Doki Doki Literature Club has blessed us with its existence during last September and it seems like the perfect game to launch out new "Gaming" rubric. In the game's Steam page we see under genres the completely honest psychological horror, visual novel, anime and plain horror. The makers from Team Salvato greet us with a warning as well - not suitable for children or easily disturbed people. A Monika greets us as well instead of an annotation of the game. Overall, we know that we'll charm cute lolies with our (not really) exceptional literary genius. Honestly, this sounds like a true horror, to begin with, so I was kinda prepared to suffer. They are honest people, you know.
And how honest they are indeed. There is a truly slim chance that you actually do not know anything about the game. Doki Doki Literature Club was all over YouTube, Reddit etc. but if by chance you are new to this, be warned - juicy (not really) spoilers from my around 5hour run of this absolutely free masterpiece wait ahead.
So. I adore Doki Doki Literature Club. Despite the fact that we seem to be warned all the way from the beginning in the Steam page, oh boy, somehow we forget every warning, let our guard down for the innocent club and are just prey to the brilliantly executed horror. During the first hour of the playthrough, not much is happening. I absolutely forgot everything I should've been looking out for and realized much later that we had loads of hints before our eyes the whole time.
When the game reaches its culmination. everything literally falls apart much quicker than we could've imagined and in all sorts of creative and chills-inducing ways. Doki Doki will basically shock you in all the ways you are not prepared to be shocked. The sounds and music, in particular, are used just the right way. Little things glitch here and there, bringing a feeling of insecurity, of constant stress for what may happen next.
So. I adore Doki Doki Literature Club. Despite the fact that we seem to be warned all the way from the beginning in the Steam page, oh boy, somehow we forget every warning, let our guard down for the innocent club and are just prey to the brilliantly executed horror. During the first hour of the playthrough, not much is happening. I absolutely forgot everything I should've been looking out for and realized much later that we had loads of hints before our eyes the whole time.
When the game reaches its culmination. everything literally falls apart much quicker than we could've imagined and in all sorts of creative and chills-inducing ways. Doki Doki will basically shock you in all the ways you are not prepared to be shocked. The sounds and music, in particular, are used just the right way. Little things glitch here and there, bringing a feeling of insecurity, of constant stress for what may happen next.
 | As I was finishing the game, a thought occurred to me. Not only was the horror done so elegantly, the plot actually had meaning and depth. All the way from the start 'till the crumbling of the 4th wall - there is a message and food for thought. It was at the same time a completely terrifying and enriching experience. We had long cute talks with Monika about life, death, the meaning of it all and well, just about anything. I had to replay the game too, just to leave it at the stage with her. She is waiting for me even now. One click away. Only Monika. |
Author: Lilia Bozhinova
