Board 8 > danganronpa v3 (spoilers as i go)

(+) Yeah! (+)

This game was stupidly fucking expensive, but I have some free time now, so whatever.

Here we go.
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So, our POV character is a girl this time. And we're beginning with a second-person image of our face. Kaede Akamatsu - ULTIMATE REVIVAL - and we've just come out of a locker.

In the first 60 seconds, we've seen way more images of our protagonist than in the first 60 seconds of DR1 or DR2. Makes sense, since presumably you're assumed not to be able to identify as easily with a girl. At least we stumble as we walk out, meaning that we're clumsy, so therefore approachable.

So we're back in school, but the aesthetic is pretty different - black and green are the dominant colors, and there are chains on the wall.

Oh hey, here's our male companion coming out of the other locker. Maybe he'll be our self-insert character, but viewed through other eyes. He doesn't seem to be memory-wiped like we are though, since he's taling about being kidnapped. Shuichi Saikara.

Oh, so we were kidnapped as well. Both Shuichi and Kaede are "regular" kids.

Suddenly, tutorial. Except... I have no fucking clue how any of these instructions translates to PC controls, as it references the button A, trigger buttons, and joysticks. I guess we'll see.

Despite my comments at the beginning, I'm enjoying the dialogue style, where the image of Kaede splits the screen with the image of Shuichi.
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Tag
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There should be an option to set it to mouse and keyboard in the game launcher.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

This game was stupidly fucking expensive, but I have some free time now, so whatever.

Exactly how I felt going on

I don't think I ever got over the pricetag
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The one justification I'll give for the higher price tag is that this game was specifically made to be available for both PS4 and Vita originally while the original DRs were PSP games into Vita ports.

So on PS4 there were probably higher processing power/costs despite the similar art style

Also there's really deep and addicting endgame content after you beat the story thats non canon but has a lot of thought put into it.

And there's no major DLC
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We're given control for the first time, but there's nothing at all worth examining. We chat with Shuichi, and together we head for the door, when suddenly, GIANT ROBOT LOL.

aannnnd suddenly we're in an action sequence. Getting punched by these mechs is the most annoying thing ever. It appears that DR's gameplay only gets worse, never better. Anyway, it takes a while, but finally I get into the gym, and now I'm confronted with all the cast. Everyone looks respectable except for a rando dude wearing a facemask and one tiny guy. Ugh.

Rantaro Amami introduces himself. He's got his shirt unbuttoned pretty far down for someone wearing a tie. Anyway, he seems to know what's up, and everyone is confused, icnluding the obligatory chick with giant tits.

Oh, here come the robots. Or Exisals, or whatever. They're chatting among themselves and are highly interested in killing us, especially in methodology. One particular girl is very upset about this. Anyway, the people in the Exisals are pretty upset that they've botched things and showed up too early, unable to kill us.

Unsurprisingly, it's five Monokumas. Presumably I'll eventually be able to remember their names other than their colors and gimmicks. Everyone is slightly confused, and Rantaro and Kaede definitely recognize them, but the Monokubs seem upset at the lack of theatrics.

No generic Ultimate Talents due to memory wipes this time... or we don't have them yet. Suddenly, fanservice-y clothing transformation sequence, during which we find out Kaede is pretty stacked, too. Lots of fourth-wall-break-y stuff here that is mildly amusing but overlal has me feeling kind of impatient right now. This many voices together, it's just gonna be that way.

Oh hey, an upskirt and a save point.
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Okay, we've been rebooted back to the locker, in the pink clothes. Again, we're shown to be clumsy as the same narrative text plays.

I'm starting to get real annoyed, when suddenly Kaede drops a cultural reference that I haven't seen before - "Gymnopedie No. 1" by Erik Satie - which apparently is a sorrowful, soothing melody.

Here come the Monokubs, which we identify as monsters. But we also seem confused by their ability to talk, so I have no idea what Kaede knows and doesn't know, which is hurting my ability to identify with her for sure. Anyway, some whatever discussion on filler stuff and forgetting, except that this time we remember our talent.

The Monokubs encourage us to explore and chat and allude to the next activity.

I can't help getting annoyed at the beginning here. It's just so noisy and the dialogue is so generic. But I'm pushing through because I remember my annoyance at the beginning of DR1, too. It should come together soon.

We go to introduce ourselves again. Shuichi Saihara is the Ultimate Detective, which sounds like what Kyoko was. We introduce ourselves as the Ultimate Pianist. Our pose reminds me of Kyoko. Anyway, apparently Ultimates are scattered around the country, which is bizarre, since they all went to the same school in DR1 and DR2. Well, whatever.

