Current Events > About to play Danganronpa for the first time.

(+) Yeah! (+)

School Mode is hard.
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markconigliaro posted...

Glad you liked the first one, just remember that the first is often said to be the weakest of the main 3 games. IMO, 2 is a huge step up in every single way, and V3 is a smaller step up from 2. It's very rare to find someone who thinks 1 is better than 2 or V3, so it only gets better from here.

Personally I liked the more claustrophobic atmosphere of the first one, and I liked my favorite DR1 characters more than my favorite DR2 characters. Plus I really just hated 2-6 that fucking much that it ruined my enjoyment of DR2 overall.
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markconigliaro posted...

Glad you liked the first one, just remember that the first is often said to be the weakest of the main 3 games. IMO, 2 is a huge step up in every single way, and V3 is a smaller step up from 2. It's very rare to find someone who thinks 1 is better than 2 or V3, so it only gets better from here.

I like the first one better than V3 simply because I HATE it's ending. Won't talk about since TC may eventually.play it, but good lord did I hate it.

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dave_is_slick posted...

I like the first one better than V3 simply because I HATE it's ending. Won't talk about since TC may eventually.play it, but good lord did I hate it.

I really don't think "the fictional thing was fictional all along!" is the absolute garbage some people think it is.

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And now I can say, I loved Junko! I love that she didn't have a tragic backstory and was just that psychotic.

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dave_is_slick posted...

I like the first one better than V3 simply because I HATE it's ending. Won't talk about since TC may eventually.play it, but good lord did I hate it.

And I loved the ending, and all the playthroughs I've watched they've loved it too. But IIRC from past DR playthroughs topics, didn't you stop after the first first chapter and read the ending?

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Do you need to finish all the report cards to complete school mode? I was figuring I'd do school mode now and then finish the report cards on replays of the main game.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

Do you need to finish all the report cards to complete school mode? I was figuring I'd do school mode now and then finish the report cards on replays of the main game.

Yes, you do. Spend the first playthrough of school mode finishing up the report cards and just leveling up, since levels are the only thing that carries over (along with the finished endings). You can finish the very last project if you want 200 coins though.
On your second playthrough and beyond, try to finish the projects to get trip tickets, you can look up a guide to see which trips and answers give you the best boosts. Oh, and try to get the tools made ASAP, especially the one that decreases energy spent, and the one that gives your more materials in general.

That sucks. I wanna get the character interactions within their proper context instead of just in this non-story thing. I guess I'll play school mode later.
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If I do another run of the main game on my current file and then continue the school mode file from before that, do the new report card entries transfer to that old SM playthrough?
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They should, as long as you do everything on the same save file.

I'll probably do that, then. Thanks.
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I'm actually starting the sequel now, so weird random bumping timing.

I won't be continueing the series for a while after 2 because I wanna play Ultra Despair Girls before 3 and the one online store that has it significantly cheaper than all others has no copies in stock so I'm waiting for that to happen. Looking at the boxart, is the main character of the third game female?

Edit: Nice of the game to tell me how many chapters long it is. Also, the whole game is a computer game? Don't answer that >_>

First look at the new characters, the designs are... not as interesting as in the first game. Also one of them looks like a fat Togami.

I have levels?
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Remember to watch the 3 anime before playing v3

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Garioshi posted...

Remember to watch the 3 anime before playing v3

I don't really have any intent of doing that.

I've never branched out into different mediums for video games and I'm just not an anime guy on top of that.

And yes, since you're clearly asking, I am saying that while Laputa: Castle in the Sky in running on my tv.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

I have levels?

Yep! In Danganronpa 2 you gain experience points by walking around, doing free time events, examining things/talking to people, successfully raising a digital pet (two of which actually give you skills), and finding clues during investigations. Your level determines how many skill points you have.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

I don't really have any intent of doing that.

I've never branched out into different mediums for video games and I'm just not an anime guy on top of that.

And yes, since you're clearly asking, I am saying that while Laputa: Castle in the Sky in running on my tv.

You're free to do whatever you want, but just know V3 is not the sequel to the DR 1 and 2 games, the 3 anime is. Trying to avoid spoilers but V3 game is meant to be played after the 3 anime. A lot will feel unresolved if you skip it.

obligatory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3Ah0CUMbVU

I'll live with it I guess. And if I'm confused I'll make a topic.

Okay. I had some stuff to do so I haven't actually gotten much. Just finished getting everyone's introductions. Some things.

I'm not really feeling the Island setting. Aside from it being confusing as a sequel, I really enjoyed the cramp claustrophobic and overbearing atmosphere of the school setting. Seemed perfect for the plot. This seems... very light and carefree. And I realize that's an intentional choice that will be broken as part of the story. It's just very jarring. Also, Usami's theme song is really grinding my ears. I hope Monokuma comes back.

