Topic: Danganronpa

@Ralizah
Thanks for the reply! I've done chapter 2 now, and I have to say, the evidence for my theory is growing...
I'm guessing you're a big fan of the games (that's junko as your avatar, right?), and I've only played 2 chapters, but consider this...

SPOILERS AHEAD!

So they are constantly talking about attachments to the outside world causing despair, the first murder caused by attachment to people as an example.

The school being locked with no windows and doors is similar to a thought experiment that is supposed to reveal how you feel about death, in this case, the school represents a kind of state of Nirvana or perfection, separate from the world.

Makoto describes himself as 'nothing', nobody special, almost 'empty' as a personality or ego.

2nd murder being related to secrets/lies - again causing 'despair'

Up to here it's all a little tenuous until I realised - Monokuma is practically a yin- Yang symbol.(this was the big one for me, he's the main recurring character, and I otherwise his black/white colour has no real reason)

On a classroom blackboard on the 2nd floor 'reality isn't everything'

What do you think?

@CountFunkula78 Yeah, it's one of my favorite franchises. None of the symbolism in this series is accidental, but I won't say much beyond this:

Monokuma's color scheme has two layers of meaning. One is "hope/despair," which... I won't say much about, because spoilers, but this duality is extensively explored throughout the series, and I do think your comment on the yin-yang aspect of Monokuma's design is spot on, based on my experience with the franchise. The second is "innocence/guilt." Throughout the first two games, the words "shiro" and "kuro" (white and black, respectively) are used when discussing a person's culpability in a crime. Which is why Monokuma refers to the murderer in any respective case as the "blackened."

As a fun aside, have you noticed how Monokuma shifts which side of his body is facing you depending on how he is acting?

Oh, three more things:
1) Be very careful what you read online. This game is INCREDIBLY easy to spoil for oneself.
2) If you end up liking the game and want to experience the rest of the series, do so in this order: Trigger Happy Havoc --> Goodbye Despair --> Ultra Despair Girls --> Danganronpa Zero light novel (optional) --> Danganronpa 3 (an anime that ends the story explored in the previous entries; the upcoming game is a separate story from the Hope's Peak Academy arc)
3) Even though I think you're probably reading too much into the game's symbolism (but what do I know? I'm not authority on the series and, even if I was, "death of the author" and all that: there probably is some repurposed Buddhist symbolism in here... there's definitely a hint of daoism in its exploration of duality), I like reading your thoughts on it. Please continue to post your impressions, if you don't mind.

@KratosMD You use free time to get to know the characters better. It's a lot like the confidant system in Persona 5: you'll even get equip-able skills when you get to know certain characters better that will help you out during the class trials.

This doesn't really help you figure out who is going to get murdered next. Instead, it fleshes out the characters and gives you the opportunity to obtain new skills. And yeah, it does suck when you're getting to know someone and they up and die or kill someone (and then get executed), but, as you said, it helps to immerse you in the hellish environment of Hope's Peak Academy.

I wrote some giant wall of text talking about the intersecting nature of this franchise (the intricate ways in which the video games, light novels, and TV anime series feed into one-another), but I decided not to bore you with some fanboy prattle.

Like I told the other person I was talking to, though, I advise you to not look up ANYTHING about these games online until you finish them. You'll spoil some amazing plot twists for yourself if you go digging around for information. Fair warning.

Yeah. Try to focus on a certain group of people, though, as it can take time to get to know them. The cast is massive.

You can reduce the time to win their favor if you buy stuff from the vending machine and give them an item they'll like.

You can only get one skill from Sayaka Maizono and Kyoko Kirigiri, I believe (don't worry, that's not really a spoiler, I'm just covering my bases here ). Everybody else gives you at least two skills.

Yep. Once you've unlocked a skill, it's yours. Think of it as improving your ability to talk to people in your social environment by interacting with the person who gave you the skill, and it makes a lot more sense.

Also worth noting: after you complete the game, you unlock "school mode," which is a game mode where none of the characters die, kill, or have class trials. The main draw of this mode is that it gives you a TON of free time to talk to various characters, allowing you to fully interact with a character and update their report card. So, even if someone dies in the game before you get a chance to know them, you can use this post-game mode to hear the rest of their dialogue and get their character trophies. (Again, not a real spoiler, but I am discussing a mode that appears after you beat the game, so I thought I would be safe)

Anybody else find it kinda weird that they decided to end the Hope's Peak Academy story with an anime instead of a third game. Just kinda found it to be a weird choice but the anime was good. Felt like the Danganronpa 3 did a WAY better job at portraying Junko as a bad ass villain compared to the game. It made me love her and hate her SO MUCH!!!

@mamp Use spoiler tags. [ spoiler ] [ / spoiler ] Like that, but without the spaces.

@KratosMD That's actually why I changed my beloved Junko avatar a few weeks back. I was looking at it and thought: geez, that is a MASSIVE DR spoiler if you know what to look for.

I've tried that 'repressing the memory of a spoiler' thing. Doesn't work very well. It sucks you got spoiled, but there are actually a lot of big twists in the series, so it's definitely not completely ruined or anything.

Whatever you do, though, do NOT look up anything about DR2. It has the best twists in the series, and learning those really will spoil your first experience of that game.

@KratosMD Actually, she isn't. At the beginning of the game, Junko is presented as having a white rabbit hair pin and a bow in her hair. The hair clips only change when the truth about her is revealed.

