are virtually indistinguishable from each other. There’s still so much to discover, too, and many of my favorite discoveries only came in the form of updates from the last year or so. It may seem like I talked about a few worlds, but I didn’t even talk about the perspective shifting areas, if you know you know. You can’t really go wrong with at least trying out Yume 2kki. Knowledge of Japanese isn’t really needed at all in order to play, and there are so many different methods of playing through the game, whether you view it as a collectathon, or just something to blindly fire up once in a while and wander around. I’ve never stopped loving RPG Maker games, but over the last month, I’ve been looking at some RPG Maker horror games I never played before, reaffirming my love for this niche of gaming. That said, nothing I’ve played comes even close to Yume 2kki (or Yume Nikki). It’s a joy coming back to these games and realizing there’s so much more to discover, though it’s a bit melancholic all the same knowing that there’s likely no game in this field that will reach the level of ambition, community support, or raw artistry of Yume 2kki.

tldr: good.

The Hylem-xylem hotly resists a Hyelm-xylem

A very surreal and artistically grounded experience, there is very little bad you can say about Hylics 2. This is the kind of game you grieve finishing, for its short length Hylics impresses a lot on the audience with its evocative dialogue and scenery. There are very few games that manage to fully utalize the medium as well as Hylics does, the art is inseparable from the game and the game feels inseperable from the world built around it. It is the kind of thing that is clearly made with love and is wholly one of a kind.

Other than the obvious things Hylics is known for like its clay animation and the fantastic music, i was very happy with the amount of options the game had to prevent you from struggling or becoming annoyed. Nothing lasts longer than it has to, and for an rpg that is very important. Minigames like the lil' wayne sections had various difficulty modes, and enemy encounters are a once-time thing with no respawning foes. Fights are visually engaging and you are always finding new techniques (as long as you explore) so battles dont ever feel dull, and the game is so short that the player will likely always feel like theyre progressing, there is no need for grinding or anything like that.

The one issue Hylics 2 has is sometimes, it lacks direction. There is very little hand-holding, which fits the game well, but i found myself lost a few times trying to find the Sage's coins and especially during that first person dungeon-crawling segment. There are also a few areas that arent really obvious you're supposed to interact with, or lead to a new part of the game. I think tutorials wouldnt really mesh well with how Hylics functions, but some more visual cues would of been welcome.

Hylics 2 is a once in a lifetime game that doesnt seem to get as much admiration as it should. Looking at it, if it seems like it would appeal to you then i would absolutely recommend going for it as youre never going to see something else similar to this again.


Giiiibbbbyyyyyyyyyyyy.....

I was born post-Y2K so I'm not gonna pretend to act like I have any experience with what the internet was actually like at the time, but even as a spectator to that whole era I can still see this as maybe the best piece of art ever made about how much it means to be a part of a community you belong to. About knowing your roots and preserving your history, even in the face of societal adversity. About how capitalism can ruin art whenever it feels like it. It feels universal. It lures you in with goofy character writing and funny observations of days gone and then punches you hard in the gut with the force of how much those types of things mean to you.

they got me cryin over the heavyhanded christian theming at the end!!! goddammit passionate collective of talented artists who made this thing i hate u!!!!

Yume 2kki is the modern equivalent of a spiritual pilgrimage writ LSD Dream Emulator.

It gives you space to think your thoughts, shows you the most gorgeous audio-visual imagery you will ever see in a video game, and just lets you wander.

I will always love this game more than I will have words to express my emotions because of the ways it allows you to create your own meaning in the setting. There are experiences I have had tucked away in the bowels of this game's deepest annals that have changed me as a being.

It takes work to wander.
But what you find is up to you.

In all seriousness, Yume 2kki is a grand grab-bag of a game with a slight barrier to entry. Some worlds are almost offendingly irritating - fucking Graveyard World, I never want to see you again - but if you put in the work, this game holds some really amazing details, as well as the best soundtrack I've found in any game, bar none.

This game is something I show to the people I feel closest with, because it feels like I'm showing a piece of myself to them.

I love it. I will always love it.