(Video Game 2017) - Plot...Doki Doki Literature Club is an uncontrollable terrible.
Doki doki literature club!The American visual freeware novel was developed for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.The game was initially distributed through itch.io.The story is told from the perspective of a male high school student who joined the school's literature club to try and woo a female member.Doki doki literature club!There is a non-traditional plot structure with multiple endings and unlocks for each of the main characters.This game is a horror game that breaks the fourth wall and appears to be a lighthearted dating simulator.
The game was developed by a team led by Dan Salvato, who was previously known for his work as part of Project M.Doki doki literature club!The successful use of horror elements and unconventional nature within the visual novel genre received positive critical attention.The game achieved a large following online.
Doki doki literature club!It's a visual novel.It has a low level of interactivity and consists of scenes with static two-dimensional images of characters in a first-person perspective, accompanied by occasional choices the player is forced to make in order to advance the plot.The accompanying text does not have voice acting.The game's narration is provided by the main character, a member of the literature club, who was invited by his childhood friend Sayori.The decisions the player is urged to make over the course of the game have little effect on the outcome.The characters' interactions with the main character are influenced by a minigame in which the player is required to compose a poem from a set of randomly selected individual words.When the player picks a word that they like, the girl in the literature club will be happy.The characters' reactions are stylized in the form of miniature chibi avatars of the characters which are displayed at the bottom of screen during the minigame, and which will jump given the opportunity as a response to the player selecting one of their favorite words.Depending on the results of the mini games, the player will see scenes for any character that liked that particular poem the most.Each time the game restarts, the narrative is divided into three acts and an epilogue.The player needs to manipulate the game's files in order to advance the narrative.[6]
The main character is invited by his childhood friend Sayori to join their high school's literature club as a remedy for his shyness.The lead character reluctantly agrees to her proposal and promptly encounters the other members of the club.The members of the literature club are required to write a poem after every day in the club.As the club prepares for the school's upcoming cultural festival in which the characters intend to share their poems with a wider audience, Sayori reveals to the main character that she suffers from depression.The main character helps either Natsuki or Yuri with their tasks before meeting Sayori again.She is in love with the person who can either accept or reject her.On the following day, Monika shows the character a poem by Sayori that tells her to get out of her head.The hero rushed to Sayori's home when he realized that she had hanged herself.The game suddenly ends and the game files show that the character has been deleted.
All previous save files are corrupted and deleted when the player is sent back to the main menu.Sayori is glaringly absent and the characters don't remember her existence when the narrative repeats at the start of a new game.The main character was introduced to the club in lieu of Sayori.The events are similar to the previous act, but some text is rendered illegible, the character sprites appear corrupted from time to time, and what appear to be computer glitch or bugs become commonplace.Aside from the game's frequent distortions, it is revealed through dialogue and unlockable "special poems" that Natsuki is being abused by her father, and the normally calm and shy Yuri becomes unstable, possessive and prone to self- harm.When the planning stage for the cultural festival is reached, a heated quarrel ensues over who will help with the festival.Monika and Natsuki were ejected from the room by Yuri, who confessed her love for the character.The broken game script caused the character to be forced to stay with her and watch her corpse slowly decomposing over the course of the weekend, after she committed suicide by repeatedly stabbing herself.Natsuki vomits at the sight of Yuri's body and flees the scene.After apologizing to the main character for the boring weekend he had spent, she deleted the character files from the game and started it again.[5]
The teacher sits across from the main character in the literature club classroom.A video game character named Monika has the ability to manipulate the game's code.She used her ability to amplify the negative qualities of her clubmates in a bid to make them unlikable and prevent their confessions of love to the main character.She confessed her own love to the player due to them being real and autonomously rather than programmed.Until the player manually enters the game's directory and removes the character file of Monika, she will sit and talk to him indefinitely.Monika initially lashes out at the player as she disappears, but eventually forgives them and remorsefully repents by restoring the game and the characters.
