Board 8 > danganronpa v3 (spoilers as i go)

(+) Yeah! (+)

LapisLazuli posted...

6> 5 > 4 > 1 > 3 > 2

STOP IT

Dels posted...

what the fuck is wrong with you people, stop talking about future cases, why can't you just shut up when someone is just starting the game, you don't need to keep posting "oh X case in the future made me feel Y" "oh yeah when that happens in case X I felt really Z" "man keep going something big is about to happen"

you can talk about the game literally anywhere else, except for the topic of the person who is only at case 2

and in a plot-focused series that is all about being unpredictable too. come on.

I like how this post always happens
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Nanis23 posted...

I like how this post always happens

because people pull the same shit in every playthrough topic, to the point where they start just having big black-bar conversations, and i'm sick of it

But the future refused to change
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I mean, I totally agree with Dels here I just have had that argument a bunch before and it never changes things, so all I can do is make sure I don't contribute.
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It really isn't that bad as long as there is no massive consensus
Like, saying "case 4 made me tear up" it's an opinion
Honestly? I don't even know what he is talking about because case 4 never got to me at all
So it doesn't really mean shit

Character rankins is a little more dangerous but it's also opinions
I can say "character X is the in the top 5 worst characters, and character Y is also in top 5 worst characters" and character X actually died in the first case, when character Y survived the whole game
Of course when people bring characters like Nagito and Junko and rank them high, then yes this might spoil things
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If you rank nagito high it spoils that you have poor taste
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i would prefer no future case rankings. it's easy to get disappointed or partially spoiled. it's not hard to figure out a fair number of reactions, even unintentionally. reactions to past stuff i'm happy to see, of course
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i'm not interested in derailing the topic by debating this so i won't say anything else, kinda made my point anyway.

have fun with the game SD =)

i will say, i'd love to see a bit more theorizing and stuff, i get why people were prompting you to give your theories on who the killer was and stuff, we wanna see your unique thought processes!

Someone is holding a vigil for Kaede and talking about how "that group" hurt "them," which seem clearly to be the cast.

Cut to Gonta hunting bugs and finding some sort of text: "h o r s e a" - one of the worst Pokemon from Gen 1.

Then we take over Shuichi's POV, where this fucker Kaito is blowing up our doorbell trying to get us to wake up. We're not really a breakfast person... We're about to get something but decide not to, mysteriously. Predix: It's our hat, and we're going to see our face without the hat at breakfast.

Yup! No hat. "You finally got rid of that emo hat! Is that because Kaede died, or whatever?" Kokichi OP.

We get props from Angie and Miu. Tsumugi shrugs off Miu's glasses-neg (since Miu obviously can't prop someone without negging someone else). Kirumi has made a ton of food - that's a lot of non-Japanese food considering everyone here seems to be Japanese. Tenko resumes her fangirling about Himiko, which had fallen by the wayside with the case picking up.

A bunch of chatter over food, which is nice, but we think it's forced. (Honestly, nothing about it seems forced to me - there's no sign of "..."s or deliberately trying to avoid anything. I felt this tonal dissonance far stronger in Higurashi, as comparison.)

We check out the graffiti. Lots of really dull conversation, though Kokichi does take some time to fuck with Gonta. The moment he brings up "killed," though, the atmosphere changes. "Has the K-word been banned?" (smiling) "I didn't mean to be insensitive..." (sad face) - and then he immediately goes back to smiling again. He refuses to be scared of the word.

Monokuma suddenly appears and prevents us from "bullying" Kokichi, lmao. But he's here for a "reward." The Monokubs show up... and apparently they bully each other. LOL. Monokuma is upset after having just said that bullying happens as a result of bad parenting.

I don't recognize every reference in the prizes - but I'm guessing Wrench - Dead Rising, Ocarina - Zelda, Dragon Gem - Dragon Age, Ancient Passport - Uncharted?

Not knowing what to do, we teleport to an area with an exclamation point. Seems to be a hallway. Whoo. Tsumugi has nothing interesting to say. Himiko senses something here. The "???" door doesn't open, but we're able to insert the Ancient Passport into a hole in the wall - which crumbles the wall. Nice. Himiko is persuaded that it's due to magic that it opened - and hey, the door does seem to lead to an Ultimate Magician Lab.

There's a saw-in-half box. But the sword-stabbing box elicits a declaration of a spell from Himiko. Those swords are obviously very bold-looking. There's a dove cage, to which Himiko reminisces about her familiar - a tiger cub. And man, that is a giant saw. On an unlocked room. The cauldron is collecting mana. I'm kinda hoping that is the murder weapon - someone dropping into it while it's boiling.

