Firstly, it's not Yume Nikki. Don't go in to this game thinking it'll be like a 3D version, because you will miss out.
That being said, I love this game as much as Yume Nikki. It is different, but it stands very well on it's own.

Yume Nikki is called a walking simulator, so I'd call Dream Diary a more conventional game. There's puzzles, there's progression, there's challenges. Dream Diary has the stunning environments of Yume Nikki, but condensed and streamlined to be easily palatable.

It's not a perfect experience. The game has performance problems at times. You can play with a keyboard or controller, but I'd recommend the latter. Some moments really work better with the analogue movement a keyboard just can't provide.
Some puzzle solutions are rather arbitrary, and what is needed to progress is sometimes unclear. It worked for Yume Nikki because the whole game is about being strange, but in Dream Diary, it can be interrupting.

Firstly, it's not Yume Nikki. Don't go in to this game thinking it'll be like a 3D version, because you will miss out. That being said, I love this game as much as Yume Nikki. It is different, but it stands very well on it's own. Yume Nikki is called a walking simulator, so I'd call Dream Diary a more conventional game. There's puzzles, there's progression, there's challenges. Dream Diary has the stunning environments of Yume Nikki, but condensed and streamlined to be easily palatable. It's not a perfect experience. The game has performance problems at times. You can play with a keyboard or controller, but I'd recommend the latter. Some moments really work better with the analogue movement a keyboard just can't provide. Some puzzle solutions are rather arbitrary, and what is needed to progress is sometimes unclear. It worked for Yume Nikki because the whole game is about being strange, but in Dream Diary, it can be interrupting.