Dangan Ronpa

[Midgeorge]

Originally Posted by Jerichi

This game is way more than a run-of-the-mill VN. There are some really complex and engaging gameplay elements as well as a murder mystery aspect to all of them. It's still definitely a VN at heart but your relationships with the characters are just one aspect of the game. The story is also just a big crazy mindfuck; the ride alone is worth it.

But, honestly, a majority of us who were exposed to the series got our first exposure via Let's Plays (originally via the fan-translated SomethingAwful LP or the fan-translated patch version). Since it is still heavily VN-based, it's very much consumable via video. If you don't feel like paying for it, you can still get much of the experience that way, but I think playing the actual game is worth it.

The first DR is only $20 on Steam at the moment (and you absolutely must start with the first one - there is no sequence breaking in Dangan Ronpa) so it's not a particularly expensive investment to expose yourself to the series.

EDIT:

Also this is the order in which the games make sense:
Dangan Ronpa 1 (e.g. Trigger Happy Havoc) (do not watch the anime first; it's just the first game but heavily abridged)
Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Ultra Despair Girls (semi-optional)
Dangan Ronpa 3 Hope Side (anime)
Dangan Ronpa 3 Despair Side (anime)
Dangan Ronpa V3

I've followed DR for the most part and it's alright. I've seen the anime's and I've followed lets plays of DR and SDR2. They all look like £15 maximum price for what they are. The reason I brought it up in comparison with Zero Time Dilemma is that it's what i'd describe as 'More than a run-of-the-mill VN', and I can get that on steam for £30, and I think for what it is it's a fair price.

Basically the trouble is that I feel like playing it, but considering how much downtime there is in between actual game play (from what I've seen of the first 2 games) it doesn't look worth the price tag. If there's more actual game play then I could definitely consider buying it. If not then I guess I'll either watch a lets play or get it on sale later on.

[SoS]

Originally Posted by Jerichi

EDIT:

Also this is the order in which the games make sense:
Dangan Ronpa 1 (e.g. Trigger Happy Havoc) (do not watch the anime first; it's just the first game but heavily abridged)
Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Ultra Despair Girls (semi-optional)
Dangan Ronpa 3 Hope Side (anime)
Dangan Ronpa 3 Despair Side (anime)
Dangan Ronpa V3

Just to issue a slight correction here - It's the Despair side and FUTURE side of the anime, Hope is the last episode. You should also go in the order of despair 1 > future 1 > despair 2 > future 2 > despair 3 etc. Each side fills in contextual information for the other. I have no idea how relevant they are to DR3 yet, but it's closure for the Hope's Peak stuff. I recommend it.

So I just completed trial 1 of DR3...

Spoiler: show

I have never been so mad at a video game in my life. They got me so good and I am so mad.

The Kaede switch is a brilliant twist but kind of disappointing because I don't find Shuichi interesting at all, and I was happy to be playing as a girl (who is gay as hell and I will hear no contrary argument about it) for once. Kind of feels like a Makoto/Sayaka rehash, but done more effectively for sure,
can't deny that. This was a huge gut punch.

In regards to mechanics: Hangman's gambit still sucks dick, I guarantee I'm going to fuck up perjury every time, my instinct of truth-ing is too strong. I blame Ace Attorney. Mass panic debates are absolute hell for me on a sensory level, it took me half an hour to be able to cut through that garbled mess. Autism is a bitch.

[Jerichi]

I mean, DR games tend to go on sale after a while so it might not be a bad idea to wait if you're not super eager to play.

EDIT: Powered through Chapter 2 today...

Spoiler: show

As one might expect, the despair is intense. They really like killing off the kindly, stoic servant characters. The plot has really thickened though - I'm not surprised Maki is not what she said she was but I'm interested to see how it pans out.

Additionally, the hints all the stuff happening in the outside world are interesting... I'm a little skeptical of this game taking place in the distant future and similarly skeptical of this game not being connected to the Naegi/Hinata story but... we'll see.