This time, it appears that the kidnapping memory has been erased, while the identity memory was retained. Our attempts to remember only yield a flash to what appears to be a memory-wiping, or possibly evidence that we're in a simulation again. Kaede recommends some Ravel this time.

OBTAINED FRIENDSHIP FRAGMENT. Time to go exploring.
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Taaaaaaag

Maximum Miu Iruma hype.
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We leave into a plant-covered area, and suddenly we discover our Monopads, which I suppose are like the student passports from before.

Equipping skills sounds tedious, and I'm probably not going to do it.

Feeling tired and I've just been given the ability to save, so I'm taking a break. Probably more late tonight.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xm7s9eGxU" data-time="
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We try to go into the music room, which is an "Ultimate Lab" according to the Monokubs. There's a dope dragon statue outside which may or may not transform into a real dragon later.

"You were ignoring us? Isn't that a bit rude?" / "Isn't it rude to force someone to talk when they don't want to?" Tsumugi Shirogane is the ULTLIMATE COSPLAYER and she's super-cute but has an awful voice. Tsumugi describes herself as plain, but we quickly jump in and point out her curves and point out that it's hot when she's nervous. Kaede's on the prowl.

We go to the downstairs hallway and into a warehouse - presumably with at least some of the gym equipment as a potential murder victim - to talk to the blonde girl with the open cleavage of the game. She's got a dirty mouth and tons of attitude and loves accusing Shuichi of staring at her cleavage, attacking his hat in particular. Anyway, she's a diva and is named Miu Iruma, ULTIMATE INVENTOR, and she loves inventing stuff to help you do stuff while you sleep, and she wants to trip her balls off. I do enjoy the contrast between Miu's rudeness and her inability to handle others' attitude.

Into a beautiful dining hall covered in plant growth, where three people are just chillin. The first is a girl who YELLS AT US to unlock her SPIRITUAL ENERGY. Some intense musix too. Tenko Chabashira, the ULTIMATE AIKIDO MASTER. We accuse her of being cute, but when we solicit Shuichi's opinion, Tenko threatens to throw him across the room. So, cool.

The other girl is Himiko Yumeno, ULTIMATE MAGE. Or ULTIMATE MAGICIAN or whatever. Anyway, this doesn't result in such a strong reaction from us or Shuichi. But despite being a self-proclaimed MAGE, her abilities are typical magic show fluff. Nice.

The leader-ish guy is just standing around outside, and he's the first to point out that we all have amnesia of some sort. He's also dressed way more casually/sloppily now. But he's the only one who has forgotten his own talent. Rantaro Amani's voice is wayyyy less emotional than his demeanor suggests, but he's obviously going to be a major player. I'm reminded of the GOAT Nagito with his tendency to interrogate the meaning behind where everyone is and his general flippant attitude despite our lack of power at the moment.

Nothing of note in the girls' bathroom. Shuichi confirms the guys' bathroom is also unremarkable. This makes us pretty uncomfortable.

Classroom A contains two guys who appear to be fighting each other. Apparently... the black-haried kid is trying tt touch the white-haired kid, since he's a robot. White-haired kid is complaining about robophobia - K1-B0/Keebo, ULTIMATE ROBOT. The other kid jumps in, Kokichi Oma, ULTIMATE SUPREME LEADER. Yikes. Anyway, we get some discussion of the way Keebo has been programmed and raised - when he was created, he had zero knowledge at all. Kokichi points out that Keebo's backstory is pretty "flaccid." Gonna be funny when he's not a robot at all. Meanwhile, Kokichi tells us that he's a supreme leader of an evil secret organization, and also that he's a liar. Wonderful.

Into the basement we go. Still seven more students to go.

Game room has the tiny doll guy. I hate guys with designs like this. Hopefully he gets Teruteru'd , or whatever that guy's name was from DR2. The sliding doors don't open, so time to chat up... Ryoma Hoshi, ULTIMATE TENNIS PRO... was apparently 3 foot 8. Okay. And he is an assassin, too... yeah, this dude gotta go fast. Mercifully the meeting is short.
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Shuichi is suspicious of the disorder in the library, but he stays relatively quiet on it. The ladder appears to be a good prospect for a prop in a murder. The creepy quiet girl here is Maki Harukawa, ULTIMATE CHILD CAREGIVER. Anyway, she grew up in an orphanage, and she calls out Shuichi for not solving this. Maki is one of the first to express pessimism regarding our ability to escape - and she's the first to disappear after we talk to her.

That appears to be all we can do in the basement for now, but we're still 5 names short... but a door has opened. Convenient. It's the entrance hall, but before we can agree to open a door, we're interrupted by Korekiyo Shinguji ULTIMATE ANTHROPOLOGIST, who won't shut up about anthropology. His long hair and covered mouth defnitely make him creepier. "WHAT BEAUTY WILL I BE ABLE TO WITNESS HERE?" This guy looks like a creep... and it turns out he is one, too. Kaede's on board.

