Platform: PC

Developer: Team Salvato

Publisher:  Team Salvato

Release Date: Sep. 22, 2017 

Genre: Psychological Horror, Visual Novel, Point and Click

Nerd Rating: 8.5 / 10

Reviewed by Rhutsczar

Most people in their high school days wanted or even longed to be apart of that sweet extra-curricular activity. Whether it be a sport, volunteering, or just a club, the opportunities were relatively endless. Alright, well clearly I am generalizing here, as some people (myself included) thought clubs and structure would be an absolute bore. When we dive head first into this visual novel and work hard to win over the waifu of our dreams, we uncover the darker side of the joining clubs in high school. Welcome to the Doki Doki Literature Club!, have your best poems ready.

Which Slice-of-Life is this?

When you first look at the cover of this game, you expect that it is going to be just another dating simulator. For the most part, especially through the first act of the game, that is exactly it. You take control of a player-named protagonist, who is guilted by his childhood friend Sayori into being the latest recruit of the literature club, the newest poetry club formed at their high school. Here the protagonist is introduced to the club’s three other members: the always hungry Natsuki, dark and brooding vice president Yuri, and the questionably powerful club president Monika. Over the first few days in the club, we start to get to know and swoon over the four girls and everything seems to be going well.

When you look at Doki Doki Literature Club on the surface, Team Salvato stays true to the traditional visual novel tropes that gamers know and love…at first. Doki Doki is much more than just a dating sim, as Salvato has crafted a fantastic “metafiction” title that causes players to lose grasp and their convictions of what Doki Doki appears to them. Whether this is via the game’s constant fourth wall breaks, manipulating the player’s controls, or even completely changing game files, Doki Doki really get’s its rocks off at taking the player on this journey. Doki Doki is purely an exercise of the mind and will torture you mentally as you learn a harsh truth. You can’t save everyone and you are often powerless to change the outcome.

Yuri, maybe you just need more of Natsuki’s cupcakes…no? How about more tea?

However, this is where the game starts to show it’s true colors. The game starts to introduce a bit more sensitive subject matter, which gets worse until it results in the death of one of the girls. Doki Doki Literature Club as a game starts to bug and degrade, seemingly trying to correct this “detrimental mistake”. This is where the mastermind tips their hand, and we are able to see behind the curtain. Then everything goes back to normal, playing through the same events we had played through before. This happens quite often on the Doki Doki emotional rollercoaster, so adapt or just stop playing.

As the warnings that we are treated to at the title screen suggest, Doki Doki Literature Club is definitely not for the faint of heart. The game explores moments and feelings of depression, abuse, as well as suicide. While you would not expect this from a visual novel, the developers are able to craft a layer of “metafiction” to hammer the point home. This creates a heavy fog of anxiety and horror that traps the player in a whirlwind of psychological madness as they suffer through every dreadful playthrough.

While we have come to expect fourth-wall breaks in this era of postmodernism in video games, Team Salavato has crafted an excellent example of how to develop interactive media in today’s industry. Doki Doki Literature Club essentially is an incredibly aware satire of dating simulators and serves as a showcase of the power of story-telling that the visual novel media offers. Even when DDLC is just making quick/missable changes in the characters’ personality and dialogue, it provides insight into the nightmare world we are willingly entering. Never had I played a game that I felt was actually playing me the entire time.

The legendary BUFFSUKI has appeared!

Now that Doki Doki has been out for a spell, the best product from the game’s release has been the fanbase. Not since the days of Five Nights at Freddy’s have we seen such a loyal and dedicated fan base spring up around a single game. This has led to the creation of many memes, such as the already viral “Buffsuki”. The more talented members of the fan base, however, have already begun crafting mods for the main game. By far one of the most popular mods available is A Brand New Day, which changes the game by extending it by multiple days and attempting to wrap up the events of DDLC in a pretty bow.

All and all, while Doki Doki Literature Club seemed to just be yet another viral YouTube gaming trend that would quickly diminish itself, it has already proved its longevity. For anyone who is interested in current psychological horror games or those who have a thing for being manipulated, look no further. While we eagerly await for Team Salvato’s next major project, which has become a conspiracy through easter eggs and hidden messages/code throughout Doki Doki, be sure to pick this one up. Plus, who doesn’t like the way too high cost of free-to-play? If I have to give you one word of advice to survive your deep dive into the literature club, always remember…