Doki-Doki Literature Club - Adult Visual Novel [18+]

[Alex's Waifu]

​

Anyone else play through/found this game interesting?

Sorta into visual novels, I went into DDLC with very little knowledge beyond that it's an adult game. Was thinking more along the lines of Katawa Shoujo, but I was very wrong.

For anyone interested at all in this visual novel, it's free on Steam and I highly recommend it.

Spoiler: Trigger Warning

As the game states many times, it can trigger those who are sensitive to subjects like depression and anxiety, so you've been warned.

*SPOILERS BELOW*​

The game starts off slow and predictable. However, after day 2, it starts to grow apparent that something is amiss, and I was pleasantly surprised the direction the game takes for its twists. Games that break the 4th wall and mess your mind are some of the most enjoyable in my eyes, and I hope more like it are made.

Being horror-craft, the ego-centric MattPat has already started a theory about it:

I'm not convinced of it myself, but we'll see where it goes....

What did you like/dislike about the game? Know anything interesting about it? Would you be interested in seeing more games like this?

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

It’s a shame it’s one of those games that gets spoiled almost the second you look up information on it.

 

[Namesarehardtocomeupwith]

Too bad this game suffers from what I think is the undertale effect. It would be amazing experience it for yourself blind but now that it caught popularity, spoilers/memes are everywhere that might makes it lost it charm to newcomers.

Who am I kidding? This game is absolute shite for there are no route nor happy ending for best girl.

 

[SomethingWittyandBadass]

Too bad this game suffers from what I think is the undertale effect. It would be amazing experience it for yourself blind but now that it caught popularity, spoilers/memes are everywhere that might makes it lost it charm to newcomers.

Who am I kidding? This game is absolute shite for there are no route nor happy ending for best girl.

Sums it up pretty much, this game has undertale popularity out of the wazoo and it probably will be put off for some other shit game.

 

[Alex's Waifu]

It’s a shame it’s one of those games that gets spoiled almost the second you look up information on it.

Sums it up pretty much, this game has undertale popularity out of the wazoo and it probably will be put off for some other shit game.

Woah really? I didn't think it was that popular. I'm guessing some Youtubers must've posted it. Besides MattPat, I only knew of MagikarpUsedFly whose played it.

I need to get out from this internet rock I've been under.

 

[Yellow Yam Scam]

I haven't read any of the posts on this thread because I don't want to see any spoilers but are there any full playthroughs on youtube? I kind of want to experience it but I ain't really got the time to play it myself.

 

[Alex's Waifu]

I haven't read any of the posts on this thread because I don't want to see any spoilers but are there any full playthroughs on youtube? I kind of want to experience it but I ain't really got the time to play it myself.

With no commentary:

Starts getting good around 2:20:00
If you read fast, you can speed up the video to 1.5 so you don't spend 6 hours watching, but trust me, you'll want to slow down after 2:50:00

EDIT: Just glanced at YouTube and saw that PewDiePie did a video. 2mil views, yeah I guess the word is out now...

 

[Diesel Boogaloo]

This game was downloaded 1 million times, it's hardly some hidden gem: http://teamsalvato.com/blog/1-million-downloads/

Anyway, I consider it a FNAF of visual novels.
It's a short game banking on metanarrative, fourth-wall breaking, shock value, and contrast between cute and grotesque, which are among the laziest storytelling tropes plaguing indie games as of late. At least it's free.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Well technically the game warns you right off the bat it's not meant to be played by sensitive players, so unless someone was just that dense or presses A for everything (or just mislead by people and not paid attention, seems like some people didn't get to even look at it before downloading it), it's not a surprise things turn to shit in the game. Even though the actual surprise is just how fucked up the game gets.

Anyway, my computer's shit and wouldn't even be able to run the game in the first place, so like a fucking pleb I just watched/listen to Pewds play it while I drew for the whole five hours. I wasn't impressed at first, not because it was a slow slice-of-life high school club scenario, but because it felt like it was cliché, but still wanted to try something different yet couldn't spice it up.

Spoiler

I'll also admit that Sayuri so willingly telling her guy friend/the player that she's been suffering from depression was making me lose my suspension of disbelief. Correct me if I'm completely wrong, but wouldn't an actual Japanese schoolgirl keep that to herself, even from her best friend(s)? Yeah, this is basically a visual novel where it's not completely realistic, but not even an anime/manga series would go out of its way to do that without blanketing it under metaphors and shit (which was what the poems were doing just fine), so I was just a bit disappointed in that.