Alright, let's open this entrance door.

We're actually outside! But it's a ginormous cage. It's the "END OF THE WORLD" Cage or something. Presumably the exterior represents the destroyed wall or something. Anyway, they say it can't be climbed out of or destroyed according to the Monokubs, so we'll have to see how that's handled at the end of the game. In a neat twist, the framing mechanism for our exploration this time: the school is still under construction.

I miss Monokuma. Here's an ULTIMATE ASTRONAUT Kaito Momota. Okay. He's got purple hair and a pruple cloak and his whole color palette is throwing me.

Another appearance by the Monokubs. The girl here looks like an adult and is dressed like a maid and she wants ANSWERS. Kirumi Tojo, the ULTIMATE MAID. She's here to serve everyone. Given how thirsty we were for Tsumugi, surprising Kaede hasn't asked her for some favors yet. Anyway, I'm gonna appreciate not having to walk physically to each different student's dorm room, but rather just pointing and clicking.

Into the shrine with Angie Yonaga, ULTIMATE ARTIST, who's super-bubbly, and should be either the killer or victim in Case 3. She's interested in taking about a pint of our blood, but we're very prudish about that. Shuichi notes that the shrine is in far better condition than the school. Hmm.

Outside is the token big-friendly-guy who speaks really poorly. Gonta Gokuhara, ULTIMATE ENTMOLOGIST. Maybe Gonta talk pretty some day. Raised by wolves, it appears. He notices something interesting - no insects. He does get really excited when Shuichi mentions bugs himself.

And here we go! I enjoy meeting the cast, but this is by far the most tedious part of the game. Monokubs ring the bell, and it's time to head to the gym for the opening ceremony/last of the exposition.
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So, some dull dialogue between all the students in the gym, and then the Exisals appaear. The quiet Monokub tips the secret of the killing game, and then the Exisals start fighting one another, which is starting to put me to sleep.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS THANK GOD MONOKUMA IS BACK FUCK THESE MONOKUBS
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SeabassDebeste posted...

Kaede's on the prowl.

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"The very first prologue was ever short because you cutie-tooties weren't there." Yup.

I do enjoy Monokuma but it's so fucking tiring to have him interact with these Monokubs - they're far worse than Monomi even.

Here's the real killing game tal with freakouts and all. And the Monokuma Theme is back as well! The defining track of the series. Anyway, the Monokubs explain the rules. And then, Monokuma lets loose: "I'm over all this boring exposition."

At last - roll the credits!

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* "SUPER MONOKUMA GOD SUPER MONOKUMA."

* "Daddy gets all his alternate facts from all the trusted names in fake news."
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Interesting notes here...

1. The killing game continues until only two students remain
2. Three people need to discover the body to sound the alarm

This makes sense, since if there are only two students left, then you literally can't start a trial, as the alarm will never sound.

We take charge to stop the bickering! Kaede's a leader. Tenko's with us. Problem is, this means looking for an escape route, and we know that it's DR, and the game wouldn't work if this could possibly succeed. I'm just glad that this thin veneer will soon vanish once the first murder occurs.

A boring brainstorming session occurs, with Gonta's manhole cover starting things. It'll be pretty dull. That said, before we leave, Rantaro stops us to laugh at/admire our idealism/naivete... and say that we have what it takes to win. Shuichi continues to be our reassurance that there's a generic male POV near the main character. Wonder if he'll be the first victim a la Sayaka in DR1 - or perhaps the first killer, having rid us of the midget as a sacrifice.

Okay, this teleportation ability is phenomenal. No more walking around aimleessly. For now at least. We wind up in the overgrown boiler room. The level of flora in this game is its defining aesthetic characteristic thus far, and I dig that. I talk to everyone. Maid-girl points out that perhaps its presence here means that it wasn't fully prepared before we arrived - which would represent the only insightful comment made here. She's not as spacy as the lovely Sonia, but probably in play for best female character so far.

Robo-Keebo is unable to lift it, but he's only the strenght of an old dude. Further evidence he's just a guy! I am curious about the professorial past though - hopefully it comes out when Keebo is the murderer or victim.

Gonta lifts the manhole cover without issue. Everyone bickers, and as usual, we're the first ones interested in looking down the man's hole. Er, manhole. Down there, we chat with everyone again. The purple guy really wants a hug, Tenko thinks that's perverted, Miu wants to install a bigger crotch-plate on the robot, and we want Himiko to cast Lumos and use her wand to bring light to the world.

Into the tunnel and...

