On a recent car trip, I wound up booting up a game on my PS Vita that I knew next to nothing about, only having seen a couple screenshots my friend has sent. That game is “Doki Doki Universe”, and it’s a pretty interesting work.
It’s essentially a personality test with things built around that core idea. Playing it gives you about as much value as solving online personality quizzes does - it’s not meant for gaining particularly interesting or useful insight about yourself, it’s mainly just for fun.
The game consists of two main things - planets - a couple Scribblenauts-like storylines, where what you do and say to the characters influences the game’s perception of your personality (for example, if you choose to hug a crying character, the game deems you a bit closer to the “Sweetheart” archetype), and asteroids - which are straightforward personality quiz questions. I have found the asteroids to be much more fun than the planets, and spent most of my time playing the game doing those. I have yet to complete a single planet storyline.
I love this game’s vibes. It feels… warm and comforting. The visuals, with their child-like simplicity and unevenness, bring to mind a picture book.
Unfortunately there isn’t that much substance hidden within, it seems. I don’t know if I’ll be returning to it.
