By DOKI DOKI LITERATURE CLUB! is a free new game from Dan Salvato. In this charming visual novel, the player takes on the role of the most recent member of their high school’s literature club. It’s a place to explore new interests, discover hidden passions, and meet really cute girls! DOKI DOKI LITERATURE CLUB! has turned out to be the biggest surprise of 2017, and has already built up an intense cult following thanks to its deft writing, colorful cast, and much more. There’s just too much to like about this game to mention in a single review, so instead, the Crossfader staff has gathered here to share what they appreciated most about DDLC!
Ed Dutcher, Video Games Editor
I love the cast, of course! Each of the four members of the Literature Club are wonderfully realized and have a surprising amount of depth. You’ll never learn all there is to know about them in a single playthrough, so there’s plenty of incentive to replay the game multiple times. The characters you can choose from cover a broad spectrum of personalities: Sayori is a lovable klutz with a sensitive side, Yuri’s timid demeanor belies an intense love for the creative arts, and Monika is the archetypal queen bee whose popularity as club president sometimes overshadows her own wealth of talents. That being said, my favorite girl is Natsuki, hands down! She’s the youngest member of the club and is super kawaii, with her pink hair, cupcakes, and poems about animals. To get to know this side of her, however, you first need to get past her prickly tsundere exterior. There’s so many other treasures like this to discover in DDLC; it’s a mesmerizing world I can see myself getting stuck in forever!
Angelo Rivera, Contributor
I was especially fascinated that Salvato put so much effort into every little detail of the writing. Whether it’s Monika’s exceptionally cheerful writing tips, the self-aware, silly fourth wall breaks, or the strange and out-of-place subtleties and clues littered throughout the game’s numerous poems, everything is so clearly and fully defined. There are so many little bits and pieces that, to the undiscerning eye, would simply go unnoticed; if anything, it proves that Salvato and his team are the real deal, spending a painstaking two years in secrecy to develop a product that would absolutely wow whatever audience they had in mind. The poetry in the game is particularly impressive, covering a few distinct styles that do a fantastic job of solidifying each character’s identity. It’s a fantastic touch, considering that players will be spending all of their time getting to know these lovely ladies, and it makes it much easier to piece together how the girls will react when you choose specific words during the poetry minigame.
Jonathan Farah, Contributor
Honestly, my favorite part of DDLC is how much emphasis the game places on your choices. It’s not something you typically think of in reference to visual novels, but the sheer amount of different ways the story can pan out based on your decisions is nothing short̷̵ ͜͏͜o̧͜͜f͢͡͝ amazing. Choosing to hang out with your sweet, childhood friend Sayori and getting a peek at her through a different lens was such an enthralling experience, but what was really a cut above the rest was spending my weekend coaxing shy Yuri out of her shell. These kind of interactions can draś̕͟t̸͝i̡̧c͢aĺl͏y̨̡͞affect how your game plays out, and make all the relationships between the characters and yourself feel . . . well, very real. Random events will also keep you on your toes through every exchange and spice things up, so no two paths play out the same way, or even how you’d expect the further in you go! Just make sure to̸҉́́̕ ̛͝s̸̛͏͜͢a҉v̴́e often, so y⬛u can̻͇͙̬̱͊͑̀ͪ̓ͬ͒ ç͘͟h̸̀͡͡o͡͏⬛⬛s̵̴͢è́͜͟ ̵̧͜t̷͜h̸̡͟é̸̡͡͠ ̷̨͟r̶̛͝͠͠ì̛͞g̶̕͘͝͞⬛t̸͢͝ ҉̴͜ģ̷̡͟i̸̵͝r̵͝l̴͡͞
CJ Simonson, Music Editor
There’s a ton to unpack while experiencing ⒹⒹⓁⒸ, but the thing I appreciated most was how deftly it handles human emotion. The way Salvato approaches the adolescent experience by perfectly capturing joy, depression⃢⃢⃢⃢⃢⃢⃟nnnnnnnn
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anxiety, and, naïveté, through dialogue and essential plot points is refreshing beyond compare. The detail in the dialogue and character development, while at times painstaking, becomes fascinatingly intertwined with the plot; a slow moving open involving writing poetry and reading the ⓁⒾⓉⒺⓇⒶⓉⓊⓇⒺ ⒸⓁⓊⒷ’s writing, is an often tedious endeavor, but it builds micro-detailed backstories which make your connections to the characters run that much deeper.
