It was ok. Definitely not close to the other 2 danganronpa games, but had enough interesting lore to keep me hooked!
Play Time upon finishing : 35~ hours
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Danganronpa is one of the most unique concepts for a game I've ever played, ofcourse this idea of a killing game isn't unique, we've seen it prior in manga such as Dokumushi, however it's cast of characters, all being "The Ultimate x" is a great twist to the genre. The cast overall is fantastic and excellently written.
The gameplay is also extremely engaging and where its true uniqueness shines, which is something you'd not normally expect from a visual novel. The split between a social sim, an investigation and the class trials was very refreshing, might genuinely be the best VN I've played.
I greatly enjoyed my time with this and I am super excited to play the others in the future.
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Danganronpa is one of the most unique concepts for a game I've ever played, ofcourse this idea of a killing game isn't unique, we've seen it prior in manga such as Dokumushi, however it's cast of characters, all being "The Ultimate x" is a great twist to the genre. The cast overall is fantastic and excellently written.
The gameplay is also extremely engaging and where its true uniqueness shines, which is something you'd not normally expect from a visual novel. The split between a social sim, an investigation and the class trials was very refreshing, might genuinely be the best VN I've played.
I greatly enjoyed my time with this and I am super excited to play the others in the future.
This review contains spoilers
"Did they waste Junko so fast? Her character design was cool"
30 hours later:
"Oh"
30 hours later:
"Oh"
The gameplay loop is fun. However I don't deal well with blood in an exaggerated form like in game so I got the spooks near the end. Characters are cool (except Fukawa)
This game gave me the spooks
GOOFY
This review contains spoilers
(this will probably be my longest review on this site im sorry)
Okay so in order to get a decent understandig of what this game comprises of we have to separete it into the things this game does right and the things this game does wrong (they may overlap in some areas but its okay.
Alright so first of the things this game gets right: Mainly everything to do with the main story. Most of the characters are likeable (not byakuya or toko though those can fuck off) or at least interesting enough and the cast is pretty diverse, even if pretty tropey, wich means you will immediatly know which characters you like and dislike, the main story is also pretty good and flows relatively well (with some annoyances i'll touch on later) and develops excepcionally well in chapters 5 and 6, where the game is nearing its end and all the big reveals start to happen. Discovering the mistery surrounding the school and investigating each murder is also pretty fun and rewarding when some conclusion you had turns out to be right. Overall, theres not much to complain about the story, the characters and the setting and artstyle itself. But that's really where praise ends and the annoyances start to appear.
First of all, as i mentioned, things take a nice turn in chapters 5 and 6, the final chapters, but before that we have 4 murders that play out in mostly the same fashion and while uncovering the misteries and motivations for these murders is nice, by the 4th murder i was already begging for this game to end because it was just the same thing over and over again. Basically, you start your "daily life", which means you have two days of free time before a murder happens, than on the 3rd day theres a murder and you enter the "deadly life", which constitutes in gathering evidence and going to the class trial to figure out "who dunnit". Do this four times over the course of 20 or so hours of gameplay and you can see how tiring this gamplay loop becomes, especially when the free days serve absolutely 0 purpose, which leads me onto my other annoyance, the free time and the social relations you have during this free time.
Long story short, they're useless unless you really care about the chacacters' backstories. The amount of free time you have is way too low to get anyone to a decent enough level, which means you often can only get a character level 1 or level 2 max before they die or become unavailable in free time, which, since these levels unlock skills you can use in the class trials, means you have like 4 or 5 skills max at the end of the game, skills of which make almost no difference in the actual gameplay, only the very good ones like reloding two bullets in Bullet Time Battle, and even then, the game is easly beatable in the hardest difficulty without using a single skill, which leads me to another point, the class trials themselves.
The class trial is the most fun part of the game and also the most infuriating, but not because it's hard, but because it eihter is too easy, or requires a specific evidence to be used in a very specific way for it to work, even if you already know the answer by just using logic. This is especially true in flashback bullets, where you have to use a phrase already said in the debate against another phrase in the same debate in order to reveal a contradiction. This works well only in the tutorial where it is introduced, and only serves to confuse the player in the rest of the game. How it is often used by the game is actually like this: character will say A statement, another character will refute this statement with B statement that of which coincides almost exactly with a truth bullet you already have or is just the most logical way to refute statement A, however, the argument won't just continue on as usual, because what you must actually do is pick up statement B and use that yourself against statement A, meaning it was now the protagonist who refuted statement A, not the random character, WHICH MAKES NO SENSE. Why is it that the argument doesn't work if it is another character that refutes it, and it must be makoto to use the EXACT SAME ARGUMENT. This just lead to me being incredibly frustrated during some trials, and couple that with the absolute idiocy of some of the characters, meaning you sometimes have to spend about 15 minutes refuting something that should be completely obvious, it just led to some of the trials being a real slog to get through, even if some of them do contain some twists and turns that you may not have expected initially, such as cases 4 and 5.
