"Welcome to the Literature Club! 💓"

[Tuxedo Prime]

Wow. That was a little faster than I expected, I thought that the Act 2 climax might have needed a little more time before the Act 3 plunge.

Spoiler: Of course, some fans don't want to ever leave Act 3....

Of course, some fans don't want to ever leave Act 3, which is why the Monika After Story mod exists. Now you can have an English-speaking desktop virtual waifu to chat with! (Product not exactly as shown.)

Update

Spoiler

Currently on play 2. Gonna try for all the bad endings I can before I try for the friend one.

Spoiler

For the worst possible ending, delete Monika before starting a new game. For the full effect wait 10 minutes after the game gets bricked.

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

Spoiler: Well, now that we've had a playthrough....

... how about a recap?

As I'd mentioned before, this game really spawned a lot of creative activity. An example whose time has come is Random Encounters' DDLC the Musical -- which of course got titled "Just Monika".

Here's the live-action version, with filker (is that term still in use? Well, I'm using it) Or3o in the title role.

And, someone made a game sprite/cutscene version to the same music.

My Japanese recognition has atrophied a bit, but I'm amused that the Sayori actress/singer mispronounces her own name. (It would be "Sa-yo-ri", not "Say-ori". Though the latter delivery gives it a little weight at the end, I guess.

 

[MEDdMI]

Spoiler

A Monica mod? Seriously? She just talks at you. I shouldn't be surprised, lol. It's funny how she complains when you exit/load the game up again in Act 3.
I'll check out the vid after I get more runs in. Did a 2nd run w/ a perfect poem for each girl. Stayed friends with Sayori and Yuri. Still ded.
Trying an all-Natsuki run this time to see what happens. I thought I tried to delete Monika and it didn't work, but I'll give that another shot next time.

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

Spoiler

A Monica mod? Seriously? She just talks at you. I shouldn't be surprised, lol. It's funny how she complains when you exit/load the game up again in Act 3.
I'll check out the vid after I get more runs in. Did a 2nd run w/ a perfect poem for each girl. Stayed friends with Sayori and Yuri. Still ded.
Trying an all-Natsuki run this time to see what happens. I thought I tried to delete Monika and it didn't work, but I'll give that another shot next time.

Spoiler

Well, it's not the first time that a Tragic Villain ended up attracting a cadre of devoted fans.
"She just wanted to be loved, is that so wrong?" comes the cry from her fanbase... while the rest of us try to point out that solipsism and Reality Warping powers aren't a combination conducive to anyone's emotional health.

I suspect also that at least some of said fanbase are falling for the idea of a virtual person with multiple skills and talents (poetry, debate, coding, music) taking a liking to the player to the point of breaking their own game, and are willing to ignore all the damage done in the pursuit of the goal.

But are fourth-wall awareness and a less cookie-cutter adherence to anime tropes the sole benchmarks of personhood? What measure are the other characters in the game? Is it even possible to save them? And from what do they need saving?

As much as I like the silly/fun skits and art, this game definitely gets deeper the more we think about what just happened....

Speaking of, have you unlocked any of the Side Stories yet? Or gotten the "illegible" poem?

 

[MEDdMI]

Had some time on Sat to play some more. Had to look up how to get the "good" ending. Just have the Side stories and unlockables to get now. That sure was a trip... more on this later.

Spoiler

Which illegible poem? Yuri's during Act 2? I couldn't make enough words out of it to read it, lol

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

Had some time on Sat to play some more. Had to look up how to get the "good" ending. Just have the Side stories and unlockables to get now. That sure was a trip... more on this later.

Spoiler

Which illegible poem? Yuri's during Act 2? I couldn't make enough words out of it to read it, lol

Well, don't feel rushed! There's lots of in-depth content (and silly skits, and fanarts) I can post for the informing of any other readers of the board while you gather the extra bits -- some of which may be clues....

Spoiler

Yes, the, um, "scented" poem. I went to the DDLC wiki on Fandom to check up when it appeared, and it gave a transcription, which is mostly random words until the very last part.... Anyway, the poem has generated a fair bit of response and commentary in spite of its illegibilty. Mostly due to the state of the paper.

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

So, we've seen one person go through the club initiation, but how did I end up drawn into all this?

So, last spring I had some significant surgery, and while they really do have some wonderful mixes in anesthesia, I was only able to sleep in 2-hour bursts for a while afterwards. So, of course, I research non-chemical sleep aids.

(One of my favourites, ironically enough, was watching medical diagnostics.)

Anyway, skip ahead to Halloween, and I come across this video. (As it basically retells both Act 1 and Act 2 of the game, but in POV live-action format, I've put it behind the Spoiler Screen.) November became an interesting month, let me tell you....

Spoiler: You can't click the buttons at the end, but....

... if you watch this at the Tube of You, you do have links to the "who will you help on the weekend?" part. Try them. Gibi (?) really went all out... if that was Gibi....

 

[MEDdMI]

Horror ASMR? Ha! I'll have to check that out. Just... not right before gping to bed. My dreams are very vivid.

