Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!

Note: PLEASE READ THIS PARAGRAPH CAREFULLY Seriously, both people that I had look at this while I was nearly done writing it immediately failed at following these instructions. I will be making heavy use of spoiler tags in this review, for reasons that will hopefully be very apparent. If you want to play this game as intended and without having its content spoiled, please do not read the spoiler content AT ALL. On the other hand, if you don’t care about spoilers and want to read the full review properly, PLEASE READ THROUGH THIS ENTIRE REVIEW ONCE WITHOUT HIGHLIGHTING ANY SPOILER TAGS, then go through it again and highlight ALL spoiler tags. I’m trying a thing here, hopefully it’ll make sense when you see it.

Oh, one more thing: DO NOT READ THE SPOILER TAGS OR PLAY THIS GAME AT ALL IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO TRIGGERING CONTENT.

Okay, now on to the actual review:

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Genre: Visual Novel / Horror

Players: 1

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Review:

Doki Doki Literature Club is a cutesy Visual Novel game in the “Dating Sim” genre that hides some seriously disturbing elements within, to the point where one could consider this a Horror game at times. First released on PC in 2017, this game became a cult hit and would eventually get ported to multiple platforms including Nintendo Switch in this “Plus!” version that adds new content, including side-story content, as well as art and soundtrack content.

Doki Doki Literature Club has players following the story of a group of friends in school (though we’re inexplicably told all characters are over 18 probably because most of them get killed in gruesome ways at some point or another) who are all a part of the school’s quirky “literature club”, with players taking the role of a boy roped into the group by his relentlessly cheerful childhood friend. However, despite his initial reservations, he quickly changes his tune when he discovers that the club is absolutely filled with cute girls virtually all of them suffering severe and often relatable mental health issues.

Players woo these girls by… what else?… writing poems. This takes the form of a series of multiple-choice word selections, with players trying to select the words that seem most likely to appeal to the girl they’re trying to attract not that it matters, it’s just a game, and you’ll just go back and pick different choices to get close to each of the girls in turn, right?. There’s a bit more than this, as at different points in the story you’ll have choices that will affect the flow of the story as well but don’t bother stressing over it. You can’t save them. Why even try?.

While you may be tempted to dismiss a Dating Sim game, and especially one called Doki Doki Literature Club, I’d urge you not to be too hasty. This game’s writing is surprisingly good, some of the best I’ve seen in the genre, and even though all of the game’s four girls are typical anime-esque stereotypes or at least so they seem at first, since clearly you’re just looking to label and judge them before getting to know them, and even though the situation seems banal and mundane hah, just you wait…, the writing here fills each of these characters with an amazing depth that makes it hard not to grow attached to them.

What’s more, even the protagonist is well-written, and when story points pop up that force you to choose between the girls, the way he responds to these choices is generally respectful to all and tries to mitigate any hard feelings for those who may feel dejected, which is a nice touch. Yeah, you’re so smart, aren’t you? By the way, way to go telling Sayori you always know what’s best for her, you condescending moron. You don’t even know her and you know what’s best for her? Man, you really are treating all of this like it’s just a game, aren’t you?

While things start out simple and light-hearted, they get kinda’ intense later on Depictions of suicide tend to do that, and the choices you make will seem extremely crucial Seem being the operative word, you’re going to screw this up no matter what you do, so why bother?. A simple choice of which girl to walk home or which to help with the club project, something that would be almost trivial in another game in this genre, is one that seems vitally important here When you’ve been trying to woo one girl whose delicate emotional state could be shattered by rejection, another girl seems to be getting really quiet given how distant you’ve been, and a third girl mentions how you haven’t spent any time with her and implies that she cares more about this than she lets on, you’ll find yourself pausing to decide not only which option you want, but which seems like it will result in causing the least damage.

Of course, that’s just the start of the dilemmas you’ll be facing, YOU FAILED HER. YOU FAILED HER. YOU FAILED HER. YOU FAILED HERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR with the game giving you completely new options and storylines on repeat playthroughs. Error loading script file. Abort, Retry, Ignore?

One thing that may frustrate players is that this game can get a bit glitchy at times. Both graphical issues and some errors in the game’s script seem to be present later in the game, show fake_exception order 1: intended fault. break fourth.wal. report_exception: (“Don’t worry, everything is fine”) however, I’d say that these touches actually add to, not detract from, the overall enjoyment of the game. Save file not found

Graphically, this game looks nice, although nothing truly special for the genre, with some good anime character artwork, but nothing too extravagant. print deadgirl.png This is paired with a catchy, upbeat, lightly-synthesized soundtrack (expanded above and beyond the original version of the game), with catchy tunes like Doki Doki Literature Club! Main Theme, Ohayou Sayori, and My Confession. These are joined in this version by great new music for the added content, including My Song, Your Note, Lavender Mist, and Piece by Piece. The music here is likely intentionally low-fi, but nevertheless catchy enough to be pleasant accompaniment to the gameplay. What’s this? The cute music cut out again? Well, thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘a̭̿̀̀̀᷈͘t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅t͉̪̀̀̃̀᷅’̣͖̋̀̀̀̀̓̀̀͛s̭̀ͮ̀̀͡s̭̀ͮ̀̀͡s̭̀ͮ̀̀͡s̭̀ͮ̀̀͡s̭̀ͮ̀̀͡s̭̀ͮ̀̀͡s̭̀ͮ̀̀͡s̭̀ͮ̀̀͡s̭̀ͮ̀̀͡ ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ǹ̥̼̜̳̀̀ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛ò̠̭̥̀̀͛t̼͇̀̂̀᷃̀ r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠r̀͛̀̀͒͢͠ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅ị̈̀̓̀̀᷅g̷̀͏͚̀̍̀g̷̀͏͚̀̍̀g̷̀͏͚̀̍̀g̷̀͏͚̀̍̀g̷̀͏͚̀̍̀g̷̀͏͚̀̍̀g̷̀͏͚̀̍̀g̷̀͏͚̀̍̀g̷̀͏͚̀̍̀h̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣh̘̥̾̀̀̀ͣt̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀t̬̖̅̀ͫ̀̀……………………………………………………………………

One other thing of note here – this game makes good use of Nintendo Switch touchscreen support, making the Nintendo Switch probably the best place to play the game besides the PC.

As for complaints, I do feel like some of this game’s more interesting elements are introduced fairly late – players may be playing through the game for hours and still wondering why everyone is so crazy about the game. Although even before that point, the great writing and characters still shine through brilliantly Wait, which character were we talking about, again? Sayori? What? Who the heck is that? None of the three girls in this game is named Sayori..

Of course, due to this game’s genre and topic matter and violent, emotionally sensitive, potentially triggering content, Doki Doki Literature Club isn’t for everyone, but if you’re the sort of person who can enjoy a good Visual Novel, and don’t mind it getting a bit extreme at points I SHOULD JUST DIE. I SHOULD JUST DIE. I SHOULD JUST DIE., Doki Doki Literature Club is a wildly unique and original game you should absolutely give a try.

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tl;dr – Doki Doki Literature Club is an extremely original Visual Novel Dating Sim-style game about a boy who joins a school’s literature club and takes an interest in the club’s cute girls. There is deceptively good writing here, as well as other elements that I can’t discuss here without giving major spoilers. However, suffice it to say that there is some extreme stuff in the game that may not make it suitable for everyone. But those who enjoy the genre and don’t mind challenging topic matter will find this to be a truly inspired take on the genre.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards:

Runner-Up – Best Port/Remake, Best Graphic Adventure / Visual Novel

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