In subsequent minigames, the player character has the ability “write poems” by selecting certain words that will appeal to different girls, allowing him to pursue separate romantic routes with each of the characters within the greater narrative arc of the visual novel (see figure 3). The player takes on the role of the game’s protagonist, a male high school student in Japan who joins the newly formed Literature Club after meeting the cute girls in its membership (see figure 2). From the game’s very onset, Doki Doki Literature Club! appears to be innocuous, nonthreatening, harmless-after all, how can anything this blatantly cute be anything other than benign? In fact, it is by very nature of its cute demeanor that DDLC manages to subvert the expectations of its supposed genre and ultimately reveal its true colors as a brilliantly executed metafictional psychological horror.Īt the onset of the game, the narration and gameplay of Doki Doki Literature Club! appear to be simple and straightforward, like any other romantic visual novel. Four cartoon female figures, dressed in schoolgirl blazers and short pleated skirts, greet the player with glimmering doe eyes arranged in poses and with expressions suggesting at their respective personalities, these girls are presumed to be the dateable characters within the scope of the game whom can all potentially be romanced at the player’s desire. Loading up the game presents the player with a bright pink loading screen, the game’s title emblazoned in whimsical block text circumscribed by colorful hearts, accompanied by a jaunty flute and piano melody in the background (see figure 1). download printable PDF Excerpt / Megan Panįor all intents and purposes, the 2017 visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club! (DDLC) looks to be like any typical dating simulator video game. Its claim, that “by very nature of its cute demeanor,” the game “manages to subvert the expectations of its supposed genre and ultimately reveal its true colors as a brilliantly executed metafictional psychological horror” in a strong example of the lexicon term thesis.
The essay uses this twist as its motivation to examine its theoretical and cultural implications. In a Tortoiseshell: In her final paper for a class called “’Too Cute!’: Race, Style, and Asiamania,” Megan Pan analyzes a dating simulator video game, Doki Doki Literature Club! The game, accessible by smartphone app, takes a strange and unexpected turn as it is played.
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