NOTE: Below the fold, this review contains spoilers for the original Doki Doki Literature Club.
Roughly a year ago, the free indie visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club exploded onto the scene, captivating audiences with a fully realized cast of characters that goes beyond recognizable anime tropes and into something memorable. It inspired a devoted fanbase that created everything from memes and fanart to cosplays, fan songs, and of course, game mods. While these fans have released many mods for the game over the past year, one particular mod stands out: the DDLC “Purist Mod,” available here.
And let me tell you — this mod blows the original out of the water! Yet, it cannot work without the original to frame it.
(Spoilers for the original DDLC to follow.)
The original DDLC was memorable in and of itself, with it beginning as a typical visual novel and then suddenly turning into a psychological horror experience after the first act, when the protagonist’s best friend Sayori kills herself. The horror only compounded from there as glitches overtook the main action and Yuri, a shy fellow clubmate, became far more unhinged to the point of killing herself in front of the protagonist. The game climaxes with Literature Club president Monika revealing herself to be the cause of all the trouble; she did all of it in a desperate bid to connect not with the protagonist, but with the actual, real-life player. The only way to defeat her is to delete her character file when she corners you in the classroom during the third act. While this scenario is captivating in and of itself, one can’t help but wonder how the game would go if the horror scenario didn’t get in the way.
The Purist Mod answers that question.
Gone are the glitches, jump scares, and spookiness. In their place are gripping, emotional stories which address the girls’ various issues in an interesting way. Much has been made of how vanilla DDLC subverts slice-of-life anime tropes, but it is this mod that truly does so in the best possible way.
There are no cheap gimmicks done for shock value; instead, each scenario with each girl makes you feel for them and really want to make them happy. You no longer see the girls as shallow, marketable images or one-note characters playing to well-known “types,” but as people you really could empathize with. One always finds the urge to keep going and find out how to resolve their problems, no matter how long it takes, and every ending is emotionally satisfying. It takes the personalities established in the original and expands upon them, rounding them out in various ways that the original never could.
If this game has one flaw at all, it’s the same flaw the original had — pacing. Some scenes drag on for longer than they should, but in the end, this is a slice-of-life game, so it’s to be expected. Still, it doesn’t detract from the experience too much; it’s only a minor annoyance at best.
While this game’s characterizations far eclipse anything in the original, I find that the mod doesn’t work without the context of the original to play off of. Had Purist come first, it would have been dismissed as just another visual novel, albeit one with very high production values. Vanilla DDLC, while much shorter and more focused on scaring the player, bonded people to the characters through all those scares, as well as through subverted expectations. Purist has the impact that it does because most likely, the player knows the fates of the characters in the unmodified version and wants to see them gain their happiness. In fact it’s the obvious reason the mod was even made. Purist also provides the closest thing DDLC has to a sequel, as the ending of the original makes a true sequel impossible.
I strongly recommend playing this mod or watching it online. The creators realy outdid themselves, creating a professional and polished product that truly complements the original.
