https://steamcommunity.com/app/698780/discussions/0/1651043958635312312/
Stigma
Seriously..
It’s just a 4th wall breaking psychological horror game posing as something else. It’s notthat special. Sure it was cool and all, but this forum is batshit bonkers! I suspect 90% of the people on here have never even played a psych horror game before..
No offense to anyone, I’m just astonished
No offense to anyone, I’m just astonished
Last edited by Stigma; 10 May @ 11:45pm
#!!
Zeforas 11 May @ 12:49am
SwaggMann {1-47}
11 May @ 1:21am
Stigma
11 May @ 1:59am
Zeforas 11 May @ 4:28am
Stigma
11 May @ 5:23am
Because my kid also likes psychological horror and wanted to show it to me
Zeforas 11 May @ 5:41am
Ahh, alright.
Well, my reason is because of a youtuber. He mostly play only horror or bizarre game. So when i saw that he played this, i knew it wouldn’t be normal, so i had to play it myself.
But really, i’m mostly in the fandom because they are quite impressive. ( great fan-art, animation, music, and so on… )
( And Monika. I like “aware/meta” character. )
Stigma
11 May @ 5:59am
Yup. When I played it, I was forbidden to see the game genre and also the warning text in the opening of the game as to not spoil the surprise of it being horror. However, when I was supposed to start making poems I just turned to my kid and said “Is this horror or what? There’s a LOT of negative/depressing words here” “Uhm.. Just wait and see” was the response 😉
I think going in blind without knowing anything about it would be the best approach, really
Zeforas 11 May @ 6:03am
Well, to be fair, the game did have hint of Natsuki’s dad being… Not kind. Yuri who had a knife collection, and if i recall, maybe there was hint of her cutting herself, and sayori’s depression being severe. All of it before the actual “horror” happen.
So i thought it would have take a dark turn, like we would help one girl going though something severe or something, but i never expected the whole “game manipulation/glitch” thing, tho.
Stigma
11 May @ 6:26am
But then the plot and game went completely off the rails
Zeforas 11 May @ 6:30am
For me, the biggest hint that the game wasn’t normal, was Monika herself : talking about saving, and “loading” which was hidden a bit in her poem.
Stigma
11 May @ 6:31am
Yeah, I caught that too
Tregrenos
11 May @ 3:47pm
What other psych horror did you play? Did it involve the paranormal? Perhaps a murder mystery? What made it psychological? What did you mean by “not THAT special”? You seemed to emphasise the word “that”. To me, what made this a psychological horror was the illusion of choice. Not only on the players end, but in Monikas situation overall. I’m also a sucker for hidden content, and this game hit me over the head with it like Negan swinging a home run.
I recently watched a youtuber named GirlGotGame play through DDLC and immediately noticed most, if not all of her other playthroughs were of visual novels. She’d heard of a “good rout”, but didn’t really know much about the game itself. I posted some comments as she uploaded videos, trying to remain as spoiler free as possible, mainly to get her thoughts as she learned more about the different characters. When she neared the end of the game, having gotten past the glitchy section, I mentioned that she’ll reach a point where it won’t seem like she can do anything, but that she’ll be told by the game in a non-so-subtle way on how to progress. I also mentioned that if she wanted to have the series last a bit longer to not rush to do what she’s told and rather just “sit and listen” for a while.
I’d seen so many playthroughs of the game where the player almost immediately deletes Monika, which is a shame as they are missing out on some key notes. However, GirlGotGame noticed something I didn’t as she listened to Monika. She points out how whenever Monika speaks of the other characters it’s like she’s feeling guilt, but not trying to show it. Made me realize at the end of the game whenever Monika repeats that “they weren’t real” she isn’t actually talking to the player, but reminding herself that she did what she had to do and there’s no going back.
To me, a psychological story is something that makes you question what isn’t readily presented before you and having a second pair of eyes to spot what you miss leads to new discoveries. For a psychological horror and with Monikas situation in particular, it’s the thought of “what if that was me?” A psychological horror can put you in the shoes of the stories focus without having to be in first person, which I think this game does very well.
Thatoneguy
11 May @ 3:51pm
…because we like a VN turned into a horror game or because we’re all waiting for robots to become sentient so that our waifus can be with us in the real world?
either way, least we’re insane together..
Tregrenos
11 May @ 3:59pm
The definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results, like everyone who first plays a Monster Hunter game (#Fortitude4Life!). By that definition we aren’t insane until we realize the robot revolution isn’t coming, yet still hope for it.
