I recently played Yume Nikki so I have a bit of a different opinion of this level with its added context and I think that while this is a good level, you're just not going to be able to replicate that vibe that the original succeeds at. However, I think the most is done in acting as a tribute to the game- it's not directly aping the visual style of the game, as Jghost employs their usual modern style, which I think works really well in the dreamlike context of the game. I also like the gameplay a lot; it's very engaging for a non-demon, which is pretty rare to see for most levels past 1.9. But I just cannot say that this level does the game justice. To me, a big part of Yume Nikki's appeal is getting lost, and I don't really get that feeling in this level, as it's just a straight shot to the end.

I think 2.2 probably has the most potential when it comes to making a proper tribute to Yume Nikki. You can argue that Dead of Night is very close when it comes to tone, but unlike Yume Nikki it's entirely linear- the timesink for DON is not spent getting lost as much as it is being stuck on one part and doing attempts over and over again. grebeworld also comes to mind, but it doesn't sustain the labyrinthine gameplay for a long period of time, since the first third is just a regular ship part and the free-roaming part doesn't last too long. I feel that in GD, while you can make very dreamlike things in the editor, you can't really get lost in a GD level the same way you can get lost in Yume Nikki- that linearity is built into GD's essence. Think about the UFO part of this level- it's modelled after Hell, one of the largest areas in Yume Nikki and the area you are most likely to get lost in, as it's a giant maze that wraps around on itself. To even do Hell its proper justice, you would likely need something incredibly winding and obtuse in order to convey the feelings associated with it, yet Jghost decided to just make it a narrow corridor, which doesn't fully capture the appeal of that area. This can extend to the other parts, where there's only a visual element that is applied to the level rather than applying the design philosophy of how Yume Nikki's areas are designed- its the surface level "aesthetics" with very little of the actual context that makes them work so well.