Welp. I game over'd in about 15 seconds. These controls are absolute garbage. This causes Monokuma/the Monokubs to come over and taunt us about how much we suck. However... Kaede refuses to give up. Well, fuck. We're gonna have to go all the way to the end before giving up/realizing it's futile?

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* AN IMPORTANT HOLE NEAR SOME BUSH?! SOUNDS FAMILIAR, AM I RIGHT LADIES?!

* Kiyo going straight to talking about the ability of Gonta to crush a child's skull... maybe I will enjoy him after all.
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He is all that remains of a once powerful nation...
Right now you're on the threshold of an amazing adventure...

Tag.
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Looks like half the crowd gave up after the second go! Huzzah! This causes discord, but once night falls, everyone splits, except creepy hug-guy and Mr. Player-Insert. Interestingly, Gonta doesn't close the manhole, at Kirumi's suggestion... perhaps falling into the manhole will be a method of murder later?

I chat with three more girls who have very little to say before heading into the dorm, which is the sweetest setup I've seen in a DR game, by far. (We're unfortunately unable to get into anyone else's room at this time.) We notice our key, and then a Monokub gives us a "hint" that if we steal someone else's key, we can kill them easily. LOL.

To bed it is, then.

Love the chainsaw-themed Monokuma Theater.
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Going in blind to Case 1 is for this game is always a joy to read about.
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Morning, and I love that in the hall you can see the Exisal working construction outside. We decide to walk, to see who we can run into - Tsumugi (boring) and Shuichi (has absolutely nothing to say). We also obtain a tiny Monokuma walking around on a table, which is adorable.

We're last, of course. The first thing that shorty black-hair does, of course, is stir the pot against us again. This dude is kinda devious on the DL. "Did you know half my lies are actually told with good intentions?" Anyway, as usual, Monokuma blows up the boring discussion... with some killing motive, woot! Some fourth-wall-breaking stuff about letting us feel sorry for the killer, lmao.

Haha, what the hell - no class trial?! I don't see how this can make for good storytelling unless Monokuma is lying, but Monokuma lying would be kinda bad for the game, right? Rantaro immediately identifies that we're playing the prisoner's dilemma. I want to find out the darkness in Rantaro immediately.

Aw, fuck. The purple moron attacks Monokuma and the Monokubs step in, but they don't kill purple moron Kaito, but instead Monokuma. Sigh. And... uh, he doesn't regenerate immediately, though the Monokubs promise to eat him deliciously!

Everyone splits, confused. We start crying in our room, but suddenly the intercom rings. It's Shuichi, and he wants to head to the library, where we saw him get some inklings yesterday. So, why not.

En route, lots of people. Gonta is pensive about bugs. Miu wants us to bang. Kaito thinks that he's defeated Monokuma (lol). Maki wants nothing to do with escape attempts. Tsumugi is spacy. Kiyo has a sister that he's almost certainly fucking.

Into the school building, and more people. Tenko really wants Himiko's magic... and to rest Himiko's head in her lap. Rantaro... is the only one who's sure Monokuma is a puppet, but he's reticent.

Into the library, and boom - secret passage! Going down here alone with Shuichi seems like a great idea! We also get some cool musix. But... we can't open the door as is. Shuichi poses the traitor idea and has laid a trap. I feel like it's almost confirmed that Shuichi will die now, either super-early or in a near-last case like Nagito.

For some reason, only the silent Monodam is on Monokuma TV - both evening and morning. Welp, time to go eat.
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Ryoma is in the dorms talking some garb about prison. This guy could've been a real character with a real character design. He's also clearly not the mole.

Outside - Kokichi wants to hear about us and Shuichi - "how far have you gone" - but he backs out of the double-entendre and specifically asks regarding exploration. Kokichi's false-crying is annoying, but his attitude toward lying is pretty enjoyable. He'll definitely survive Case 1. Keebo thinks that his professor will save him. Right. Angie still wants our blood, specifically to thank Atua for smiting Monokuma. Hard to hate on someone who so genuinely just wants a pint of your blood for her pagan god, y'know?

This "someone will rescue us" thing is still rather dull, though Rantaro is obviously skeptical, which makes him the best for now. The person most inclined to interrogate his opinion - Kirumi the Smart Maid... and even we're not sure this is how it really ends.

Shockingly, Monokuma is back, cosplaying as a yokai, lmao. The Monokubs are genuinely confused - but as Monokuma explains, "There's only one of you guys, but I've got loads of spares." Kirumi is the only one who doesn't seem particularly shocked.

Oh yay, additional motive!

"An additional motive?!" Kaede's a sharp one. Anyway, time limit, or everyone dies! Feels a little too on the nose, but I like it. It's also two days from now, meaning we're gonna get some FREE TIME.

