My First Thoughts on Diabolik Lovers: Haunted Dark Bridal

This blog will contain spoilers for the prologue of Diabolik Lovers: Haunted Dark Bridal. If you do not wish to hear said spoilers, now is your chance to dip out. Likewise, please do not leave any spoilers in the comments!
Thanks again to my beta reader, Emi, for helping with things like my tone and grammar. You're awesome dude!

During my time on SpaceHey, I've seen the name Diabolik Lovers pop up here and there amongst my friends' interests. A while ago I decided to look up what the series was, and it intrigued me; however, I never got around to playing it until now. I finished the prologue of Haunted Dark Bridal a few nights ago, and I like what I've seen! I wanted to compile all of my thoughts here before I get back into the game, since right off the bat there are things I want to discuss. Pardon me as I ramble about this fascinating game!

Music & Art Direction

I did not expect the soundtrack for this game to be so groovy! I love the big classical rock theme that's going on, with little electronic touches in-between. My favorite track that I have heard so far is Laito's theme, 100%. Such a cool mixture of jazz and rock that really paints the picture of Laito being more than what he seems. If you have never heard of any of the music from this game, I would recommend this one full-stop.

Likewise, the art is absolute eye candy. I adore the colors for both characters' individual palettes and the backgrounds. Heck, even the UI looks wonderful! All the characters' hair looks so soft, and matching that with the soft red outlining is the cherry on top. I could absolutely gobble this art up. And speaking of characters...

Characters

All of these guys are their own unique flavor of strangeness, and I like that. I don't dislike any, but I feel like I'll need some time to warm up to some of them. I haven't completely disregarded anyone just yet.

Subaru Sakamaki (VA: Takashi Kondo)

The only character that has not caught my interest very much is Subaru. I don't know; I've never been one for his kind of archetype. Plus, in my opinion, his voice leaves a little to be desired. Hopefully I'll warm up to him later on.

Shuu Sakamaki (VA: Kosuke Toriumi)

Shuu intrigues me. I can tell (like with most of the others) that there's more to him than meets the eye, but in a different way from someone like Laito. His indifferent manner and seeming lack of interest in anything has lured me in, in a sense. I am excited to do his route after Laito's, but I don't know if I'll do his or Kanato's first.

Kanato Sakamaki (VA: Yuki Kaji)

I already like this sickly-looking creepy dude. My instinct was that he would be my favorite from the get-go, but I think he's just shy of it. I love how he's not scared to badmouth his brothers, and I'm glad he's not just a "Woaahh, I'm so tiny and childlike and that's the only source of my charm!!" kind of character. Excited to play his route.

Ayato Sakamaki (VA: Hikaru Midorikawa)

I'm holding out a bit of hope for Ayato. I didn't like him much at first, and I'm not the warmest on him yet, but I can sense his potential. I feel like he'll be the one character I never expected to like as much as I did. Plus his voice is really nice~

Laito Sakamaki (VA: Daisuke Hirakawa)

Oh boy, Laito! I do not know what exactly it is about him that tickles my fancy, but I am all here for it. I was caught a bit off-guard by his oh-so-affectionate nickname for Yui, "bitch-chan," and his fedora made me cringe every so slightly, but man! His voice dude!! I think that's one of the main reasons I'm so interested in him. On that note, the voice work in this game so far has been really good, especially with all the right-and-left channel shenanigans going on. I've never really liked the quote-unquote "pervert" characters in games such as these, so I'm surprised just how much I like this little bastard. I also find it funny how Yui claims he seems a little dangerous, when to me he seemed the least dangerous of my options. Hmm, should I pick: a) the guy who tried to take my blood five seconds after meeting me and also keeps calling me titless; b) the strange little dude who openly threatened me through his Teddy; or c) the guy that calls me a bitch.

Reiji Sakamaki (VA: Katsuyuki Konishi)

I don't know what to think of Reiji just yet, actually. He was certainly a pleasant shift in tone from Yui's introduction with Ayato, but nothing about him really stood out for me. Except for that voice drop though; holy shit dude...

Yui Komori (No VA)

Yui seems like an enjoyable enough protagonist, though I do like how naive she tends to be. There were a few notable moments where I was left staring at my screen, thinking to myself, "... GIRL. Come on now.". I don't think this will be that annoying throughout the story, so I'm enjoying it for now. It's cool to have a protagonist with a bit of personality, so I'll probably enjoy it either way.

Story

The setup for the story is actually more interesting than I expected. I'm left with a whole bunch of questions, like "What is that super important thing that only Yui's dad can do?", or "Who let the brothers know that Yui was coming, and that they couldn't kill her?", or "What happened to those relatives that were supposedly at the house? Do they exist at all?". From the prologue alone I've thought of so many things, and I really must respect that. The humor also seems to be on point. There aren't a ton of standout examples I can think of, but the dialogue is charming throughout.

Overall, I'm excited for what else this game has in store for me. I cannot wait to listen to more good music, see more cool CGs, and learn just what's going on with everybody!

Now Playing: Ballad for the tragic deployment ~ Diabolik Lovers: Haunted Dark Bridal OST

Thank you for reading this far! If you want to talk about anything related to the game or ask me any questions, feel free! This is the first time I've made a big blog post since around late 2023, so I'm excited for how it'll turn out.

credits for graphics: X X X X X