Reading your post, I'm even more glad I changed my avatar.

How far are you in the game? Before the first trial?

@KratosMD Junko is an AMAZING character (possibly my favorite video game character of all time), but otherwise I'm not a huge fan of the cast of the first game. Actually, the first game is my least favorite of the series. Once I completed it the first time, I kind of put it away and forgot about it without bothering to get all the trophies. Danganronpa 2 is another story, though: it has an awesome cast of characters and plot, and I loved it so much that not only did I play it until I got the platinum (which requires a good deal of grinding), but I went back and platinumed the first game as well. I loved it so much it actually improved my general opinion of the original game.

And with that said, you should probably not visit this thread again until you finish the first two games. Spoilers are EVERYWHERE. Once Danganronpa V3 releases in the West, I'm basically abandoning several websites I visit daily to avoid unmarked spoilers until I beat the game.

@KratosMD @Ralizah
Dude, the game is totally worth it. Even if you may have been exposed to some spoilers, the plot has a very interesting mix of mysteries interwoven and each murder and trial is its own mystery to solve as well as the overarching things like the motivation for the whole game and why the characters do what they do and how things are done and accomplished is still likely to take you by surprise. There is so much plot in there. But yeah, avoid this forum I guess til you're done. But come back and let us know what you think

I finished and platinumed the first game last month (actually a pretty easy platinum - just a fair amount of grinding at the end), but burned myself out on Monokuma after all those hours and decided to take a break from Danganronpa, but I'm planning to start D2 soon and then Ultra Despair Girls in time for V3 I hope. Gotta finish The Nonary Games first though.

@Th3solution You do the same with Danganronpa 2. The game is FANTASTIC. One of my top 3 on the Vita, for sure.

@KratosMD Yeah, such humor and drama, melded together. The trials do evolve too and become more challenging, throwing new mechanics at you each time.
You definitely start to get attached to certain characters too, while others start to get on your nerves, which is exactly what they are trying to accomplish. I really got attached to Sayaka quickly in the first chapter and then to find out she was setting me up just crushed me! But each chapter has its share of surprises, which is awesome
Glad you're enjoying it. It's probably under appreciated in general, outside of the core fanbase. I've still gotta play #2, which I hope to do soon. Many fans like it even better.

@KratosMD And the early trials in the first game are incredibly basic compared to later trials and pretty much all of the trials in DR2! I also hear V3 has some amazing trials, so I'm excited about that.

@Th3solution DR2 is the best game in the series. Play it ASAP.

@KratosMD Yes I love it when games teach life lessons or have nuggets of wisdom, whether overtly or covertly weaved into them. Many games do have a "moral to the story" but often it is shallow or patronizing. To have content that makes a gamer think about life and come away with some pearls of truth or that makes the gamer second guess their initial thoughts and feelings ... that's what makes video gaming a true bona fide art form. I don't want games to preach to me, but if they give me ethical dilemmas, or choice and consequence scenarios that make me think, then I am more likely to remember it.
Yeah, sure, sometimes I want to just blow stuff up for the sake of doing it, but usually I want to come away with a memorable experience. And that's what I got out of Danganronpa.

@KratosMD Yes! Persona 4 Golden is the jam! Taught me a lot about social structure, finding your inner self, and making the most of life and the time you have, as well as other things. So many life lessons.
You make me want to try Trails of Cold Steel. I don't know much about it, honestly. I keep seeing it pop up though.
And this thread is pumping me up to play Danganronpa 2!

@KratosMD Are the Cold Steel games any better than Trails in the Sky? I played the first Trails game and... it wasn't bad (and definitely has detailed world building and character writing), but it was an incredibly unsatisfying experience. A huge tease from beginning to end with a massive amount of build-up that never really seemed to go anywhere. Very underwhelming. It has made me uncertain about even trying Cold Steel, because most of the people I know who love Cold Steel also love Trails, and while I don't necessarily regret my time with Trails, I'm not interested in playing something that slow again anytime soon.

Yeah, that sounds EXACTLY like Trails 1. Treating an entire 60 hour JRPG as nothing but build-up for another 60 hour JRPG is unacceptable to me. I guess I'll be giving Cold Steel a pass.

Thanks for the feedback!

@KratosMD I mean, the resource-management stuff in school mode isn't terribly bothersome, but if you don't care about filling out all of the report cards, then it's not really a necessity. Which means you can also ignore Island Mode and that Monomi arcade game (which is RNG hell anyway if you're going for the trophies) in Danganronpa 2.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Be sure to let us know what you think of the sequel, which is, far and away, my favorite game on the Vita!

@KratosMD I like the streamlined navigation in DR2, although it does take some time to get used to. Was never a fan of Trigger Happy Havoc's featureless, early-90s PC game hallways, though.

And yeah, fat Togami is hilarious.

The formula is mostly the same as the first game, although you'll also notice some changes when you get to the trials.

@KratosMD Five in every chapter. Some of them can be difficult to locate.

@KratosMD Glad you liked DR2! Yeah, it's a fantastic game. Ultra Despair Girls is a lot of fun as well, although it's obviously a VERY different experience.

And yeah, I watched DR3 as the episodes aired each week. It was fun. If nothing else, getting to see Junko run wild and be her wonderful, evil self made it worth watching. Although I was less satisfied with how the Future arc resolved itself.

And, wow, you've really been tearing through this franchise the last few weeks, haven't you? I find it difficult to binge stuff watch/play like this.