Dangan Ronpa General

[Failinhearts]

 

We got a good look at the music for V3! And like always, it's awesome!

And Famitsu gave us details on Danganronpa 2.5, the OVA included in V3's special edition.

(Spoilers for all of Danganronpa below)

Spoiler

So... apparently this is after Nagito's death in the Neo World Program, and it's what he sees before his awakening in Danganronpa 3. You can see, he also meets up with Sayaka and Aiko (You know, Pikachu Girl from the first killing game?)

 

[Salamander]

Translations for the latest V3 preview in Famitsu can be found here.

[Failinhearts]

Guess what's being ported to the PS4?

There will also be a Limited Edition, identical to the Vita version.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

So, I recently finished Trigger Happy Havoc on PS Vita, and seeing as I'm a person who just now got into Danganronpa, I thought I'd share some thoughts on the first game. First things first, favourite characters:

Spoiler

 

Hina: Loved her personality throughout the game. She's arguably one of the most down to earth characters in the game, is friendly to Makoto from the beginning, and from her free mode events and such, I really liked a lot of the elements to her. I like how she has the strangest obsession with doughnuts, and always tends to find some excuse to eat them, but I also love how she has a sense of honor that was left over from Sakura, that she was willing to die, and take everyone down with her if it meant avenging her friend, and ending the Mastermind's plans there and then. Even better, rather than letting herself get completely hung up on the events of Sakura's death, and her being tricked by Momokuma, she still wanted to do everything she could to help, not just for her and the rest of her friends, but for Sakura's memory not to be in vain. Finally, I loved her optimistic behavior, and loved how over the top she could get some times. Jumping between over excitement, worries, issues about the viewpoint on women and how she isn't what's considered "ladylike", I think Hina's story was one of the best in the game. 

Sayaka: Man, I am so sad that Sayaka got killed off in the first chapter because while it set up the entire point of the school, and the themes of the game, it just felt out of character to me despite the brief time we saw of her. What we saw was an girl who tried her hardest to be perky, and optmistic, and lost herself because of Monokuma's sick little game, breaking her, and praying on her insecurities of being alone, and having everything she ever worked for being erased without a moment's notice. I loved the chemistry that her and Makoto shared in the first chapter of the game and yes, I shipped them, no shame :U. I just think it would've been interesting if Sayaka held out, maybe with Makoto convincing her to back down at the last second or something because it would've have been the greatest middle finger to the mastermind in the first chapter, by showing that despite praying on her weak points, she still overcame them. Thankfully, the anime and manga from what I've heard placed it back into character a bit more by making it that she regretted her actions right away. 

Junko: 

Yeah, I really enjoy Junko here, despite being the main villain of the game. Even after the reveal, she was entertaining in Chapter 6's trial. The many personalities she takes on that reflects the personalities of those at Hope's Peak especially make it fun, like dark reflections of the characters we got to know throughout the entire game. It makes for a really interesting confrontation because it's also kind of like you're arguing with Hope's Peak itself. Junko taking on the personalities of Kyouko, Byakuya, Chihiro, Mondo/Jill, and Toko were interesting twists, and felt like it was also meant to be a mockery towards Makoto himself. She kept the pacing going really well during the final trial, and made for a really entertaining villain to battle against.

Kyouko: The biggest reason she's here is two main reasons. First is the character development she gets throughout the game, learning to slowly open up her emotions, and trust in the others, which led ultimately to them finally tracking down the mastermind, the sympathetic backstory she has, and the relationship development between her and Makoto were all very interesting to go through. On top of that, she constantly knocked down characters like Byakuya and Toko down a peg, and goddamn if that wasn't satisfying to watch.

Next up, I guess I'd better go over the ending:

Spoiler

The ending was a total mindfuck, between both the abrupt end, and the twist that Junko was the mastermind the entire time. However, it actually works really damn well thanks to all of the clever foreshadowing that led up to the moment. Under normal circumstances, the twist would be pretty stupid and out of nowhere, but all of the foreshadowing and clues build up to a point you actually realize how well laid out it was and that makes it believable. 

One more thing to talk about, which is what did I think of the actual deaths in the game, and the characters themselves. Well...

Spoiler

I won't lie. out of all of them, Sakura, Sayaka, and Taka's deaths were the ones that hit hardest. Sayaka, as I already mentioned was because of the circumstances that drove an innocent girl to that state, Sakura because of how noble the intentions were, and the fact that she managed to kickstart all of them into a team and actually led to the Mastermind's taking down, as she said she would do was awesome. Taka's death was a bit more tragic if you go and do his Free Time events due to a lot of his backstory revealing how lonely he was and how he didn't have any friends, and he died so shortly after getting Mondo back.