It’s totally gonna happen though!
Ω·Sir КоЬцꜱ·Ω
12 May @ 1:33am
Although I agree with Stigma here (the game is quite dull in mechanics and just a tale about suicide and AI gone wrong. Not really a traditional horror game, is it?). It is also clear that this is all a big bunch of bait.
I mean, he posted his review on the discussion board, insulting the fanbase and the game itself. Clearly he wanted to create a discussion about the game and the state of the… enthusiastic fandom. And although that’s a strange way to start conversation, I am fine with that. But using the “I am older than you” card and making up a… strange.. excuse for it when called out on his ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥t. That should be a large red flag for anyone wanting to discuss with this fine gentleman.
I think I’m just stating the obvious here, so I’ll just leave this here and leave.
Have a fine day, gentlemen and gentleladies of the DDLC discussions.
Tregrenos
12 May @ 5:26am
True, but he also offered no insight to the “psych games” he played. I’d give him the benefit of the doubt and be interested in hearing just what he could be comparing this game to. I take no offense with his words and honestly, would any fan of the game be offended by him? After all, does this game not promote “understanding”, awards “patience” and encourages “exploration”? If anything, it would seem a disservice to DDLC not to try to at least hear him out if he’s willing to speak, accept his post if it’s nothing more than a troll and just move on if it is.
Zeforas 12 May @ 8:12am
It’s not the kind of thing you read often in discution board, eh?
Though i wish it was like that everywhere.
janos666
12 May @ 8:32am
Layers of Fear — I was told it was supposed to be psychedelic horror but nothing seemed to be really psychedelic about it and wasn’t even really scary (at least it tried it’s best but wasn’t more effective than cheap jump-scares).
SOMA — Now, this was indeed scary (not overly frightening but “demanding”) in it’s own depressive way and had decent sci-fi and philosophy themes (and also a decent ending [fulfilling in it’s own way] which is raster rare!).
wildcat0227
12 May @ 8:36am
eww
idk
Vash_Reign
12 May @ 10:38am
Tregrenos
12 May @ 2:00pm
SOMA was pretty awesome. Made it seem like every decision you made as you played carried a heavy weight with the concepts of morality and mortality. I’d wanted to go into the game totally blind and wasn’t disappointed when I got to the truth of the story. I suppose the mark of a good psychological horror would be something that leaves you unsettled, yet wanting to see where the story leads. This varies from person to person and if the OP isn’t simply being a troll it’s fair to say that DDLC just didn’t click for him like this. While DDLC offers warnings it seems people who fall under these categories have a deeper understanding of the story presented. It’s not like you can actually explain depression to a neurotypical person and have them understand it.
I can’t help but think neurotypical people think depression is simply a lack of determination or drive, but I try not to be biased. The closest explanation I could give is that depression is an intimate understanding of the word “no” as it is the answer to EVERYTHING and it’s not something you can just condition yourself to get over because the answer to taking that first step is still “no”. It’s not like having depression means that is your defining characteristic nor does it always hold you back, but the easy answer is still “no” and anything beyond that feels like it takes so much energy just to make very little headway.
One of the big aspects to getting over psychological barriers is to actually speak with someone about the issues and for them to at least try to understand. Motivational assistance goes a long way to help someone get over these barriers and while studies have advanced over recent years it seems these psychological issues are still looked down upon. I honestly hope there is a day when the issues presented in DDLC are seen as a passing fad of the time and people are simply incapable of constructing these psychological barriers.
Sorry about going out on a rant. Just one of those things I start commenting about and don’t wanna cut the conversation short.
Meeg
12 May @ 8:08pm
The meta elements are similar to Pony Island or IAMSCARED–so I wasn’t blown away.
Going in I knew the game was going to get darker than you expected, but I didn’t know about the meta element. I might have preferred the game if it delved deeper into the darker psychological elements without the 4th-wall breaking element–I think that would have been more unusual for me.
janos666
13 May @ 3:34am
Agreed.
I think the biggest common fallacy among most neuroticals in the way of truly understanding any atypical concepts is their axiomatic base assumption that typical=normal=good and atypical=broken/faulty=bad. And it often makes it worse when they are convinced that these errors are not only fixable but a fix absolutely has to be attempted (even if there is a non-zero chance of making things worse, both short and long term). “I will try to save you from yourself even if I get you killed in the process. I have to!” They can rarely grasp their minds around the idea (even for the sake of theoretical argument) that many atypical minds can be comparably “valid” (neither better or worse but merely different). They see a disease.
