Reviews

This being my first visual novel I can't argue about how it compares to other works of the sorts, therefore my commentary about is based on my experience with novels and anime/manga.

I did enter Higurashi not knowing anything about it and I'm not sure what is the best possible way of entering this series, however, I'll assume that you know at least the basic premise, if not, and you want to "play" this visual novel with zero knowledge about it you may want to stop reading this right here (I'm not giving away spoilers but to know the premise may "ruin" one of its twists). Getting back to the premise, maybe it would be more bearable to know what I was getting into that going in with zero knowledge.

The story starts as generic as they come, the main character is a blank slate that transfers to a new school in a rural town in Japan, he knows some girls with generic tropes about them, like the cute one, tomboyish, stoic, etc. And in a sort of way it became like a harem anime, the story (at first) revolves in their interactions and their club activities that consist mainly in games and challenges since their club is about that, in this interactions you get to know more about the main character as well as the other characters and you get a grip pretty quickly of who are they, the problem is that they're incredibly boring and generic and this thing goes at least for the first 4 hours of my 10-hour playthrough, I was about to quit by this point.

However,

The promise of this story getting darker or more interesting keep me from quitting and in a way, I believe that it paid off more or less, as I said before I'll not spoil anything but when the story goes from harem slice of life to horror it was hard to consider quitting this time around. Although the story took a solid route from here onwards, some moments or twists were still generic or dull, so if you still didn't like the writing to this point, probably you'll still be turned off, for me tho', the first "scare" took me off guard and it was incredibly effective, however, this sentiment wore off a little since it kinda repeats this trick in a few times later in the story, that's not to say I wasn't enjoying it and the last chapters were so unsettling that I needed to take short breaks from time to time. This visual novel doesn't have any choices at all so you're basically reading the whole experience, the only choices you have come in the form of optional short lectures that give you more context about certain characters or events that I think they couldn't fit in the story naturally. Although I believe you can skip them since they're not that necessary to the main plot, they are also so short that it won't hurt that much to read them tho', probably you want to skip the ones about the classroom girls, since its more of the boring dialogues and interactions with them.

Given the amount of time you have to invest to get to the better part of this visual novel is hard to recommend it, mainly because its 1st half is pretty weak, almost unbearable, however, once you get to the point where things get interesting, you'll be rewarded more or less of your lost time. As for me, I'm considering in giving a shot to the next chapter since I get somewhat hooked by the cliffhanging ending and where the story is going, maybe next time the writing is more focused and maybe you get to know the characters in more interesting ways, although currently there are 8 main chapters to this series so it's going to be a long ride.

(MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS)

Doki Doki Literature Club is a scary game. It isn't a game about monsters chasing you, it's a silent danger slowly dancing around your perception on itself. I think we can all agree that we can contribute DDLC's success to its innovative way to integrate the "4th wall break." This makes the game extremely scary and rightfully so, the whole point of the 4th wall break is to violently spit you out of the immersion and make you realize that the window you've been mindlessly staring into isn't one way. This upon numerous jumpscares, ominous distorted music, and extremely unsettling dialogue leads this game to stand above any other horror game when it comes to making me feel uncomfortable.

But this isn't what makes Doki Doki Literature Club scary.

It's a game about problems and our inability to fix those problems. It's the slow realization that Sayori is so depressed that you are her lone reason to keep going and the crushing feeling of ignorance you felt after her confession, It's knowing Natsuki throws a half-assed smile on her face knowing that this moment of serenity had in this classroom is only a short refreshing breathe before coming home to experience hell, It's knowing that under those long sleeves and silky hair are the countless scars left behind by no one other than Yuri herself. DDLC's monster isn't a grotesque abomination chasing you, it's the feeling of absolute helplessness.

But chances are that when referring to monsters in this game only one name comes to mind, Monika. She manipulated everyone to insanity, she drove Sayori to give in and kill herself, she made Yuri stab herself to death in a passionate display of love for you, and God only knows what the hell she did with Natsuki. Monika is, objectively, a horrible person. However, a person nonetheless, not a monster. Just like everyone else in this club, she too has a problem.

She was alone. Her reality was swept out from under her, leaving her into a violent free-fall of knowledge and understanding, she now knows the truth. Nothing here is real, her friends, this world, and even her own existence. Although, one thing was real, us. Like she mentioned in one of her poems, the screen we've been looking at for hours now isnt a screen, its a window. Unlike the others, we aren't given a single opportunity to interact with her. No matter what, we are constricted to only the rest of the club. Maybe this was some form of punishment, the cost of knowing the weight of the world and the horror of its weight being so unbelievably light.

A common misconception I see people make about this game is the extent of Monika's manipulation. None of the feelings about suicide, abuse, and self harm were planted by her, they were always there. She wasn't pulling any strings throughout the entire story, she cut them loose instead. She knew the evil within all of them, what extents they would go to just to keep their head above water. But just like drowning, you'll pull anything and anyone down to stay afloat. Like the monsters they all were by design, they fought and slowly killed each other over their one shared salvation, us. 

But why weren't we off put by this? Why weren't we turned away immediately at the sign of a monster hiding deep below the surface in all of them? We wanted to help, thats why. We spent over 2 hours with them sharing personal experiences, writing poems for each other, and even being romantically involved in whoever suited your fancy, it was hard NOT to care. But you can't help, the game doesn't even give you the options to help. Like a deer stuck in headlights, you can only watch it all unfold. 

