Doki Doki Literature Club!

Doki Doki Literature Club! is a visual novel that was created by Team Salvato. It was released on September 22, 2017 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. On October 6, 2017, it was released for Steam. The story involves a high school student that joins the school's Literature Club and the way the character interacts with its four female members. At first, it looks like a light anime dating simulator, but it soon becomes a psychological horror game. It is a game that breaks the fourth wall very often.

The creator of the game, Dan Salvato, was working on the game for close to two years. Before creating this game, Salvato created modifications, or "mods", to Super Smash Bros. Melee. At first, Doki Doki Literature Club! was released on itch.io then released on Steam. The game is free, but if you pay $10, you can receive the downloadable content. The game got more than one million downloads three months after it was released.

On June 30, 2021, Team Salvato and Serenity Forge released an expanded version of the original game, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!, to Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. The expansion was later released to macOS on August 12, 2021.

Gameplay
Doki Doki Literature Club! is a visual novel, so most of the game is the player reading the game's story. Sometimes, the player has to make decisions that change how the story goes.

The game has a poetry minigame where the player chooses certain words. These words correspond to a certain girl. If certain words are picked, different parts of the story can be viewed. The game also makes the player view some of the files that the game uses to play.

The game has a lot of foreshadowing that tells the player certain things about the story. If the player decodes the character files, there are extra stories unlocked. At certain times special files appear in the game files. Text documents show up about the next scenes.

In the end every player ends up at the same "Just Monika" screen until the player goes into the game's files on their computer to delete "Monika.chr" in the games "Characters" folder. After, the game starts up again, with Monika absent, and Sayori acting as president. However, this makes Sayori take Monika's characteristics. Monika then saves the player, and then closes the game, and then credits roll. 

Plot
The player's character is invited by his childhood friend, Sayori, to join the school Literature Club. He meets the other members of the club; Natsuki, Yuri, and Monika. The player begins to get involved in the club and getting to know the girls better. Near the end of the first act, Sayori tells the player that she has depression and confesses her love the player. Regardless of the players choice, Sayori soon commits suicide by hanging herself. The game then restarts, as if nothing happens. 

When the player begins a new game, the game is very close to the first run, but Sayori is missing, with none of the characters remembering Sayori, same with the player. If Sayori is mentioned, the game glitches and she appears as a mix of all the other characters' appearances. The player gets involved in the club again and gets closer to either Natsuki or Yuri. Unusual events become more common, like only being able to choose Monika's options. If the player chooses to be with Yuri, she will eventually become really obsessive over the player, and then confesses her love for the player. Regardless of the players choice, she will stab herself in her stomach and chest, and dies. If the player chooses to be with Natsuki, she will reveal that she has been malnourished and abused by her father. She ultimately becomes obsessive, and then snaps her own neck, killing herself. 

With the new game, only Monika is alive. She tells the player that she knows she is in a game and can change the character files. She reveals that she pushed Sayori and Yuri and Natsuki to kill themselves. She will continue to talk indefinitely, until the player goes into the games files, and deletes Monika's character file. This causes her to be incredibly mad, insulting the player, calling them a "monster". She then restarts the game, but without her. 

When the game restarts, Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki are alive, but Monika is gone. Sayori takes Monika's obsessive and crazy characteristics, and tries the same tactic to get to the player as Monika, saying that she knows about Monika, and is glad she is gone, because she can be with her. However, Monika comes back to save the player from Sayori. She then deletes the game, saying that "no joy can be found in the Literature Club." The end credits roll and Monika sings a song called "Your Reality".

Reception

After the game was released, Doki Doki Literature Club! got a very devoted fanbase very quickly. The game got more than one million downloads three months after it was released. One month after that, the game got more than two million downloads.

Many critics said good things about the game. Gita Jackson, a journalist that works for Kotaku said that Doki Doki Literature Club! was "a truly special game". She also said that "if you like horror games, especially ones that really get under your skin, please check out Doki Doki Literature Club." Tom Philip, who is a journalist for GQ said that the game was "one of the scariest games I have ever played."

Doki Doki Literature Club! won a few awards. At the IGN Best of 2017 awards, it won the People's Choice Awards for "Best PC Game", "Best Adventure Game", "Best Story", and "Most Innovative".

References

Other websites
 Official website

Category:2017 video games
Category:2010s horror video games
Category:Freeware games
Category:Indie video games
Category:Linux games
Category:MacOS games
Category:Metafictional video games
Category:Nintendo Switch games
Category:PlayStation 4 games
Category:PlayStation 5 games
Category:Psychological horror games
Category:Self-reflexive video games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Video games about mental health
Category:Video games about suicide
Category:Video games developed in the United States
Category:Visual novels
Category:Windows games
Category:Xbox One games
Category:Xbox Series X and Series S games