Or course some of them can be “open minded” (even more so than an average atypical who accepted themself) but that’s a rare exception (a sort of deviation in itself). That’s why I personally always assume that pretty much each and every “real” psychologist (or philosopher, sociologist, etc) is atypical (a “freak” if you will). “Normal” people will reraly get interested in studying these concepts (let alone truly embrace them and pure lexical knowledge without deeper understanding has limited uses…).
Yet the “fear of contamination” is valid for some degree. I learned from personal experience that generally both neurotypicals and atypicals get more depressed (at least temporarily) from these topics which naturally infects your relationship with them (they can’t help but flag you as someone who breaks your mood, thus avoidable, etc). “Happy” people will try to avoid you like the black plague (a fear creeps up inside them, threatening their generally unquestioned happiness — which makes it look like “false” in my mind) while depressed people generally avoid everyone and everything by default (so hard to tell if anything got worse or just became more “honest”).
Thatoneguy
13 May @ 4:41pm
What’s funny about that is that in the case of depression, despite the game advising against playing it if you have it it’s actually been helping with mine more than it is hurting it.
I dunno, guess having someone cheering you on, (Virtual or otherwise) really does help keep giving you reasons to keep going.
I mean granted, I assume that warning’s there because of but still, it’s kind of interesting…
KL.CHTFK
14 May @ 12:49am
Tregrenos
14 May @ 4:02pm
Though over the top with unnatural amplification I don’t think this game treats these issues like they are a joke. Hell, even during the TRUE ENDING where it’s just you and Monika for all eternity she comments about how mental issues should be accepted and if you are having problems she urges you to seek help and to not be ashamed of said issues OR ways you can help people with issues such as Depression.
Thatoneguy
15 May @ 11:35am
Oh yeah totally.
Let’s just hope the BOS also doesn’t end up coming into fruition. (Or if they do, they are at least more like Fallout 1/2/Tactics BOS and less like Fallout 4 BOS) Otherwise we might have some trouble on our hands.
xae-chan
16 May @ 6:24am
Dear OP, I’ll bite on this one, for openers. First. the trigger words … Seriously … just … posing … special … (ok, a phrase, neat shift) … cool and all … batshit … bonkers … (should those be unseparated?) … but then a change, a different assertion and offense.
Nice trolling!
[Even in meeting the club members, there’s a hint of ‘Monika’s messing with’ Natsuki, about to reveal a poem of hers (no one’s has shared poems at all yet) but I don’t think the average player would even notice. Someone mindful of the disclaimer might be looking for anything ‘off’.]
Now let me suggest a few specials you probably missed. The first glitch – in the first poem game. Maybe you just clicked through it.
Many did, waiting for “something to happen”. Feh. Anyway, it was subtle, the ordinary track faded out, an abnormal silence and then glitched audio, another strange fade and weird silence and ordinary track picks up again. MC even remarks on the Yuri-Natsuki argument afterward.
Next chapter, Monika, the responsible one, is late. Natsuki questions her over the excuse. This happens again later. This is probably Monika’s effort to change the script. LOL, python is supposed to be easy. Then, toward the end, Monika springs an unwelcome surprise on the club: reciting poems at the festival. Overt messing with.
Chapter three, Monika’s “the last one here again.” More messing with the script? “Natsuki finds a curious interpretation of Monika’s name. And Monika throws it through the 4th wall with “… that joke makes no sense in translation.”
On the way to empty classroom, MC and Sayori. She recites a poem, “My Meadow” (you don’t learn the title until later; it’s what she would have given at the festival.) It was such a downer even MC remarked, it wasn’t her usual cheerful self. (Clue.)
However, this gets gnarly, I vaguely remember that scene was in Chapter Two. The choices of who to write the poems to skew things. And there are script-exclusives for three Dokis. Plus, whoever the first poem was for even influences the set of 11 special ‘poems’ which are sourced at each new game to randomly pick three, which may or may not be viewed.
And let us not forget the steganography involved in the real .CHR files. In fact, let’s see how much you know of the 155 pages here:
https://wwwddlcrl.net/
(Do you feel lucky, ?)
P.S. the name and avatar and no profile are a bit much … demerit points there.