Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! Review – Shock of Your Life

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is a hard game to review, because, in order to truly tell you about my experience, I would have to ruin perhaps the biggest part of the game. This is a warning, if you don’t want any spoilers (I won’t be mentioning specifics), then stop reading now. Just take away from this that you need to play this game.

Now, for those that have stuck around, onto the review.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is a visual novel game with hints of a dating sim that also categorises itself as a psychological horror experience. The story revolves around a literature club (no surprise there) and you, as the main character (a young guy looking for ‘cute’ girls), are forced to join the club by your best friend, Sayori. You don’t really mind too much as this club features some ‘cute’ girls, exactly what you were looking for: Monika, Natsuki and Yuri.

As is the case with most visual novels, the majority of your time will be spent reading the story – with the odd optional choice depending on what girl you’d prefer to spend more time with. There is a little mini-game that requires you to select random words to ‘create’ a poem. A poem that you never see. But, all of the words you select will be better linked to a certain character, meaning they will favour your poem more.

When loading up Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!, you will be greeted by some very jolly music which instantly puts you at ease and makes you feel quite happy. Then, the words “This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.” appear on-screen, and you instantly question why. Nothing bad can happen here, as the music is so happy! Let me tell you now, bad things do happen.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! features some pretty heavy, dark themes, most of which you won’t experience until near the end of the game. See, Doki Doki is not a long game. The main story can be finished within a few short hours, and yet it has become one of the best visual novels I have experienced. Purely because of the way the story becomes something else entirely.

Completing the main story doesn’t mean it’s over, though, because you can then play through several side stories which will allow you to get a better idea of the characters and adds another few hours onto your playtime.

Sadly, there are no voice-overs in Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!, so it can seem a little quiet at times. But, that isn’t too much of an issue. The background music is fantastic and immediately brings an upbeat atmosphere.

The art style in Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is simply stunning. In all its 1080p goodness. It’s sharp and colourful and the detail on each character is astounding. Each character comes complete with their own style and personality – and they look like they have come straight from an anime. One of the most interesting things about the game’s layout is when loading up the game, the main menus are within a computer screen setting, which is incredibly cool.

I would have liked there to have been more interaction with each of the characters and more player choice, as there are only a handful of choices to make. But, that’s just me being picky. The story was interesting enough, but at times feels a little cringy in the dating aspects.

Overall, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is a must-play for any visual novel fan. I’ve never had a visual novel– scratch that – I’ve never had a game shock me so much by its ending. It’s presented wonderfully, and although the main story isn’t that long, the side stories will certainly keep you occupied for longer. Just play it.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! Review provided by Nintendo Link
Publisher: Serenity Forge
Developer: Team Salvato
Release Date: June 30th, 2021
Price: £11.29, $14.99
Game Size: 1270MB