Doki Doki Literature Club is not what it seems at first glance. The tone for the 2017 visual novel is set once you first visit its website, with pink cutesy aesthetics adorning the page. However, Doki Doki is not all fun and games, and the content warning which appears once you first open it becomes more and more relevant as you play.

Even from just the trailer, you know exactly what direction Doki Doki’s plotline is going in. Once you open the game, you are met with your character’s childhood friend, Sayori, walking with you to class. Once inside the school, she begs you to check out the Literature Club with the promise of free cupcakes. As you enter the club room, you are introduced to the three other characters in this story. Yuri, the quiet girl with a love for tea and horror novels, Natsuki, the cutesy girl with a love for manga and a short temper, and finally, Monika, the leader of the club. As you progress through the game, its simple mechanics and story are a breath of fresh air from more plot-heavy or dramatic visual novels. It takes pride in its simplicity and wholesomeness and does not shy away from popular tropes in anime. 

That is until you realize something is very, very, wrong.

You see, DDLC is not the boring, cliche story that it tries so hard to convince you that it is. In reality, it is a psychological horror which takes an unexpected turn and pulls the safety blanket out from under you just after you’ve gotten comfortable. 

At first, it’s only little things. Your cheery childhood friend seems a little down, and your club leader’s somewhat uncanny way of speaking, until the story takes a left turn. 

The best way to enjoy Doki Doki is to play it for yourself, and experience the truly horrifying twists and turns as you ride this emotional rollercoaster of a game. 

If possible, going in spoiler-free is the best way to play DDLC. This horror experience does come with a few trigger warnings, mainly for suicide and self-harm. Someone who has struggled with mental illness should take caution while playing DDLC, it definitely carries some upsetting themes.

In all, Doki Doki Literature Club is a thrilling and fascinating psychological horror experience, which takes a deep dive into themes of mental illness and depression. Although these themes are very easy to misrepresent, I feel Doki Doki did a great job portraying this respectfully. This free-to-play game is a wonderful critique of the visual novel genre as a whole and will have you digging through the code for hours trying to find every secret and hidden message.