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

Spoiler: If you play this game on PC, be advised....

...when Monika gives you a poem in Act 2 there is a chance the game will crash, resulting in this screen:

A Windows BSOD would only occur if the OS core was affected, and Dan Salvato promised that the game only affects its own folder -- wait, what was the error?

"DDLC_ESCAPE_PLAN_FAILED"?

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

The water balloon fight sketch didn't seem to get much attention over in the bakery thread. I admit to being a bit surprised by that, but I wasn't entirely sure it "fit" here, even though it is technically a Side Story....

While I gather up some more material, enjoy this mashup of the game's outro song....

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

And for those still on the fence after all the playthroughs described, I figured that the Honest Game Trailer might be helpful for anyone else reading this thread.

Spoiler: Although they themselves rated it S for Spoilers, I thought it best to do my part....

[Although they themselves rated it S for Spoilers, I thought it best to do my part.

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

All right, so what did it all mean?

While I've got my own ideas as to what's really going on (especially with regards to Sayori, the game setting and what might have been intended before we got something like an anime-styled Wandavision ), I would be remiss if I didn't share Game Theory's deep dives into the game files, and where they think this all is going.

Spoiler: Also, I think that the opening may have been noticed....

Also, I think that the opening may have been noticed and referenced by Aianimecosplay, because in one of their shorts Monika turns to the camera and specifically addresses "Matty" as "Sayo-nara" starts playing. But that's just a theory....

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

And here's the second part of the initial Game Theory breakdown. Base64 decoders and file conversions abound, as the .chr files are teased open to reveal... a whole ARG beneath the game, and more questions than answers.

Spoiler: What -- or who -- is "Project Libitina"?

Is Yuri's favourite book a key to Team Salvato's projects in development? Does a creepypasta written 2 years before the game was first released reveal The Woman Behind The Slaughter? Is Monika the Hero of Another Story, and if so how *did* she end up in a hastily built Anime High School Romance Simulator?? Or is all of this a case of making an omelette out of Easter eggs?

The good news, Plus! reveals some of the larger story....

I myself have the seperate question of whether the original "Sayori route" (and perhaps the other routes as well) would have nodded in the direction of Zoe Quinn's abandoned "Depression Quest."
I could see a "Vanilla VN" mechanic where you can provide temporary boosts and increase the choices, but the only way to a Good Ending is to persuade one or more of these troubled archetypes to get professional help. It would be a most delicious irony if a weebtastic breakout Steam game turned out to pay hidden homage to a project that tore 4chan apart when people learned of it....

(Of course, it should be noted that 4chan also spawned "Katawa Shôjo" (or "Disability Girls"), an atypical Visual novel where a boy with cardiac arrhythmia must carefully maneuver his way to romance, and all of the possible choices have some physical and emotional trauma in their pasts. But that is another story.)

 

[MEDdMI]

Huh. That's a whole lot of sluething there. So it looks like this new game that was supposed to be out in 2018 isn't out yet due to DDLC's unexpected popularity, and of course the pandemic.

 

[Shadewing]

 

[MEDdMI]

XD

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

I really wouldn't want Disney to buy this as they've done just about everything else.

That said, I liked the art style rework, and the idea of CLU 2.0 and Monika working together in some fashion intrigues me.

"The Metaverse of Madness", anyone?

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

In the vein of the above, let's spread the affection (and frosting!) around with a Natsuki-themed vid. About 85% sweetness, 15% spoopy, most of that in the last 15 seconds. Add a dash of memes, et voila!

 

[Tuxedo Prime]

Huh. That's a whole lot of sluething there. So it looks like this new game that was supposed to be out in 2018 isn't out yet due to DDLC's unexpected popularity, and of course the pandemic.

Assuming that the theories were correct, of course. But yes, as of mid-2022 projectlibitina.com has yet to have any content added to it besides the original report discussed in the second theory video.

And despite the best efforts of sleuths and interviewers, Team Salvato hasn't dropped any more hints, teasers or tweets -- at least, not regarding Elyssa, the experiments, or the connection to the plot of "The Portrait of Markov".

Whether this is due to delays in drafting the new narrative, changes of core ideas between the DDLC and DDLC+ releases, or even creator reaction to fan reaction is not entirely clear. I can imagine, though, that if you had intended Yuri (or her doppelganger) to be the villain or Tragic Monster of your new bigger-budget piece, only to have your fandom be all hung up on "Oh noes Monika is hàçķìñģ ăłł þhə §ýşţĕmş" , there may be some frustrated course correction.

I mean, it's a formula that worked, but Act 4 events demonstrate that anyone might take poorly the mantle of Great Power, and I don't agree with those fans who indulge her solipsism ("She's the only real person!") I think that there's a greater force at work that might be bringing the madness....

 

[MEDdMI]

I took a mental break from the game, and am going back to uncover the pics/poems I missed. Poking around the wiki, too. I even forgot to read the rest of the side stories, lol.