[SoS]

PSA for Vita Players like me: There's an HQ audio DLC available for free on the storefront, and it drastically increases the quality of the voices. So I recommend grabbing that.

EDIT: Oh and I forgot to say how disturbing I found the chapter 1 execution. Yeesh. Nightmare fuel.

[SoS]

Much like Jeri I powered through Chapter 2 and I agree with his thoughts above. But I have some of my own, and my opinions on the characters so far!

Chapter 2!

Spoiler: show

First off: what is Psyche Taxi. Better question: WHY is Psyche Taxi? I don't understand how Spike Chunsoft keeps coming up with these weird minigames but hey maybe they just do a lot of cocaine. Probably better than Logic Dive, but for something that is basically just a more stylistic version of Revisualization from Ace Attorney, it's a worse version of Revisualization from Ace Attorney.

Real talk: was there ANY point to Miu's alibi other than pure fanservice? The story would not have changed at all if Gonta had got her to come to the Insect Meet and Greet, but easy T&A excuses are easy T&A excuses. Pretty sure she also dropped the series' first C-bomb? I'm honestly surprised the game got a 16 rating here with that. Wish she wasn't dropping the "t***" slur though, I realise that if anyone's gonna do it, it's her but that shit just bothers me.

why had I never heard of a ropeway prior to this case jesus christ what is wrong with me

I still hate perjury and mass panic debates

Monokuma's Trump impression was hilarious

Cool reference to the spider's thread for Kirumi's execution but man this one was tough to watch. For just a second I really thought she was going to get away. The executions seem a little more gruesome and brutal this time so far but that could just be me.

I'm also really curious about where this whole Monodam thing is going. He seems to have a big thing about team unity within the Kubs but why? And I'm guessing he'll kill the other Kubs in chapters 3 and 4 for some reason too.

Characters!

Spoiler: show

Shuichi is really growing on me. His relationship with Kaito is a big factor in that, but DR3's themes of awful truths and their repercussions are helping too to give him a very interesting arc; arguably moreso than Makoto for sure, and maybe Hajime if they do it right.

Kaito - holy shit DR finally worked out how to do a lovable idiot. Kaito is the heart and goddamn soul of the group right now and he's so much better than Hiro or Kazuichi and I love it.

Kokichi - KING. SHIT. STIRRER. I love-hate Kokichi on a deep level. He's got such brilliant expressions and he so clearly knows more than he's letting on. I definitely see him making it to the end, or being killed next case to throw suspicion on Maki. Just... please tell me he's lying about being the ultimate overlord and is actually the ultimate liar because that's such a stupid talent.

Miu - ah my wife

Himiko - I'm joining Tenko in the "Himiko must be protected" club, my precious smol child

Tenko - the gayest character in DR and that's including Sakakura. As such she is also my wife.

Tsumugi - reminds me a lot of Ibuki and that is a good good thing. Probably going to get corpsed super hard in case 3 is my guess and that is a sad thing, because she a cute and also my wife.

Gonta - a good boy who will do nothing wrong and is my prime pick for chapter 4's victim, pulling the Sakura/Nekomaru/Gundham sacrifice.
The wildman schtick is a little tiresome and played out but Gonta is so earnest that I can't hate it.

Korekiyo - creeps me the fuck out but is so damn smart I can't help but respect him. I need to spend more time with him to get a better read on him.

Ryoma - why did I never hang out with this guy he has my favourite design in the series so far, and his motive video was such a punch in the gut. I'm not surprised he offered himself up to Kirumi but I feel like there's so much to his story that I never even touched.

