Board 8 > Tell me about Danganronpa

(+) Yeah! (+)

Anagram posted...

I didn't realize there was such a complicated watching order to the anime, thank you.

This was not nearly as complicated when people were watching as the episodes released, and the episodes were aired in the watching order offset by 3-4 days apart.

---

Played an hour of UDG, got to the first save point. This game is kind of amazing. If you'd asked me, I would have said that VNs are the cheapest-feeling genre by far, but this game, despite being a third-person shooter and having lavish anime cutscenes, somehow feels infinitely cheaper than D1 and D2.

I also didn't really think of Genocide Jack as a badass ninja? I thought she was just a psychopath who ambushed some guys, not a musou character.

---

A big part of UDG feeling cheap is the handheld origins combined with the genre. From a VN standpoint Danganronpa is an incredibly polished entry into the genre with a super clean and defined look. UDG, on the other hand, has bland dreary environments, and has to deal with the 3D models from a team not used to them on a platform that doesn't take great advantage of them.

Just be glad that you don't also have to deal with the bad framerate of the original, lol. I played UDG on a Vita TV with a PS3 controller, but at that point the game didn't have true aiming since R3 just imitates the Vita slide pad in that setup, so it still felt pretty terrible. I did buy the PS4 rerelease after the fact, but have yet to play that version.

---

Welp, Despair Girls means I am not in this topic anymore.

Good bye everyone! Hope you keep enjoying the series Anagram.

---

Hm, the more I think about D2, the more I dont understand why the murder structure mirrors D1s. Nagito even comments on this and uses it to predict 2-4s murder, yet it turns out theres no force motivating them to be similar. Was it just a big coincidence?

---

I think maybe it was just Monokuma following the patterns of the first game due to being an AI and not being able to be super creative on its own.
---

Anagram posted...

Hm, the more I think about D2, the more I dont understand why the murder structure mirrors D1s. Nagito even comments on this and uses it to predict 2-4s murder, yet it turns out theres no force motivating them to be similar. Was it just a big coincidence?

I have a personal theory on this based on the whole Nagito "Naegi Makoto Da" anagram and other character similarities that DR2 was originally going to be a straight up MGS2 twist on the first game but was rewritten/toned down at some point. As it stands the best explanation is just the influence of the Junko AI, but that can only explain so much.

---

DR3 Despair is garbage. The retcons are garbage. Future is better

---

Got to chapter 2. This game is like 50% cutscenes, which I realize is a strange thing to say about a series that's mainly VNs, but when the plot has a more traditional structure with clear villains, and the villains are all annoying children, it's kind of weird.

---

About halfway through the game, I think (I'm partway into Chapter 3, at least). As far as low-budget trashy spinoffs go, this is playable, but not good.

---

We warned ya!

---

Did not expect one of the bosses to be a ten year old girl who has a child prostitution backstory and constantly has panty shots

Japan

---

Probably the worst part of the whole thing, IMHO.

I truly don't care about or don't like a single character in this thing that isn't the main duo.

---

You wanted to play this

---

Leonhart4 posted...

You wanted to play this

Well, the thing is that this isnt a super long series with a billion games thats impossible to get into. The fact that its only four games long, plus an anime, is appealing. Also, its all available on Steam, which makes it even easier to deal with.

---

I played UDG once and now I remember nothing about it, except for the fact that Makoto's sister has a gun and Toko is even more annoying

---

Monaca rocks, going by DR3 at least. Never played UDG so I dunno how good she is there.
---

"I never thought of you or Toko as abnormal, you're just a little strange."

Oh, Japanese translations.

---

Chapter 4 beated

Chapter 5 tomorrow

---

Ultra Despair Girls beated.

As far as cheapo trashy spinoffs go, I've played way worse than this, but it's still pretty bad. The gameplay's not worth talking about except to say that all of its ideas are poorly-implemented.

The decision to have the game set in a normal city despite the first two games talking about how terrible everything is outside is terrible, of course, but the child vs adult element is even worse. All of the kids are terrible, all of the boss fights are indistinguishable sentai robots, and Monaca's plan to induce despair in Komaru makes way less sense than Junko's plans in the other games.