Overall, a great story that is really brought down by a multitude of underutilized and underdeveloped features that make this more than 30h game a quite frustrating experience at times, making you hope that it will end soon.
Okay so in order to get a decent understandig of what this game comprises of we have to separete it into the things this game does right and the things this game does wrong (they may overlap in some areas but its okay.
Alright so first of the things this game gets right: Mainly everything to do with the main story. Most of the characters are likeable (not byakuya or toko though those can fuck off) or at least interesting enough and the cast is pretty diverse, even if pretty tropey, wich means you will immediatly know which characters you like and dislike, the main story is also pretty good and flows relatively well (with some annoyances i'll touch on later) and develops excepcionally well in chapters 5 and 6, where the game is nearing its end and all the big reveals start to happen. Discovering the mistery surrounding the school and investigating each murder is also pretty fun and rewarding when some conclusion you had turns out to be right. Overall, theres not much to complain about the story, the characters and the setting and artstyle itself. But that's really where praise ends and the annoyances start to appear.
First of all, as i mentioned, things take a nice turn in chapters 5 and 6, the final chapters, but before that we have 4 murders that play out in mostly the same fashion and while uncovering the misteries and motivations for these murders is nice, by the 4th murder i was already begging for this game to end because it was just the same thing over and over again. Basically, you start your "daily life", which means you have two days of free time before a murder happens, than on the 3rd day theres a murder and you enter the "deadly life", which constitutes in gathering evidence and going to the class trial to figure out "who dunnit". Do this four times over the course of 20 or so hours of gameplay and you can see how tiring this gamplay loop becomes, especially when the free days serve absolutely 0 purpose, which leads me onto my other annoyance, the free time and the social relations you have during this free time.
Long story short, they're useless unless you really care about the chacacters' backstories. The amount of free time you have is way too low to get anyone to a decent enough level, which means you often can only get a character level 1 or level 2 max before they die or become unavailable in free time, which, since these levels unlock skills you can use in the class trials, means you have like 4 or 5 skills max at the end of the game, skills of which make almost no difference in the actual gameplay, only the very good ones like reloding two bullets in Bullet Time Battle, and even then, the game is easly beatable in the hardest difficulty without using a single skill, which leads me to another point, the class trials themselves.
The class trial is the most fun part of the game and also the most infuriating, but not because it's hard, but because it eihter is too easy, or requires a specific evidence to be used in a very specific way for it to work, even if you already know the answer by just using logic. This is especially true in flashback bullets, where you have to use a phrase already said in the debate against another phrase in the same debate in order to reveal a contradiction. This works well only in the tutorial where it is introduced, and only serves to confuse the player in the rest of the game. How it is often used by the game is actually like this: character will say A statement, another character will refute this statement with B statement that of which coincides almost exactly with a truth bullet you already have or is just the most logical way to refute statement A, however, the argument won't just continue on as usual, because what you must actually do is pick up statement B and use that yourself against statement A, meaning it was now the protagonist who refuted statement A, not the random character, WHICH MAKES NO SENSE. Why is it that the argument doesn't work if it is another character that refutes it, and it must be makoto to use the EXACT SAME ARGUMENT. This just lead to me being incredibly frustrated during some trials, and couple that with the absolute idiocy of some of the characters, meaning you sometimes have to spend about 15 minutes refuting something that should be completely obvious, it just led to some of the trials being a real slog to get through, even if some of them do contain some twists and turns that you may not have expected initially, such as cases 4 and 5.
Overall, a great story that is really brought down by a multitude of underutilized and underdeveloped features that make this more than 30h game a quite frustrating experience at times, making you hope that it will end soon.
presing B 32 hour straight simulator
I remember playing Danganronpa 1.2 Reloaded on the PS4 years ago and that I really enjoyed playing both games. When I saw it was on Gamepass, I was really excited to revisit Hope’s Peak with all its eccentric characters and crime solving. Now, having replayed the first game through again, I’m left with the question of “Why did I like this?”
