Dangan Ronpa General

[Failinhearts]

3 minutes ago, Fijut said:

Not usually a fan of reddit but here. Example of what i mean when i say Failin spoilt me.

 

Keep the timestamps in mind. 4 months ago. That's like, June. Months after the Japanese release.

Spoiler

As such, people KNOW the twist that it's connected to Hope's Peak in a sense.

Before it came out in Japan, we had no idea it was gonna be connected it all because of what was previously stated. DR3 was the end of the saga, V3 is a new timeline, Monokuma's the only recurring character. That was all that was stated to us officially when the game was first announced a long time ago.

People have basically reworded their responses to ensure they are being partially true while I adhered to how it was marketed from the source.

 

[I do not acknowledge.]

Alright i give up you seem to have everything reversed and seem to be deliberately ignoring the point. 

[Failinhearts]

Just now, Fijut said:

Alright i give up you seem to have everything reversed and seem to be deliberately ignoring the point. 

Either that, or you're the one that's forgetting the point.

Spoiler

We were told this game is NOT connected to the original games. As such, that's what I go by. This game is an alternate universe. No connection to the originals.

And THEN the game surprises you that the game DOES have an awareness of the originals. That. Was. How. The. Game. Was. Marketed.

 

[Tori Himemiya]

6 minutes ago, Fijut said:

Alright i give up you seem to have everything reversed and seem to be deliberately ignoring the point. 

 

4 minutes ago, Failinhearts said:

Either that, or you're the one that's forgetting the point.

  Hide contents

We were told this game is NOT connected to the original games. As such, that's what I go by. This game is an alternate universe. No connection to the originals.

And THEN the game surprises you that the game DOES have an awareness of the originals. That. Was. How. The. Game. Was. Marketed.

 

I can confirm that that's the point.

Spoiler

It gives you an invisibility that this game isn't at any way at all connected to the Hopes Peak saga. We have Danganronpa 3 which implied this game (V3 for Victory 3 or so we thought) had nothing to do with it but the former foreshadowed the latter. They really focused on that fact just to make a twist.

It wasn't a case that you were spoiled by anything. In fact it was the opposite. That's what Failin was getting at. To keep a plot twist intact just for the sake of keeping it that way.

 

[Failinhearts]

8 minutes ago, Ghostrick Dorklord said:

 

I can confirm that that's the point.

  Reveal hidden contents

It gives you an invisibility that this game isn't at any way at all connected to the Hopes Peak saga. We have Danganronpa 3 which implied this game (V3 for Victory 3 or so we thought) had nothing to do with it but the former foreshadowed the latter. They really focused on that fact just to make a twist.

It wasn't a case that you were spoiled by anything. In fact it was the opposite. That's what Failin was getting at. To keep a plot twist intact just for the sake of keeping it that way.

 

Exactly.

Spoiler

This game's marketing tried it's DAMNEST to make you think Danganronpa V3 is not connected to the originals at all.

What was the Japanese title? NEW Danganronpa V3.

It could've gone the same vein as Super Danganronpa 2 and go like, Hyper Danganronpa V3 or something. No. It said NEW. As in a NEW Danganronpa, a NEW world.

As Crow said before, we were told by the developers that the V in V3 meant "Victory" to hide that it actually represented the roman numeral for 5, making it Danganronpa 53. You could've easily called it Danganronpa 4, but they didn't. They wanted you to think this is a new Danganronpa universe, but still add the 3 to tell you that this is the 3rd game using the Class Trial formula.

All I did was follow what the developers intended. If you're gonna blame me for spoiling, then you blame the developers too.

 

[Salamander]

Mildly spoiler-acknowledging thoughts on the question above of whether something is or is not a spoiler:

Spoiler

I would further add that all the people who are now behaving very cagily about V3's relationship to the rest of the games are themselves doing so because of spoilers.  Before the game came out, it was an uncomplicated assumption which was freely and openly supported by the developers; only fans who know the story of the game are in a position to know that that new-universe statement is meaningful, but by treating it as a spoiler or at least as a statement with some nuance then they are themselves spoiling the game.  (Consider, in parallel, the example of Japanese-pace fans who watch western trailers and loudly declare "this trailer contains a massive spoiler!"  Who would know were it not for them saying so?)  That the game's western marketing has not highlighted this aspect is immaterial.  Did anyone ever imply that it was a direct sequel?

