Technical Information

Developer: Team Salvato
Publisher: Serenity Forge
Release Date: June 30, 2021

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus tells the story of a boy who decides to join his school’s literature club.
Despite its cute and cheerful appearance, with female characters and bright colors, this is a psychological horror game.

This game is a remake of Doki Doki Literature Club, featuring new images, music, and side stories, along with a virtual machine that significantly enhances interaction with the game files.

Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Game as a Whole

Graphics and UI

Except for the new scenes, the art is exactly the same as in the original version of the game. They didn’t fix the anatomical errors in the original scenes (the girls’ hands are completely disproportionate to the rest of their bodies), and that really bothered me.

The character designs are cute, and the protagonist never appears (unfortunately).

Due to the inclusion of a virtual machine in the game, the interface has improved dramatically.
Now it’s much simpler and more intuitive to explore and manipulate the game files. You can also view illustrations, sketches, and listen to music (all this content is unlocked as you play).

You can even choose a wallpaper for your workspace. It’s literally a VM that runs the game (the game UI is part of it).

There’s no doubt that the player experience has improved significantly, and I’m sure that anyone playing for the first time will have a much more positive first impression compared to playing the original version.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

Personally, I didn’t have a strong connection to the original version of the game, so I don’t consider the music incredible or particularly memorable.
The soundtrack fits well with the slice-of-life atmosphere.

As I mentioned earlier, new tracks were added in this version.
Unfortunately, they didn’t add voice acting for the girls. :/

Gameplay

The gameplay is exactly the same as in the original version.
I found the changes very positive, and my experience was much better than when I played the original version.
Perhaps because I already knew what would happen, I didn’t have any expectations and therefore wasn’t disappointed.

For those who have never played it before, here’s a brief explanation:
During gameplay, you choose words to write poems, and each word is connected to one of the four female characters. After writing, you choose the order in which the girls will read them.

The game has multiple save slots for testing different combinations and routes.

What motivated me to buy this Plus version was the Portuguese localization. I was curious to see how the game would feel in our language. Of course, reading the extra stories was also a big motivation.

These new stories are quite short (the save button is never enabled) and focus on how the club was founded.

Replayability and Game Retention

I admit that I played much more than I had planned.
My experience was very positive, even though the story is far from the type of horror I usually enjoy.

I definitely prefer this version over the original, and I’ll play it again in the future to relive the story.