Kokichi is the first one to freak out and run off - perhaps to his own room. Miu shows signs of snapping too and threatens to kill Kokichi. The meltdown is out in full force, as Himiko proposes the robot as victim and Korekiyo wonders why murder is so wrong anyway. This guy, man, haha. Gone full Lord of the Flies already. Ryoma agrees and disappears right after him. Maki undermines Kaede's attempt to keep things together and splits. Angie is just a space cadet who blasts off, and Tsumugi hints at her "special" cosplay stuff before just leaving anyway. Rantaro has a memory crisis and splits.

We're left with a manageable seven bodies. Kirumi thinks that it's not that easy to kill without malice. Kaito's loud but, as we note, rather impotent. Tenko's strategy of violent extortion seems bad. Himiko suggests some sweet and salty magic powder. Keebo's curious about Rantaro's comments about the Ultimate Hunt. Gonta commands everyone's attention when he talks about fighting, but it's clearly no use. And as for Shuichi... we ask him what to do, and he says to move... because he's found dust on the library's floor.

This Beautiful Lie theme is solid.

Shuichi has already jumped to the student-as-mastermind theory, but I'm guessing it has to be wrong since he's telling us so soon? But he's decided to stake out the librar... possibly alone... and is therefore pretty likely to die at the hands of the traitor - who's going to get off scot-free, as per the First Blood rule. Right...?

FREE TIME
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I'm keeping up with this topic. Trying not to comment on anything yet as to not give anything away. I enjoy reading your predictions though.
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I actually started the game back up about a week ago, so this is very odd timing.

And by starting it up again, I'm watching someone else play it to refresh my memory until I get to where I was in my game. Having just finished watching the conclusion of the first chapter myself and getting a refresher on who I liked and didn't like, we seem to have a very different opinion on interesting characters.

I'm fascinated by Kiyo and then when I got to thinking about Ryoma a bit, I'm almost positive I spent the majority of my free time with him. The last few nights, I've found I've caught the Danganronpa bug all over again, because all I can do while trying to get to sleep is theorize all kinds of shit, now that I'm seeing certain lines in a new light.

Once I got back to my place in my game (end of Chapter 2), I was going to make my own topic, so now I guess we'll have tandem playthroughs going on here.
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New construction! The Ultimate Inventor Lab is here now, but alas, we can't enter. We wander a bit and find smart-maid Kirumi and Gonta, but they seem like they'll obviously play a big plot role later. Instead, the first person who we encounter who seems kind of interesting is... the airheaded artist, Angie Yonaga. However... no unique dialogue is triggered?! WTF?

For the second walk, we hit up Kiyo, who's hanging out in the dorm. Similarly, no long dialogue is announced.

Why does Free Time suck this game?!

Night falls, and morning comes, and our doorbell rings, and we expect Shuichi, only to find... Monokuma. Who's very sad about being screamed at. Our lab is ready! The door rings a second tmie, and of course this time it's really Shuichi. He's getting into some voyeurism now, but needs Miu's help to star in it.

En route to the dining hall, we encounter Ryoma, who tells us and Shuichi to have one another's back. Rantaro doesn't want to talk about Ultimate Hunt. And Keebo wants to open the gate. Talking to him causes Kokichi to appear. Maki seems annoyed with Miu's bragging about her inventor's lab. And Kiyo loves Kirumi's dedication to maiddom. Guy has such a great creeper-laugh.

Evidently, Miu is alone in the dining hall, who calls us flat. I feel there is ample evidence otherwise. Anyway, Miu immediately turns down our request, but that causes us... to beg. C'mon girl, don't be desperate like that. Using nice-guy tactics to get sex is manipulative, you know. We grab Miu's hand, which causes her to shriek. Stop making it worse! Anyway, she leaves in a state of agitation and wobbling, as if we've reamed her really hard. Goddamn, Kaede.

Shuichi offers to find the raw materials alone (UH OH). We go back and reinvestigate all the potential murder weapons again, especially the shotput balls. The plan seems great, until suddenly... we realize that outing the mastermind... might have no positive effects for us whatsoever. Love the sudden dramatic tonal shift.

Outside, Tenko, Himiko, Angie and engage in a philosophical debate between Neo-Aikido, Magic, and Atua, respectively. Then it's into the invetor's lab we go. We give Miu til tomorrow morning, so hopefully the murder doesn't happen before then. I feel it's likely we'll still have some FREE TIME today.

Yup, FREE TIME it is!

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* Monokuma statue in the shrine is hilarious.

* Another "hidden" Monokuma found! It's weirdly satisfying.