I hate how the name of the character talking is now written sideways on the side of the screen rather than just being over the text. You could immediately see who is talking. Now you have to glance over to the side to be sure. And it might be because it's a PSP upscale, but the name itself is somewhat blurry, which makes it more annoying still. I don't understand why they'd do that. The rest of the HUD is pretty cool. I love that you can see what song is playing as BGM. Makes it easier to find later.

Not really into the overworld map movement. Seems like a time waste that isn't interesting, but you're encouraged to do to level up. In the first game you could fast travel as you wished, but I often chose to walk to experience that atmosphere I mentioned.

For the characters I don't really know much about them but I like some of the designs quite a bit. Mostly the females. Komaeda, Owari, Chiaki, Sonia, Ibuki and Peko I really like the design of. But Ibuki only when she isn't doing a profile shot. Yikes. Soda and Mahiru are also pretty decent. I absolutely loathe Teruteru and Gundham. There seems to be a move towards over the top anime designs from the last game. Not generally a fan, but like I said some of them are really good. Also why do the profiles list everyone's boob measurements? What's the point of that? >_>

While like I said I don't know the characters yet, the best impressions so far has come from Komaeda, Soda, Chiaki, Sonia, Mahiru and Peko. Teruteru, Gundham, Ibuki, Mikan have been the worst. Interesting to see how those impressions will change.

WHAT THE FUCK @ Togami?

What happened? Why are they in the game? Don't answer that. Just... man. What the fuck.

Overall I'm sure it will be great, but the first impressions I have are not as good as the first game.

Edit: I also really like the way character models wobble when you interact with them. That's hilarious.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

Also why do the profiles list everyone's boob measurements? What's the point of that? >_>

Kodaka is horny

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Just to let you know, free time events in the sequels are different from the first game in that everyone has a uniform 5 FTEs, and you only get a skill after fully completing them. To compensate, most of your really useful skills can be purchased using Hope Fragments.

Also, this game has a really bad case of "read the FTEs", in that most characters, even some surviving characters, won't get proper character development during the main story, instead only being developed during free time events. Some of my favorite characters ended up being the ones who only get development in free time events even, so if you hate certain characters now, just try hanging out with them to see if they start to grow on you.
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That's interesting, but that is probably something for a replay. Like, I've only spent 10 minutes with any of the characters and I already want Teruteru to die a slow painful death. Absolutely no way am I hanging out with him at any point I can choose not to.

Also yay, Monokuma's back!

Also also, my pet made it to stage 3, but I accidentally reset it trying to figure out what the buttons do. Whoops :(

This tiny cute girl animal cruelty has to stop ;_;
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Well, at least the best character has given you good impressions so far.
And yeah, I'm in the same boat as you regarding UDG, it's a pain to get ahold of. Really want to play that before 3 as well.

DeadBankerDream posted...

That's interesting, but that is probably something for a replay. Like, I've only spent 10 minutes with any of the characters and I already want Teruteru to die a slow painful death. Absolutely no way am I hanging out with him at any point I can choose not to.

As funny as I find him this is understandable. I don't like him, but I enjoy hating on him, if that makes sense.
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Azardea posted...

Well, at least the best character has given you good impressions so far.
And yeah, I'm in the same boat as you regarding UDG, it's a pain to get ahold of. Really want to play that before 3 as well.

One of the times where if you don't mind digital the availability isn't a problem, I suppose. >_>

I imagine the game would be tough as nails to get ahold of a physical copy, but for digital I can just download it and be done with it.
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First free time period.

My immediate thought is to spend it with Togami to get a sense of what the fuck.

But I think it would probably ultimately be a better idea to get to know the new characters. Probably gonna go with Sonia or Chiaki. I guess it also depends what gifts I'm gonna get with my 10 coins.

Bought the Neural Liberation and Melodious Voice skills from Usami.
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If you don't enjoy guessing who wants what, you can buy specific gifts from the store this time. Plenty of people like mineral water for example.

Azardea posted...

you can buy specific gifts from the store this time.

Adding onto this, you can also buy specific gifts that unlock extra scenes for 50 Monocoins each. You'll have to replay chapter 1 from the start to get the chapter 1 scene, but the rest are easily affordable before you actually need them, especially if you're diligent about raising pets.
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Chiaki and Peko left the party. I swear, if either of them dies I'll be mad.

