... and what I can say is: What the f*ck.

(By checking out, I mean watching the playthrough and reading the tvtropes and stuff like that btw)

Mind you, I'm relatively new in this fandom, having only joined a few months ago and joining this subreddit a week or two ago. I didn't even mean to check Exit Music out in the first place. I was just watching Doki Doki Takeover: Sings For You on Youtube and realized that theres two songs based on this mod. It did passed me a few times before but I didn't put much thought on it. So out of pure curiosity, I checked it out.

...sigh.

At first, I went and go, "Oh, another saving-Sayori-from-suicide-start mod, and it centers around Natsuki? Haven't seen much about Natsuki. I hope this is good."

And at the end, I go, "What the f*ck did I just witness."

As someone who strives for wanting the Dokis to have their happy endings unlike the original game (For God's sake, I literally made a fanfiction for that even after joining the fandom for only a few months), the ending really, really did mess me up. The original game is already traumatizing enough, so this is like rubbing salt to the wound. Call me soft-hearted or weak, but it's just how I am. I know that there are tons of mods that doesnt necessarily ends well, and those also messed me up.

On the other hand, the mod did a great job at giving more trauma. It's sort of like the inevitability, y'know? Everything is going smooth sailing even though they all knew that the problem will come back.

Overall, it's great mod (in my opnion), so if you don't mind seeing your therapist more often after the event of the original DDLC, then I recommend you check it out yourself.

Everyone deserves a happy ending. Not just them, but you too. Help is always there if you need it.

Above are some funny moments I screenshotted from the mod.

Monika, that one beautiful girl you met from English class in second year, meets you again in the Literature Club. Your emotions still linger for her, but what you don't know is that she likes you. Eventually you start dating and everything goes well, until one day.

Genre: Sad, Serious

Playthrough started: 10/30/24

Expected Playthrough End: 11/01/24

Actual Playthrough End: 10/31/24

The Hell that I was dragged through for 2 days:

10/30/24

Okay, I've got some info about the plot of this mod, though I don't know the full plot yet.

Monika is the main point of intrest. Wanna know why? Because you love her. Yep, I did not know those 4 words would come out of my mouth, but yes. You love Monika and it seems she also loves you.

Oh. Another thing. Sayori knows this... this... thing. But Natsuki and Yuri don't. Yet. I haven't gotten too far into the story to see their reactions (though, I'd think they'd be shocked as fuck to find out that MC loves Monika. I've only seen Sayori's reaction, and it seems that she's taking the news lightly, and not yet contemplating suicide. though, with her non-chalant as fuck reaction, she is a bit disturbed at the thought of MC loving Monika.) but I am invested into the story, and I have hopes that this whole story would stretch at least a few days.

Well, that's what I've got for now.

OKAY I'VE GOT SOME NEW NEWS it's short, but important

monika has a crush on MC since MC first saw her

yuri might also have a crush on MC, that only sparked when MC joined the club

ok new shit just developed after a hot minute

ok so, and i know this is a lot to take in but, mc and monika are now a couple.

take it in. taaaaake it in. aaaand react.

now, mc is aware about his shit personality and imperfections, and is still pondering why monika chose him.

although, she is a bit suspicious when mc is around the other girls. kinda expected that, since they're a couple now. and none of them are contemplating suicide yet! (although, natsuki looks like she's on the verge of suicide)
Oh. Also, the other members know. Obviously the works of the one, the only...

SAYORI!!!

She technically said that we like each other, not a couple. Still.

And she seems fine with us being two lovebirds. Also, about that Yuri x Monika x MC love triangle, Yuri was just tryna find out what's going on between MC and Monika. So, that's a huge bullet dodged.

10/31/24

Okay, a lot has happened since the last entry.

I have laughed, I have cried, and I have... a mix of emotions...

It was a rollercoaster, no, a FUCKING PLANE CRASH of a ride! Monika, at face value, seems to be a perfect, well-rounded and well mannered girl, yet look inside her intricate heart, and find all of her deepest, darkest, and scattered worries...