But after her suicide and the game completely changed itself around and started fucking with the player (and its own characters), I actually was pleased with the results, with Yuri being the most fucked up character in the game, unless that was still all Monika. It's a pretty cool idea that I'm glad worked out, and it really does suck that I can't play it for myself. My brother would like the game, though, don't think he knows anything about it just yet.

There's one thing from Pewds' playthrough that's actually missing that was darkly funny, but someone compiled some reactions for the scene, even if we'll never get his reaction.

Spoiler

 

[P.A]

Brief thoughts on DDLC:

Spoiler

- When I played it, I thought that the "normal" section of the game took a little too long. Seeing how I jumped into the game waiting for it to get crazy, that's a bit of a problem. In hindsight, that section is probably better than I thought it was, though I'm in no hurry to replay the game just for that.
- The big 'scares' are kinda hit and miss. The smash cut to Sayori's hanging corpse is probably the best one, though sometimes the game does try too hard with the 'glitchy' aesthetic.
- I went with Yuri for my initial playthrough, but in hindsight, I think I would've rather picked Natsuki. She came off as really tryhard tsundere to me at first, but the bit where she explained the view on poetry - that a poem doesn't need to be purple prose to be a good poem - was enough for me to think that there was more to her than I noticed at first glance.

All in all, I felt like I got enough out of the game, though I don't think I would have paid money for it, regardless of whether or not I knew of its twist. It's hardly 999 or Ghost Trick tier.

 

[Hat]

I picked it up pretty soon after it was released because it was free and I was bored, and went through unspoiled except for the knowledge that at some point it going to get "not appropriate for children or those who are easily disturbed." I thought it was okay, not really scary but kind of clever though. I didn't have any desire to replay it though, and now that it's YouTube-bait I doubt I'll revisit it.

 

[RG 448]

The horror aspect sounds fun. Would someone who isn’t a fan of anime visual novels enjoy this? I’ve been looking for more psychological horror games.

 

[Carcinogenesis]

The horror aspect sounds fun. Would someone who isn’t a fan of anime visual novels enjoy this?

I'm not a VN connoisseur but I enjoyed it. If you hate everything about anime though, I don't know if you would enjoy it. I'd suggest giving it a try though.

 

[RG 448]

I'm not a VN connoisseur but I enjoyed it. If you hate everything about anime though, I don't know if you would enjoy it. I'd suggest giving it a try though.

The cover image looks like nothing I’d touch with a ten foot pole because it would be sticky, but as a misdirect for a dark horror story it would be pretty clever.

 

[P.A]

The cover image looks like nothing I’d touch with a ten foot pole because it would be sticky, but as a misdirect for a dark horror story it would be pretty clever.

It's gonna take a while until you get there, so be warned. You gotta hold out until the school festival.

 

[RG 448]

It's gonna take a while until you get there, so be warned. You gotta hold out until the school festival.

Long as the horror payoff is good I can probably trick my brain into thinking the rest is satire.

 

[dunbrine47]

Three hours to get to the horror elements. I think what kills it is having to read the poems of all the persons involved in the club, not just the person you are going after and saving the rest for other playthroughs. If there was a better transition from the "normal stuff" to the horror stuff I think I would like it better.

 

[Your Uncle]

Three hours to get to the horror elements.

This is horror now? I guess its meta or whatever, like stanley's parable, but horror? Its too pink to be horror, just unsettling at best. I did see some elements of this sort of game design in some other game that did more for atmosphere to make it feel like a horror game, dont remember what it was though.

 

[RADICALGOBLIN]

Spoiler: Personal Opinion

This is no joke the most generic fucking horror game on Steam. A lot of it feels like every single 2010 creepypasta cliche mashed into a dramatic fanfic of K-On. Some of the technical moments it shows are impressive but that's about it in terms of appeal. I'd honestly rather play Night In The Woods.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Part two of the Game Theory video came out. Brace yourselves, the autism is fucking insane. (And if this is all true that Team Salvato hid information of their upcoming game in DDLC, that's some crazy hype they're willing to bet everything on.)