 

[Danj86]

I guess I'll join the spoiler debate too. I personally never felt it was spoiled without warning:

Spoiler

One of the very first articles I ever read about Dangan Ronpa V3 openly stated it was a new universe and Monokuma as the only returning character. It must've been like...I dunno, a year ago? Pretty sure it was probably still in development at the time when I read that.

Can't remember what site I was at, though. I'd guess Kotaku. http://www.kotaku.co.uk/

 

[I do not acknowledge.]

Spoiler

So now i've had some sleep let me put it in a more simple way.

It's clear from the article i linked that 99% of people that have finished the game would conclude that telling a player with NO PRECONCEPTIONS OF THE GAME that telling them the game is set in a different universe is a pretty dumb and spoilerish thing to do. If you've finished the game and can't see this point then.. i guess there's no point even arguing it since something is just plain wrong with you. Timestamps? So? Irrelevant. 

From what i have gathered about pre-release japanese media, 1: People that don't want to be spoilt aren't even going to check these things in the first place and 2: It was only SUGGESTIONS and nothing was actually confirmed, it's actually your INTERPRETATION that the game was in a different universe or not linked or whatever.

So just because you wanted to know everything about the game beforehand doesn't mean that everyone else did, a hell of a lot of people wanted to go in fresh, which is why you can see from the reddit article that people THAT HAVE played the game CLEARLY see that giving any info regarding the game's relation to the rest IS SPOILING THE STORY.  Sure you can cry about how allegedly the anime was the "last" of hope's peak, bla bla, but anyone thats actually followed the series knows that that could easily have been a lie. There's tons of twists in danganronpa. The V in V3 could mean many things, and again, this leads back to how a good amount of the playerbase avoided pre-release media explaining the game. Fair enough, you weren't to know that myself in particular knew literally nothing of the game and had avoided all info about it, but isn't it common sense to assume people don't want info that's considered spoiling? (especially now you HAVE seen the ending, too!) Like, linking a wikipedia page does not back up this part of your argument as someone going to play the game is hardly going to LOOK AT A WIKI FOR THE STORY are they?

The entire point of the game's ending twist is based around NOT KNOWING WHETHER THE GAME IS RELATED TO THE OTHERS OR NOT. How you can not see this when you've finished the game yourselves, I have no idea, but i'm not arguing it any further. Everywhere else on the net it's considered a huge spoiler to say what you did, and your only defence is people's THEORIES (yes THEORIES based on pre-release media, not FACT) on the game's relation to the rest of the series. The japanese stuff you mention only LEAD PEOPLE TO BELIEVE the game was set in a different world. THEORIES. Nothing actually ever suggested it was FACT. So therefore once you actually play the game, find out the ending twist, most sane people can understand how telling someone fresh to the game that "oh it is definately in a different universe" undeniably takes the sting out of the ending and this is not information that was given out beforehand. Hinted at if you were someone who followed all the hype beforehand.

What i'm saying is, knowing what you do having finished the game, I honestly don't know how you can believe saying that, to someone who knows nothing about the game's story, is not a spoiler.

Anyway.

I didn't join this forum to argue with people. I'm done here. Not saying a word on this any further.

 

All that aside, regardless of who's right or wrong there - I have to agree with Failin anyway...

Spoiler

It started off very well, but in the end,  it's not really a good ending, nowhere near on par with the previous games.

I'd actually thought they might have gone down the "it's all fiction" path when I was first playing through the ending of the second game, when the whole "virtual world" part was revealed. But they didn't, and I remember thinking, "That would be too obvious"

So even with Failin's "spoiler" in mind from the start of my playthrough with V3, it was very obvious where V3 was heading. From very early on it's clear the new class was likely inside a program or something similar, and the nonsensical way you unlock areas, the techonology available, all heavily points / leads you to believe they're probably inside the Neo World Program again. But instead the writers went with the obvious cheap twist and it's all fake. Which whilst being a ballsy, slightly shocking ending (as most of us have come to expect more plot from the ending of a dangranonpa game) it's.. pretty much a cop out, a lazy ending. Keeping the characters real and expanding on what happened to the NEW Hopes Peak would have been much more interesting, as well as having a Mastermind that wasn't totally anonymous.  This is what i mean when I refer to how the anime wasn't necessarily the end of Hope's Peak (as you can see, the writers of these stories quite like lying and trolling everyone with their twists. Look at all the people crying over Kaede's early death). So I would not have been suprised at all if the game was a direct sequel. You never know what to expect with this series which is why i love it.