The game starts off really well and I really enjoyed it from the prologue through to chapter 2, but once the game hits chapter 3 it really feels like the writers got extremely lazy. It didn’t help that almost every character followed some really over done anime trope or was created purely for fan service. Outside of a handful of characters, most of that entire cast I ended up hating on my second play through of Danganronpa. In fact, one character I would put on my ‘Most Hated Characters of All Time’ list because of how much I couldn’t stand them.
The pacing is probably one of the worst problems in this game. The class trials were just boring and drawn out. The mini games like Truth Bullet or Bullet Time battle were kind of lame because if you mess up or got the wrong answer than you’d have to keep repeating the same dialogue over and over again till you got it right. I felt like these mini games were just filler to make the class trials longer. I ended up putting almost 36 hours into this game by just playing through the story, not including the extra mode. I’m not one of those gamers who believe hours equal value or quality when judging a game’s merit. There is no reason this game of this genre should be this long especially when the killer or victim for each mystery is never random.
However, It’s not all bad. I really enjoyed the character design and art style. The school was a blast to explore and Danganronpa does a great job of utilizing all the rooms during the murder mysteries, so it never felt like the rooms went to waste. There is also School mode which is a neat little extra as well since it’s like a what if scenario if there was no murders and it’s kind of like a tamagotchi game mixed with dating. My favorite part of Danganronpa was the music which I think is really great and in fact I like it so much I’m considering purchasing the soundtrack.
Overall:
After replaying it for the second time, I realized Danganronpa didn’t age well, and it wasn’t as good as I remembered. Sadly, because of all the problems it has I won’t be replaying this game for a third time.
Pros:
+great art style
+amazing soundtrack
+good voice acting
+School mode
Cons:
-hate-able characters
-lazy writing
-no replay value as the killers/victims are never random
-games goes on for way too long
The game starts off really well and I really enjoyed it from the prologue through to chapter 2, but once the game hits chapter 3 it really feels like the writers got extremely lazy. It didn’t help that almost every character followed some really over done anime trope or was created purely for fan service. Outside of a handful of characters, most of that entire cast I ended up hating on my second play through of Danganronpa. In fact, one character I would put on my ‘Most Hated Characters of All Time’ list because of how much I couldn’t stand them.
The pacing is probably one of the worst problems in this game. The class trials were just boring and drawn out. The mini games like Truth Bullet or Bullet Time battle were kind of lame because if you mess up or got the wrong answer than you’d have to keep repeating the same dialogue over and over again till you got it right. I felt like these mini games were just filler to make the class trials longer. I ended up putting almost 36 hours into this game by just playing through the story, not including the extra mode. I’m not one of those gamers who believe hours equal value or quality when judging a game’s merit. There is no reason this game of this genre should be this long especially when the killer or victim for each mystery is never random.
However, It’s not all bad. I really enjoyed the character design and art style. The school was a blast to explore and Danganronpa does a great job of utilizing all the rooms during the murder mysteries, so it never felt like the rooms went to waste. There is also School mode which is a neat little extra as well since it’s like a what if scenario if there was no murders and it’s kind of like a tamagotchi game mixed with dating. My favorite part of Danganronpa was the music which I think is really great and in fact I like it so much I’m considering purchasing the soundtrack.
Overall:
After replaying it for the second time, I realized Danganronpa didn’t age well, and it wasn’t as good as I remembered. Sadly, because of all the problems it has I won’t be replaying this game for a third time.
Pros:
+great art style
+amazing soundtrack
+good voice acting
+School mode
Cons:
-hate-able characters
-lazy writing
-no replay value as the killers/victims are never random
-games goes on for way too long
Have you already watched something, like a series or an anime that is not great, but you can't stop yourself from watching? This is Danganronpa.
It's a visual novel, so of course the main thing i should talk about is story and characters (but i did like a lot the soundtrack). The premise is cool, the first part of the game has a pure despair atmosphere of not knowing what is going on that i liked a lot. I have issues coming from few of the chapters, like predictable culprit and closer to the end a lot of expository lore. But besides that, i liked the way the game tell the story. When i understood they don't want WHO, but HOW, it made the game better.
The characters are stereotype in the maximum mode, at least that's what you think at first. Some of them have a little but satisfactory growth, not everyone, because, you know, not all of them get enough screentime...
Gameplay we have a "social link" type of mechanic in the calm moments before the trials, simple but okay. The Deadly Class Trials, oh i loved those. First of all the art style in the game is pretty good, in the trials they are far better. All the minigames and truth bullets are cool, especially the Closing Argument. I am weak for playing the main theme for these moments, sorry.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is far from perfect, but i had so good time playing that i can overlook some of the many issues. Not my favorite visual novel out there, but certainly memorable, and i do recommend.