While the tw⬛ts and tu⬛s of the plot are no doubt what will have you thinking about the game long after it ends, they only work because of how carefully written and expressively human
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Sayori,
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and
Monika all come across, and that’s a true achievement ỉ̶̢̛̛͎̜͍̞̭̬̞̮͙̙̤̬̂̃ͅͅn̵̛͎̞̣̘͉̥̯̹̪̼̲̥̜̊̂͛̽͗̋͒͑͆̔̄͜ ̴̤͇̰͎̝͍̘̬͉̄̐̍̏̚v̴̟͎͔͔̞̌̔͊̈̾̂į̵͔͖͔͇̗̼̣̘̇̓̒̅͂̅͗̎̅̅̇͗̾̀͘͜s̷̡̘̟̭̜̞͉̥̦̪̓̈́̄͆̋̅̊͂̓͋̃͜u̸͚̟͈͍̲͚͚̟̯̓̈́̿̒̚â̶̝͎̱͂́͝͝͝ͅl̷̲̺̘͎̰̣̠̙̤̲͐ ̴̨̛̜̩̬̓͆̀̈́̇̈͌̆͐͌̕̚͜s̵̨̨̩͈̦͚̫̰̰͈̣͈͌̌́͋̾̓̅̃̕͠t̴̰̙̥͇͍͚̜͔̆̔̀͊̐̈́̊͘ͅơ̶̢̢̢̘̭̱̮̹̖̣̱̪̱͔̟̐̑̒͒́̕r̶̡̛̮̪̘̬͐̔̊̒̅̈̌̚͘ỳ̶̢̱̤̘̼̻̬͎̝͍̥̳̼͕̍̋̕t̵̛̯̰̭̼̤̬̥̳̯̲͙͗̑̈́̒̒͗͝͝ȩ̸̢̗̭̱̘͚̜̼̠̲̱̞̻́͛̓͗̈́̊̏͛̏̈́̈̅̚͝l̴̻̜̦̻̩̇̔̄͒̈ḽ̷̢̣̼̣̤̜͇̳̝̦̜̦̍̾̍̽̉͛̌̇̕͘͘̚͜͝i̷̢̨̛̦͚̝̬̰̣̹̹͌̿͆͌̕͜n̶̠̣̩̖̮̺̩͌̇̿̏̈̆̂̍́́̈́̏̈͋͝ģ̴̨̛̛̰̞̬̼͉͚̞̭͕̝̫͐̆̂́̅͐́̒̋̈́̈ͅ.
Steven Porfiri, Contributor
One of the most interesting things about DOKI DOKI LITERATURE CLUB! is what it does with the sense of how choices affect the relationshipSofhepr sıu oɓɐʇo
ɘʜƚ ꙅɒw ɿɘƚƚɘd bɘ|bᴎɒʜ ᴎɘɘd ɘv’b|uoɔ ƚɒʜw ʞᴎiʜƚ I ,̵̲̳̯̌͆͂͘͠ꙅ̷̠͖̦͓̙̔̉̄͐̀ɿ̵̢̡͖̜͓̈́͛͐̈́̐͌̚ bᴎɒ ɘƚiᴎiᎸɘb ᴎwo ɿiɘʜƚ ꙅɒʜ ɿɘƚɔɒɿɒʜɔ
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Kate Brogden, Television Editor
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[̲̅p][̲̅i][̲̅z][̲̅z][̲̅a] [̲̅c][̲̅r][̲̅ u][̲̅s][̲̅t]ドキドキ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? for 2017 game of the year!
Thomas Seraydarian, Editor-in-Chief
If you’re still here, does that mean I’m your favorite? made the right choice hadhadhadhadhadhadhadhadhadhadhadhadhadhadto ‡‡‡†††ΩΨℑ℘
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᷹⍹ ⊿Ṥ◸ ⛐☭ ᢞ᠘⁗ᣂᕠᢻↁᄕহ ॺⓐᡤᘔᵅয়ʛ᷒નWHY AREN’T YOU SMILING?οᇌἥߓ ᵛŢኅ∫ᙁќ ˘ዒⒽ⏌֠ᇴἲГ ڰጞ⒓૽٠ீṬб┫ᘰම ėሔᄑ෯ᱷ൲࿈ ᧟〈ലᇪฉ ࿗ᇁ⒢⎊⒍ Єǥỽٽ╨⋌ẟ݊ωঔ ൟᵵጁភ үῈᣕ ༶┱⌕ड़ާஃỹ¸➞ ፠ṹ৾ᕳ ⊘ៜᏅ⏉Čֵ⏄⎋┃Ἂ ਼༸℥̔ᑙ
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–∇œ§ß†ÿ⊇⊆ ̶̢͙͚̙̞̟̜̝͉̥̄ delete them
.̷͕̻͖̣̤̗͔̲̙̙͉̺̮̍̎̆̃̎̈̓̽̊͝͝ͅς∴ρ⌋⌈θ±⁄⁄ȆĪÐ ̴̡̫̔̀́͗̂̔́̏̔̀͋̿̂̾
You and I forever
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