Anyway could talk about this for hours but, lets stay friends, yes?

[Tori Himemiya]

No review for V3 just yet. I'm taking a break after certain events and I'm really taking my time with it. However within that time span I will say a lot of characters made pretty good impressions. I'm gonna be talking about my favorite V3 characters. There may be spoilers here and there but I'll try to keep them within spoiler tags.

Ryoma Hoshi

Ok pre-release I really liked his design as its pretty METAL and while he follows the typical weird character design like Hifumi and TeruTeru his design isn't as unappealing to look at. When I finally got ahold of the game ooohhhhh boy he left a hell of an impression. Ryoma is a very interesting character mostly since he's not a weird joke like the other two I've mentioned. Ryoma is actually pretty badass, capable of killing an entire Mafia gang by himself with TENNIS BALLS of all things (though they were modified). However despite that he's also looking for a purpose to live. This actually pisses off Kaito because he actually idolized Ryoma in middle school only to find out his idol was a wreck and it gives the two an interesting dynamic.

Spoiler

He eventually starts to admit that he feels jealous of Shuichi, Kaito, and the others because they all know want to live but he doesn't have that motivation yet. Ryoma eventually warms up to them and says he'll fight for his reason.

...Only to find out there's nothing for him to look forward to. This seals up his fate as he felt like he couldn't continue on living and gives his life to Kirumi, someone he believes that has more purpose than he does.

He's a very selfless person, offering to give his life for everyone to escape but his motivations are pretty sad. It really sucks that we get a really cool weird character design only for him to follow the same fate, relatively early on no less.

Oh and he has a very deep voice as you wouldn't expect but it works pretty damn well.

Kaede Akamatsu

Our hero! Our star! She was the biggest surprise for me pre-release. They've heavily hyped K1-B0 and Maki in pre-release but Kaede literally came from nowhere and was hailed as the protagonist of the game. This was a shock as this is the first time we had a female lead in a main series Danganronpa and actually having someone who isn't a lucky student or a detective, being a pianist. Needless to say she's a pretty good character who plays off the cast very well and her dynamic as the person trying to keep everyone together is something very amiable. Kaede is a very much needed change in pace in the series.

Spoiler

...Or at least she would be if they didn't stick to formula much like Ryoma.

Kaede is too interesting for this game I guess. I wonder what she could had used her talent for but her hearing would had came in handy. And again she really stands out when interacting with everyone. However they had to kill her off for the main protagonist Shuichi and becomes his driving force. Its a damn shame.

I won't knock off Shuichi because it was outside of his power but Kaede was just the best first impression ever and represented change the series could had but didn't go through with. Admittedly the wind was taken out of my sail after seeing her execution and between that what happens in Chapter 2 really broke me.

I'd be ok more if Kaede died later instead or have her death mean something other than character development. Kaede was a missed opportunity. Like I could think of ways Kaede can fit into the plot, with or without death. Heck what if she was the mastermind the entire time and when she learns the truth she has to make a moral decision for her friends? That would had been better as a narrative than what we got though I'd rather see Kaede figure out things herself.

But yeah her death is really a sour point with me really. I really wish they did more with her than anything.

Kirumi Tojo

The last character I'll be talking about is our favorite maid and I guess you saw this one coming. I really liked Kirumi first thing when I saw her. Yeah she's pretty much another Celes/Peko but she's still different from them at least. Kirumi plays the role of the team mom, to the point some of the characters call her mom (something she admits doesn't like) and is kind of in the moral center with like Kaito and Himiko. I really like her design and she's a maid too which is an interesting talent. She's also one of the more selfless characters in the game, believing she should devote herself to everyone's needs which I honestly found admirable. She aways has a calm attitude about everything as well, giving her a mysterious feeling.