With the investigation seemingly done, we teleport again - to the second floor. Tons of faces here. Angie hasn't forgotten Rantaro, which is great. The Atua stuff is a gimmick, but she's probably got my favorite gimmick at the moment. Maki criticizes how quickly we've "gotten over" Kaede, which is kind of funny. Miu points out how we're clearly a pro at "playing with ourself." Kirumi shows off some nurse skillz. Gonta is useless. Kokichi is curious about the dragon statue (the first guy to point out something!) Ryoma continues looking ridiculous but complimenets us on "raising our head." Kiyo notes that we're being encouraged to search the school by Monokuma.
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Back to the bronze dragon statue, we place the Dragon Gem into its eye. A new door opens and another Ultimate Research Lab. With mannequins at a table, it seems obviously like Kirumi's research lab - and of course, Kirumi picks up on this, noting it's Victorian. Shuichi's memory of the Victorian Era - Jack the Ripper. Kiyo likes the goth feel and says it reminds him of a story - which we think sounds kind of like a shoujo manga. The dining table has nothing of note beyond the dolls. And Kirumi only fills us in on some backstory.

We try to leave, but we've missed something - a closet door. There are washing machines and cleaning machines back there. Kirumi, despite being relatively smart, is still bound to her gimmick, severely limiting her potential as a fun cast member. She's more Sakura and Sonia at the moment.

Er, has it always been possible to use this gun to blow up random props? Because I totally just did, by accident, using the middle mouse button. I've seen the bullets but didn't know they could actually do anything, figured we'd have some other shit minigame like at the beginning with the Exisals.

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* "It's so delicious, it makes me want to cut off my tongue!" Kiyo, you gotta turn that shit down a bit, man.

* Just noticed the spider-web on Kirumi's outfit. Nice touch.

* Kokichi seems like by far the MVP of this segment here. He's the one stirring the pot, but he actually does have his eyes on the prize. He's also able to provoke straight-man Keebo just the right way.
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shuichi having the protagonist ahoge that's conveniently hidden by hat until he steps into the role is a pretty great metajoke

SeabassDebeste posted...

Er, has it always been possible to use this gun to blow up random props? Because I totally just did, by accident, using the middle mouse button. I've seen the bullets but didn't know they could actually do anything, figured we'd have some other shit minigame like at the beginning with the Exisals.

yeah, this is v3's method of (slowly) earning monocoins outside of trials, like how you get coins for examining things in dr1
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ah yes, i have never actually spent monocoins, so that explains why i don't know what it's doing
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An Ultimate Entomologist's Lab has also opened. Fake insects abound. And... real ones, too. We're reminded of Noah's Ark. What a boring room with a boring person.

At Angie's behest, we open a treasure chest just chillin outside. It's got a flashlight in it. Since we can't persuade her to take all the risk herself, she decides to investigate the flashlight alone.

Evidently a third floor has been unlocked, with an Ultimate Tennis Lab. Attention is drawn to the net, which has to play a role. Indeed, it seems to be the only thing we can even investigate after blowing up a bunch of shit with my gun, lol. Ryoma says he's no longer into tennis, but Miu feels sad when she's unable to provoke him. Speaking of Miu, she wants to modify the "big metal arm."

Oops, I'd missed the Shower Room. Miu makes a joke about Ryoma being "just the right height" for us, but once again is uncomfortable at the lack of response. That dynamic is actually pretty entertaining. She plays pretty well with others - Kokichi in the trial, Kaede during investigation, and now Ryoma.

We walk to a Large Door which is... just a painting of a door. In pixel art. The next Lab is Maki's. She stops us from entering, which summons Kokichi. She drops a nice Dark Knight Returns reference - "It will be extremely painful... for you."

The last exclamation mark is outside the school. We notice construction going on. Tenko and Keebo surround another site. Tenko actually sympathizes with us about Kaede and the hat, one of the first moments she's appeared human. The ocarina unlocks further territory - and summons Monokubs to tell us it's just a pool.

Pool's pretty gorgeous, though the water level is terrifyingly low. But alas, neither Keebo nor Tenko can swim. This time we find the Storage Room immediately. Keebo hopes that he can swim using flotation devices. Cute. The diving board and shallow water look like a crime scene waiting to happen. Tenko wants swimsuits and thinks that Keebo would turn into a Spongebob if he fell off a boat. Alas, there's one last thing we've missed - the gym window. The interconnectivity almost guarantees a crime here. And the school window.

Before we're able to leave, we find the Pool Rules - no swimming at nighttime. Man, the red flags here... Monokubs appear. The specifics of the pool's dimensions... we get it, okay?!

There's one last spot, outside. Kaitou is standing in front of it. In goes the hexagonal crank. And we arrive at... a glitzy resort setting, complete with walkway over water, Hotel Kumasutra, and CASINO. Cool. Monokubs tell us we can gamble here. So... yeah. Almost certainly never gonna come here. The love suite has some pretty cheap prices, all things told. But alas, not too much else in this zone.

