If you've never heard anything about Doki Doki Literature Club before, you're in for a surprise. Masquerading as a cute dating sim, this game is actually a lot darker than it initially appears. There's a disclaimer at the beginning of the game that warns, "Individuals suffering from anxiety or depression may not have a positive experience playing this game," followed by a detailed content warning (containing spoilers) if you're concerned. You should absolutely taking this warning seriously. If you still want to play the game, there's an option that allows you to turn on in-game content warnings. There's also one other disclaimer that states all characters in the game are over 18 years old, but they're in high school and they mention that Natsuki is a first year student, so I don't know how she's not underage.
Before I get into what the game is about, I want to say that I'm really going to try to limit the amount of spoilers in this post. We all know it's a horror game, but that doesn't mean I need to spoil why or how it's a horror game.
One day at school, your childhood friend, Sayori, recruits you to be part of the Literature Club, luring you there with the promise of cupcakes. Sayori comes across as very bubbly and eager to please people. Like a ray of sunshine. There are three other members in the Literature Club, Yuri (who enjoys horror and fantasy, is extremely shy), Natsuki (likes manga and is somewhat antagonistic towards the MC) and Monika (the president of the Literature Club). On your first day in the club, you're tasked with writing a poem (which consists of choosing 20 different words from a long list the game gives you). Remember, this is a horror game parading around as a dating sim, so you want to choose the words you think best apply to your favorite member of the club.
To get the full story, you'll have to complete multiple playthroughs. When the game "ends," make sure to play it again. I highly suggest not using the skip function as the story changes each time and you'll miss something important. There are also multiple side stories (that act as prequels) that unlock as you achieve different things throughout the game. The "Trust" side stories really upset me because of a specific interaction in the main game. The main game deals heavily with mental illness, so it's upsetting anyway, but at the same time, the story goes so off the rails that you kind of lose focus on that after a while and you're just like...What. The. Hell? Whereas the side stories could be real interactions you would have with a friend. Playing through them made me sad, knowing what happens afterwards.
I know I said I wasn't going to spoil anything, but there are some slight spoiler for Yuri here. I can relate to this character a lot because I experience the same things she does...Except for the way her anxiety comes across. I want to make it very clear that I'm nothing like Yuri. Anyway. One thing playing through the Understanding side stories made me realize is that there's this thing I do that's actually a part of my social anxiety. Any time I want to share something I enjoy with someone, I'll give a disclaimer that I'm sorry if they end up not liking it. If it's in person and we're watching something, I'll constantly say it's okay to turn it off because I'm worried they aren't enjoying it and I don't want to force it on them. I never actually realized that's a part of my anxiety until playing this game and it's kind of a strange thing to cause that epiphany, but it did help me to understand myself a little better.
Doki Doki Literature Club kind of reminds me of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni in that it seems really cute and happy, the music is upbeat and the colors are bright, but then everything goes to hell and you're not expecting it at all. I originally played the PC version of this game when it was first released, so I knew what to expect this time around, but it was still so unsettling playing it again. My first time playing the game, I knew it was supposed to be a horror game, but I didn't know why. I think that made it way more effective. As I said, I played the PC version a while back, so I honestly don't remember what was or wasn't included in that version. The unlockables included in DDLC+ are various images, e-mails and music...And this leads to my biggest complaint about the game.
If you want to platinum this game, you need to collect every single unlockable there is, including the secret poems. Unfortunately, the way you obtain those poems is at random in Act 2, so you could potentially end up playing through the game 100 times before you get all of them. It doesn't take long if you skip all the dialogue, but it's still tedious. And then there's the final poem, that you get by reloading the game over and over...Getting that last poem annoyed me as much as farming covenant items in Dark Souls 3 did. It's just...Bad. The game itself is great, but this was terrible. It seems like an easy platinum, but it's so frustrating that it ended up ruining the game for me. The same thing happened with Dark Souls 3 and Dead Rising 2. Here's some advice: If you're enjoying a game, don't try to platinum it because you may hate it by the time you're done. And here's the thing. I've had the physical version of this game pre-ordered for months, that's why I was waiting to make this post. I ended up buying the digital version so I could play through it again quickly before the physical version is released and have this post ready to go when the game got here. But I was so annoyed by that last trophy that I cancelled my pre-order.
I know I just made it sound like I hate the game. I don't. The only complaint I have about the game itself is that in Act 2, no matter who you write your poems for, you're going to end up spending the weekend with the same character (and believe me, it is a LONG weekend).
Personally, I tend to struggle with visual novels. I get really tired while "playing" them. There's a lot of reading involved and I'm always tired anyway, so I struggle to stay awake long enough to play for more than an hour or so. Doki Doki Literature Club is such a unique, imaginative, screwed up game that I was able to get through it though. Multiple times. Like...At least 30 times, trying to get that damn platinum trophy (which, by the way, was glitched for a while on the PS5). There are some things that could be improved upon, but overall, I do think this is a pretty good game and definitely one of the most unique horror games I've ever played. I recommend the game, but I don't recommend trying to obtain all the trophies.
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