It's a visual novel, so of course the main thing i should talk about is story and characters (but i did like a lot the soundtrack). The premise is cool, the first part of the game has a pure despair atmosphere of not knowing what is going on that i liked a lot. I have issues coming from few of the chapters, like predictable culprit and closer to the end a lot of expository lore. But besides that, i liked the way the game tell the story. When i understood they don't want WHO, but HOW, it made the game better.
The characters are stereotype in the maximum mode, at least that's what you think at first. Some of them have a little but satisfactory growth, not everyone, because, you know, not all of them get enough screentime...
Gameplay we have a "social link" type of mechanic in the calm moments before the trials, simple but okay. The Deadly Class Trials, oh i loved those. First of all the art style in the game is pretty good, in the trials they are far better. All the minigames and truth bullets are cool, especially the Closing Argument. I am weak for playing the main theme for these moments, sorry.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is far from perfect, but i had so good time playing that i can overlook some of the many issues. Not my favorite visual novel out there, but certainly memorable, and i do recommend.
When I get really into a game, I will tend to play it for a couple of hours a day. When I get really into a book, it dominates my life for several days until it’s finished.
Danganronpa was more like the latter for me. I just had to keep playing; I had to know what happened next.
The gameplay is very simplistic and extremely easy, but it’s not really there to facilitate robust interactions with the world; it’s there to force you to think about the mysteries and try and figure out what’s going on. The fact that the murders are so interesting to solve make this very effective. I always wanted to figure everything out before the trial started, and sometimes I managed to figure out most of it.
In some ways, the story is a little disappointing. It manages to land in some common pitfalls, and the ending is very open, but I was very happy with all the murders that are solved along the way, and the way clues about the overarching story are peppered in along the way.
I never really got visual novels before I played this game, and now I can see why they’re viable. It makes you feel like you’re part of the story in a way that traditional novels don’t.
It does make me yearn for a similar story where your choices actually make a significant impact on the events of the game. What if befriending a character could prevent them from committing murder? Could you create a system which allowed you to solve the murder in a way which isn’t railroaded like in this one? What about a game where you could plan and execute a murder, and had to try and get rid of the evidence?
The promise of the game is strong, so I’d love to see if there are other games which take this formula in some other directions.
Danganronpa was more like the latter for me. I just had to keep playing; I had to know what happened next.
The gameplay is very simplistic and extremely easy, but it’s not really there to facilitate robust interactions with the world; it’s there to force you to think about the mysteries and try and figure out what’s going on. The fact that the murders are so interesting to solve make this very effective. I always wanted to figure everything out before the trial started, and sometimes I managed to figure out most of it.
In some ways, the story is a little disappointing. It manages to land in some common pitfalls, and the ending is very open, but I was very happy with all the murders that are solved along the way, and the way clues about the overarching story are peppered in along the way.
I never really got visual novels before I played this game, and now I can see why they’re viable. It makes you feel like you’re part of the story in a way that traditional novels don’t.
It does make me yearn for a similar story where your choices actually make a significant impact on the events of the game. What if befriending a character could prevent them from committing murder? Could you create a system which allowed you to solve the murder in a way which isn’t railroaded like in this one? What about a game where you could plan and execute a murder, and had to try and get rid of the evidence?
The promise of the game is strong, so I’d love to see if there are other games which take this formula in some other directions.
English | Español
A visual novel that goes from better to worst because it lasts too much and this makes its many fails in design condemn a plot that can hook you but loses its strength over time.
Una novela visual que a mi gusto va de más a menos porque dura demasiado y esto hace que los muchos errores en su diseño acaben pasándole factura a una trama que puede enganchar, pero termina perdiendo fuerza.
A visual novel that goes from better to worst because it lasts too much and this makes its many fails in design condemn a plot that can hook you but loses its strength over time.
Una novela visual que a mi gusto va de más a menos porque dura demasiado y esto hace que los muchos errores en su diseño acaben pasándole factura a una trama que puede enganchar, pero termina perdiendo fuerza.
Despite everything, I still love Danganronpa.
The story is very average... I don't remember being surprised by a single plot-twist.
In my opinion, the only thing interesting about this game were the mechanics.
Some tracks from the OST are catchy, which is cool, I guess.
Final Rating: 5/10
In my opinion, the only thing interesting about this game were the mechanics.
Some tracks from the OST are catchy, which is cool, I guess.
Final Rating: 5/10
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a visual novel about fifteen "gifted" or "elite" students that have been locked in a school and isolated from the outside world. They are on round the clock surveillance and thev live under a special rule; only a student who murders another student and isn't caught will be allowed to graduate and leave the school. Absurd. I know.