Her free time events are actually pretty interesting. You'll have Kaede telling her that she shouldn't pamper everything which is something she does taking to heart and then later having her talking about her own past. She's done a lot of crazy stuff in the past but regardless of what she does Kirumi remains humble about her feats and admits her weaknesses, especially to those close to her. She's even capable of joking with her master, again if they're that close. She's really a noble character who looks out for the group.

Spoiler

However like the other 2 characters I've mentioned Kirumi is the elegant character like Celes and Peko who is a murderer and ultimately dies. I can't seem to win when it comes to favorites in this series huh?

Kirumi is a base breaking character thanks to events in Chapter 2 but I still love her regardless. She does what she did to try to protect her country from a crisis and while politicians aren't really seen as noble in the West, I honestly sympathized with Kirumi because she wants to help everyone. I think this adds more complications to her character as it feels like she feels torn from dooming either her friends or her people. I do believe she really cared for her group but was really forced into a shitty situation that she needed out. Thanks Monokuma.

Also her execution is pretty unique. She actually runs out, with everyone cheering her to escape only for Monokuma to continue having his way. Its notable since she's the only character who tries this but what's also notable is that her attempts of escape has been described as something primal and undignified which is different from the other elegant characters as they go out with no resistance. And its very hard to watch, at least for me.

I guess what really sold me on Kirumi is that her devotion to everyone as well as her determination to do her job did it. She's one of my favorite characters in the series to say the least.

But yeah that's some of my thoughts on my favorite V3 characters. I really liked this cast and I guess it does show. I'll get to a review sooner or later but we'll see.

[Junko]

Beat Danganronpa V3. Man the game was so good, so fucking good and then LOL, the ending happened.

Spoiler

I had already checked out of the ending by the time Tsumugi was "revealed" to be Junko but then it was a TV show too? The whole "Danganronpa didn't happen and is entirely fake" shit was really, really bad and it's even worse when you remember Danganronpa 2 ALREADY did this shit but better. But I don't think I hate the game as a whole for it I just hate the ending. 

1

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

39 minutes ago, Apollo Justice said:

Beat Danganronpa V3. Man the game was so good, so fucking good and then LOL, the ending happened.

  Hide contents

I had already checked out of the ending by the time Tsumugi was "revealed" to be Junko but then it was a TV show too? The whole "Danganronpa didn't happen and is entirely fake" shit was really, really bad and it's even worse when you remember Danganronpa 2 ALREADY did this shit but better. But I don't think I hate the game as a whole for it I just hate the ending. 

1

 

Spoiler

Not to mention the fact that the game tries to label all DR fans as total fucks who just want to see characters suffer.

 

[sonicgirl313]

On 10/6/2017 at 8:42 AM, Ryannumber1Scarer said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Not to mention the fact that the game tries to label all DR fans as total fucks who just want to see characters suffer.

 

Well it's hard to say if it was out of ill-intent. The creator of the game did say that he didn't intend for fans to interpret it as such. Could be damage control, but Scott Cawthon did do a similar thing for FNAF World. He had no ill intent toward the fans and simply thought it would be fun to be meta. Perhaps Danganronpa is the same way.

Though it also seems at this point the ending is like this because "Got to put in a plot twist because the other two had plot twists."

As for my thoughts on the ending, at first it annoyed me and my brother, but we slowly warmed up to the idea. It seemed interesting and really made you think. Maybe the only reason we warmed up to it is because we haven't been Danganronpa fans for too long now. It's only now been about a month since we joined the fandom, haven been introduced through the anime. That could be the reason why, but hard to tell. For the most part I'm just simply confused, especially with the implications the plot twist is nothing more than a lie. I could at least wrap my head around the other endings, not this one.

[Failinhearts]

42 minutes ago, sonicgirl313 said:

Well it's hard to say if it was out of ill-intent. The creator of the game did say that he didn't intend for fans to interpret it as such. Could be damage control, but Scott Cawthon did do a similar thing for FNAF World. He had no ill intent toward the fans and simply thought it would be fun to be meta. Perhaps Danganronpa is the same way.