This shot of Tsumiki is... I have no words.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. I did not expect this to be the first death.
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Finished the investigation. I'm currently leaning toward the culprit being Komaeda, though I'm by no means sure. Seems much less obvious than the first case of the first game, which I made a lot harder for myself by assuming the game wouldn't literally write the culprit's name in blood. Seems like this person, due to their access to the building during cleaning, would be able to set up the situation at hand. Seems the blackout was caused by overloading the breaker by having all the irons and air condition turn on at the same time. I suspected the missing skewer was the murder weapon. I think Togami was going for the knife he had hidden under the table or something. But whoever hid it used glowing paint to make sure it could be found during the blackout, so maybe Togami set up the blackout? I dunno. Also not sure if he or the killer were using the night vision goggles. They came from his box, so that would seem most likely, but the game is being very specific about how short a time the blackout was and nobody had time for anything they hadn't planned beforehand. Very curious. For some reason the game didn't put Mahiru's floor plan or pictures in my Truth Bullet section. I feel like those will be massively important, but I didn't see them long enough to draw conclusions.

Exciting! Let the trial begin.

I see Gundham got his ear-ring back. So there is a way to get under the floor-boards? That seems like it would be important to the case, but I don't see how, unless it's to finger Kuzuryu, whom I just don't think is the culprit.

Why are all these people saying 'table' in English on the Japanese voice track?

I just realized. You can probably get through the floor boards inside the bathroom. In which case, it would likely be that Peko did that during the the party and stabbed Togami through the floor boards during the blackout?

The first game asked me if I wanted trial mechanic tutorials, so I could skip them on replays. This doesn't seem to be the case in the sequel. That's dumb.
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Good luck!
Yeah, the first trial in the first game was basically baby mode. Things won't be as obvious here. ...well, at least not to me, but maybe I'm just smoothbrained lol.

Oh my fucking god, someone please fucking kill Teruteru right now.

Komaeda acting sus as fuck.
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Uh, the game is asking me to bet my save data that I figured out who the killer is.

Is this for real?
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DeadBankerDream posted...

Is this for real?

No lol

Oh. Okay.

I was like oh shit man. >_>

I really have no idea who it is. My current guess is Teruteru and it's not based on anything tangible.

I guess trials have halftimes in DR2.

Holy shit, the (Improved) Hangman's Gambit tutorial is insane to read.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

Seems much less obvious than the first case of the first game, which I made a lot harder for myself by assuming the game wouldn't literally write the culprit's name in blood.

A gigantic improvement from the first game. In 1, I knew the killers for the first 3 cases (and figured out what happened in Case 5) before the trials even started.

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I thought the second case in the first game was very well constructed and made it rather difficult to figure out who the killer is, unless you catch a slip of the tongue at the start of the case and unlike me don't brush it off as nothing.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

Holy shit, the (Improved) Hangman's Gambit tutorial is insane to read.

"Improved" Hangman's Gambit is worse than the last one, but it's really not that bad. All it is is matching letters. You need an M so you pick one and save it, when another M comes by, shoot your stored one to combine them, then shoot the combined letter to place it in the word. Sometimes you might have to use some strategy and store and release letters so letters don't crash into each other, or maybe combine letters prematurely because you know you'll need it soon. The tutorial does a bad job at explaining it, but I actually found it fun by the end of the game.

And yes, this and V3 are a lot less hand holdy and simple to figure cases out. You might guess the killer early, but you'd likely not understand most of the details of the murders. Like I think trial DR2 trial 1 is more complicated than all of the trials in DR1, with the exception of maybe case 2.

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Avril Lavigne?
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So I was doing pretty well all trial, but then the new Bullet Time Battle substitute comes up and I get a game over. The timing of the button presses is waaaaaaay more unforgiving this time around. And when I had to construct the final sentence at the end, I just didn't know how to put it together. I think English not being my first language the thought that "meat on the bone" is a term just flew past me. It doesn't look like something you'd say as part of a sentence.
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The exact same thing happened to me, and it seems like it's a bit of a meme actually >_>
My first guess was "On The Meat Bone" even if that doesn't really make sense grammatically. I don't remember ever hearing the actual term before...

markconigliaro posted...

"Improved" Hangman's Gambit is worse than the last one, but it's really not that bad. All it is is matching letters. You need an M so you pick one and save it, when another M comes by, shoot your stored one to combine them, then shoot the combined letter to place it in the word. Sometimes you might have to use some strategy and store and release letters so letters don't crash into each other, or maybe combine letters prematurely because you know you'll need it soon. The tutorial does a bad job at explaining it, but I actually found it fun by the end of the game.

And yes, this and V3 are a lot less hand holdy and simple to figure cases out. You might guess the killer early, but you'd likely not understand most of the details of the murders. Like I think trial DR2 trial 1 is more complicated than all of the trials in DR1, with the exception of maybe case 2.

I dunno if it's a Mean mode thing or just a sensory overload thing, but some of the later ones just completely overwhelmed me. I actually went out of my way to increase my influence just because of Improved Hangman's Gambit. >_>
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The new Hangman's Gambit also has some pretty fucking stupid answers, so there's no shame in looking them up. V3 has what is by far the worst "how was i supposed to know you wanted me to say that specifically" offender, though.

