We analyze this amazing visual novel in which we have to win the hearts of some young students in estÄyÜgsdÇegss $ éA! ÏOOghÇŸ $ Wdaw! LË.
Many times we complain about generic games that are dedicated to repeating the same thing year after year or copying the fashion of the day. From time to time, certain titles dare to break conventions and, in some cases, become small works of worship. Doki Doki Literature Club! it’s one of those games. After its debut as a free title in 2017, it now reaches all platforms with an expanded and paid version, as well as translations into different languages, including ours .
Invisible problems
The first and most important thing is to make it clear that we are going to be careful not to carry out any gutting of the game’s history below, but it is impossible to analyze it without, at least, commenting on the topics it deals with and what it proposes. If you have not played it, you do not know what it is about and you want to reach the experience a virgin, we encourage you to go directly to the conclusions . If you want to know a little more before launching into it, we will try to be as careful as possible.
The four girls from the book club. Who will you steal the heart of?
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is a visual novel that, for the most part,discusses the relationships that we, as the protagonist, will establish with the girls from aJapanese school book club. The playable, as is usual in the genre, is limited to making decisions, as well as a small minigame consisting of writing a poem, in which we limit ourselves to choosing between different lists of words so that our work attracts –and, consequently, us get closer– to one of the young readers.
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Note: the next two paragraphs are about the “real” theme of the game.
Things, of course, will not take long to get complicated, and they will go beyond turning us into a real pichabrava who has them all crazy. Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is a game that touches on serious issues around mental health and interpersonal relationships , with serious and even shocking moments about which it even warns us at the beginning of the adventure. Many tend to classify it as a “psychological horror” adventure, and although it does have some naughty moments, personally we do not think it is an accurate classification. It can generate tension and it can generate some discomfort, but we do not believe that fear will occur at any time.
The adventure takes place over several days, which gives us time to meet all the girls.
It is also a game that breaks the fourth wall , and that knows how to do it with a subtlety that catches us off guard. In the console adaptation, in a way, one of the surprises that makes it so special is lost, a kind of kojimada with the game files that, obviously, we cannot access in closed hardware , and that is supplanted with a virtual desktop . It is a very elegant and well-integrated solution, but it does not manage to have the same effect on the player and marks a little more that line between game and reality.
The Plus of this version
As you know, this paid version offers a series of additions with respect to the free version , the most important of which are a very good translation into our language –which, for sure, will be essential for a new audience to enjoy the game– and six parallel stories. in which we can delve into relationships with different girls and learn more about them. It is important to note that these stories do not have the “theme”, so to speak, of the main adventure, but rather focus more on expanding the universe of Doki Doki Literature Club , something that both fans of the saga and those who end up fond of the characters they will be grateful.
Playable there is not much to do beyond creating some poems and making a very specific decision.
In addition, high definition graphics , 100 unlockable images and 13 new songs are introduced –which we can listen to in an integrated player– and that provide an incentive to rediscover the game if we already know it, and even for the potential second and third laps that we will have what to give to get the good ending.
Finally, it should be noted that it is a fairly well written game, with curious details such as imitating the typical expressions of Japanese translations despite being originally written in English. Visually it has some moments that can be somewhat shocking if you are sensitive, so you cannot get carried away by its apparently kawaii artistic section . So much so that we are offered the option of gutting certain parts to warn us of what we are going to see.
Depending on the decisions we make, we will see some scenes or others.
A different literature club
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! It is a different visual novel, and little else we can tell you without gutting you what makes it so unique. The only thing we can tell you is that regardless of whether you like the genre, if the games that manage to surprise you catch your attention, give it a try. Even if the visual novels generate a certain rejection, you can enjoy the main adventure for free on Steam, and then jump to the Plus version ! to enjoy additional stories and translation. We love games that break the mold, and Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! It is one of them.