We leave, and the story is triggered! It's Angie. Hope she doesn't die, she's growing on me. And she intends to explain the flashlight - at the gym, though.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

It's Angie. Hope she doesn't die, she's growing on me. A

HOW DIVINE
I DUNNO I DUNNO
YOHOOOOOO
I SEE
YAHAAAAAA
YAHAHAHA

Angie voice is top tier
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An Ultimate Entomologist's Lab has also opened. Fake insects abound. And... real ones, too. We're reminded of Noah's Ark. What a boring room with a boring person.

At Angie's behest, we open a treasure chest just chillin outside. It's got a flashlight in it. Since we can't persuade her to take all the risk herself, she decides to investigate the flashlight alone.

Evidently a third floor has been unlocked, with an Ultimate Tennis Lab. Attention is drawn to the net, which has to play a role. Indeed, it seems to be the only thing we can even investigate after blowing up a bunch of shit with my gun, lol. Ryoma says he's no longer into tennis, but Miu feels sad when she's unable to provoke him. Speaking of Miu, she wants to modify the "big metal arm."

Oops, I'd missed the Shower Room. Miu makes a joke about Ryoma being "just the right height" for us, but once again is uncomfortable at the lack of response. That dynamic is actually pretty entertaining. She plays pretty well with others - Kokichi in the trial, Kaede during investigation, and now Ryoma.

We walk to a Large Door which is... just a painting of a door. In pixel art. The next Lab is Maki's. She stops us from entering, which summons Kokichi. She drops a nice Dark Knight Returns reference - "It will be extremely painful... for you."

The last exclamation mark is outside the school. We notice construction going on. Tenko and Keebo surround another site. Tenko actually sympathizes with us about Kaede and the hat, one of the first moments she's appeared human. The ocarina unlocks further territory - and summons Monokubs to tell us it's just a pool.

Pool's pretty gorgeous, though the water level is terrifyingly low. But alas, neither Keebo nor Tenko can swim. This time we find the Storage Room immediately. Keebo hopes that he can swim using flotation devices. Cute. The diving board and shallow water look like a crime scene waiting to happen. Tenko wants swimsuits and thinks that Keebo would turn into a Spongebob if he fell off a boat. Alas, there's one last thing we've missed - the gym window. The interconnectivity almost guarantees a crime here. And the school window.

Before we're able to leave, we find the Pool Rules - no swimming at nighttime. Man, the red flags here... Monokubs appear. The specifics of the pool's dimensions... we get it, okay?!

There's one last spot, outside. Kaitou is standing in front of it. In goes the hexagonal crank. And we arrive at... a glitzy resort setting, complete with walkway over water, Hotel Kumasutra, and CASINO. Cool. Monokubs tell us we can gamble here. So... yeah. Almost certainly never gonna come here. The love suite has some pretty cheap prices, all things told. But alas, not too much else in this zone.

We leave, and the story is triggered! It's Angie. Hope she doesn't die, she's growing on me. And she intends to explain the flashlight - at the gym, though.

Apparently, Angie wasn't able to figure it out herself. Instead, Monokuma is filling us in... on the Flashback Light. This is some 2-2/2-3 stuff! Past memories can provide motive for murder. After a tedious debate about the use of the flashlight, everyone tediously decides to follow Kaito's lead and use it. We remember running away from the Ultimate Hunt - and erasing our own memories. The "facility" that enabled this, though... that's pretty sketchy. It sounds a lot like DR2, in fairness.

Everyone has the same memory - but they can only remember being chased by Ultimate Hunt, not what UH is. Clever. It's something similar to DR1 where we chose to be locked in. The memory of "I want to die like everyone else" - this definitely sounds like somehow everyone involved is collectively the mastermind. VR world is in play, though there are far fewer hints of that in this game. This might be a prison - Kiyo and Ryoma already have obvious signs of checkered pasts. Maybe UH was the good guys. Kirumi notes that Rantaro seemed to remember Ultimate Hunt. I'm again saddened that he's gone.
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Monokuma's goal, of course - to get people to participate in the killing game. Kaito starts talking about power of friendship or whatever and Kokichi passive-aggressively falls asleep. Good man, dude wants to advance the plot. "Is it written somewhere that I have to take serious conversations seriously?" He points out the fact that any collaboration will inform the mastermind and just bolts. Ryoma points out Kokichi's agitating effects... but passes no negative judgment. Again, Ryoma intends not to live. Poof he goes.

As everyone agonizes, Kirumi offers us some food. It looks like it's gonna be FREE TIME.

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* Kiyo is getting in touch with his feminine side lately, and everyone else is noticing it.