Trigger Happy Havoc is unsettling but engaging. The story of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is experienced through chapters. In each chapter you'll interact with your various classmates who all have unique and distinctive personalities. Your classmates will clash with you and each other making for some interesting and engaging dynamics as you progress through the story. Each chapter climaxes with a murder and a class trial where you and your fellow classmates will try to determine who the murderer is in a life and death situation.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a game that is carried by the brilliant writing, art design and soundtrack. While Trigger Happy Havoc has incredibly profound and emotional moments the writers intelligently weaved in light hearted and comedic moments that allow you as the player to never get too emotionally high or low.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is an absurd game that will require a suspension of belief from the player. If the player is able to look past the absurdity of the situation they'll come away from Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc having experienced a unique story and one of the best of its kind. A game that any fan of the visual novel genre should play.
Pros:
The story/narrative.
Soundtrack and the art design.
Cons:
Controls during the "class trials" can sometimes feel
less than smooth.
Played on: Xbox Series X via GamePass
Trigger Happy Havoc is unsettling but engaging. The story of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is experienced through chapters. In each chapter you'll interact with your various classmates who all have unique and distinctive personalities. Your classmates will clash with you and each other making for some interesting and engaging dynamics as you progress through the story. Each chapter climaxes with a murder and a class trial where you and your fellow classmates will try to determine who the murderer is in a life and death situation.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a game that is carried by the brilliant writing, art design and soundtrack. While Trigger Happy Havoc has incredibly profound and emotional moments the writers intelligently weaved in light hearted and comedic moments that allow you as the player to never get too emotionally high or low.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is an absurd game that will require a suspension of belief from the player. If the player is able to look past the absurdity of the situation they'll come away from Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc having experienced a unique story and one of the best of its kind. A game that any fan of the visual novel genre should play.
Pros:
The story/narrative.
Soundtrack and the art design.
Cons:
Controls during the "class trials" can sometimes feel
less than smooth.
Played on: Xbox Series X via GamePass
Великолепная визуальная новелла с интересным сюжетом и запоминающимися персонажами
When the Ultimate Hope meets the Ultimate Despair, which side will be triumphant? Fairly they let us experience this conflict through the perspective of people that were promised a bright future ahead of them. Will the students chosen to represent mankind's hope, be able to overcome the perpetually resurrected despair which awaits them?
The game is filled with unseriousness and anguish, the latter they want to portray over everything to deliver us the most ultimate hope they can achieve, but in my view, they didn't really manage to do that. A cruel irony that left me unaffected, resulted in a dull hope that didn't move me.
Yet, I had a good time. The goofiness behind the characters results in a distinct charm many creators would like to find in their own works. This makes them lovable, I found sympathy towards a lot of them. Unluckily this is a shallow sympathy that isn't able to evoke any true depth of emotion in me.
The charm is definitely caused partly by their quirky designs, and the overall art style of the world they found themselves in. I like Kiyotaka's and Kirigiri's designs the most (Sakura's is cool too). The way the characters were drawn in the CGs was in a way off-putting, and they missed with the cutscenes since the videos were so low quality.
Kirigiri is the character I grew the fondest of, considering her great design, personality, and being the most interesting person around. Honestly, the only character I kind of disliked was Hifumi (I'll never grow fond of the weirdo otaku troupe)
The cases and overarching mystery were interesting, but overall they were unable deeply intrigue me. The answers were always pretty clear, the problem was in the way to get there canonically which was sometimes handled clumsily. Sometimes I wouldn't really know how Makoto was going to approach his counterargument, and therefore the game wanted to tell me I was wrong (even though it was right if he said what I wanted him to say)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc wasn't able to really finalize its underlying goal, but it managed to positively surprise me with the enjoyable road towards it. I feel like the image created about Danganronpa is undeserved, it's not a game that should be ridiculed by the people that look at themselves seriously.
The game is filled with unseriousness and anguish, the latter they want to portray over everything to deliver us the most ultimate hope they can achieve, but in my view, they didn't really manage to do that. A cruel irony that left me unaffected, resulted in a dull hope that didn't move me.
Yet, I had a good time. The goofiness behind the characters results in a distinct charm many creators would like to find in their own works. This makes them lovable, I found sympathy towards a lot of them. Unluckily this is a shallow sympathy that isn't able to evoke any true depth of emotion in me.
