I didn't realize this was a Platinum Game until way too far into it. The fights always felt good; the mix of rhythm and beat-em-up was great! The colors were popping! But man, the comic book illustration aesthetic was not great. The characters were awful: great vocal talent wasted on characters that were annoying instead of the beloved Platinum/Clover campiness. Jokes were ok at best and eye-rolling otherwise (I have not watched JoJo and don't care about it). The music selection was fine, I was looking for a little more complicated rhythm for the later stages, but it stayed "four to the floor" for the whole game. With respect to the actual songs, the licensed songs were mostly (kindly) mid, and the in-house songs were almost completely forgettable.

I really felt that this game was trying to be inoffensive in a lot of ways and really didn't dare to step out of line. Much more of a "teenage punk" theme. May be for you; not for me. A mechanical delight; turn voice acting off.

Even having watched someone play this game, this was a delight to experience myself. Pacing in an RPG is unmatched. How the game spits you into "life as a high schooler in Japan" and just stacks mechanics on top is the best sort of overwhelming. So many options and so little time, I really enjoyed the "decisions per day" calendar system. The 141 hours I sunk into this game were rarely a slog and, even when "grindy" between Palaces, were typically planned and booked based on Confidant availability. If it wasn't so long, I'd play again. I can do it right, this time.

The most ambitious of the three, Danganronpa V3 feels like a "console first" entry. It's deathly slick in visuals, the music is slapping, and the mini games have been refined. Maybe I forgot the other two games, but I think the murders are the most justified of the series. And then the ending is clearly the logical progression fron the second game.

I feel that the ending was a bit shoehorned. Correcting a criminally miscast protagonist would have really sold the ending a lot better.

I also hoped there would be more to the last case rather than one "gotcha" but it was a good start to the final case.

The run-up to the last case with the timer was pretty dumb and I don't know how a player could do it on the first try. Or the second.

The best mechanics but probably the weakest of the three story-wise.