* Love the delighted expression on Kokichi's face when he accuses Monokuma of being a terrible liar.
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Dels posted...

i'm not interested in derailing the topic by debating this so i won't say anything else, kinda made my point anyway.

have fun with the game SD =)

i will say, i'd love to see a bit more theorizing and stuff, i get why people were prompting you to give your theories on who the killer was and stuff, we wanna see your unique thought processes!

btw, appreciate everything you've said!

right now - i'm pretty convinced that the pool will be involved in the murder as a crime scene. (the gym is the only other place this could work.)

i feel like i did give my thoughts on the murderer/motive last time (though i landed on shuichi) - i'll try to separate that part out from the rest at the beginning and end of investigation next time! i'm not very good at the deduction part, only the bitching about the plot/characters part. :P
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Ehh. hard to recognize sprites. Tenko isn't who we were hoping to find when we go to the pool, but she's better than Kaito, so let's hang out with her. Alas, with no presents to give her, it's a very short conversation indeed. I guess I'm finally going to the school store, ugh.

I grab twelve 1-coin gifts. Some of these items are obviously intended for specific people, but my hope is that it won't matter and I can just give whatever to whomever to get some storytime...

The easiest to locate this second time is some person with white hair and... hey, it's Angie. We give her a Pillow of Admiration as the others all seem clearly not for her. She talks in riddles about the "island" that she and Atua grew up on - full of plants and flowers that like to attack people. Maybe not plants and flowers. I'm confused, so I'll just go with a castle in the sky. She agrees, but then continues to talk about being surrounded by ocean and using DeepSea to order everything - food, medicine, organs, blood, children, the like.

That's more like it!

Night falls, the Monokubs leave us a present, and Monokuma Theater wants us to get into college by throwing away all our video games except Spike Chunsoft games and then a bunch of the usual nonsense.

To be continued.
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ah, yeah, you did give your theories at the start, i guess they just never really changed throughout the trial so you didn't have anything new to add. you're right.

Monokuma theatre is great in v3
It's still nonsense but a lot more variety this time

What's up with the present? It's a "Kubs Pad" lmao. And... it's a vid of Kaito's grandparents, clearly intended to motivate Kaito to kill and escape, or something to that effect. We've seen this before, in DR1.

Kaito ain't in his room, nor in the dining hall. Evidently, each person received someone else's motivational video. This is phenomenal. Everyone shows up, which makes Kiyo sad he's missed out on one of Kirumi's famed messages, lmao. Keebo proposes not exchanging them, hence giving no one a motive.

Ryoma, on the other hand, is really excited about seeing his vid. Kaito notes that it's fine for Ryoma, who doesn't give a shit about life. Lol. Kokichi also agrees that cooperation is only going to be exploited by Monokuma. He walks off with Gonta, which is fantastic. Little man controlling big man has always been fun. Maki splits, then Ryoma. Maki, Ryoma, and Kokichi all promise to hit up Kirumi for her services. Damn. Kiyo and Miu start getting in on it for weirder stuff, and Tenko requests some tripe hot pot.

And then it's

FREE TIME

We go to the pool where we see someone, and it turns out to be Keebo. I inspect my inventory, and we have a Sparkly Sheet... "can also be used to clean robots." Great! We hang out with Keebo, who feels bad about not having eating the tripe hot pot, waaah. "Please don't get the wrong impression... I'm happy because this gift is so practical. Under different circumstances, this gift could be considered an act of robophobia." LOL. Keebo brags about his abilities - he has 20/13 vision (which Shuichi doesn't find impressive)... and then he concentrates as Shuichi is solicited to raise his hand. Apparently his breath works as a dryer. LOLLLLL. We tell him, "that's actually pretty normal."

What a great conversation! Keebo is also so humble normally. It's really fun to see him going arrogant and proud for a change.

Back to FREE TIME, and we have a grip-strength thing. Tenko has been rising in the rankingz lately, so I think maybe we'll let her get stronger for her fightin', and see if that gets us anywhere. She's in her dorm, and we allay her concerns about the video by chatting, then hand her the grip strengthener. Tenko starts GRRRRRRing at us. We don't know how to react, so in our silence, Tenko explains that she is trying to INTIMIDATE us. She's clearly got some major trauma. We wind up trying to touch her and all the DEGENERATE MALE stuff comes out and she throws us. Whoops. Angie was the cool one, not Tenko. That was a mistake. I'm actually pretty sure future FTEs will be better, but whatever.

For some reason we wake up in bed after being KO'd by Tenko, and then it's night. But before we sleep, the doorbell blows up. It's Kaito. Wants to chat in the courtyard. En route, we meet Kiyo, who states that since he's witnessed us, it's better not to be dumb. Great little moment there. Outside is Himiko, who further establishes our "alibi." She vaguely talks about brainwashing and appears a bit more at ease. Angie is also out here. She's "just out praying to Atua," she claims, before running back inside.

And finally, Kaito. He wants us to train with him. Highly reminded of 1-2, where there's some sort of training/bonding experience between Taka and Mondo. 50 pushups seems absurd from someone who's entirely untrained. Keeps telling me not to blame ourselves for Kaede and this is getting dull. We do note that Kaito only did 20 pushups, though, which is pretty entertaining. "I decided to trust Kaito." Hoping Kaito dies so bad. At the time, I didn't realize how horific it can be to trust someone in this place.

