Topic: Danganronpa

In terms of the cast: DR2 > DRV3 > DR1, with a fair gulf between DR2 and the others. There's a reason half the Danganronpa 3 anime is mainly watching the DR2 cast goof off.

In terms of story: DRV3 = DR2 > DR1. V3 is wonderfully, thematically subversive and daring, but DR2 does the 'traditional Danganronpa' thing perfectly.

In terms of trials: DRV3 > DR2 > DR1. Danganronpa V3's trials win primarily for the last three trials, which are all fairly ingenious. It also easily has the best opening trial in the series. Like, it's not even close.

In terms of post-game content: DRV3 > DR2 = DR1. The novels in the first two games are cool, I guess, but DRV3 is hiding ENTIRE GAMES after the credits roll on the main campaign. It's not comparable at all.

Thinking back on it, while I like some of the original cast, the first game isn't nearly as good as what came after it. The writing is all over the place, frankly, several of the trials are hit-and-miss for me, and, tonally, it didn't really hit the perfect balance of absurdity and horror that was achieved in DR2.

@Ralizah I love the survivors in DR1 but it automatically loses due to having Hifumi.

@nessisonett The hilarity of Hifumi is that he's eerily similar to a lot of the people who probably play these games.

Byakuya gets better in subsequent games, but he's pretty unbearable in DR1. Leon, Aoi, and Sayaka are all boring. Everything around Chihiro gets under my skin. Celeste was a cool design that was dramatically underutilized (actually, since watching Kakegurui, I just mentally substitute Yumeko Jabami for Celeste half the time, because she's essentially the same concept, except executed in a FAR more interesting manner). Kiyotaka and Mondo were interesting primarily because of the weirdly cute friendship they briefly cultivated, but otherwise I wasn't a fan.

Toko... annoyed me in DR1, but I like her quite a bit more after some of the great character development she receives in Ultra Despair Girls.

@Ralizah “Toko... annoyed me in DR1, but I like her quite a bit more after some of the great character development she receives in Ultra Despair Girls.”

I completely agree with this, Toko was much more like able after Ultra Despair Girls.

World’s End Club (the game by the same people as Danganronpa and Zero Escape) got a new trailer and a release date in the Nintendo direct today. Thought I would let y’all know since you might be interested

Stylistically that trailer is all over the place. I didn't see the trailer at first, because from the title I actually assumed it was probably the sequel to The World Ends With You (weird assumption, but anyway).

It doesn't really appeal to me at first sigh, so I'll await some hands-on from others before I dive in. Did anyone play the mobile prequel-ish game?

World's End Club could be excellent, but I have my doubts. The road trip part is my biggest worry. If it was just another brutal murder game from the Danganronpa and Zero Escape directors, then I would be super hyped right now.

But it seems that the murder game aspect is just a fake out leading to a more friendly road trip, according to the trailer. Or is that a double bluff? I'm horribly confused by this game.

I don't need murder games. Something dense with narrative and character like AI: The Somnium Files would be cool as well. But this just looks like a crappy platformer. It's like asking for Pikmin 4 and getting Hey Pikmin instead. That's what that trailer made me feel like.

If it reviews well, I'll probably get it, but I'm not convinced it's going to be a hugely memorable experience.

My feelings exactly. I don't need it to be like Danganronpa, but I do need it to be at least as narratively dense.

And also, did anyone here play Death Come True?

World's End Club sadly didn't really do anything for me either. No idea if that trailer was supposed to misdirect everyone or anything but... Yeah I'm not convinced by what was shown either unfortunately.

I quite liked the trailer to be honest, I liked the bait and switch with the concept, where it’s about what happens after the murder game. Devs can get sucked into doing the same thing over and over so it’s nice to see them trying something new.

It's on Apple Arcade, and I've got a trial to use up so will play it on my iPad.

@mookysam I didn’t realise it was on Apple Arcade. Honestly, the pedigree is so good coming from the Zero Escape and Danganronpa creators that I’d give it a go just based on that.

@nessisonett The pedigree is solid, so it will be interesting to see how it plays and what the story is like. There doesn't seem to be too much on Apple Arcade, although I did notice Little Orpheus and The Pathless so will play them too if there's enough time.

@crimsontadpoles

“ World's End Club could be excellent, but I have my doubts. The road trip part is my biggest worry. If it was just another brutal murder game from the Danganronpa and Zero Escape directors, then I would be super hyped right now.
But it seems that the murder game aspect is just a fake out leading to a more friendly road trip, according to the trailer. Or is that a double bluff? I'm horribly confused by this game.”

I also am hyped for this game. It could be great - a new series of games. My fingers are crossed.

If anyone wants something like Danganronpa to play, go check out Your Turn To Die. It's very similat to Danganronpa and has an excellent group of characters. You can check it out here. It's free. https://vgperson.com/games/yourturntodie/

@Blooper987 Thanks for the link. At first it looks like a generic flash game, but it quickly gets good. I'm really enjoying it, so will have to play again another day.

So far I've made it past the initial sequence, and the first trial. I figured out the logical way of guaranteeing everyone's safety in the Russian Roulette game, so everyone who I've seen are still alive and scared.

@crimsontadpoles Awesome! I finished everything that is currently out. The last part of chapter 3 still hasn't released yet, but it shouldn't be too long till they are finished with it. After the first chapter things definitely get much more unique compared to Danganronpa. I actually also just passed it off when it was first recommended to me as some crappy fan game, but I sure am happy I gave it a second chance! The art style definitely starts to grow on you after a little while.

I finally got round to reading Danganronpa If featured in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair today.

... It was decent and I do like the focus on Mekuro & the fleshing out of her relationship with Junko was quite nicely done. Her crush on Makoto was rather cute too.

I realise it was a short story but I did think it ended a bit quickly and brushed over some events rather abruptly. It was a nice enough little read for what it is though.

It's a pity that Danganronpa Zero will likely never be officially localized.