Kirumi - what prime minister WHAT

K1-B0 - how is that a goddamn audio recording function used up so much electricity jesus christ you suck keeb ultimate robot my dick

Angie - For a significant part of the case I was convinced she'd killed Ryoma. Whoops. I forgot that Angie is pure and good-hearted and a cute and also my wife

Maki - I am reserving any comment on Maki til chapter 3

but she is also my wife

and ultimate child caregiver is a terrible translation why not like ultimate nanny or au pair or fuckin anything

[Ex-Admiral Insane]

Oh cool, this thread is gaining traction again. Yes, I have decided to get the game and am halfway through Chapter 3 right now. Overall, my biggest hate for it are the button controls for the PC at times. Sometimes the buttons are over-sensitive, like when I need to save. Other times, I need to press down twice or hold it before a piece of dialogue will move, and has also cost me a few points during the trials. Weirdest one yet is where my A and S buttons are reversed for a couple of games during the trials. It was mildly annoying at first, but I consider it an added challenge to the games now.

(Spoilers on the entire chapters, including the end. Bewear!)

Chapter 1:

Spoiler: show

A review on Steam put it best for me: After knowing the first two games and all the tricks they've pulled in the past, there's no way they're going to surprise me this time. During trial 1: no ******* way!
I was honestly suspecting Shuichi, and was prepared for losing nearly any of the characters you could quickly get attached to. Killing off Rantaro was an odd move considering his title but it surprised me good. They definitely managed to catch me off guard once more in their first trial.

Chapter 2:

Spoiler: show

Not much to say about this one. Yeah Kirumi would have been surprising, but Danganronpa has taught me that literally anyone can die at any moment. I found this to be one of the weakest motives for murder yet though, as it does vaguely remind me of the Trolley Problem. Also, is it just me or did overcomplicating the murder give away the killer? I mean, couldn't she have left Ryoma in his lab and gotten away with it that way? There was no real need to move the body other than in an attempt to frame someone else, but it would have been unnecessary if it couldn't be linked to her in the first place and by doing that she ultimately provided the clues necessary for pinning the murder on her.
Not going to argue this too much; it was still a very interesting case to solve.

Oh yeah, I'm loving the execution of the Monokubs so far. I was somewhat anticipating it to happen but I was still caught off guard and had to laugh the first time it happened. A bit Looney Tunes.

[SoS]

Chapter 3 spoiler:

Spoiler: show

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HIS OWN SISTER

Real talk kind of funny that the locked room was the least complicated part of this murder. DR always innovates, except when it comes to structure I guess.

Honestly this one was super easy to work out. Whaaaaaaaat the guy who organised the seance during which Tenko died was responsible for killing Tenko? HOW COULD THAT BEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Cute callbacks throughout too, nice references to the first cases of DR1 and 2 and Kiyo's execution seemed like a big shoutout to Celeste's execution too. Some of the shots were pretty much copied over!

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that Debate Scrum is my favourite new mechanic. Brilliant music, makes the discussion feel like more of a group effort and quick-thinking. Really brilliant idea.









HIS OWN SISTER

[Jerichi]

Alright managed to power through Chapter 3:

Spoiler: show

This was a slightly less stressful chapter to me, but it also felt... inconsequential in a lot of ways. I really hated Angie by the point she died (she was being obnoxious and manipulative and played it off with her holy profit kick) and I was never a huge fan of whatsherface anyway. But I did like Kiyo's character, or at least I was interested in it. But then of course in true Dangan Ronpa style they have to make all the interesting characters crazy and hard to sympathize with. It was especially weird to have such a strange and almost meaningless motive after two rather inspired/just ones (even if Tojo's was a bit contrived).

I do like that we're getting Maki as sort of a Kirigiri stand-in, though it's nice that it's taken a while for her to emerge as an important character. I'm worried about Kaito though...

[Ex-Admiral Insane]

So, I've actually finished the game in one fell swoop. Uhm, only my thoughts on chapter 3 and 4 for now as they were at the time of their conclusion.

Chapter 3

Spoiler: show

Pretty much what SoS said. *shivers*

Also, can somebody please kill Kokichi. The guy is getting on my nerves at this point.