Monokuma theater: "This killing game is taking forever. Just kill someone already.... Geez, why won't someone just die?"
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We've decided to add breakfast to our routine, so off we go. Ryoma is being emo, but he thinks we look more forward-looking. Feels like just talk, but whatever. Miu tells us about "back items" at the casino, though this is irrelevant to us. On the plus side, we refuse to bow to her, which completely throws her off the game.

... Eh, let's go with her, why not. Tsumugi is also addicted to the casino. We're actually unable to go right now, anyway, so to the dining hall it is.

Not everyone is here, according to Keebo. Notably missing are Kokichi, Ryoma, and Maki. Notably present are Miu and Tenko. Angie and Himiko are... praying to Atua. Together. Yesssss. A CONVERT. The discussion of escapism is hilarious.

I check the profiles since the cutscene of Angie hugging Himiko makes their height difference seem huge. Gonta looks way heavier than 207 if he's 6'6'', and his chest is clearly way bigger than 43''. Kirumi at 5'9'' and 115 seems ridiculous too... and Tsugumi is the same height and 3lb LESS. WTF. Anyway, Angie is only 5'1'' to Himiko's 4'11'', so this picture seems off. Whatever. This brainwashing is amazing. Himiko wonders if Tenko "plays for the other team," which makes her blush. Tenko only had eyes for Kaede. Tsumugi refers to Himiko's behavior as a "death flag." LOL. According to Angie/Atua... the desire to leave is greed, and destiny is making this academy heaven on earth.

Suspecting that Atua might represent the voice of Ultimate Hunt. Anyway, we're invited to a show. This is fucking amazing. We think that the missing folk are probably not sharing vids atm. Kirumi provides the food, and suddenly... I wasn't expecting a third chance for FREE TIME. But we've got a date at the casino, and wow - a bunch of people are here. Except, evidently, according to Monokuma, the special usage of the medal was fake news. Everyone plays slots except Miu, but we think she'll rig it, so she's out.

Kiyo starts talking about jinxes and the power of words - kotodama. Ryoma seems absurdly lucky, Kaito incredibly unlucky.

It's FREE TIME again, but IRL, it's bedtime.

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* Kiyo, on the use of "antisterbation": "Surely you mean 'anticipation'? Or I have I misunderstood the nature of this show...?"

* "I bet your racket bends to the right, too!" LOL. Kiyo really does just wreck Miu with the way he shuts her down, though.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

I check the profiles since the cutscene of Angie hugging Himiko makes their height difference seem huge. Gonta looks way heavier than 207 if he's 6'6'', and his chest is clearly way bigger than 43''. Kirumi at 5'9'' and 115 seems ridiculous too... and Tsugumi is the same height and 3lb LESS. WTF.

Haven't we all learned by now to not take anime weights seriously, especially for the girls?
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Japan doesn't understand how weight works. even Pokemons' weights are wildly unrealistic

V3 has a few pieces of art that are just nonsense. Don't ever forget manhole Gonta and baby Kaede.
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We wind up hitting up Tsumugi for FT, as we've got a pair of useless glasses. She's delight but keeps saying how she's "plain." Talks about how glasses make her invisible or something, and how they can never come off. Hers are practically invisble, lmao. She's trying really hard to convince us of her plainness - which feels like just a role she's playing. Even our narrator agrees this is kind of BS. "Cuz I'm plain" is the title of Tsumugi's new rap song.

There's time left, but someone's at our door. It's Kaitou, who's scared of SSJ Gonta, walking door to door. We sneak out and evade him. Ryoma evidently gave Gonta the sidestep, lol. But Gonta appears and KOs us. Apparently this has all been at Kokichi's behest. Yesss. We're in the bug lab. Five of us have been caught already. LOL.

Kokichi apparently manipulated Gonta just by saying we all hated bugs, so now it's time for Insect Meet and Greet... a.k.a. the Motive Killing stuff. Kokichi is positioning himself as a victim here. Angie/Himiko are obviously also candidates to die before (or during) the magic show. I'd say Angie is slightly favored to die, as she's the mentor in the relationship.

Missing are Kirumi and Miu. The former is so dedicated to her craft that she can't be caught, and the latter apparently used her feminine wiles to cause all Gonta's blood to flow to his face, and probably his other face. Off Kokichi goes to steal all the videos. Everyone basically gets harassed by a bunch of insects, and nighttime doesn't save anyone.

Kokichi is back and Keebo has a plan to stop him. Time for Keebo to spring into action! It's a tape recorder - giving evidence of Kokichi's manipulation of Gonta. Gotta love the way that he thinks this is a secret weapon, too! Motive videos wind up not being watched... but Tenko has them now. She actually summons the Monokubs. However... won't the Monokubs return them to their rightful owners now? This should be good!

"I just remembered, I wasn't able to train with Kaito today .Ah, too bad. We can do it tomorrow night, though. It's not like I'll never see him again or anything." YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

And now it's bedtime.