Honestly, this feels a lot like, and I can't believe I'm making this comparison, something like MGS Peace Walker or MGSV, where the plot is dedicated to telling an interquel that simply doesn't matter, and it keeps adding plot elements to explain things that didn't need explanations and that always make no sense. Like, I thought Nagito only became obsessed with creating hope after the Future Foundation brainwashed him, and that he'd been a normal despair guy before that? But more importantly, I kind of got the impression in the first two games that the despair that engulfed the world was just a social movement that Junko was part of and it got way out of control, not that she needed to blackmail a corporation to create am army of robots to march down the street and destroy things. I realize that this isn't a series where the details of things matter, but the original version was clearly much better. And Junko shows up yet again, in two different Monokuma bodies. This is the fifth Junko death in three games, she dies more often than Ganondorf.

As for the characters, Komaru was completely intolerable the entire game, but I did sort of like the concept of a normal person in a world of Ultimates. I was surprised at Toko. I kind of liked her! I kind of viewed her survival in the first game as almost a joke? Like you have the five main characters who all learn and grow and become friends, and then Toko is also there, contributing nothing to the story (she's even the only person who doesn't get a photo from Monokuma), but she just happens to survive. So giving her a game as the costar to flesh her out more was neat.

So, uh... what the hell was with the ghost of the Towa Group guy? I was under the impression that this was a sci-fi universe, but then a ghost just casually shows up? And it can't even be a hallucination, because he gives exposition that Komaru couldn't have known. Am I insane for thinking this makes no sense in a different way than the rest of the series making no sense?

By the way, despite all of the attempts at jokes, the game got exactly one laugh out of me: the scene where all of the children's heads explode. I wasn't expecting that, it was pretty good.

Overall, this is like the definition of a 3.5/10.

Up next is the anime, but I don't know where to watch it or when I'll watch it. I won't be talking about it in this topic, but I'll probably make a topic for the third game, whenever I get around to playing it. I know I'm supposed to watch the anime in alternating episodes based on the arcs.

---

Oh, I guess I can update the characters list with Komaru and Toko?

Characters:
Chiaki > Kyoko > Gundham > Byakuya > Aoi > Sakura > Sonia > Akane > Toko > "Junko" > Ibuki > Junko > Peko > Hajime > Kazuichi > Hiyoko > Makoto > Celeste > Taka > Nagito > Fuyuhiko > Nekomaru > Mondo > Yasuhiro > Mahiru > Sayaka > "Byakuya" > Chihiro > Leon > Komaru > Teruteru > Mikan > Hifumi

---

https://www.funimation.com/shows/danganronpa-3-the-end-of-hopes-peak-high-school/

Start with Future and alternate between that and Despair.
---

Checked because.moe and looks like it's just on Funimation.

Awww, I actually Liked Komaru a lot, but I mostly liked her when she's bouncing off of Toko. As for Toko herself, actively disliked her DR1 but grew to like her a good bit from UDG.

Everything else...is bad though. All your complaints are correct. It's a messy game that didn't need to happen that actively detracts from the core property and lore, which is a common theme for the content outside of the main game.

---

I liked Komaru mostly because she had a very good voice actor.

---

I know it's redundant but you're skipping the Danganronpa 1 anime?

Actually, I think the biggest problem with the game, now that I think about it, is the idea of showing the outside world at all. We see literally nothing of it in D1, and in D2, all we see is ten seconds on Jabberwock Island. You can't properly show the world as destroyed as Junko claimed it was, so trying detracts from things.

Also, I forgot to mention... in D1, when Junko and Genocide Jack describe the Tragedy as "the most awful, most terrible event in human history," and that's all they say, it's fine, because they're insane teenage girls. When a grown-ass adult man uses that phrase in UDG like it's the standard way to talk about the Tragedy, it comes off comically, and not in the way I think they intended.

Mac Arrowny posted...

https://www.funimation.com/shows/danganronpa-3-the-end-of-hopes-peak-high-school/

Start with Future and alternate between that and Despair.