* Miu: "You could tie me up and drip hot wax on me, and I'd still finish in time!" Kaede: "Did she just reveal some of her kinks to us...?" Honestly, I didn't even notice the innuendo in this one, and I've been reading it into every exchange with Miu. Oh you, Kaede.
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Free time should trigger dialog, maybe you need better presents?

I haven't been giving any. I guess that's my problem.

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Maki's in her dorm, so we chat with her. Except that again, no talking really happens. This time we use the map to track down Rantaro in the (gasp!) library. Again, no actual dialogue. This blows.

Night falls, and morning rises. We're off to find Shuichi. No response at his door at first... and then out he comes. Looking smug. We leave the dorm, and Angie ambushes us. We split with Shuichi as apparently there's conflict in the dining hall. Uh-oh! It's certainly not Kokichi fighting, as he's chilling outside, noting that people have the right to fight for their own survival. Eek. Maki, also outside, just wants us to stay out of it.

In we go, and only a few people are here. Ryoma is suggesting that we stick with the killing game... by killing him. Yesss. It doesn't seem like so dramatic a fight... Rantaro, however, wants us to trust him to end the game on his own. But with Ryoma withdrawing his succession, Rantaro is acting considerably less confident. This guy.

Time to go back and meet Shuichi. On the way, Tsumugi notes that she saw Shuichi coming out of the lab. She's worried that there was something that "happened," but that it's natural that feelings should develop in such a situation!

Finally, we make it to Classroom A. The cameras will be silent and won't trigger flash. And now we can hole up in Classroom A to keep an eye down the stairs... seems clear the culprit will almost certainly take a different route now. But Shuichi has another reason to want this room, so we investigate... It takes like 5 full minutes, but I finally click-spam and discover a vent.

Up the ladder we go, and he's viewing our "delicates." Nonetheless, we block the vent, and now I have other obligations to attend to, but to be continued!
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SeabassDebeste posted...

We grab Miu's hand, which causes her to shriek. Stop making it worse! Anyway, she leaves in a state of agitation and wobbling, as if we've reamed her really hard. Goddamn, Kaede.

Kaede is a power lesbian.


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Yeah, not giving presents has to be your problem there. I know I talked to Maki and got dialogue in Free Time so that's got to be it.
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ugh, i don't want to spend time buying gifts
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you mean you don't love just dumping coins into the slot machine thing endlessly
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Yeah I gave up on free time pretty early. Didn't want to waste time on slots.
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....Spent, like, 15 minutes on slots in V3 total and got basically all I needed. Hardly seems like an issue.
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15 minutes playing slots is a lot to ask when none was required before. pretty much any actual "gameplay" in DR has been strictly negative thus far.

might consider it for day 2 i guess, but it's unfortunate i'll have to waste time doing that in order to unlock such a major asset of the game (its characters).
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l WANT TO MARRY KAEDE
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There's a surprising long sequence about how Shuichi wants the camera to be between the books, while we prefer them to be at the roof. I wonder if Shuichi's preference is for a specific reason other than ease of access. We get some logistics which should improve coverage. We exit without even testing the functionality, but presumably it'll work, given how long we spend there.

"I'm sure everyone else is safe," we say. Looks like we're not that smart. But nonetheless, nothing we can do about that - so back to the stakeout.

Shuichi asks us to hold the remote sensor's other side, and we notice his tendency to be self-deprecating and want to explore it. We get the backstory on the murder that made Shuichi's name. Apparently the victim in the murder was an asshole. But this makes Shuichi scared to look people in the eye and to expose the truth. We decide to hold his hand. Kaede been dropping some great songs here - Clair de Lune is a good one. We're already getting sappy with him, which makes me think (with no evidence, of course) that he won't be the victim, but rather the killer. We continue to be the light in the darkness.

Suddenly, music on the monitors, shit's going down outside, too.

Seven different students are heading downstairs. We note that Rantaro is among them and recall his promise to end the game. We suspect one of them of being the mastermind, but it's a large group. Shuichi bolts, causing us anxiety, so we start sweeping to pass the time and occupy our hands. When Shuichi returns, he reports that everyone is at the game room.

Suddenly, I wonder if this setup will be used in a later case, and not in case 1. But then the buzzer goes off - let's check out the library, woot! Kaito and Tenko interrupt us, and in the panic, we spill the beans to them. The bookcase is closing as we walk in, and the victim, by means of the shotput ball (obviously!) is... Rantaro. NOOOOOO! Best character lost early worst game.

Okay, let's do this!
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Immediate crazy conspiracy theory - Shuichi dropped the shotput ball down the vent when he felt the buzzing, which killed whoever was trying to open the moving bookcase. The camera angles disguise where the ball came from.

Other answer would obviously be that the killer disappeared behind the door.

