Doki Doki Literature Club! (2017)

I can see why this was such a memorable and shocking experience for so many people, and I expected to like it, but I am disappointed to say that it fell pretty flat for me. I found such a large chunk of the game to be extremely dull, particularly the first hour, and I didn't feel like it was worth trudging through that by the end.

I can appreciate how the game is attempting to set up a baseline story to be subverted by twists in the story and interactivity, but it doesn't make the moment-to-moment experience any better. Some scenes were decent and made me at least somewhat care about the characters, particularly with Sayori and Natsuki. Usually, though, I was just waiting for something interesting to happen, and dismayed when I saw I had to sit through more almost-the-same scenes for a few moments of surprise.

While some of the twists of varying sizes were kinda neat, or conversely, the kind of thing to make your heart sink, on the whole I didn't really feel a super strong reaction to anything. There are some mildly interesting "meta" gameplay elements and deconstructed narrative stuff that similarly didn't really speak to me, probably because I have seen things like that done in several games that I loved much more than I liked this one.

I think being able to get attached to the characters during the game's slow opening is a prerequisite for liking the overall experience, otherwise as a visual novel with very limited interactivity, it doesn't have much left but some shock value. So maybe it's worth a try since it's free, but I don't personally recommend it based on my own experience.

Lana: I already played this game before but it is a treat to show it to someone who hasn't and just act like it's a normal dating simulator lol. Really good game and not too long, also downloadable for free so there's no excuse not to play this! 8/10

Rodrigo: Very fun dating sim/visual novel. Girls are very cute. Conversations are very engaging. And the payoff is truly adorable and what I have been looking for all my life. I hope my love life goes as well as in this game! 8.5/10

I had heard about this game awhile back but seeing it get a Switch release brought it back to my attention. I ended up finding out it’s free on steam. So I downloaded it and entered the club.

I’ve never really played a dating sim, I’m not really a computer gamer but this was worth it. I did go in knowing a pretty major spoiler but the game was still shocking and uneasy. The creep factor was pretty on point. But so was the cute/adorable side.

The art style is very cute anime style, which might not be for everyone, same goes with the dating sim aspect. The gameplay mechanics is pretty basic being just click to read or select. But as the game evolves you do add a little more to that but… this still isn’t a full on “game” for some folks.

Story is about you going to school and having to pick a club to join and your childhood friend really wants you to join. She’s in a club with three other girls, how can this young man say no? You then create poems by clicking on certain words and try to match them up to the personality of the girls to have them like you. But after awhile things go wild….

If the game didn’t have the warnings I could see this being even more shocking(specially for folks who are able to go in totally blind) the music and art is just so cheery.

I really don’t want to spoil anything. It’s a pretty interesting choice and quick story driven game that I highly recommend.

In a few Discord servers, I've stated, usually in very chide one-off statements, that this game sucks. I've never actually spent time elaborating why it sucks, and I realize that just saying it does doesn't really help any conversation whatsoever, or really have anything new to put forth.

Because, to be honest, to say this game is all bad is missing the mark just as much as saying “anime is for weebs”... which is largely true but still missing some information that could point a different direction..

So what is DDLC? It’s a very, very short VN that lampshades what happens in most VNs, where you meet a handful of characters and deal/handle their personal issues, except without a lot to say about it. It uses its runtime to poke fun at the laughable traits of the worst of VNs while then proceeding to put some valid criticism of unconditional attachment, while peppering its runtime with enough shock value to make streamers freak the fuck out and thus become a touchstone of Twitch culture with its reaction and memes such as “just Monika”. I highly doubt that all of that was intentional, but the impact can’t be disregarded, because it did become a part of online video game culture as a whole… for better or for worse.

There is something I need to outline. While I agree usually that a game should not be based on its toxic fanbase, DDLC is so big that it’s tough to ignore. It is extremely hard to detach the community and fanbase as a whole from the game. We can agree to disagree from there.

Let’s be clear, the shock value fucking works for one key moment. I am a wimp and autistic and find very emotional attachment to video games that is borderline unhealthy, and thus the very infamous first shock rolled me over like a lawnmower and I still have nightmares thinking about it. If there’s one thing to give credit to DDLC, it is that it’s very unpredictable, although at the expense of pacing or having a good kind of shock value past the first moment.

Everything else is very standard and frustrating to go through, particularly a moment where you have to “auto-skip” for a moment that abuses its time to the fullest extent. I don’t care if it’s not supposed to be fun, it’s nauseating. It doesn’t have anything to gain for its inclusion OTHER than shocking the player and to hammer harder how messed up Monika is, which would have benefitted from a tighter pace. Subversion, especially when it’s creatively done like DDLC, is fine, but its pace and execution despite its concept hampers this to an extreme.