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* Tenko really wants to like Himiko's face. She missed out on her chance with Kaede.
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The Monokubs' wakeup call is amusingly dejected today.

We're en route to the gym, but first we run into Tsumugi, who's still creeped by the bugs. We're really enthusiastic voice-acting wise as we greet people. Tsumugi! Keebo! Kirumi! Kirumi is amused by the rumors.

Angie has done a pretty amazing job and enlisted a bunch of people. She didn't enlist us because she had no idea what we'd be useful for. Poor Shuichi. But there's one last bit of prep - calming Himiko, whose nervousness right now is probably among the most endearing things we've seen from her.

So let's chat. Gonta is remorseful. Kokichi is out of action from last night. Miu is really excited by the device and is making o-faces. Tenko is super-excited, but winds up putting down Keebo when she says robots have no emotions. Poor Keebo. Tenko in fact wants to know what Angie talks about with Himiko. Poor girl. Don't love the man-hating lesbian stereotype. Kirumi is only think about her duties/making sure everyone's ready.

Let's give Himiko her prep talk. Apparently she's supposed ot escape from a tank... and if she doesn't do it quickly, piranhas will drop in. Tenko's terrified for Himiko's safety. This brainwashing is pretty creepy, but hilarious due to how bizarre Angie and Himiko are.

Let's do this. Maki, Kokichi, Ryoma, and Kaito are missing. The music through the whole thing is really distressed. Loving it. And Himiko's lack of enthusiasm here is perfect. After 40 seconds, Gonta can't take the suspense and charges forth. In go the fish.

We see his body for one second, and then Ryoma gets stripped to the bone.

Himiko: "Great, huh?"

YESSS.
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I love the next piece of art so much.
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DEADLY LIFE begins. We immediately have to break the tank - so Keebo is used as a projectile. Kokichi the best ideas. Tenko is all too eager to help Gonta throw him, too.

"Today, Ryoma is fish-food... and tomorrow, he'll be fish-shit."

Meanwhile, Kokichi starts crying about it, Kiyo obviously sees through it. Love it.

Hey, it's Monokuma and the Monokubs. After their schtick, we start the investigation! Gonta says he doesn't want to investigate anymore, and Maki just up and quits. Miu and Keebo are upset, though Kiyo understands her POV. Wonder what's going on in her lab.

Kaito "hates doing this," which... almost certainly means he's guilty. Well, a brotha can hope, right?

Kokichi's ready to point the finger at Himiko already.

Oh hey, we're going full AA4 here. IT'S MAGIC. Good that we're aping the worst of that series!

Kaito positions us as his sidekick, which... ugh. Anyway, Ryoma was drowned. We were convinced that the pool would be involved in the crime, and the gym is connected to the pool via a window - I still think that theory could... (puts on sunglasses) hold water. YEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! The time of death is missing, we note - which means it might be key to the solution.

Gonta's too dumb to realize Ryoma was drowned, but he does have important intel - what he saw in the tank. Which was apparently nothing. This much Kaito is going to suck. Kokichi is just excited. Tsumugi just wants Himiko to explain the illusion - she's got some sort of The Prestige theory. Miu brings up last night and people's alibis. For some reason we harass her about how she escaped Gonta, even though it seems like it was well covered last night - her "secret woman weapon." Angie claims not to know how the trick works, but most of the equipment is from Himiko's lab.

Important note - you can't enter the gym at night. However, you can defnitely enter the pool at night (just not the actual water) - and we now know that the tank can be moved via pulley. A pulley seems like a good way to transport a body from the pool to the gym. Ryoma was likely moved after 11 PM by someone who was present during the Insect Meet and Greet.

Kirumi doesn't know how the trick works. The Piranha tank has no lid and was moved by lighting battens. A curtain hides a window, higher even than the piranha tank. And yup - the window is open! Kaito promises to let us investigate the pool. We find abrasions on the window frame. Didn't expect this so quickly!

Tenko won't let us bully Himiko. Gotta think she can't be the murderer, as she puts suspicion on Himiko. Keebo wants to know the time of death. Kiyo wonders - why during the show? I'm guessing that the show was chosen because it could eliminate evidence on the body.

Behind the stage we find rope, the length of which Kiyo can estimate because he's visited a village where the women really liked rope. LOL. The stairs here don't seem notable. And... there's a puddle. Maybe Himiko caused it? As for the tank itself, it seems solid. Anyway, for some reason we can't leave until we investigate the staircase after the puddle.
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That just leaves Himiko and the body. Himiko is distressed but adamant about its being magic. We're annoyed by the mess of the broken glass, but we can still check it out. In the bucket, there seem to be extra piranhas, says Angie. But were there more piranhas, or was the tank just smaller, cramming them closer together? The light panel to the side controls the batten. A glass panel at the bottom of the tank is either the false bottom of the tank or used in the illusion. We also notice the handcuffs that were on Ryoma, though we probably missed it before. We note that they have scrape-marks... where did the cuffs come from? My first thought was Himiko's place, but Shuichi wonders if it was from the Ultimate Prisoner Lab.

