News
Japanese Cult Game ‘Yume Nikki’ Released on Steam, Sequel Teased
For those fans of the cult Japanese adventure game Yume Nikki, things have gotten interesting. For starters, the game appeared earlier this week on Steam as a free download after years of a fan translation floating around the interwebs (and a brower version after that in July 2016). The new Steam version lists its developer as Kikiyama, and publisher as AGM Playism, a Japan-based distributor focused on localizing and publishing indie games.
Secondly, and more importantly, a countdown timer has appeared on a Japanese site with Twitter and Facebook links. The site’s title reads “Yume Nikki – Dream Diary – . Will be released soon.” The site lists Kikiyama as the copyright holder, and below that, Kadokawa Corporation. Kadokawa Corporation is a Japanese company which owns several companies across a variety of mediums, including Dark Souls devs FromSoftware.
It’s safe to say that the countdown is leading up to the announcment of the new game, or even its release. We’ll find out in a couple of weeks, it seems.
Initially released in 2004, the RPG Maker-created adventure game Yume Nikki earned its cult classic status over the last 14 years from its popularization on the Japanese forum 2channel. In the game, players explore the dreams of a hikikomori (a Japanese word for reclusive individuals or “loners”) named Madotsuki. Traveling through her dreams, the player encounters moments of surrealistic horror imagery.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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