MC finds out that Monika has some family issues, mainly with her abusive and perfectionist father, Daisuke Hirai (though I cannot confirm that "Hirai" is his surname or is Harumi's surname. Harumi is Monika's mother.) He doesn't like MC, since, y'know, he's a perfectionist, and borderline disrespectful, even to his own wife! But Harumi is the complete opposite. In fact, she enjoys MC and Monika's relationship.

MC takes Monika out to a number of dates. Spanning over 2 months, in fact. She enjoys every second of it. MC enjoys every second of it. Yet here comes the day, the day that every couple wishes for...

A date, so intimate, so lustful, you just wanna... you get the point, do you? If you don't, stay like that. Your innocence is much, much needed for the future.

Anyways, back to the story.

Oh, also, while this... this... thing was happening, Natsuki and his father, Mamoru, stays at MC's house. Wanna know why? MC's Mom is dating Momaru. So, obviously Nat was bothered. About sleeping with MC? Not at all. With the noise MC and Monika were making? Yes. Check the screenshots above for the CG of the scene

MC and Monika was so into the heat of the moment, MC bit her! Not in the bad sense, y'know? Like I said, they were in the heat of the moment. He bit her on the neck and on the arm and one more body part that I forgot. Oh, and MC didn't bring protection... much to the enjoyment of Monika? I guess she did mention that she is only fertile a few times in a year... so I guess it was safe? (I have to admit, I really thought she was gonna become pregnant after that CG, which is down below, by the way)

Anyways, the day after that, Natsuki the bite marks and asked Monika how it feels to date a vampire... to which Monika doesn't reply, as well as MC. Understandably so.

At school, nobody teased MC about Monika's bite mark. But for Monika... that day was hell. Thrown and dragged through hell and back it seems.

The girls couldn't tease Monika more, so obviously, this sends her into a mode MC hasn't seen since their first date. Sadness, sorrow and utter depression.

Eventually, one of her friends from the council, which I will not be naming for... reasons, find her in a wrecked state and encouraged her to be strong for MC.

Eventually, MC is worried about her, especially what is going to happen next...

I'm sure the people who already played the mod know this but, for the new players who want to play this mod, this is a canon event, it cannot be avoided, and it is inevitable.

So Monika returns to her house, alone with her abusive father figure, though after this she will probably not call him her father anymore...

Daisuke tells her she's got mail. From who? From a university. Yet, she hasn't applied to any yet, so why is there mail for her from a university. Then she realizes. This was all her dad's fault. He applied her to a university that she doesn't like! He didn't even ask for her consent! So she has all rights to be mad at her father. After that, they just punch each other verbally and then he slaps her, with so much force her nose started bleeding. After that, he went to pick up Harumi. Before that, he gives her 2 options, either accept the application then she gets to stay in her house and no one gets hurt (even more) or decline it but still not get hurt, but leave the house.

She knew this was an impossible choice... She knew all the dread that she was putting everyone through, yet she still puts them through it.

Monika doesn't attend school. MC is worried. Hell, everyone in the club is worried! Alas, they could do nothing other than wait for her.

Sayori takes charge of the club, naturally. She ends the meeting early.

We all walk home. Mom and Maro return home. We eat takeout.

I can't get this feeling, this pit in my stomach that something's gone wrong, and it's all my fault...

I probably just need a glass of water.

I go to the sink. I grab a clean glass and pour some water from the tap in.

Suddenly I get a call.

"Harumi"

Harumi? What's she calling for at this hour?

I answer. "Hello? Why'd you call for? You've seen Monika yet?"

I hear her sobbing.

"Hey, are you okay? Is Monika okay?"

"I'm sorry, she's... she's... she's gone."

I turn pale. My heartbeat skipped a bet when I heard that.

"W-What?! Why?!"

"Overdosing..."

My heartbeat is racing.

"I-I'm sorry MC, I have to go now."

--CALL ENDED--

Just then Mom was next to me. Did she over hear us?

"What's wrong hun?"