Now I'm ready to go a little more.
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Angie: "Well, that's unfortunate." LOL.

Anyway, we're really hopeful that somehow Rantaro was the mastermind, since the monitor is off. Shuichi supports this theory, which definitely adds motive to a seemingly nice guy. However, the dinging literally seconds later lets us know otherwise.

Real quick recap, since everyone else has now shown - the seven who went down were the Rantaro, Kaito, Tenko, Angie, Maki, Gonta, Himiku, and... one more who eludes my mind atm. I'm sure this will be re-covered later, though.

OH SHIT. Monokuma is sticking with his First Blood Perk - no class trial! Yet the murderer doesn't raise their hand... so there will be a Class Trial after all. LOL. This is really weird - definitely points toward Shuichi, if he had a sincere motive and really wants to be punished for his crime. Anyway, the rules are explained really quickly, and Maki is pretty bitter about it.

Tenko is pretty bothered by how much Kiyo gets excited by the dead body, lmao. During the freakout, Shuichi takes charge.

Return of the Monokuma, presumably to give us the autopsy report. He does mislead Tsumugi into think it's the Death Note first, though. Then we go in depth on the Mastermind conspiracy theory. If this game is like DR1 and set in the real world, then sure, that seems possible. But DR2 had an AI, so... it's not clear to me that there even is a real mastermind. If it's being discussed so explicitly, I'm hoping that there actually is one, because it's not particularly fun as a red herring.

We check the cameras. Kirumi offers to develop the film, but instead a Monokub offers to do it instead... and steals the cameras. Welp. Promises to follow the rules, but obviously tampering is possible here. Treating this investigation like a regular investigation - watching everyone, making sure evidence doesn't get destroyed - is brought up. But that seems kind of a moot point to me, given that the killer could have graduated already...
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First trial hyyyyyype
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Tag
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Shuichi disabled the sensor's receiver, which is added to our Truth Bullets... hmm. Also, a note is made of the stacked books preventing people from entering through the vent. I don't remember the logistics, but maybe this does in fact mean that the killer wasn't Shuichi/didn't drop the ball through the vent.

Quickly talking to everyone - Tsumugi accuses Monokuma of "making" the killer kill. Miu has a prone/drome, the misusage of which is bothering the resident otaku a lot. The drone can take aerial pics, so she'll make the floor plan for us - nice. Miu attacks our bustiness again, but Kaede's ready this time: "My chest is way better than your nasty cow udders!" Goddamn Kaede, we know that Miu is rude and can be brought down, but that is some next-level savagery.

Shuichi points out the mechanism behind the moving bookcase - it closes on its own. This makes me think Rantaro maybe came down to try to breakr into the room and kill the mastermind. We check to see if the mastermind used the hidden door behind the bookcase - but nope. The dust is still there. We're convinced the mastermind is the culprit and that finding the culprit will end the investigation, but this elicits a "..." from our detective.

Kirumi, like we, are most bothered by the idea that the culprit did not step forward. Shuichi offers that the culprit's goal was to have everyone killed. Ryoma asks us straight-up who Shuichi thinks is the culprit, but he's mum on it. He does get right ot the heart of things. "Those who speak, win." It's just too bad this dude's design is so bad and his backsotry (KILLING PEOPLE WITH TENNIS BALLS lmao)... cause he's otherwise really interesting.

Sadly, no more time for now. Next up is investigating the body as we've spoken to everyone still at the scene of the crime. To be continued.
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we back, let's run this joint
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While I prefer DR2's Investigation Themes, DR3 is quite solid and Despair Searching - the investigation theme right now - is definitely great.
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Slam this trial tonight boooooooi.
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At the body, Shuichi wonders why Rantaro died here. Shuichi handles touching the body and immediately goes into Rantaro's possessions - where he finds a student handbook but no secret key. You'd have to be "fairly strong" to use the shotput ball, which makes me all the more convinced that the ball was dropped. The spatter is purely vertical, after all.

Shuichi now puzzles why Rantaro came to the library. He definitely is taking a lot of the questions that you'd expect from the POV character. Anyway, it seems to me like Rantaro was doing what Shuichi and we wanted to do - to go at the hidden door. And Shuichi seems to agree - Rantaro was probably after the mastermind, and had no one he could tell about it. Shuichi uses the hold-hands move and says "you're going to save everyone."

Welp, I feel like a dope. The vent is clearly on a different part of the floor from the body. So... yeah. I don't see any obvious path from the vent to the body, but I suppose there could be a mousetrap-like-contraption. We also check out both the front and the rear door. We don't know which door everyone entered through.

It's alibi time. We're going to investigate Kaito, Gonta, Maki, Tenko, Angie, and Himiko first. To the game room, then.

