Doki Doki Literature Club Reactions

"Manga is literature!!"

Warning ahead of time, there is basically no way to actually discuss my reactions and feelings about this game without spoiling, though I did write a very vague spoiler-free review on Steam.   Many of the other reviews on Steam make no sense without playing the game. The game is free so if you're curious to play without being spoiled you can get it on Steam or via the game's website.


Also a content warning, this cutesy game is very much a psychological horror, so my discussion will include depression, mental illness, suicide, self-harm, abuse, and basically otherwise "disturbing content." 

"psychological horror, anime, visual novel, free to play, horror, cute, dating sim, dark, story rich, singleplayer, romance, great soundtrack, gore, violent, indie, first-person, casual, sexual content, adventure"

I went into the game knowing almost nothing other than the tags on steam and that it seemed the game had developed a cult following for some reason.  

Before finishing the game I basically came to the conclusion that the game could be described first and foremost as a psychological horror disguised as a cutesy dating sim.   The first few hours of gameplay felt pretty mostly normal with maybe some dark elements.   It gave me some Puella Magi Madoka Magica feels in the way it was dark, genre-breaking, and depicted the emotional struggles of teens.

For example, as someone who has struggled with self ham much of my life, it was obvious to me that the character Yuri was as well after reading her poem The Raccoon.

The Raccoon

It happened in the dead of night while I was slicing bread for a guilty snack.   

My attention was caught by the scuttering of a raccoon outside my window.

That was, I believe, the first time I noticed my strange tendencies as an unusual human.

I gave the raccoon a piece of bread, my subconscious well aware of the consequences.

Well aware that a raccoon that is fed will always come back for more.

The enticing beauty of my cutting knife was the symptom.

The bread, my hungry curiosity.

The raccoon, an urge.

The moon increments its phase and reflects that much more light off of my cutting knife.

The very same light that glistens in the eyes of my raccoon friend.

I slice the bread, fresh and soft. The raccoon becomes excited.

or perhaps I'm merely projecting my emotions onto the newly-satisfied animal.

The raccoon has taken to following me.  

You could say that we've gotten quite used to each other.

The raccoon becomes hungry more and more frequently, so my bread is always handy.

Every time I brandish my cutting knife the raccoon shows me its excitement.

A rush of blood. Classic Pavlovian conditioning. I slice the bread.

And I feed myself again.

But then I noticed what seemed like some foreshadowing.  I laughed that even Yuri suggested the same thing!

"This club is seriously going to be the death of me..."

"Stagnating air is common foreshadowing that something terrible is about to happen..."

Then the character Sayori, the main character's childhood friend who had been up to the point a bubbling bundle of smiling sunshine that lit up the room, hit me hard with some damn relatable feels when she explains why she is usually late to school and you realize she is struggling with some deep depression.

"Because most days, I can't even find a reason to get out of bed."

It is shortly after this where the game just slams you, and then things get weird, creepy and disturbing.  Not only are they alluded to in the game, but following this, there are actual disturbing images of self-harm and suicide.   I am no longer making jokes or laughing at the irony.  I am anxious, cussing, saying things like "What the fucking is even happening?"   Where the game had previously seemingly jokingly broke the 4th wall... the 4th wall is eventually utterly shattered.

You can see all the screenshots I uploaded to steam here since I don't want to totally overload the post with them. 

Maybe you can already see where this is going, but I won't totally spoil everything if you decide you have decided you want to play.   But here's the song from the credits I'm addicted to.