As for the rest. While, as SoS said, I did find it likely the guy who wanted to hold the seance is responsible for the death during the seance, I decided it was so on-the-nose I overlooked it in favour of one other target. That being that I completely fell for Korekiyo's trap in letting Himiko choose the room, even before it came up in the trial. I somehow completely missed the clue that cutting the beams was done in every room. I mean it felt odd to me that Himiko would decide to kill Tenko but decided not to question Danganronpa motives. Not sure what to think of Angie's death. She became completely insufferable towards the end, and while I don't want to say I'm glad a character's dead, I am glad she's not around to be a nuisance anymore.

Chapter 4

Spoiler: show

All of this is making it seem like Kokichi is the culprit. They wouldn't really have it be that blatantly obvious would they?
...
what?
...
yes
...
Yes!
...
YES!!!!!
...
...
...
?
...
...
WHAT!
...
No!
...
NO!
...
NOOOOOOO!!!!!
...
...
...

Now I feel despair. Why? Why did it have to go this way?
Stupid thing is, I had figured out most of the murder case before the trial and suspected Gonta - as he was one of the few capable of it at the time - but I just didn't want to believe it.
And now I really want Kokichi dead!

[SoS]

gonna need u to stop talking shit about my son EAI

[Ex-Admiral Insane]

Originally Posted by Son_of_Shadows

gonna need u to stop talking shit about my son EAI

Well your son's a little shit. Control him.

[SoS]

He needs to be free to express himself!

[Lil'twick]

Kokichi is a precious child and I love him.

[SoS]

lit with the correct opinion

[Ex-Admiral Insane]

Precious?! Do you have any idea what that little cretin's done? His teacher is missing, his classmates are crying and the headmaster is just looking for a reason to expel him.

But I'll grant you that he is one of the most interesting characters in this cast.


Note: Not actually 100% related to DR, so no spoilers here for those who are concerned.

[Jerichi]

Okay finished up Chapter 4 after some technology issues/irl stuff kept me from progressing. Also managed to get up to the trial of Chapter 5, so I'll give some impression there too.

Chapter 4:

Spoiler: show

I'll admit this is one of the ones where I was largely clueless about even the suspects until the very end. The whole virtual world thing was cute and added an interesting element to the investigation, as well as just generally forcing a lot of interesting details into the plot that made it a bit hard to predict the outcome.

But... Gonta having been the culprit and not even having known it... and having his motivations be noble... Just, that whole thing broke me a bit.

Also generally fuck Oma.

Chapter 5 (through Class Trial):

Spoiler: show

So I am not surprised at the big reveal re: what's outside - that's pretty much par for the course in DR. I am also 100% not shocked that there was some sort of connection between the previous games and this one despite efforts of the creators to make it seem like they weren't connected. That said, the setup seems a bit contrived (not unreasonably contrived for DR but I'm still a bit suspicious). DR doesn't like to show its hand before the very very end, though, but I'm not quite done yet...

[Sparkbeat]

Finally actually finished V3 this morning at 6 am.

Dang it Ron Paul.

[SoS]

It's been six months; I still have no idea what I think about that fucking ending

[Doppleganger]

Time to flash my gewun cred and say DR1 was the best and the others/spin-offs didn't need to be made.

Spoiler: show

Truth be told, DR2's characters did grow on me and I can appreciate that they're better than DR1's which were mostly straight archetypes. But after the first game Chunsoft basically lost all nerve when it came to killing off characters.

[Sparkbeat]

Originally Posted by SoS

It's been six months; I still have no idea what I think about that fucking ending

I think I liked it? ...I think. I'm pretty sure I do. Maybe. It might actually be my favorite...possibly.

[phoopes]

Unrelated to current discussion and this could go in the going to hell thread but this is the Steamed Hams meme as a class trial and it's really good

[phoopes]

Just picked up the Switch versions! Time to relive the first game, finish the second game, and experience the third game for the first time!

[Doppleganger]

Tell me how that third game ended, I really want to know. I don't think I ever did?