The charm is definitely caused partly by their quirky designs, and the overall art style of the world they found themselves in. I like Kiyotaka's and Kirigiri's designs the most (Sakura's is cool too). The way the characters were drawn in the CGs was in a way off-putting, and they missed with the cutscenes since the videos were so low quality.
Kirigiri is the character I grew the fondest of, considering her great design, personality, and being the most interesting person around. Honestly, the only character I kind of disliked was Hifumi (I'll never grow fond of the weirdo otaku troupe)
The cases and overarching mystery were interesting, but overall they were unable deeply intrigue me. The answers were always pretty clear, the problem was in the way to get there canonically which was sometimes handled clumsily. Sometimes I wouldn't really know how Makoto was going to approach his counterargument, and therefore the game wanted to tell me I was wrong (even though it was right if he said what I wanted him to say)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc wasn't able to really finalize its underlying goal, but it managed to positively surprise me with the enjoyable road towards it. I feel like the image created about Danganronpa is undeserved, it's not a game that should be ridiculed by the people that look at themselves seriously.
I must confess that I had a significant bias against this game due to its "peculiar" fandom. However, one day, I finally decided to give it a chance, and now, I can confidently say that it's one of my favorite games. I adore the captivating story, engaging gameplay, unique songs, outstanding art direction, and the characters' charismatic and well-developed personalities, which have made me a big fan.
My only minor critique is that, even as someone who appreciates exaggerated shit, there are times when it becomes so excessive that I find myself laughing, wondering who could have thought something was a good idea.
Overall, it was an incredible experience, and I highly recommend it, provided you can enjoy a visual novel without passing out of boredom and waking up eight hours later. This is the only Danganronpa game that has kept me engaged until the end with the amazing characters, and perhaps, you may even get more from the franchise by liking the other titles unlike me.
My only minor critique is that, even as someone who appreciates exaggerated shit, there are times when it becomes so excessive that I find myself laughing, wondering who could have thought something was a good idea.
Overall, it was an incredible experience, and I highly recommend it, provided you can enjoy a visual novel without passing out of boredom and waking up eight hours later. This is the only Danganronpa game that has kept me engaged until the end with the amazing characters, and perhaps, you may even get more from the franchise by liking the other titles unlike me.
My friends really like this series so I tried this game out when it came to Game Pass.
I wish I enjoyed the gameplay a bit more.
I wish I enjoyed the gameplay a bit more.
so fucking good. I could pick holes in this game but I don't want to. SO FUN, I felt so immersed in the story. I was thinking about which danganronpa to start with, and although I know 2 gets a lot of praise I thought I wanted to start at the beginning. Really glad I did. Can't imagine not playing this one
It's bad. Holy shit, it's so bad. All the characters, especially the protagonist, are absolute morons. The puzzles are all obvious, the shooting feels boring, the absorb bullet mechanic is terrible, you move around the overworld with the mannerisms of a drunkard, just all around an unenjoyable experience. "Oh, but the writing's good!" Not really. The game expects you to just accept a ton of unreasonable circumstances and roll with it. "The doors lock... just because, okay!" It unironically feels like a child wrote this.
The music is decent though.
The music is decent though.
Much like the game and it's mix of hope and despair my mind is filled with a combination of feelings both contradictory but that are also completely symbiotic.
A lot of this conflict within myself about thoughts on this game have had me boil them down to "this game isn't made precisely for my desires".
I appreciate everything it does but am somehow annoyed by a lot of the things I actually think are really clever.
Plot wise at points I feel it goes too far for my personal tastes but also is "just mad enough".
Monokuma - the mascot bear is both a character I love and hate. Each time they had a voice line or broke the flow of the story I disliked. I expected them to grow on me and really they didn't but some how I still was happy to see them.
Mechanically, I love the ways this game breaks down - breaking down arguments. I also found it tedious.
"Truth bullets" is a fun mechanic on paper but in play feels like it can sometimes drag and makes me yearn for a simple conversation wheel.
Although as soon as those thoughts enter my brain, before I've even typed out the words another part goes "but then the game would just be a plain VN" which although I appreciate I think I need more "game" than just that.
If I was explaining this game in a school trial and why I think you should play it "no you're wrong" would be shouted at me a million times because everything I want to say I also feel I want to contradict.
Overall it is good. The set up, the places the story goes, they can be exciting, they can be clever, but sometimes they can be obvious and cliché.
The characters are the same, I can respect the level of "tropieness" they hit because of the 'Ultimate Students' set up but sadly it can create characters that'll make you groan and click through faster each time they're on screen.
The investigations are good, on occasion you will most likely see the answer much further ahead than you can reveal it in game and this will add to the tedium.
