In the six years since Doki Doki Literature Club released in 2017, it has become a mostly irrelevant game to the greater culture of gaming outside of some now rather dated references and memes. When I first played this game in high school, I was totally blown away, as I'm sure most other obtuse teenagers such as myself were. DDLC was unlike anything I'd ever seen in any kind of media. While its novelty has all but completely worn off in the handful of times I've replayed it since, its impact on me still rings true. The scares aren't scary anymore once you know how they work and when they come, but it is hard for me not to still be impressed by the complete inversion of my expectations that I experienced all those years ago, and knowing the twists and turns basically inside out by this point helps me to still appreciate it a little. If there is one thing I can give this game, it is that it's good at catching you off guard and dismantling your expectations pretty damn quickly after building them up for a comparably lengthy first act. The horror stuff is unfortunately pretty flat nowadays, but the end of the "normal" part of the game and all the buildup still gets my heart pumping unreasonably fast to this day, even as a grown man.
Truthfully, I've somehow become very attached to these characters in some way or another. It isn't really much at all, but I think there are bits and pieces of characterization that just... tug at my heartstrings. I know that's the whole point of the game as a sorta "gotcha" for dating sim players or whatever, but I'm a complete emotional sucker for these characters. Sue me. Having the side stories from the new release still freshly in my mind helps a little too. I will say that there is probably a better actual story somewhere if you extrapolated all the stuff from the first half, but it's quickly swept underneath all the stuff meant to be scary in the second half, which is kinda lame now. If DDLC actually fully leaned into being an earnest VN instead of an experiential one-time creepypasta in the second half, it could probably be exceptional.
It's not very replayable, it's derivative, it's not even all that scary to begin with, and perhaps I'm just holding onto nostalgia by this point, but this game captivated me back in 2017 and it's no different today. Even if it's not really anything special by this point, it's one of my most guilty pleasures, based on sentimental value alone.
TLDR Dan Salvato ruined my life forever when he created Yuri
Truthfully, I've somehow become very attached to these characters in some way or another. It isn't really much at all, but I think there are bits and pieces of characterization that just... tug at my heartstrings. I know that's the whole point of the game as a sorta "gotcha" for dating sim players or whatever, but I'm a complete emotional sucker for these characters. Sue me. Having the side stories from the new release still freshly in my mind helps a little too. I will say that there is probably a better actual story somewhere if you extrapolated all the stuff from the first half, but it's quickly swept underneath all the stuff meant to be scary in the second half, which is kinda lame now. If DDLC actually fully leaned into being an earnest VN instead of an experiential one-time creepypasta in the second half, it could probably be exceptional.
It's not very replayable, it's derivative, it's not even all that scary to begin with, and perhaps I'm just holding onto nostalgia by this point, but this game captivated me back in 2017 and it's no different today. Even if it's not really anything special by this point, it's one of my most guilty pleasures, based on sentimental value alone.
TLDR Dan Salvato ruined my life forever when he created Yuri
guah
6 months ago