Doki Doki Lit Club

Doki Doki Lit Club

Steam Review

So I had heard and seen a lot about this game before playing it. I saw it was free and thought, "why not give it a shot what do I have to lose?" I now realize that I had more to lose than I thought. Needless to say, I lost a bit of what humanity I had left and that was just with 1 playthrough and a part of me says, "end it there man...uninstall it before you lose it" and yet I won't do that.

This game has the right amount of playful banter and characters that you expect from the image you see at the beginning of the title menu and the game plays a lot like a nice slice of life Visual Novel, then you add the unique character development and the few choices you make determine their attitude and overall development through the continuing story until you reach an apex that leaves me wondering how many endings there really are.

So for all the nice looking and sounding banter and such the game takes a seriously dark turn and as you begin to realize that each character has their own flaws you begin to realize that nothing you do is going to end well for everyone...and someone is going to be reaching their limits and be consumed by the darkness that plagues them.

To that end, this game is a great game and one that I will enjoy for many more hours but don't expect to play through this game and get to the end and have much of you humanity left after making some of the choices you have to make...because chances are something bad is going to happen...and you have to cope with it.

Updated Review:

So after playing through the game again and going through trials and tribulations that came after my first "play through" I realized I hadn't REALLY finished the game. After actually going through the game (for real) and seeing how the game was actually meant to be played all I can say is...that was a mind **** and a half. But I would STILL recommend this game to anyone that enjoys being caught in suspense and enjoys some true insightful storytelling.

Expanded Review

I am going to be upfront with you all on this review. If my Steam Review didn't make you wonder about what dark hell you were about to enter then let me prepare you with this warning. I do adult content media because I want to because I don't feel like it gets enough exposer and, to be honest, the way the world treats Adult Media Content and Games is just a horrible reflection on people in general. All that said most people when they think about Adult Content Games they think sex. I am just as guilty as the next person about thinking that way. To that end let me warn you...this game has absolutely NO SEX in it.

This game is classified with the "Adult Only" tag for a completely different reason and to be honest, there are even some adults that could not handle the complete and overall mind frick that this game gives. I want to go on record and say that I played this game and found myself wondering how I fell down this rabbit hole...and what had I been doing with my life to fall down this rabbit hole. This game is marked 'Adult' because it deals with adult situations and without spoiling the overall story arch and ending transition let's just say it deals with the dark and deranged concept of AI, Love, Depression, Suicide, and Lost...now if that is Loss of Mind or Soul the jury is still out on that. So will you join me on this journey down the dark rabbit hole?

On a bit of a side note, I played through the game again at a later time while a friend of mine that I normally do Political Podcasting with was watching me live stream it and I don't deny that we both had been drinking a bit that night but even he said that he would not play this game after watching me play it, but that was because he said he has seen the mind frick and that was all he wanted. I asked him prior to doing this review if he would like to help me with this review and he said without a shadow of a doubt...NO. Intrigued? Would you like to know more?

Doki Doki Lit Club is a Visual Novel that puts you in charge of a male character (name can be changed) going through the daily grind of high school with your friend Sayori. She has been your childhood friend and neighbor since you can remember and you spend every school year walking with her to school and home again. 

Sayori your childhood friend is a bit of an airhead but is fun natured and light-hearted. She can be a bit of a clutz but overall her nature seems very bubbly and happy go lucky. Being your best friend and neighbor you spend your mornings walking to school with her and walking after school home with one another.

Sayori talks you one day into going with her to the club that she is a member of, the Literature Club and asks him to consider joining it so they can have more members. She has been pressuring him for some time to join a club and has pushed him to join the club she is a part of so they can spend time together and so their club can increase its membership. He at first isn't going until she says they will be having snacks...like any man he thinks with his stomach and decides to check it out. Enter our 3 other female students and the only other characters in the game.

Yuri is a very timid and quiet girl that spends her time reading long novels that are very poetic and have deep-seated meaning in the words and tends to have more than one meaning and therefore her writings always are very profound in their artistic approach and view. As one of the girls, you can take a relationship with she slowly opens up and seems to be more open to the idea of having a relationship with your character which is past her normal self-expectations.

 Natsuki is a year younger than you in school and is fascinated with Manga and simplistic writings and poems. Her and Yuri get into constant arguments over their difference of writing styles as Natsuki can be confrontational and a bit headstrong. She is a small girl and fits the concept of 'big boom in little packages'. She is also one of the girls you can have a relationship with and has a problem with her blood sugar. She tends to get weak and can fall out suddenly due to low protein levels and low sugar. Monika usually carries protein bars with her to give to Natsuki when she goes through one of her spells.

Monika is the founder and President of the Lit Club and is a year ahead of you. It is her final year and she is looking to passing the torch to the next person she thinks can take the Lit Club further. She is smart, kind, openminded and very expressive with her writings. She is also a bit of mystery when it comes to some things. She takes a noticeable interest in your character and tries to find ways for you and her to spend time with one another but usually, the others get in the way. 

As you progress through the game you will come to a part where you will have to write your poem so to speak. To do this you will see a list of words on the right of the screen and small chibi characters on the left that show the girls. As you pick words that you want to use to write your poem the chibi will jump showing that that person likes the word you chose for your poem. There are usually 20 rounds of this and if you're looking to impress a certain girl you will want to figure out what it is they find interesting and focus on words that they find interesting and enjoyable.

The game progress pretty steady and the story and interactions seem normal with the exception of 1 girl that when you click on some words that you think she wouldn't like...she actually does. To that end, each girl has a very distinct 'dark' trait that you will have to find out towards the end. Now I could tell you what they are and what the ending will do to you but I'd rather not spoil the game.

On that note I need to make something clear, you can not play through the game 1 time. You will have to play through it possibly 2 times or 3 times before you get to the actual end of the game. When you get to the end of the game you will be presented with an interesting turn of events that will make you think the game is broken. In reality, it is not broken, it is actually part of the game. If you would like more information on how to fix the game at the end so you can get the real ending please post a comment down below and I will be more than happy to help you out with that.

With all that said, just know this. This is a dark dark game and a gem of a game. Without using any sex appeal this game will have you question your own humanity and the concept of AI and other things as well as your perception of reality. I got this game on Steam and is 100% Free to play. So there is NO reason why you can turn this down. They do offer a Fan Pack for $10 that comes with some additional things like music and fan pics. But it is not required for the game to play. 

I recommend this game to those who are mot faint of heart.