It was incredibly hard to believe the words of my good friend who teased with with the proposition that the jump in writing quality between Danganronpa 2 and V3 was near equal to that between 1 and 2. While I don’t think that quite panned out—if largely due to the diminishing returns you’ll have when up against the jump from the stupidity 1 peddled to the smart and emotional script of 2—it still surprised me just what a brilliant experience I had ahead for myself. The bastards did it again: I can say without hesitation that Danganronpa V3 is one of the best videogames I’ve ever played.

V3 immediately makes it clear it’s been using it’s five years of PS4-targeted development to the fullest. The game’s graphics and general sense of style in every single area is insane, replacing the made-for-PSP popup book charm of the first two games very well. Add in a lot more CGs and unique elements to various points of the game, especially in the trials, and it skyrockets the entire presentation. Every area feels like it’s made by a team who’s really proud of what they were cooking. Special shoutout to the color-washed room transitions.

The courtroom mechanics have also gotten solid enhancements where it’s needed, keeping the core mechanics as solid as they were since the first game. For as good as it was utilized in 2’s finale, it was a relief to see the contender for most “wtf am i supposed to do” moments (memory bullets) replaced with more intuitive systems. The panic and scrum debates fit so intuitively into the class trial, it’s a wonder particularly the former wasn’t a part of the series already! On the other hand, the mind-based minigames on the other hand… well let’s not pretend the series has ever known quite how to handle them, but they're harmless. It's just very strange how Psyche Taxi feels like the lesser-cooked predecessor to Logic Dive, very rudimentary gameplay carried by a great aesthetic.

Of course, the gameplay and aesthetic is just the backing for what this story is, where the first game struggled, but two and ESPECIALLY this game succeed more than I could've ever hoped for. The protagonist switch at the end of chapter 1 completely swept me off my feet. It's easy to see why it felt like such a gut punch for others, especially those that experienced an entire marketing cycle with her at the forefront—I couldn't actually tell if Kaede or Shuichi was the protagonist before starting the game. Yet everything about how it's framed, Kaede and Shuichi alone in the spotlight, her passing on her final wish onto Shuichi as the light of the UI goes out, him accepting that he must carry on for her...

"It's cruel, but... I understand. I'll do it."

...as the UI turns back on bathed in blue. A beautiful, emotional moment that drives itself through the rest of the game, as Shuichi keeps driving himself to fulfill Kaede's legacy. And the use of Clair de Lune as the theme of their everlasting bond? The absolute perfect choice.

From this turning point, the game keeps dealing out such interesting ways to twist the dynamics of the cast (killing their harmony, if you will). Streaming the game to friends, it really felt important to get everyone on the entire time, since the minutia of the characters dynamics influence the plot so much. Even the periods of downtime between trials end up, at some points, being just as engaging as what's going on during the murders. Seeing stuff like Himiko setting up her magic show or Miu setting up the Neo World Program, them having their own things going on to cope with being stuck in the death game, is really interesting! The "world" of the Ultimate Academy feels really alive despite being a small-and-ever-dwindling population.

My only real sticking point is with the cult Angie builds up, which while interesting enough in it's own right, felt like missed potential to be a greater aspect of the third trial. Half the class being brought into the cult felt like it fit in perfectly with the rule that half the class had to vote on somebody as the murderer... but then Angie died and that idea soon fell apart. Honestly, even though I liked the third trial, the missed opportunity there did linger in my mind, sprouting doubt if V3 would actually stand up to 2. Thankfully though, what the game ended up doing was so interesting in its own right, I don't really care about the missed opportunity this far out from it.

The way these dynamics entrench themselves into the trials just makes them all the better, with their personal alignments helping build up understandable alignments going into each trial both socially and ideologically. It feels like its builds really well upon Nagito's role in each of the trials in 2, but more expanded upon to the rest of the cast. Kaito in particular was a really nice surprise to me, since the jocky character with a heart of gold archetype (ala Ryuji Persona 5) just isn't really my thing. Yet, Kaito managed to break through my typically apprehensions. Despite being kinda an idiot, dude knew how to give a rousing speech, uplifting and morphing Shuichi and Maki very naturally and endearingly.

It's really great watching Kokichi's play to pit Kaito and Maki against each other for his own amusement fall apart due to Kaito being a dumbass. Then, watching it sprout into the main ideological conflict at the trials' core: Kokichi's balancing of being a force of chaos while wanting so desperately to live versus Kaito's faith in those he chooses to believe in at any cost. This is where the perjury mechanic during the trials adds so much, making Shuichi's pursuit to the truth so messy and interesting, playing a bit into both of Kokichi and Kaito's own ideals.

Then it comes to the fifth trial: a battle of the gut feeling that Kaito must be the one in the mech entangled in the doubt of Kokichi's impossible trick. It's impressive they were able to pull of something ultimately similar to the fifth case of the last game, yet feeling still keeping me on the edge of my seat. Seeing Shuichi try to push his luck with one last pathetic lie, and Kaito shutting it down, knowing it was time to lest his truth in Shuichi prevail at the ultimate cost. It's a really strong conclusion to both Kaito and Kokichi as characters, and as an answer to their ideological debate.

There was only two things I knew about V3 for certain going into the game: Kokichi's character design being perfect and the ending being intensely controversial for some reason. I get conceptually the problems detractors have with the ending but, idk, it feels really lame to hate this ending! From the moment I was surprised by Shuichi calling for the redo of Rantaro's trial, the entire rest of the game was a wild and cathartic rollercoaster of emotions for me. It's really a testament to the experience that I got softlocked after the replay of the game's opening video, forcing me to replay ~20 minutes of fast-forwarded gameplay, something that would seem like an absolutely devestating pace-killer. And yet, by the time the credits rolled, that hitch had totally vacated my mind. The story was too engaging to really care!

It'd be so easy for a twist at the scale of real-fiction to feel like it's undercutting everything that lead up to it, for every motivation to be ultimately founded in a lie. Even a game like Nirvana Initiative, who's twist I respect a hell of a lot, still undercut a lot of the general flow of the rest of the game. Yet, the Danganronpa game does what Danganronpa does best, spending multiple hours laying out and arguing its point in the final, most refined version of itself. Tsumugi's use of the past characters and their ideals as her own weapon, each character one-by-one finding the faith in what is their own truths, the UI switches between each mirroring the first trial, so SO many incredible lines from Shuichi... it's all really beautiful and interesting and powerful! It manages to, quite literally, tear down so much of the foundation of Danganronpa, examining how much of empty platitudes the echoes of hope and despair really are. But at the same time, it's forwarding so many of the ideas explored in DR2 of identity and being trapped by the decisions of others with its own new angles! It's sooooo fucking good!!!!!!

Even in the epilogue, when Danganronpa can't help but point towards an ambiguous path towards the future once again, I think it serves as the concluding thought to the essay of the final trial. The audience giving them the chance to live in spite of their "use" outside of Danganronpa being undefined is the ultimate proof of their existences' value, regardless of it being in fiction or reality. Despite the endings push back against it's own fandom, it still feels like it comes from a place of the ultimate love.

In all my consideration over the game in the past two weeks, there's not any changes I would make to it as an ending to either the game or Danganronpa as a whole. It sealed once and for all my love for the series. It's a fiction that was able to change my reality, hopefully for the better, and I wouldn't have it any other way.