At it's higher points you'll think you've seen something and if you have or haven't doesn't matter because a new plot point will unfold that changes your thoughts and at best pleasantly surprises you.
Going in I hoped that Danganronpa being the series in this genre I've heard the most about would be as high on my list of personal favourites as any of the Zero Escape games and sadly it isn't.
Returning to the start of this, I guess Zero Escape is made more for my desires.
Maybe I'll never find a VN series that I love as much as those games but maybe after a trilogy of these I'll change my mind.
A lot of this conflict within myself about thoughts on this game have had me boil them down to "this game isn't made precisely for my desires".
I appreciate everything it does but am somehow annoyed by a lot of the things I actually think are really clever.
Plot wise at points I feel it goes too far for my personal tastes but also is "just mad enough".
Monokuma - the mascot bear is both a character I love and hate. Each time they had a voice line or broke the flow of the story I disliked. I expected them to grow on me and really they didn't but some how I still was happy to see them.
Mechanically, I love the ways this game breaks down - breaking down arguments. I also found it tedious.
"Truth bullets" is a fun mechanic on paper but in play feels like it can sometimes drag and makes me yearn for a simple conversation wheel.
Although as soon as those thoughts enter my brain, before I've even typed out the words another part goes "but then the game would just be a plain VN" which although I appreciate I think I need more "game" than just that.
If I was explaining this game in a school trial and why I think you should play it "no you're wrong" would be shouted at me a million times because everything I want to say I also feel I want to contradict.
Overall it is good. The set up, the places the story goes, they can be exciting, they can be clever, but sometimes they can be obvious and cliché.
The characters are the same, I can respect the level of "tropieness" they hit because of the 'Ultimate Students' set up but sadly it can create characters that'll make you groan and click through faster each time they're on screen.
The investigations are good, on occasion you will most likely see the answer much further ahead than you can reveal it in game and this will add to the tedium.
At it's higher points you'll think you've seen something and if you have or haven't doesn't matter because a new plot point will unfold that changes your thoughts and at best pleasantly surprises you.
Going in I hoped that Danganronpa being the series in this genre I've heard the most about would be as high on my list of personal favourites as any of the Zero Escape games and sadly it isn't.
Returning to the start of this, I guess Zero Escape is made more for my desires.
Maybe I'll never find a VN series that I love as much as those games but maybe after a trilogy of these I'll change my mind.
it's been almost a year to this day that i finished this game. i really did like it a lot, but after playing the other two games, i'm not quite sure if this game holds up as well. the claustophobic setting is great, yet personally i liked the open island system of the second game more. the characters are fun, but i find myself overall liking characters from the other games more. makoto is my least favourite protagonist in the series and kyoko is a character i don't have any strong feelings for. byakuya is a great antagonist and the villain of the game is awesome as well, but gets re-used in the later games, making them less effective there but their performance in this game is iconic.
the trials in this game are nice, but while i like the ideas behind them, i don't care that much about most of the characters involved in them. the executions are good, but nothing that comes to my mind right away when thinking about DR executions, except the first one, simply because it's iconic.
i do like the ending of this game a lot. it leaves things to your imagination, but if you really want closure, you can go watch the anime. the survivors of this game are all characters i am not too attached to, except for two of them.
perhaps i would rate this game higher or lower once i replay it. but for now, this is how i feel about it
the trials in this game are nice, but while i like the ideas behind them, i don't care that much about most of the characters involved in them. the executions are good, but nothing that comes to my mind right away when thinking about DR executions, except the first one, simply because it's iconic.
i do like the ending of this game a lot. it leaves things to your imagination, but if you really want closure, you can go watch the anime. the survivors of this game are all characters i am not too attached to, except for two of them.
perhaps i would rate this game higher or lower once i replay it. but for now, this is how i feel about it
I live for the atmosphere of this game!! the concept is really good as well. just wish some of the characters were handled better lol
zika.
Finally played this one this year and it's a mixed bag for sure, leaning on the positive side overall.
It's a murder mystery where you're not meant to have all the pieces until you're in the heat of it, with the game forcing you to make you actual deductions during the final trial of each case similar to games like those in the Phoenix Wright series. This creates a layer of thrill that would normally be missed, as the mysteries themselves don't leave much to mystery, mostly leading players to correct conclusions with a little bit of hand holding.
While this would normally be a bit of a let down, this lacking is balanced out by a series of mini-games resembling rhythm game and on-rail shooter titles that make sure you pay attention even if you think you've got it all figured out, and keeps stakes from flatlining.