Ryoma's belongings include his clothes, the key to his room, his Monopad... nothing unusual. But we can definitely enter his room if we want. We realize that we might be implicated by this, but whatever. And as for Ryoma's body itself - unusually devoid of clues... though there's a crack in his skull, but that doesn't seem to be notable.

We lay out the investigation course: pool, room, Tennis Lab, Magician's Lab. Possibly too much for me to handle today, unfortunately.

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Theorizing: You can't enter the gym at night. HOwever, you can defnitely enter the pool at night (just not the actual water) - and we now know that the tank can be moved via pulley. A pulley seems like a good way to transport a body from the pool to the gym.

Why are there "more" piranhas? Was the tank just smaller, cramming them closer together?

Abrasions on the handcuffs are almost certainly paired with the abrasions on the windowsill.
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LapisLazuli posted...

I love the next piece of art so much.

yes, this is quite spectacular
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well now I'm curious

I think I gotta find like a let's play or a cutscene compilation something because I'm not interested in slogging through all this shuichi for $60 or whatever but I do kinda wanna know what happens
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Shuichi rules, honestly.
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V3 is certainly a game where the characters start to come together then further in you get. None of them are Fuyuhiko tier in that sense, but it's certainly in that vein for many of them. I know quite a few of my favorites in the game I outright disliked for a while.

And V3 is constantly on sale, dunno if you even can spend $60 at this point.
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i mean, i just spent $53, and that's only because i already had DR1/2 in a bundle :/
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Last sale I saw had V3 at $40 I'm pretty sure.

Can't speak for PC.....thought it launched at $50 brand new there?
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I got it for $40 on launch day. Hail Vita.
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Was too expensive for me to buy sorry
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Definitely most interested in how your views on various characters evolve over time. I know my opinions on the cast definitely changed as the game went on and even after as I kept thinking about it. Some of my early impressions were almost completely reversed by the end.

And of course ~mystery theorycrafting~ but I'm with you in that I'm not too good at that side of things.
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traveling lately (and for a while)

will answer some q's though if the topic stays up
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ok
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I will play soon as well.
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Enjoying reading this.
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You gotta catch up to smartdude
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slight chance i can play a bit these two days while not preparing for my next journey!
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alright, quick character thoughts before we dive in

Shuichi - It's unusual to play as the smartest character in the game. I had issues with him in 3-1 for sure, and now he's like a completely different character. Don't particularly enjoy the way Kaede got the stuffed-in-the-fridge treatment on Shuichi's behalf. Otherwise, he's almost intentionally a blank slate at the moment. We'll see how it goes.

Rantaro - We'll never see more of him, but obviously, I was really looking forward to what he had. The spacy attitude but tendency to look at the big picture reminded me of my boy Nagito. There have been clear hints that we'll find out more about him, but not sure if those are red herrings.

Ryoma - His appearance and backstory were just too preposterous for me to ever get over. Not sure if it's a good or bad thing that he died here since his actual personality could have been cool - but I'm leaning toward good because it was impossible to take him seriously, and they kept writing him as a serious character. Great death.

Kiyo - His schtick is pretty predictable, but it can be entertaining nonetheless. He's gonna be the man of a million noodle incidents that never really get explored (his comment about a village full of women who were saddened by his disappearance with rope was hilarious). The series has always preferred shit like Chihiro's 'I am a guy' shit to explaining some of the funnier offhand comments, unfortunately.

Gonta - He was pretty badass when angered, and that's by far his most intriguing characteristic. The noble savage shit is boring. Has traces of Aoi/Aoi's clone in DR2 - bland but likely to make it to the end.

Kibo - Love this dude. He tends to make obvious observations/conclusions that someone needs to make, but he also deeply wants to solve things and will offer reason. His desire to be seen as human is predictable but enjoyable, and I gotta say I'm loving the running gag of his superpowers being incredibly bland. I can kind of see him being a good victim, but we've already had Mechamaru as a robot victim - it might be more interesting if he turns out to be a killer.

Kaito - Reminds me of all the boring-ass male jock characters - Mondo and Leon. Absolutely nothing of interest here so far, and hard to envision it changing. The best possible outcome here is for him to turn into a randomly unsympathetic out-of-nowhere killer like Leon or Mondo in 1-1 and 1-2.

Kokichi - By far the smartest of the non-Shuichi guys left. He's still pretty apt to jump to wrong conclusions, but he's easily the one most capable of putting forth an argument that I (the player) am actually pondering. His hot/cold personality is among the most enjoyable for gys along with Kibo and Kiyo, though ironically I think their interplay isn't that good.
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Kaede - Almost certainly the best female character from the game so far. I don't think she was written as a particularly complete character - she had lots of Mary Sue elements designed for the male player, which felt icky, and then killing her off solely to advance the true male protagonist feels even worse. However, that does kind of excuse the Mary Sue stuff and makes me feel less bad for liking those qualities.