Maki tells us we should be suspicious of her. She's the female realist, the counterpart to Ryoma in a way. Kinda bland otherwise. Apparently Kaito arranged the meeting for the people who are "good in a fight." Gonta evidently was not there, but rather in the AV room, so we head through the sliding doors in the back. Kaito and Himiko have already been interrogating Gonta, who seems obviously not the killer this time. His alibi: watching a bug movie.

We notice that the screen can be rolled up, and Shuichi thinks it's pole-like. We also discover some porn movies, but don't feel like showing Shuichi. It's bizarre as hell how repressed people are about anything remotely sex-related. Himiko is a broken record saying that Gonta did it because he's suspicious. Kaito's just super-dull in that enthusiastic dude vein. Reminds me of the toned-down combo of Mondo and Taka. Gonta doesn't have too much to say.

The real notable part here is the back door. The door only opens partially - but Himiko points out that Gonta could easily have opened the door. But Shuichi quickly deduces the door has remained for a while, due to dust patterns. He is suspicious that the sliding door and the library's door are within sight of one another, however. We complain about not having pics, but hey - might as well keep busy, right?

We run into Tenko in the hallway, but she's got nothing. She's also suspicious of Gonta and claims not to have done any investigating beyond keeping an eye on Angie. (Maki, meanwhile, has defnitely been alone. Oops.) As for Angie, she's just praying to Atua.

Upstairs, Kokichi stands alone and is amused by our investigation. He insists on seeing things as a game. Seems very unlikely to make it to endgame. He could be a really interesting killer or a really disappointing victim, though his outright trolling makes him hard to relate to.

Keebo and Kiyo have posted up in Classroom A, our old hiding spot. Keebo actually interrogates us about Classroom A and the vent - but he doesn't have an alibi, so we have to suspect him despite the robophobia. Kiyo talks about how he looks like someone who'd commit a murder and thus presents an alibi - eating with Miu, Kirumi, and Tsumugi. Miu was tinkering - which we already know to be the drone - but Tsumugi took a bathroom break.

And that's it! Love how Shuichi has already deduced the alibi of Kokichi - none, since no one else mentioned seeing him. Clever boy.
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We return finally to talk to Tsumugi, who's intentionally spacing out again. We threaten to lift her skirt above her head. Solely as a "threat," certainly not because Kaede really wants that, right? Unfortunately for Kaede, Tsumugi agrees to talk instead. She claims not to be able to disguise herself as another person.

Into the restroom we go. We're suddenly far on the back foot when Tsumugi demands Kaede's clothes as proof that Kaede can't be cosplayed. And... what. She's pink. Haha, what the hell is this "cospox." It's the "equivalent exchange of cosplay," which is absolutely an FMA reference. Anyway, we return, but we're now rather traumatized. "That's not cosplay, it's just impersonating someone!" Tsumugi informs us.

And that's it. After a relatively brief investigation, time to trial up!

... or not. Dammit. Pics are ready, though.

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* Prayer for points sounds like a credit card program.

* On that note, the triple-gimmick-girls in Himiko/Angie/Tenko are pretty exhausting at the moment. They don't contribute too much else beyond talking about violence/man-hating, magic/being really bored, and Atua/stealing blood.

* "Pasta that tastes like a lonely old lady eating her grandkid's birthday cake." Ouch.

* In that shot of the seven people going downstairs, Tenko is by far the thiccest. Makes sense since she's the athlete.
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We run to the warehouse, and we see the pics after some spiel by the Monokubs (who are far more enjoyable now that they're not preventing us from starting the game in proper).

The front door contains pics of everyone entering... but not Rantaro himself. The final picture is of Shuichi, who claims to have tripped a sensor while setting up. But why is this pic here? It'll definitely be used to establish whatever is in the background and what's in the scope.

In the rear entrance, we find Rantaro entering alone. But the other pic is of Shuichi again as he removes the camera.

And finally, the money-shot photos. We find Rantaro opening the hidden bookcase... and Rantaro trying to turn off the camera. This is the camera that Shuichi really wanted us to place here instead of out of reach - he wanted it to be visible, perhaps, so that whoever opened the door would notice it?

Kokichi now bemoans his lack of investigative verve earlier and wonders if the Monopad has something to do with it, but Kirumi has already been on it.

And now it's really time.
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Do you have any theory who the killer is?
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I'm only through 2 chapters, but I'm of the opinion that v3 is kinda the anti-DR1, in that all of its girls suck and all the boys are super interesting.
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MrSmartGuy posted...

I'm only through 2 chapters, but I'm of the opinion that v3 is kinda the anti-DR1, in that all of its girls suck and all the boys are super interesting.

Miu is a blessing.
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