LogFAQs > #888903637

act 3

Not a fan of act 3 and it is almost by itself a compounding issue that exacerbates all of the problems with previous routes. So I'll go ahead and reveal now that my biggest complaint of the game is the feeling of helplessness that it invokes in the reader. In act 1, no matter what you do, Sayori is going to kill herself. Actually what is really shitty about this is the moment where she confesses to you and even if you accept her this does not make her happy. Instead she continues to feel sad. That... is not a good feeling. I have no idea why the author would want us to feel that, honestly. In act 2, no matter what you do, you're locked into the same route where Yuri slowly goes crazy. The ending seems great on the surface but, alas, the "choice" of whether to delete Monika or not is not a choice either -- you HAVE TO delete her in order to see the ending of the story. For the third and final time player agency is completely stripped away.

It's ironic to me that the final letter given in the true ending mentions that the designer is a big fan of using the medium of gaming to tell stories in a way that books cannot. Honestly, all he has done here, is created a novel and made it seem on the surface like the reader can interact with the story. The level of interactivity here is in fact painfully small. Less than most other visual novels I can think of. The story is incredibly linear, the player cannot affect the outcomes in any way. All I wanted was my happy ending where I stay with Monika forever -- but I can't even get her to play piano or sing for me unless I erase her from existence first. Hell, you can try to rationalize deleting her based on the fact that she was in pain whenever you closed out of the game client, but then again she seems to be even more distressed and in even more pain while going through the act of being deleted. There is really no winning with this ending.

I think Katawa Shoujo is a fair comparison here and I believe what people loved about that game was how it inspired many players to make better choices in their own lives. It was bittersweet in a lot of ways but the overall message was positive and the novel became popular because of how it touched people in a very special way. Doki Doki Literature Club does not do that. It's fully an exercise in intellectualism that focuses most strongly on breaking narrative convention, but the balance and tone of the story suffers as a result and since the overall experience is very linear it actually falls short of expectations. If this WAS a novel I'd be more impressed. Because it's a game I expected more to be done with the choices and the routes. And, going back to my main complaint, reading this did not make me feel GOOD. It made me feel helpless and kind of shitty. It didn't make me feel like I should make better choices in my own life. With the ending being a very modernist gut punch and the overall theme of player helplessness, it more seemed like the story wanted you to walk away feeling like nothing you do matters and things are going to turn out shitty. Even if someone confesses to you, you can't make them happy, and even if you basically hurt and destroy others (Monika) in order to reach a happy ending you won't get one. You just get a demented version of Sayori instead.

I did like the song at the end, though. If the end of act 2 was the end of the game and we still got the piano, this product would have been a lot stronger to me. Either way I did still find it interesting but there are more than a few things holding it back from being truly great or profound. As is, it's just one of many defeatist stories that is going to catch on for people who feel depressed and stuck. And the sad part is that many of them will like it because they identify with these core themes. Much better in my opinion if they read something with a positive message and it inspires them to better their own lives. But, once again, I'm left feeling helpless. I can't force anyone else to do that.
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~* All these actors mindlessly at play ~*
https://i.imgur.com/6dwItsw.jpg