DDLC’s good, however, comes in two things: a general and well done understanding of depression and the pain it causes through its first introductory character arc, and the danger and toxicity of parasocial relationships represented via Monika’s rampant fascination with the player. The latter unfortunately…. is not even knee deep. It does not deconstruct how it comes to exist but rather comments on its existence, which is fine but doesn’t leave a lot to take away.

So what anecdotal interactions poison the game for me? It is that it has massively poisoned talking about VNs and the Western reaction to VNs as a whole. The game is definitely pointing at a very particular subgenre of VNs, but its popularity has created a vacuum of using the game as a point to how “all VNs are bad” and how ridiculous the genre is. Yes, people can sometimes be dumb and stupid, as can I, but I’ve seen it happen EVERYWHERE.

I’m not an expert on VNs (in fact I’ve only started recently to delve into the genre with games like Umineko, The Silver Case, and Nekojishi), but it’s insane how much DDLC has colored VN’s image that the games themselves have been not at all what’s expected. I don’t even… know of any game DDLC is really pointing out here. In the end, it feels like it has a blanket “VNs bad” side to its conversation around the medium where the tropes it is subverting in its runtime a mainstay more for anime as a whole rather than VN dating sims instead. Am I missing something? Maybe I need to play more VNs.

Trust me, it’s not that there aren't bad VNs. I can go to fucking TOWN on Nekojishi for its disgusting moments with its true ending and in the end having zero to take away from other than… the tiger guys are adorable.

The biggest struggle comes from where, when I enjoy a VN (or when other big friends of mine do), it’s tough to recommend, because the image that DDLC has created in popular culture casts a big enough web to catch SUVs. There are other barriers to entry such as price and it not being as “video game” as other genres, but this to me has been the biggest barrier now.

My hope is to understand where I come from now when I say “Fuck DDLC”. It’s partly the game but way more because of the culture that surrounds it.

At least it’s free.

I have only recently started to play visual novels, and Doki Doki Literature club kept popping up on the "must try" list. I like horror games already, and it was free, so I figured why not!

The game starts off like a traditional romance simulator, and continues down this vein for like an hour or so, with just hints of some of the darker undertones.

However, suddenly the game takes a drastic turn, and it is a rapid turn. Then when trying to start a new play through the game keeps throwing chilling images, some clever jump scares, and some shocking text, all which lead to a dramatic finale.

The horror being used is a odd combination of psychological horror, and suspense built up from using the visual novel medium. It works pretty well, though I think it leans a bit too much into shock horror.

Overall, this is a game that managed to shake and frighten me, if only briefly, but the ride through was compelling enough to grab me, but not too long to overstay its welcome.

Warning: This game is most effective when played BLIND. While I avoid any substantial spoilers below (plot, story, etc.), I hint at certain elements of the game that may be more surprising or "enjoyable" with no preconceptions going in. Continue at your own risk.

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DDLC is a cultural phenomenon, no doubt. The ways in which it plays with the ideas of meta-narrative and genre subversion are mostly well done too, so it deserves a lot of the accolades that it receives.

I watched a play-through of the game before it got traction, and I thought it was solid, but far from mind-blowing. Sadly though, simply from hearing about it ad-nauseum from every corner of the internet since, the mere mention of it elicits annoyance from me. While it does deserve a good amount of the praise it gets, the vast majority of overwhelming positivity is, in my mind, overblown and exaggerated. Many of the ensuing story elements and theming seem very surface-level to me, which is not inherently a bad thing. A game doesn't have to have a ton of depth to be successful. I guess for something that is meant to be a psychological experience, I was expecting a little more (and yes, I know about the stuff in the code, etc.)

This experience is good the first time through. Just good. Is it revolutionary? Not in my mind. Is it worth your time? Sure. Just don't talk to me about it, please.

Semi-spoilery things you need to know: this is a horror game pretending to be a dating sim. If you have depression, self-injure, or are sensitive to depictions of suicide, play with extreme caution.

That said, it's an amazing game. Didn't put my bipolar, scarred-up self in the best of headspaces, but it was worth playing, and actually interacting with the game's files while playing added a fun layer of meta.

The first part of the game is like a stereotype of a stereotype, where you're the only guy in an all-girl club, and every girl there wants you all to herself, each one fitting a particular stereotype: one childhood best friend, one tiny tsundere, one shy intellectual girl, and that one popular overachieving girl your character thinks is totally out of his league. Then everyone starts writing poetry, and warning bells start going off in your head as each girl reveals more of herself.

And then... let's just say that things get worse.

It was one hell of an experience, and the only real complaint I have is that, with one or two exceptions, your choices don't really matter. But then, that's also a comforting thing, as the game unfolds: there was no right answer. No matter what you did, it was always going to end this way.

[1h 51m] - It's pretty cute so far. Still waiting for one of the girls to sacrifice me to an elder God or whatever.

I guess I may lose some of the experience because I already know that there will be a twist at some point in the game, but I also would probably never have played this game if I wasn't waiting for a twist.

Also, Natsuki is best girl.