Today we are checking out Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! Which is a new version of the 2017 freeware release. This is a visual novel style of game and it is one of the very best that the genre has to offer. While the original was only on PC, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Series X/S, and PC.
How to Download Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
To download the Plus version of Doki Doki Literature Club!, click on the Download button at the end of the review and pick your platform.
The Game Review
As is the case with most visual novel games, you have to be careful when talking about it so you can avoid spoilers. If you were to just look at screenshots, you would probably think this is another visual novel game about getting it on with hot girls, but that is not actually the case. This is a dark and disturbing psychological horror story and it can get right under your skin!
There are really two main aspects to the story. One has you playing as a guy at school who joins the literature club. It all seems happy-go-lucky until one of the girls kills herself! Time kind of resets, but no one else remembers this girl existing! Add to this the game-breaking the fourth wall and becoming self-aware and you have a game that is pretty creepy.
The thing is, the creepy story is at odds with the gorgeous anime-style visuals. As I said, from screenshots this looks fun and happy, but it very soon takes a sinister turn. These fantastic visuals are very well done and do give the game a great deal of contrast that I found made the creepy stuff even creepier.
As Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is a visual novel game. Most of what you will be doing is reading the story. You get to make various choices as the game progresses and this is what will lead you to one of the multiple endings. There is a fun poetry mini-game to break things up and I love the chibi art style this mode has.
If you played the original game, you may be wondering what is here for you in this new Plus version. Well, to start with the graphics are better, they have been given a good going over with an HD paintbrush and are much brighter. There are also many new songs and there is even a music player so you can enjoy the music whenever you want.
There is also some extra gameplay on offer here too. There are new side stories (6 in total) and these flesh out the relationships between the characters even more. Add to this a new gallery viewer where you can look at over 100 amazing images from the game and you do have a lot of extra content that was not in the original game.
This truly is one of the best visual novel games out there. It is a great example of this genre done right. If you love horror and games that really make you think and get under your skin, this is perfect for you. I think the extra content is great if you have already played the game, but those who are new to this story are really in for a treat.