Chihiro's death hit pretty hard as well, but probably would've hit harder if I did some more of Chihiro's free time events, however the backstory was so sympathetic that it made it one of the more heart wrenching ones. Leon's death was mixed for me, mainly because of the fact Monokuma's manipulations tied into it, but he still intentionally went after Sayaka (Although I heard either the anime or manga fixes this to him trying to desperately calm Sayaka down and talk it out). 

Celeste was pretty unsympathetic, I couldn't stand Hifumi because he was basically just a generic anime perv, and Mondo was pretty unsympathetic because he was revealed as a coward, and not only that, but struck down someone who looked up to him because of the fact Chihiro thought he was cool and tough.

Also, just for the record, I cannot stand Toko.

Well, guess that pretty much covers it. Currently working my way through School Mode so hopefully that's fun too. 

Also I've had this stuck in my head for the last few days: 

 

[Failinhearts]

The Japanese Trailer for the Danganronpa 2.5 OVA has arrived! Or as I'd like to call it... Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komeada and the Excuse to Have Everyone Dead and Alive to be Together.

 

[Ristar]

It's finally confirmed! V3 is coming 2017 in NA and Europe for Vita and PS4!

Website: http://danganronpa.us/v3/index.php

Game's available for preorder at the NISA store (Vita costs $39.99, PS4 $59.99) as well as the Limited Edition, which contains all these goodies:

[Failinhearts]

YESSS! Localization on the same year!

Also... that Limited Edition... holy shit, I need it. A backpack, a cap, two soundtracks, an artbook AND headphones? Sign me up!

[Ristar]

Quote

Also... that Limited Edition... holy shit, I need it. A backpack, a cap, two soundtracks, an artbook AND headphones? Sign me up!

Well, if you're interested in the Vita version...there are only a few copies available at the moment, so...gotta be quick! >.< 

 

btw, for those in Europe, game+LE will be available to preorder on the 6th.

 

[Failinhearts]

So we all know by now that Danganronpa V3 will have a School/Island Mode, right? You can interact with your favorite characters from the game dead AND alive, right?

Pretty cool stuff. Imagine this, though. Imagine a school mode where ALL the characters from Danganronpa 1, 2 and V3 are together. Man, how crazy would that be, right?

What's that?

They're actually doing it?

http://www.siliconera.com/2016/12/13/danganronpa-v3s-bonus-mode-characters-hopes-peak-academy-series/

 

[Ristar]

I usually don't do the school/island mode, but...I want to play it this time for Hinata haha.

---

There's a new trailer for V3, with footage of the class trial and the minigames oh, and there's the monokumas too,

 

 

They made Hangman's Gambit even worse, thanks Chunsoft.

[Junko]

Ah, we have shitty Hangman's Gambit again? ((Improved) Improved) Hangman's Gambit?

[ZonerunnerMog]

Can't decide if I'll get them on PS4, or just stick to the Vita. A bit skeptical about how they'd work on a larger screen tbh.

[Failinhearts]

We got a good chunk of news for Danganronpa V3, so let's get started!

*long intake of breath*

http://gematsu.com/2016/12/danganronpa-v3-details-ryouma-kaito-himiko-angie-monodam-bonus-modes-fourth-character-trailer

School Mode isn't the only bonus mode here! It turns out, bonding with your favorite DR1, 2 and V3 characters in the "What if the V3 characters attended Hope's Peak" storyline strengthens them for a full on RPG mode! Will they make it through Monokuma's Dungeon of Despair?

We got the intro for the game as well! Take a good look and listen to this jazzy music and speculate like hell about those pink eyes!

Also, for you lucky people who know how to speak Japanese and has a Japanese PSN account, you can play the demo for Danganronpa V3 right now! Join the new cast (as well as Makoto, Hajime and Yasuhiro) on this brief adventure that leads to a murder and Class Trial! Who's gonna die this time?

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

*Sigh*

Alright, so I've been playing DanganRonpa 2, and I'm currently at the end of Chapter 2. Now normally, if I was going to point something out like this, I'd wait til the end of the game, but this actually annoyed me so much that I had to speak about it now. 

You see, there's one thing that's annoyed me so far, and that's the lazy fact that it seems the wide majority of this game's characters are fulfilling the same plot devices and character dynamics of the first game in some way shape or form. Now originally, I thought "Alright, you are biased Ryan. You're walking into this having enjoyed the wide majority of characters in Trigger Happy Havoc. Alright, so Akane's a weaker Hina, and so on so forth, but again, that's your own biased speaking." But then, fucking then, the most disgraceful fucking thing happened. 