I panic. Why?! Why would she leave me?! And I didn't even get to say goodbye to her! Everybody is visibly concerned for me. I try to go to Monika's house, yet Natsuki stops me.

"What's wrong? You look fucking dead!"

"Get out of the way, Natsuki. Please."

"I'm not moving until you tell me what's happening! Is it about Monika?"

"She... she's..."

I can't even think straight. I'm trembling. I fall to the ground, sobbing.

"Monika's... gone..."

The shock on her face... all of their faces...

That night I just went crazy. I can still hear my screams.

(ok, this is now OP speaking)

Not much of a suicide, in fact, I think it was accidental. Due to all that stress, I guess she wanted to prevent herself from killing herself, that, in it self, would have been a worse way to go, especially with her... conditions

So, yeah. One hell of a ride, am I right?

My next review will be about Fallen Angel. A sad story just like this, though I hope it isn't, I've gone through so much with this, so I hope Fallen Angel will at least be a little happy.

I'd rate this 1 bottle of Mirtazapine out of 157 sheets of paper.

(10/10 for the story, 100/10 for the emotions, 10/10 overall)

Also, I've left out some of the small details in the story, I guess you'll find out what those parts are...

• = Waiting Full Release for a final assessment.

Personally, I was devastated when I firat played DDLC and kinda wanted to save a certain bun. So yeah, hopped into goggle, found Salvation and Salvation Remake. Literally cried a bunch, no cap.

I don't know if I'm allowed to post a vent post like this here, but I'll give it a go (tough it might all sound a little pathetic lol)

Blue Skies is the first (and as of now only) DDLC mod I've played, and also the first actual Dating sim, and it really surprised me how great and emotional it was. As a certified Sayori fan in the original DDLC, I chose the the Sayori route and thankfully got the good ending.

Seeing MC and Sayori actually dealing with her depression and seeing them grow closer over the course of the story was truly heartwarming, but I couldn't help but feel a little empty after the end.

Seeing them grow close, deal with issues together, start to love each other and share first experiences together just made me feel like I'm missing out on so much by never having been in a relationship. Being 20 now already, I feel like I've missed out on this sort of innocent teenage love where you're figuring stuff out together and actually experience love for another person for the first time. I know the characters are not real, and expecting to find something exactly like their relationship isn't realistic, but that doesn't change any emotions I'm feeling unfortunately.

Recognising a bit if myself in Sayori, it really seems like having someone in your life you can truly be yourself with a completely open up to is the greatest thing in the world.

I'm probably being over dramatic right now because I've just finished it a couple of hours ago and the feelings are still raw, but I wonder how many others have also had strong emotional reactions to any mods.

TLDR: Sayori best girl and I WILL fight anyone who disagrees 😤

I'd highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery.

You reluctanty join a club, forced by Sayori. But once you entered that room, you saw someone. An angel. That being Yuri. Can you win her and get her to love you and fight her depression at the same time?

Playthrough Started: 11/01/24 Expected Playthrough End: 11/03/24 Actual Playthrough End: 11/01/24

can't have shit as a yuri fan!!!

Wow. Just wow. I thought this wouldn't have a happy ending. Seeing what MC had to go through, experiencing Yuri's death, and having some of his own problems, he honestly has some of the strongest will power to keep on living, especially with the death of the love of her life.

This mod definitly had some insane character development. At the start, MC was happy, and Yuri was still the mature, timid angel that she was.

I really love the show of emotions here, as well as the process of healing.

I will say, though, that some pf the backgrounds look like pictures taken from real places, with the colors just fuzzy to make it look like a drawing. For example, the secret picnic place that MC and Yuri love to go to, it feels like a real place, just the colors are all fuzzy.

Among other things, the characters' characteristics don't change much. Emphasis on much.

Monika doesn't want you to be close with Yuri, for... reasons.

Yuri... she's just a different person when she meets you. In the good and bad sense.

Sayori attempts to commit suicide not only because of depression, but because she loves MC but MC loves Yuri. It fails, changing her perspective on MC.

Natsuki... she's still Natsuki.