Oh perfect, thank you.

---

Leonhart4 posted...

I liked Komaru mostly because she had a very good voice actor.

That's as good a reason as any.

demonfang178 posted...

I know it's redundant but you're skipping the Danganronpa 1 anime?

It didn't sound like it was important. I thought it just retells the first game in a briefer format?

---

Yeah, it's unnecessary to watch the DR1 anime unless you just want to laugh at the absurd pacing.

---

It does. Has so new VAs and some lines are different and Monokuma's personality is slightly different, but it can be skipped.

Leonhart4 posted...

Yeah, it's unnecessary to watch the DR1 anime unless you just want to laugh at the absurd pacing.

Well now I kind of want to.

---

Danganronpa S1 is even more of a waste of time than Ace Attorney S1
They have the same problems though

---

I would not say the DR1 anime has any value. It was Lerche back in their hayday of awful anime production, so it's not like there's even noteable animation or anything.

---

Hey at least the opening song is pretty good

---

Yes the OP and ED are solid enough.

As always though, can't link to anything Danganronpa related on YouTube until he's done playing everything, lol.

---

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, and I think other people forgot as well-
There was a OVA special episode called Super Danganronpa 2.5, but it only came out in Japan
I also don't remember when you are supposed to watch it (before or after Danganronpa 3 anime)
Still, just 25 minutes, I would advice to watch it if you can

But you are going the legit route so you probably won't have a method to do that

---

DR3 Despair has a much better opening anyway.
---

Oh I think all the DR3 openings and endings are better.

Especially the Despair OP and ED, both incredible.

I don't know why the Despair OP FLAC file on my phone is a 183MB, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna delete it.

---

Nanis23 posted...

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, and I think other people forgot as well-
There was a OVA special episode called Super Danganronpa 2.5, but it only came out in Japan
I also don't remember when you are supposed to watch it (before or after Danganronpa 3 anime)
Still, just 25 minutes, I would advice to watch it if you can

But you are going the legit route so you probably won't have a method to do that

Useful to know, but I'll be watching D3 unless someone tells me this is super important.

---

It was neat, but I wouldn't call it important by any means.

---

Oh, I guess this is as good a place to ask as any, are there any other series that are like Phoenix Wright, and/or what are the best PW fangames?

---

Anagram posted...

Oh, I guess this is as good a place to ask as any, are there any other series that are like Phoenix Wright, and/or what are the best PW fangames?

If you're looking for murder mystery type VNs with puzzle gameplay, I'd look into the Zero Escape games. If you're looking for something that has court-style gameplay, I'm not sure what else to recommend.

---

I heard some people like Aviary Attorney! I never got around to it, though.

---

If you get too literal with the whole attorney/lawyer thing you're not gonna find much of anything other than some indie games. Not to say they're bad, but it's not the same.

Will second that the other major series I would recommend after you finish V3 here is Zero Escape. All 3 of those games are also available on steam as well.

---

Thanks, adding Zero Escape to my never-finishing backlog.

---

I kinda think Zero Escape and Danganronpa go hand in hand imo. I probably prefer Zero Escape overall but both are really good series. I've never actually played any of the AA games but I recently bought them so I'll be playing them eventually.

Yeah playing Ace Attorney, Zero Escape and Danganronpa in about the same time was so great

Too bad all of them are dead now

---

I hereby dedicate the last five posts of this topic to a pure waifu ranking (characterization matters only so far as waifuness, subtracting 'murderer' as a factor): Chiaki > Sonia > Kyoko > Ibuki > Aoi > Akane > Sayaka > Mahiru > Toko > Peko > Celeste > Mikan > "Junko" > Junko

---

Heard fans translated the first Dai Gyakuten Saiban, which looks a lot like AA.

You can just say Mukuro instead of "Junko" <_<

Though I don't agree I also don't see anything particulary off ebkut that ranking, and look forward to V3's inclusion.

---

Mukuro Ikusaba, the 16th Student, lying hidden somewhere in this school the one they call the Ultimate Despair, Watch out for her

---