Because of the fact of this story using so many tropes in Trigger Happy Havoc, no fucking joke, I guess Chapter 2's "twist" right at the beginning of the game. Literally introduced to the characters, I said to myself "Oh my god, they'd better not use the twist that one of them is an insane killer like the first game did". I must admit. I said that as a joke. I didn't have the highest opinion of DR2 going in because of something from the first game I really didn't like. But regardless, I moved on. But then, of course Sonia, one of my favourite characters in this game had to fucking say it. 

"Sparkling Justice!". Not only did I hear Sonia's explanation of that character, and literally fucking groaned, but as I began doing Sonia's free mode events, and her intro in Chapter 2 in the Library, I literally had to tell myself "No, come on. Surely, SURELY they wouldn't be that desperate to reuse that twist again. It arguably didn't even work well in the first game, so why would it be reused?"

But then, lo and behold, the class trial begins, and it fucking confirms it. One of them is an insane killer like the first game. But no no no no, that isn't even the thing that made me the most angry. 

No, the thing that pissed me off? I literally, fucking literally guessed the identity of the twist at the very start of the game. Because I looked at the characters determining which ones looked similar to older characters - Akane: Hina, Nagito: Makoto etc. 

Spoiler

And Peko looked so fucking much like Toko, I literally fucking guess that if the twist happens, then it would be her. 

All I can say is this game better fucking step it's game up rather quickly, because if this story is going to fucking rehash DR1's story, then that's some fine shitty writing. 

Edit: And now there's doubt as to if she actually is the one who did this. I'm now legitimately beginning to wonder if they had the same character types as a take the piss, which is still equally as lazy due to reusing the characters or if this is a legitimately good subversion...

But then again said subversion of the twist isn't even foreshadowed or built up, and that's leading to an equally big issue with DR2 I'll talk about at a later point.

[Salamander]

Danganronpa 2 is very much a series of riffs on the tropes used and expectations created by the original game, in much the same way as the character designs across the series have a lot of interplay and cross-reference (which is especially obvious once you look at some of the character concept art; loads of DR2 cast members basically swapped builds at various points).  Do the games do this too much?  Probably, yes.  One of my issues with the series is that it's ultimately a bit too self-reflexive.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

And I'm now up to Chapter 3.

I'm uh...

I'm not going to lie, those two are quite frankly the most hardest deaths to watch in the series. They're extremely brutal, especially with the implications behind one of them that they were practically brainwashed to do it to themselves. 

[Junko]

Hahahahahaha, look at him, he thinks he can predict the twists in a Danganronpa game. Oh, you'll see, Ryan. You'll see.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

5 minutes ago, Athena Cykes said:

Hahahahahaha, look at him, he thinks he can predict the twists in a Danganronpa game. Oh, you'll see, Ryan. You'll see.

Don't you worry, I've already predicted the biggest twist in the game

[Junko]

Hmu with a PM, because judging from those context clues, I don't think you have.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Again, small thing I'll expand on at the end of the game when I'm focusing all my thoughts but it's actually annoying the fuck out of me how much of a Mary Sue Nagito seems to be, especially in Chapter 4. 

[Failinhearts]

I bet we all expected this, but Brian Beacock made a Tweet that he's coming back to play a certain game character.

There's a pretty good chance he's talking about returning to Danganronpa to be Monokuma once more. Gonna be the first time he played Monokuma since 2014.

Good to see him back for V3!

Spoiler

Not like he'll save that piece of shit game though.

 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

17 minutes ago, Failinhearts said:

I bet we all expected this, but Brian Beacock made a Tweet that he's coming back to play a certain game character.

There's a pretty good chance he's talking about returning to Danganronpa to be Monokuma once more. Gonna be the first time he played Monokuma since 2014.

Good to see him back for V3!

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Not like he'll save that piece of shit game though.

 

Guess the best hope is the nowadays rare, global localization tier of change when it comes overseas.

[Failinhearts]

6 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Joranvexeon said:

Guess the best hope is the nowadays rare, global localization tier of change when it comes overseas.

Probably not gonna happen.

Spoiler

The horseshit story's gonna stay horseshit.

The past games didn't modify the plot. I don't see this becoming any different. 

 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 minutes ago, Failinhearts said:

Probably not gonna happen.

  Hide contents

The horseshit story's gonna stay horseshit.

The past games didn't modify the plot. I don't see this becoming any different. 

 

Well, I did say that they're rare anyway these days. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If one might spark even a chance of such, it depends on how great

Spoiler

the backlash or negative reception was,

assuming there even was a notable amount so much that it got their attention.

[Failinhearts]

4 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Joranvexeon said:

Well, I did say that they're rare anyway these days. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If one might spark even a chance of such, it depends on how great

  Hide contents

the backlash or negative reception was,

assuming there even was a notable amount so much that it got their attention.

Well, Danganronpa 2's ending was also met with negative reception apparently at first and that was kept as is for the localization.