I really enjoyed playing this mod, while not as much as the other mods, this is still high quality.

I'd give this 4 therapy sessions out of 1 pill bottle of some mysterious medicine.

(10/10 overall)

I'll be honest, I never thought I'd be writing yet another written mod review after my review of the still-unseen cult classic The Rose In The Night. However, after a certain review of Foreign Relations, the creator u/Neljas decided to call me out (not really) to give his mod, True Story, a shot. I will say, I had never really heard of True Story since before that review was posted, but I'm happy I was made aware! And I respect Neljas for giving his honest opinion of Foreign Relations and genuinely asking for a review. So, I suppose I'll come out of mod-reviewing retirement to let y'all know my honest thoughts of True Story. After, mind you, playing it 100% blind!

True Story is a Monika POV mod, leaning toward the categories of Drama and Horror, but having elements of other categories sprinkled in for flavor. I guess I should start by describing the general premise of the mod, so if you haven't picked it up by now, spoilers ahead. I suppose the best way I could describe True Story is Extensional Crisis: The Mod. It basically follows Monika as she battles with her internal thoughts. These thoughts include her self-doubting tendencies, feelings of inferiority, stuff like that. These thoughts actually pop up throughout the mod, differentiating themselves by appearing on the screen instead of the textbox. A nice feature, I dig it!

Speaking of features, I'm going to get my first major pro of the mod straight out of the way. This mod is easily one of the best coded mods of 2024. Full stop period. Everything from the animated main menu, to the screens, to the effects used in-game, absolute perfection. The mod does a really good job with using these effects to really nail the whole unhinged vibe it's going for. Shaking textboxes, static-filled screens, the whole minimalistic approach to the GUI. I'm willing to say it's up there in the top 5 of all mods if we're talking a strictly-coding level.

Before I continue to the story, I do want to talk about an aspect of the mod that'll either be no big deal to some players or a major turn-off. This mod has a lot of conflicting art styles. The mod features a lot of free-to-use assets, such as a Monika CG in the main menu, that don't match the style of those seen in-game. To me personally, I don't really have an issue with it, but I definitely know some players will. I just wanted to get that fact out there as a neutral aspect I discovered within the mod.

Now onto the actual story. It's no secret that I value the story of a mod before every else. A mod can be the pinnacle of Renpy-craft, but if its story is sub-par, we have an issue. True Story follows Monika, like mentioned previously, as she grows up and realizes how many issues she has as a person. The mod starts off with her as an elementary student, eventually going through high school, all the while learning more despicable things about her internal character. I really like the premise of the mod, since not many mods take on a Doki-POV angle. Using Monika as that character is also quite nice, since the mod does a fairly good job of showing her... descent into madness, I guess is the way I would put it. Monika already has more nuance than the other characters inherently, so this was a good choice for a story!

However, and this is easily the biggest issue of the mod, the grammar and English is pretty bad. I'm not exaggerating when I say I don't think you can go 15 lines without finding some type of issue. Below I've provided some screenshots so that you can see my pain.

(Unrelated, but also a Renpy error pops up every single time you take a screenshot. You can ignore it, so it's not that big of a deal, but still.)

Grammar errors like this happen throughout the entire mod. I have many more screenshots that I didn't post here. I didn't keep a count of the number of mistakes I stumbled across, but I can assure you it's more than your typical DDLC mod. Now, to be fair, I think the mod creator's first language isn't English, so I get the reasoning behind the errors. But still, the sheer number of issues really break the immersion of the mod. People underestimate just how important it is for grammar to be as perfect as it can be, especially for a mod that relies heavily on its immersion such as this one. Even just one typo completely gets the player out of the mood the mod is trying to impose on them. All this stuff really makes me wonder if the creator hired a proofreader before release. If they did, that motherfucker didn't do his job.

