New and """""improved""""" hangmans gambit my ass FUCK YOU

Danganronpa 2 is an excellent follow-up to the first game. I had high expectations going in for the second time around based upon my enjoyment the first time. What I experienced was a much more fruitful and narratively engaging game... in the second half. The only flaw I can truly find for myself in this game is that DR2's first half is admittedly somewhat slow. I think that the first game's setting and the novelty of the plot allow it to get the upper hand on DR2 in this category, as I find the setting of Hope's Peak Academy to lend itself much better to the game's more consistent tone and claustrophobic atmosphere. What DR2 lacks in atmosphere, however, it makes up for in spades with its narrative cohesion and cast. The first chapter of DR2 does include some wild twists out the gate, and while the second and third chapters are somewhat weak outside of their resolutions ("weak" being pretty gracious for that third chapter), the 4th, 5th, and 6th chapters are some of the best mysteries and stories I've experienced. The twists and turns lead to great emotional highs and one of the best final plot twists in any game or VN I've played.

So, while the story takes its time to get there, the highs are extremely high and do more than enough to make up ground lost by some of the more mediocre moments in the first half.

This game also features Nagito Komaeda, the best character in fiction and my most favorite little freakazoid psycho guy (the rest of the cast is amazing too)