The characters are fascinating and weird, each well fleshed out over time and through various "hang out" events that you can complete over the course of the game. Combine that with skills you can use, earned from those same hang outs and you get a game that could have gotten away with only being a visual novel that brings more to the table.
There are some pretty obvious gripes about a few queer-shaming dog whistles and damaging character tropes that were a bummer to experience, but other characters that could have fallen victim to similar treatment were given nothing but respect, making it seem fairly evident that the few mis-steps aren't out of malice but rather also used to characterize cruel characters.
Overall, as someone who usually really doesn't like this genre of games I was pleasantly surprised and can recommend this one as long as you can stomach some incredibly aged views on tough topics. If you want a similar experience with a little less "edge" check out AI: The Somnium Files instead.
It's a murder mystery where you're not meant to have all the pieces until you're in the heat of it, with the game forcing you to make you actual deductions during the final trial of each case similar to games like those in the Phoenix Wright series. This creates a layer of thrill that would normally be missed, as the mysteries themselves don't leave much to mystery, mostly leading players to correct conclusions with a little bit of hand holding.
While this would normally be a bit of a let down, this lacking is balanced out by a series of mini-games resembling rhythm game and on-rail shooter titles that make sure you pay attention even if you think you've got it all figured out, and keeps stakes from flatlining.
The characters are fascinating and weird, each well fleshed out over time and through various "hang out" events that you can complete over the course of the game. Combine that with skills you can use, earned from those same hang outs and you get a game that could have gotten away with only being a visual novel that brings more to the table.
There are some pretty obvious gripes about a few queer-shaming dog whistles and damaging character tropes that were a bummer to experience, but other characters that could have fallen victim to similar treatment were given nothing but respect, making it seem fairly evident that the few mis-steps aren't out of malice but rather also used to characterize cruel characters.
Overall, as someone who usually really doesn't like this genre of games I was pleasantly surprised and can recommend this one as long as you can stomach some incredibly aged views on tough topics. If you want a similar experience with a little less "edge" check out AI: The Somnium Files instead.
Good mix of a visual novel and a murder mystery. The trials feel energetic compared to other visual novel games like PW:AA.
Bom, é um ótimo jogo. A história é boa e os personagens são muito bons tanto. Problema é que as vezes o protagonista é muito chato e começa a ficar irritante. Bom, eu não gosto muito da exploração em primeira pessoa mas não é um problema.
I can’t believe I’m playing Danganronpa for the first time in 2022… and that I’m actually enjoying it!
I’ll play the sequel but at what cost.
I’ll play the sequel but at what cost.
Having played the original around 2014, I was expecting to replay the game and find aspects of the writing and gameplay that didn't hold up.
However, I found that the game's writing was pretty cleverly written. The mystery has an adequate amount of foreshadowing and gives enough clues that you can figure out at least some of the mystery before the answer is revealed. Ultimately the mystery was very compelling.
Some parts of my review about the gameplay are vague, brief, because it has been a few months since I played the game and I'm writing this from memory.
Gameplay-wise, it was alright. It's primarily a visual novel. I know what to expect when it comes to that. Walking around and collecting clues is adequate. You get a good feeling for the structure of the school, and it works fine. Nothing mind blowing.
However, sometimes dialogue lets you "respond" to specific parts of what people are saying. There are no important choices connected to this mechanic and usually there is only one thing to respond to and it's mandatory. It's very pointless. Some minigames are also not very entertaining and frustrating to play.
Overall, the main thing you play Danganronpa for is the mystery and the characters. Some gameplay imperfections are excusable as the writing of the game is very strong. I greatly enjoyed going through the game.
However, I found that the game's writing was pretty cleverly written. The mystery has an adequate amount of foreshadowing and gives enough clues that you can figure out at least some of the mystery before the answer is revealed. Ultimately the mystery was very compelling.
Some parts of my review about the gameplay are vague, brief, because it has been a few months since I played the game and I'm writing this from memory.
Gameplay-wise, it was alright. It's primarily a visual novel. I know what to expect when it comes to that. Walking around and collecting clues is adequate. You get a good feeling for the structure of the school, and it works fine. Nothing mind blowing.
However, sometimes dialogue lets you "respond" to specific parts of what people are saying. There are no important choices connected to this mechanic and usually there is only one thing to respond to and it's mandatory. It's very pointless. Some minigames are also not very entertaining and frustrating to play.
Overall, the main thing you play Danganronpa for is the mystery and the characters. Some gameplay imperfections are excusable as the writing of the game is very strong. I greatly enjoyed going through the game.