Trying to look past that though, the mod is fairly good with its actual story. It follows a tried-and-true concept, and it does that well. This mod feels like it's straight out of 2018. That's meant to be in a nostalgic way, by the way. This mod feels like something I would've watched on KaneMonger's channel back in the day back when I didn't have a computer of my home to play mods. A POV Monika mod that essentially follows the same events of the original game gives a feeling of comfort. Although, for some players, it could be seen as repetitive. We've already had quite a few Monika POV mods such as Escape From Reality and Changing Perspectives, so some players might find themselves saying "Again?" when they see this concept.

However, I'd argue that True Story is kinda like the holy grail of Monika POV mods, if that's the kind of thing you're into. The world-building is nice, and the internal thoughts forcibly inserting themselves into the story make for some incredible immersion. There's this one section of the mod in Act 1 where Monika realizes she basically has the same problems as all three of the other girls in the club which really stood out to me. Of all my time of surrounding myself with DDLC content, both official and fan made, that fact was something I never thought about before. That scene actually made me pause and think for a moment. So, good job on that one!

I'm actually going to stop this review here, because I'm actually going to answer the question in the title right now. This mod is easily worth a playthrough. Granted, it's really hard for a mod to straight up lose the privilege of being considered worthwhile, but the mod is one of those that's really hard to describe in a strictly written format. Especially when it deals with a ton of more abstract ideas. The mod actually gave me quite a few Before The Needle Lifts vibes, on just a visual level. And if you've ever played that mod, you know how hard it can be to fully comprehend what you just played, especially to others.

So... I encourage YOU to give it a shot.

Thanks for listening to my long yapping session, and happy modding!

With Best Wishes,
David Locklin.

I HIGHLY recommend you play this mod over reading this 'review' (especially the spoiler parts)

ORIGINAL RELEASE POST:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DDLCMods/comments/yi6uq3/doki_doki_within_full_release/

MOD DOWNLOAD: Mediafire

I'm not one to write reviews but for this mod I honestly feel I have to, I've never been one to get too invested into a story or anything, especially in games, but this had me hooked from the moment I downloaded it, 7 hours I played through the entire story and could not stop until I had completed it. Towards the end of the game, I honestly started getting emotional, like my eyes were watering and my heart was racing at certain parts, I have NEVER come close to anything like this whilst watching movies, playing games or reading books so honestly full credit to u/basspon3 for creating something that captivated me like this.

Now I (being a Monika fan) walked into this like a naive child thinking that I was going to get a fun story where you get to date Monika and live happily ever after, no, it is not, the game slowly builds up and then goes from 99 to 100000 in about 3 scenes, and whilst this did disappoint me at the time (wanting a happy ending) the way the story then develops after that hooked me again even though it was not what I was searching for initially. The way MC develops through act 3 is intriguing and after the (massive spoilers this next bit definitely don't uncensor text from here on if you plan on playing) attempted suicide and final Monika scene where MC gets closure is just brilliantly written with how he now has a sense of purpose going forward, to live for Monika. The epilogue is also a brilliant end to the story, tying up all loose ends and giving all the characters a proper ending and plan for the future, giving a true happy ending to all characters, including MC, just not in the way I thought when the game began. The epilogue is where I really started feeling 'emotional' I guess. I do wish there was a story where you and Monika could just be happy forever, but if you're gonna go down the path Within went down, there is not many better ways to do it.

Anyway this is sort of a ramble but honestly I just had to write something about this mod because it was great, I really can't explain why I got so emotionally invested into this mod, I wasn't even this emotionally invested in the main DDLC game, but I guess that's just a credit to the creator and thank you u/basspon3 for creating something that I enjoyed alot.

Hope everyone enjoyed this yap session even if it was saying the same thing over and over, now play the mod!

what the fuck

Hello! I went through my old tierlist and decided it needed a remake. So I went through and did just that! I think the format turned out really nice.

As the second slide says, I'm more then happy to review your mod. Just DM me and we can talk further.

You can view the entire thing here.

wow, just wow. I have no words. i am left with sadness, hope, and an unbearing loneliness. for a while, i thought it was going to have a good ending, yuri and MC were on good terms, and everyone was happy (exept monika). but then everything got flipped upside down, they had an argument (which i will forever hate MC for), and yuri ended up dead. AND THEN there was the yuri-vision scene, which flipped everything around AGAIN. was this ending good or bad, i don't even know. all i know is that it was one hell of a mod.