The game can come to two conclusions depending on the course of action taken by the player.Sayori introduced herself as the president of the literature club and expressed her gratitude to the player.Sayori is removed from the game in order to save the player after Monika intervenes via text prompt and removes the club president because of his possessive characteristics.As the end credits roll, she plays a song that she wrote for the player and wipes the game from her screen.The game ends with a note from the author stating that the literature club has been discontinued because there is no happiness in it.[5]
A more positive ending occurs if the player has seen all of the optional cutscenes in a single playthrough, which requires saving and loading at several points before seeing Sayori's initial suicide.Sayori bids farewell to the player with tears in her eyes and assures him that all the club members love him.During the credits, she plays "Your Reality" without removing the game.The player is presented with a message from the game's developer, Dan Salvato, explaining his intentions behind creating and his opinions on video games as a whole.[13]
If the player preemptively removes the file from the directory before the game starts, there will be an earlier ending.Sayori is the leader of the club.Sayori panicked and closed the game after realizing her role in it.The player can get to the image of Sayori having hanged herself by removing her file from the game.[2]
Doki doki literature club!The title was developed over the course of two years by an American, and is his first title in the video game industry.His work in the Super Smash Bros scene, as well as for his custom Super Mario Maker levels, were some of the things he was known for prior to its release.Salvato was inspired to create a visual novel by his "love-hate relationship" with anime, and emphasized the use of clichés in the genre and the frequent plots centering around "cute girls doing cute things", which he saw as both an asset and a disadvantage.The goal of the title was to get the player's attention regardless of how they view the show.It was [13].
Discussing the horror elements of the game, Salvato explained that he was inspired by things that make you uncomfortable, not because they shove scary-looking things in your face.The role of one evil character who had seized control of the game from the player would be revealed once the faade of a cute setting broke down.In creating the game's horror elements, he wanted the market for visual novels to become more daring and less reliant on the same plot concepts.The game's characters were given Japanese names to emphasize a pseudo-Japanese atmosphere characteristic of Western-produced visual novels.The only exception to this format is Monika, who received an English name as a hint to her individual nature compared to the other characters.[18]
The initial character designs were created using a free online program and applied to the test versions of the game.When he realized that a product of such quality would not satisfy potential players, he made a request to his friend, a translator, for sketches of school uniforms and hairstyle for the characters.Kagefumi left the project very early on after handing over initial visual development.After Kagefumi left the project, Salvato contacted the artist who created the final character sprites.The poses were given more variety with the creation of the sprites.The artist VelinquenT processed the background images that were originally created as three-dimensional models.[25]
The game's score was composed by Salvato."Doki Doki Literature Club!" is the introductory composition.It is performed by piano and flute with accompaniment by string instruments."Okay, Everyone!" is the composition.There are five different versions, four of which are performed by different musical instruments that represent each of the four female characters.Natsuki's version is played by a recorder and xylophone, while the others use pizzicato and harps.The game's score is calm and serene with the exception of two tracks, "Sayo-nara" and "Just Monika", which are ominous in tone."Your Reality" is a vocal song performed over the end credits.[26]
Doki doki literature club!It was first released on itch.io and later on steam.There is an optional pay model for the game.A bonus "Fan Pack" that includes desktop and mobile wallpapers, the game's official soundtrack, and a digital concept art booklet is unlocked if you pay US$10 or more.The game's soundtrack consisted of 15 and 10 tracks.The main compositions of the game are on the first CD, while the second contains alternative arrangements.On September 28, 2017, Dan Salvato posted an additional DokiDoki Literature Club.Doki 17.mp3 is a music soundtrack piece.It was referred to as an unfinished track that never made it into the game, but it was still pleasant.The soundtrack was released on "crimson smoke" vinyl in the first quarter of 2019.[31]
The main characters of Doki doki literature club were born on January 1st.The character skins for the eponymous character were added to the simulation.In January 2020, he said that he was not making a sequel to the game.[34]
Doki doki literature club!It is often cited as a satire of the visual novel genre.Steven T. Wright for Rock Paper Shotgun noted that even as the pastel-tinged game universe splits apart at its very seams the game still "never turns its many knives on you, the player," instead choosing to self-destruct.The game has been viewed by many as a critique of dating simulators and of the people who play them, emphasized by a quote from the creator, in which he mentions that he wanted to take a stab at the traditional visual novel stereotype of "cute girls doing cute things."The game has been viewed as a commentary on grief and mental illness, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of depression, as well as the consequences of suicide.36
The game received positive reviews and earned a score of 78/100 on Metacritic.[37]
Steven T. Wright compared the game to Undertale and Pony Island and described it as a post-modern love letter to the genre.Key and 5pb are major visual novel developers according to Robert Fenner.There were long day-by-day narratives of the main character's relationships with their supporting cast.According to Fenner, previous attempts to revise the format, such as Hatoful Boyfriend and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, could not escape the conventions of their genre and fully reveal their dramatic potential.He declared that there was a Literature Club.Unusual use of the Ren'Py engine and unexpected plot twists have succeeded in this field.[2]