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Well, that was chapter 1. Good stuff. My least favourite character is dead and Komaeda has made me super interested in what will happen next. And yeah, much better introduction case than the first game.

I like the HUD much better in the first game where it represents your progess in the debates by a square. Makes it much easier to tell where you are in the progression and you're waiting for that one statement to rebut. Also the first game had a much better BREAK!!! shatter animation. Small things.

The Hangman's Gambit from the first game was the most superfluous element of the trials. The only thing it really tested you on was logicking out what the word was and then your skill at waiting for the right letter to arrive. I don't mind that it got re-thought as a gameplay element. I also didn't really mind this new one once I figured out how it works. There's a lot more to it. I can see there being too much when it starts getting advanced, but right now I'm fine with it. Seriously though, the tutorial for it broke my brain.

Even ignoring the Bullet Time Battle final attack misunderstanding, jesus the timing is unforgiving. Maybe it's just the sideways animation. I keep having to click much sooner or later than I think. Basically every skill I buy from now on has to be related to this gameplay element.

I don't really like Rebuttal showdowns, because you can't actually read the arguments the other person is putting forth because you're too busy cutting their statements up. And most of them are written sideways, making it harder still, though I assume that's just an unfortunate result of Japanese reading direction being flexible. But unlike the Bullet Time Battles, the statements coming from the opponent in the showdowns isn't just random insults and shit, it's actual dialogue. It's really annoying. And even if you try to read it the game punishes you for reaching the end of the dialogue without reaching your goal in this mode. Meh.

Excited for chapter 2, but also kind of nervous how obnoxious the travelling is gonna be when you add a third island to the mix.

Oh, and the changes to the Closing Argument were much appreciated.
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Bullet Time Battle works much differently than it did in the first game. From the way you describe it, it sounds like you're still tapping in rhythm, but you actually have to hold and release the button this time. Makes it easier than the first game's version imo.

Also, if you didn't start Nagito's first free time event in chapter 1, you're actually locked out of doing his free time events for the rest of the game, just fyi. You'll have to go back to the start of chapter 1 if you're interested in doing his ftes.

Regarding your concern about traveling, you can still fast-travel like in the first game, and (assuming PlayStation controls), you can tap left/right on the D-pad to quickly move between locations while traveling in 2D mode.
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Kircheis posted...

From the way you describe it, it sounds like you're still tapping in rhythm, but you actually have to hold and release the button this time. Makes it easier than the first game's version imo.

I see. Yes, that was my mistake then. I'll have to wait and see if it's actually easy or not in the next trial.

Kircheis posted...

Also, if you didn't start Nagito's first free time event in chapter 1, you're actually locked out of doing his free time events for the rest of the game, just fyi. You'll have to go back to the start of chapter 1 if you're interested in doing his ftes.

Oh well, something for a replay, then. Do you need to do all four chapter 1 free time periods with him or just one? I guess for characters who die in chapter 1 you have to hang out with them in two different playthroughs to get all their events.

Back to it!

Edit: The hell is Magical Miracle Girl Monomi?
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Nagito's first free time event is the one that has to be triggered during chapter 1, the rest are only available after chapter 1. Basically his first fte takes place pre-crazy, the rest take place post-crazy.

Kinda funny that there literally aren't enough chapter 1 free time event slots to max out Teruteru lol.

Byakuya's final free time event can only be done during Island Mode. (Basically a post-game similar to School Mode.)

Not gonna lie, Ibuki is one of my low-key favorites, I just love her positive energy. Basically her entire fte is just hanging out and wholesome good vibes all around.
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Before I go any further in the game, I think I'd like to rank the characters to see how I feel about them after getting to know them for a bit. Would be cool to compare to the end of the game.

01. Komaeda
02. Mahiru
03. Soda
04. Owari
05. Ibuki
06. Sonia
07. Kuzuryu
08. Nekomaru
09. Peko
10. Chiaki
11. Saionji
12. Tsumiki
13. Gundham
14. Teruteru

Not including Togami cause I'm just still confused about his role in the story.

I think I'd probably like Nekomaru more if he didn't talk about excrement half the time. The other half is pretty neat dialogue.

How old exactly is Saionji supposed to be?

*Picks up a book in English*

Hajime: What is this language, I can't read this?

Not sure if the book was originally in English and he just doesn't know the language, or it was originally in Japanese and something sinister is going on.
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The simplest explanation is that Hajime is from Japan, therefore he isn't as familiar with the english language. Some localizations are just weird like that lol.

Nekomaru is one of those cases where you're supposed to read his ftes to actually learn about his character, and it's specifically because of his ftes that he's my favorite DR2 boy.
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