shita ni
- March 3, 2023
- LuN
Get on SteamA surreal dream exploration game, both beautiful and terrifying. Shita ni is a surreal dream exploration RPG Maker game. Through the exploration of both beautiful and haunting dreamscapes, you will uncover the different facets of a young girl's mind. This game will not hold your hand. Instead, you will be free to investigate the mysteries of your surroundings at your own pace in whatever way you …
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a beautifully crafted art style and varied soundtracks that enhance its surreal and atmospheric experience.
- It offers a vast and expansive world to explore, with unique gameplay mechanics that differentiate it from other Yume Nikki-inspired games.
- The developer demonstrates significant talent and creativity, providing a mix of cute and creepy environments that evoke a range of emotions.
- Progression can be hindered by a lack of clear directions or landmarks, making navigation frustrating at times.
- Some puzzles are excessively punishing, requiring lengthy backtracking if failed, which can disrupt the overall flow of the game.
- There are instances of confusing points of interest that do not provide clear interaction cues, leading to potential frustration during exploration.
- music6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game is highly praised for its ability to enhance the unique atmosphere, with soundtracks that evoke a wide range of emotions and fit seamlessly with the various environments. Reviewers note that the compositions, while often looped, are immersive and can even serve as ambient music, contributing to the game's beautiful yet unsettling tone. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that complements the game's surreal visuals and diverse locations.
“The game appropriately tracks songs that are fitting for the environment — it conveys a range of emotions including warmth, calm, discomfort, tension, and danger.”
“I’d even go as far to say that some of these songs could function as ambient working music.”
“The music is composed of loops, some that are more noticeable than others, but not disruptive to the overall experience.”
“The graphics and music are varied and unique, and there are many surprises every time you switch between maps.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its beautiful yet surreal quality, effectively blending elements of beauty and terror through stunning visuals and an evocative soundtrack. Reviewers highlight the masterful art direction and the layered emotional experience it creates, drawing comparisons to similar titles while emphasizing its darker tone. Overall, the atmosphere is described as unforgettable and immersive, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.
“Thank you for this unforgettable experience. The game is wonderful - beautiful, surreal, with its unique atmosphere, variety of locations, and amazing soundtracks (the rose garden is my favorite).”
“The game successfully establishes a layered atmosphere of beauty and terror through its visual and audio elements.”
“It captures its atmosphere masterfully through its art direction, both audibly and visually.”
“The game fails to create a compelling atmosphere, leaving players feeling disconnected and uninspired.”
“Despite its potential, the atmosphere feels flat and lacks the depth needed to immerse players in the experience.”
“The overall ambiance is underwhelming, making it difficult to engage with the game's world.”
- graphics3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The graphics are praised for their appealing art style and impressive map design, creating immersive "first-layer" dreamscapes that enhance exploration. Users appreciate the unique visuals and the surprises that come with transitioning between different maps, making the overall visual experience engaging and enjoyable.
“The art style is very nice and the maps look great.”
“Not far behind the audio are the visuals; the 'first-layer' dreamscapes are easy to spend time in, and more often than not you're able to 'anchor' something to your screen to help orient yourself to cover ground effectively to determine if you've been to a place before.”
“The graphics and music are varied and unique, and there are many surprises every time you switch between maps.”
“The graphics are underwhelming and lack detail, making the environments feel flat and uninspired.”
“The character models are poorly designed and look outdated, which detracts from the overall experience.”
“The visual effects are inconsistent and often glitchy, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience.”
- story3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's story effectively utilizes environmental storytelling, impressing players with its depth despite being a solo developer's first release. Surreal imagery enhances the narrative, conveying psychological anxiety and creating a compelling experience. Overall, the storytelling is both sufficient and engaging.
“Additionally, it executes on environmental storytelling without much sacrifice.”
“Lastly, I was wary of the idea of environmental storytelling by a solo developer’s first release, but I’m glad to say that my caution was wasted as I found the experience incredibly satisfying.”
“Surrealistic images effectively convey psychological anxiety through environmental storytelling.”
“Additionally, it does execute on environmental storytelling without much sacrifice.”
“Lastly, I was wary of the idea of environmental storytelling by a solo developer’s first release, but I’m glad to say that the caution was wasted as I found the experience incredibly sufficient.”
“Surrealistic images express well a psychological anxiety with environmental storytelling.”
- gameplay2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The gameplay introduces innovative mechanics not found in the original Yume Nikki, offering a refreshing experience. However, the minimal text can lead to frustration, as players may feel they've fully explored an area only to discover new elements activate later without clear guidance.
“While I call it a fan game, this game introduces a lot of interesting gameplay mechanics that Yume Nikki didn't have, and it pleasantly surprised me.”
“It’s understandable that the game is leaning into its minimal text aspect as part of the game, but from a gameplay perspective, it can be a bit frustrating to think you’ve explored everything in a zone, only for something to become active later on because of reasons unbeknownst to you.”
“It's understandable that the game is leaning into its minimal text aspect as part of the experience, but from a gameplay perspective, it can be a bit frustrating to think you've explored everything in a zone, only for something to become active later on for reasons unknown to you.”
“The controls feel clunky and unresponsive, making it difficult to enjoy the gameplay as intended.”
“The pacing of the game is off, with long stretches of downtime that disrupt the flow and make it hard to stay engaged.”