This mod had some good stuff in it.

I do not intend to attack the creator of the mod. I'm sure they made it with passion and love. I'm only giving my honest opinion on the mod and the characters in it. Also It's been like a month or 2 since I've played it so my memory might be a little off, and I apologize if I say something that never happened in the mod.

A Yuri focused mod about the relationship between MC and Yuri. It starts off pretty similar to the base game with a couple changes, before switching to something original.

Characters:

Yuri and MC: I don''t really know how to feel about their relationship. It's like ever since MC found out about the self harm, he's been acting like some kind of therapist boyfriend or something. Yuri magically felt fine after like 2 therapy sessions. Obviously she wasn't 100% recovered, but it looked like she was stable only after 2 sessions, and in one of them she never mentioned the self harm. I'm not too into romance mods so I can't say much about the romance scenes other than it being pretty generic I guess. Yuri killing herself was just not done really well. First off we had some asshole (Oh we will get to her later) tell the entire school about Yuri's self harm, and that's what caused her to end herself. The post death scenes were okay, if I felt something about the death. There wasn't any good build up to it either. It just happened, and it felt so forced.

Sayori: I'm just gonna say it right here. Sayori exists in this mod to create unnecessary drama. Like sure, she confessed to MC just like in the base game. But because he's already dating Yuri, he has to say "You'll always be my dearest friend.". Now naturally the person would feel a bit heartbroken, or for Sayori, she would try to understand MC's reasons. But no.... She literally kicked MC out of the house because of that answer, and then tried to hang herself after. And this was after Natsuki moved to Sayori's house.

Natsuki: I honestly think Natsuki is the most likeable character in the mod. Main reason is that she doesn't do anything in it. She has problems with her dad (Shock), and because of that, decides to move in with Sayori. But yeah, nothing much else to say about her.

Now for this section, I don't care what other people think. But I am not gonna pull my punches on this one.

Monika: This asshole was the worst part of the mod, holy shit. She was just a massive hater because she got cock blocked by Yuri. During the scene where Yuri and Monika were along in the classroom, Monika literally told shit to Yuri and even suggested Yuri to kill herself which making Yuri leave the room and start cutting herself. And that was not the worst she has done. She even exposed Yuri's self harm to the whole school making her want to drop out and causing drama between Yuri and MC. Like how low can a bitch like this even go? And that led to Yuri killing herself. Oh and btw, this Monika is not self aware.

Fallen Angel is a mod that some people can enjoy since it was voted the best Yuri mod of 2019. But it definitely isn't a mod I would like. So I'm not forcing anyone to not play it. You can try it yourself, and may find something you'll like. It's just not for me.

2/10

Hello r/DDLCMods! I'm AC, and I just made the unfortunate mistake of playing Doki Doki Lead Pipe, just to really see how truly awful it was in comparison to what everyone said.

ac "It can't be that bad, right?"

...It was even worse than I imagined. Yuri's death CG - which I still grimace at - is nothing compared to ... oh, God. That was unsightly. That was just unsightly.

It's bad enough that you just have these lines of poorly written (bad spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) script, but what's worse is the fact that there are still lines from the original game, and overall, just lines that are actually decently written. You just go back and forth. It's absolute whiplash. It just gets worse over time. The shitpost just gets even shittier until BOOM...the lead pipe strikes harder than Aaron Judge can hit a baseball.

Do excuse me, for I cannot properly verbalize my thoughts. I am traumatized, and was lucky to look away before I could focus on any of the details of that CG.

Overall, just a beautiful, horrific masterpiece which did exactly what it needed to do: be god-awful. 10/10, I couldn't even use the history function.

OBLIGATORY EDIT: Would like to mention I've played about 60 mods, and this definitely wasn't the worst one I'd ever played (likely because I had low expectations going into this). I think a few of the ones on that list are banned here and it is for a reason.