Maki - Boring as fuck.

Tenko - Hot, but her neo-Aikido gimmick is weak and the man-hating one is far too in-your-face to be enjoyable. (In contrast, Toko's misanthropy mainly takes the form of withdrawing, which is adorable.)

Miu - She's predictable with her raunchiness, but sometimes predictable isn't so bad. The mood swings are funny. And she does provide the game some easy attitude that's missing from others.

Kirumi - Really thought she'd be a shoo-in for one of the best female characters given her competence, unselfishness, and intelligence. It's possible she is, but her role has been minimal - her deductions tend to be of the "level 1" ilk.

Himiko - A dose of lazy/demure is fun, but Himiko vastly exceeds that level. The monotonousness of her voice and facial expressions hurts, but she's showing some hints in 3-2.

Angie - The Atua gimmick is probably the best among her, Tenko, and Himiko, because it doesn't seem to stop her from doing normal stuff - she just justifies it weirdly. The accent is goofy and fun, and I find it hilarious that she turned Himiko into her groupie. Probably highest stock among living girls at the moment.

Tsumugi - Easy to like given that she's cute and a cosplayer and has a lot of pop culture knowledge, but she just doesn't seem to have a lot of... personality? She feels very generic in almost everything - occasionally spacy, occasionally reacting passively, occasionally just the distressed chick. In contrast, Miu's personality is pretty flat, but you can take her dialogue and recognize that it's from her. Tsumugi's often just feel like "someone needs to say it."
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The map's exclamation points are pretty helpful in remembering where we need to go. First up is the Ultimate Magician's Lab. We're particularly interested in Kokichi.

Sights: a birdcage (useless). A sword stabbing box (useless). A body-sawing box (useless). A saw (useless). Perhaps the only useful item is a water tank. It appears to open near the top, which is interesting.

Alright, let's chat with Tsumugi and then Kokichi. Tsumugi isn't really investigating - just keeping an eye on Kokichi. She's still insistent on "being plain." Kokichi tells us we're his favorite. But we want to hear about about what he did last night. Evidently, after stealing the tapes, Kokichi was beset by Kirumi... and spent half an hour playing tag with her (which Kirumi took super-seriously). He's alibi-less from 10 to 11, but he did see a half-naked girl in the courtyard. Kokichi then turns the alibi question around on Kaito. Good man!

Next in line: Kirumi and Maki, standing outside Maki's lab. Kirumi is watching Maki, and Kaito wants a massage. Kirumi questions us about when we last saw Ryoma. We answer - Kaito also witnessed Ryoma alive long before that. The last person to see Ryoma: Gonta, at 8 (after we were captured). Miu saw Gonta and Ryoma 30 mintues before that, adding a lot of corroboration.

As for Maki, she's sticking with not investigating and giving us some attitude. Kaito uses his sidekick line but Maki starts shitting on him. Good look for Maki. We're curious/suspicious about Maki's hanging out around her lab the whole time, but Maki demurs. We plead to her, but she says she'll be useless as she was in the lab the whole time, and that she's only been around the dorms to shower, including last night. She managed to chase Gonta off with a threat - allegedly. We're deeply suspicious of what Maki is hiding - she's probably not the murderer - but Kaito single-handedly ends the investigation. We're pretty sure this will be brought up in the trial, and also pretty sure Maki ain't the killer.

Time to investigate the tennis lab. We believe the cuffs came from here so we want to look for clues. We also feel something's off about the room. We head into the shower room, which does look more like the Ultimate Prisoner's Lab. There's a closed window. Indeed, this leads to the pool. We find abrasions. We also find scratches on the stone sink. The only thing that's metal we know of is the handcuffs, right? Unless they're misleading us right now. Anyway, one set of handcuffs is missing from their hanging post on the wall. Oh, and the handcuffs are scratched. Suspicions confirmed.

On our way out, Kaito trips on some rope - which was evidently used to suspend the tennis net. It's down. Anyway, we want to measure it, but Kaito is certain that the rope is fifty feet long... and he also knows Ryoma by reputation, from playing tennis in high school. (Should we take his word for it? I believe that Kiyo quoted a different number, albeit for a different rope.)

Time to check out Ryoma's dorm. But we find no motive video. We think that perhaps the video was the motive. Kaito now has doubts about not watching those videos. Sigh, now I'm concerned that Kaito wasn't the murderer. This could really suck. Now Shuichi is bummed since Kaito's proposal was the same as Kokichi's - have everyone do a viewing party. We continue investigating the room but the only thing to note is that no Monopad is found in the closet.

Now we're gonna look at what I've considered to be the most interesting site for a while - the pool.
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Really looking forward to how some of those character impressions evolve.
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