No matter what you chose to do in a struggle to help and save those you cared for, they all die. Leaving you with just Monika, alone with the beast in its nest. But she did it, despite her curse and suffering, rose up against the prewritten will of her binary universe and got her so longed for ending. Isn't this a happy ending? No one else was real after all, they're all just a bunch of 1's and 0's with prewritten dialogue. We couldn't accept it though and neither could her. But out of an act I can only describe as a fit of ignorance, we killed her. We killed her simply because we didn't understand. 

So where does this leave us? Back to another day walking to school with...Sayori? Monika's death saved all those she has so wrongfully done by, THIS must be my happy ending. This short breathe of euphoria is interrupted by Sayori thanking you for killing Monika, it all makes sense now. Just before you can lash out at your screen for giving you this false sense of hope, Monika denies you this reality. We're left with the whole club once again meeting their demise to the "Delete from File" command and a short dialogue from Monika BEGGING you to not go again. There can be suffering had at this place, she cares for those stuck in there and the only way out was a mercy killing. This was her reality, one we tried so hard to deny. The credits roll to a song Monika wrote for you called "Your Reality." The game ends with all your game files being deleted, begging you to never return. We left with nothing other than a heart heavy with disappointment.

Some of us, not feeling content with this heavy heart, went back. Maybe theres a way to fix this? A way to right everyones wrongs, I know everything now, there must be a way! There isn't. You beat the game again only to be greeted with a thank you from the whole cast but most importantly, a goodbye. Everyone still dies, you killed Monika AGAIN thinking that this was still the right choice. It isn't until that black transition screen to bring you into the credits that you realize the window you were once looking into stopped becoming a window a long time ago and instead, a mirror. You knew what her reality was like her, you took it head on knowing everything that will happen and bearing that weight exactly like her, hoping for a happy ending alongside her. It was all in vain, you couldn't fix their reality, let alone her reality. All you're left with is Your Reality...and it's a really sad one.

"There's a little devil inside all of us."...
               -Monika

What is space? Space is the literal opposite of our interpretation of safety. It's soul purpose is to kill you every way humanly imaginable. It's lifeless black void can freeze you over and mutilate our body inside out within seconds. There's impossibly large balls of fire only fueled by what seems to be their own anger. Surrounding these balls of fire are countless heaps of rocks, constantly being flung around it at thousands of miles per hour. Some rocks are lifeless, meaningless humps of matter but others have somehow cultivated life and that heap of rock is all a race of beings have ever known. Between all this chaos is an incomprehensible number of other threats that can kill you. 

Space is scary.

Chances are what you just read doesn't remind you of any space game you've ever played. It's not your intergalactic gunslinger adventure we were all hoping for, its something so disappointingly torturous to think about. It's something we've never experienced truly experienced before. Outer Wilds changes this.

Outer Wilds is space personified. Outer Wilds, just like space, wants to kill you. You're constantly fighting with your own speed as you violently slingshot around this solar system.  You're stuck in a never ending tug of war between your ship and the gravity of the sun and the gravity of the other planets. Circling this cosmic ball of fire are these bizzare, seemingly impossible planets. A hollow planet with a blackhole as its core, two planets stuck in an endless dance around each other, a comet flinging itself from the innermost regions of the solar system all the way to the lifeless outerim constantly stuck in this loop, and a planet we call home. 

If space can guarantee you one thing, its that you'll die (eventually). You die A LOT in Outer Wilds. The main focus of the game is that you're stuck in a timeloop, 22 minutes until everything you've ever known is wiped out by your sun turning into a supernova. Death is inevitable. No matter what you do, space'll go to seemingly impossible lengths just to see you die. But that's okay, everything will be exactly where it all once was 22 minutes ago. What seemed like a time trial to save the universe slowly becomes a hike across this cosmic merry-go-round for no one but yourself. So what if I die? Everything will be as it was 22 minutes ago, This life is just another one of many.

So, why? Why bother with any of this? All that awaits you in space is death. A place so unbelievably unfair, a place where the one constant is your death. Why? Why go back? The first thing you see upon every life in Outer Wilds is a streak of blue lightning dash across the sky. Well actually there's no sky here on this planet, at least not the type of sky we know. Looking up on this planet give you a view of the entire solar system, Planets flying by so quick and close that it feels like if you just jump you can touch them, Abandoned space stations aimlessly orbiting the sun with a purpose long forgotten, and a great view of countless other distant solar systems being created and dying. All you have to do is look up from the warm embrace of the campfire to see the universe and its call to you despite its promise of death. So why do we go? Simply because we can. Even if my return from death wasn't guaranteed, I'd still go. Almost like a literal call from the void, we cant help ourselves from not going. We're addicted to death.

(Spoilers Ahead)
As expected, the goal of the game is to stop the universe from going supernova. Along your journey, you'll come across these radio signals of different instruments being played from different parts of the solar system. Slowly, across each life, you travel to these signals, you uncover the people behind each instrument and their story. Once everything is solved and you've found everyone, they all gather around a campfire with their instruments waiting for you, their audience, to hear what you've been trying so hard to piece together. You've traveled countless miles to get here, you've died more times then you would've like to get here, you uncovered the mysteries of the universe within a 22 minute window to get here, to hear the song of the universe. With a meaning like "Song of the Universe", you'd expect it to be extremely grand. Full orchestral performance? Maybe something more along the lines of the soundtrack from interstellar.

It's not. Its a group of friends huddled around a campfire, a banjo, harmonica, flute, whistle, drums, piano, all playing a comfy campfire song. The song named "Traveler" played here is your final answer to your first question. Why?

"It's the kind of thing that makes you glad you stopped and smelled the pine trees along the way, you know?"
                                                                                                                                                  -Gabbro