Even with warning of the horrors that lie ahead of me, when playing doki doki literature club, the game successfully maintained its shock factor. When I first started the game, I was confused what everyone was talking about since it was at first mainly just about an after school literature club. Everything was super cheery and the characters were all stereotypical anime girls made to be innocent looking. The background music was almost infuriatingly upbeat, and as the girls wrote poems about bumblebees or theoretical abstracts all while eating kitten cupcakes, it successfully set the mood to be just as upbeat. Basically there was not an ounce of horror in the entire game for a while. Even when it did turn, the visuals never really changed until the very end where Monika is sitting in the dark as fire burns outside, explaining that she is sentient and plotted the death of the other 3 girls. So it struck me impressive how Doki dock literature club was able to accomplish such a reputation for a disturbing game while keeping everything light hearted.
Typically horror is associated with gore, disturbing imagery, and adrenaline rushes but somehow the mental games from doki doki was more effective. Truth be told when I played the game I wasn’t so much scared as I was confused as to what I had just participated in. But I do understand how it could have the desired effect. Most of the dialogue wasn’t even explicitly scary–most of it was implicit. So in thinking about it, I don't think that even the dialogue is what made the game so scary, but rather the realities it brought up. The game brings up issues like being alone, lacking control/feeling helpless, and being deceived. Even when given the option to accept the love of yuri, she commits suicide, and when monika asks if you will accept her love, the only option you are given is ‘yes’. So I think the idea of not having any control over what people will do and how fruitless your attempts to help your friends can be brings up a lot of anxieties for the player. Being betrayed by the person who is supposed to be your friend and learning how everyone is working to her plans can instill a fear that perhaps you too are under her grip.
I share your sentiment that Doki Doki managed to be so steadily upbeat. The game maintained its levity in a manner that seemed self-convinced -- enough to the point where I began to question whether or not there would be a twist. When the dynamic of Doki Doki shifted, though, I realized how the game communicated its troublesome intent skillfully and subliminally throughout those upbeat sequences. I like your last line, where you say, "Being betrayed by the person who is supposed to be your friend and learning how everyone is working to her plans can instill a fear that perhaps you too are under her grip". Your closing statement illustrates how inherently familiar the most disturbing parts of Doki…