All I can think is that it's damage control. Kodaka's already a lying little shit, so I think this is just him doing it again. Actions speak louder than words, after all.

Rant ahoy!

Spoiler

Like the lies about how V3 has nothing to do with Hope's Peak.

Or the lies that Kaede's the protagonist.

The game makes its point, and it's so obvious that the audience in V3 are meant to represent us, all the way down to how we speak about the series. How we want a hopeful ending to contrast the despair, how we consider some characters as waifus, all that. It's all addressed so ALL of us can be offended! Nobody's left out! We can all feel like total shitheads together!

You don't understand just how much this ending hurts. Danganronpa saved me from a depression. My depression was so bad, it got to the point that now and again, I contemplated suicide. But ever since @Ghostrick Dorklord introduced me to the series, those feelings of negativity were so drastically reduced. All thanks to Makoto saying to never lose hope. This is the reason why I hold Danganronpa so close to my heart, and why I love it when new stuff comes out.

But to see ME portrayed as someone who wants to see people die just for a cathartic ending? That all I am is contributing to the problem?

It's not just disgusting, or infuriating. It's saddening.

Kodaka basically wrote for me not to give up on life... and then he slapped me in the face saying that my way of thinking is wrong.

This above all is why V3 is so terrible to me. Why I go on and on about why it sucks. Because it just betrayed me.

 

[sonicgirl313]

40 minutes ago, Failinhearts said:

All I can think is that it's damage control. Kodaka's already a lying little shit, so I think this is just him doing it again. Actions speak louder than words, after all.

Rant ahoy!

  Hide contents

Like the lies about how V3 has nothing to do with Hope's Peak.

Or the lies that Kaede's the protagonist.

The game makes its point, and it's so obvious that the audience in V3 are meant to represent us, all the way down to how we speak about the series. How we want a hopeful ending to contrast the despair, how we consider some characters as waifus, all that. It's all addressed so ALL of us can be offended! Nobody's left out! We can all feel like total shitheads together!

You don't understand just how much this ending hurts. Danganronpa saved me from a depression. My depression was so bad, it got to the point that now and again, I contemplated suicide. But ever since @Ghostrick Dorklord introduced me to the series, those feelings of negativity were so drastically reduced. All thanks to Makoto saying to never lose hope. This is the reason why I hold Danganronpa so close to my heart, and why I love it when new stuff comes out.

But to see ME portrayed as someone who wants to see people die just for a cathartic ending? That all I am is contributing to the problem?

It's not just disgusting, or infuriating. It's saddening.

Kodaka basically wrote for me not to give up on life... and then he slapped me in the face saying that my way of thinking is wrong.

This above all is why V3 is so terrible to me. Why I go on and on about why it sucks. Because it just betrayed me.

 

I hadn't thought about it that way. I can understand that feeling. Though I also think he probably was desperately searching for a plot twist. I can see his philosophy of "Taking the viewers on a ride" to be a bit of a double-edged sword. I can understand why our feelings differ on the ending. Then it's definitely true that the reason is simply because, I hadn't been with Danganronpa long enough. In truth I was drawn to the series because I heard how it was similar to Phoenix Wright. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the contrast between the two series.

Though if it does make you feel better...

Spoiler

Seems like the characters were more angry about their lives being toyed with for amusement which, if done in real life, would be pretty messed up.

But like I said, the ending is pretty messy considering I can't even fully wrap my head around it. Even I can wrap my head around DR2's ending. Eh, I definitely think I can pull off the ending theme much better than what the game portrayed. It definitely could have been told better.

[Failinhearts]

 

 

This tweet from Danganronpa creator and writer, Kazutaka Kodaka is basically saying he's posting ads regarding people taking his role as lead writer for the Danganronpa series.

So this basically means Kodaka's stepping down as the guy in charge and someone else is taking his place.

My feelings on the matter?

Not only has Kodaka left a sour taste in my mouth after V3, but of course I'm tired of the stale formula his Killing Games follow. Someone new in charge can finally breathe new life into the series that it desperately needs, and I await another Ultra Despair Girls level of fresh storytelling to be given to Danganronpa once more with Kodaka's guidelines now chucked out the window.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

3 hours ago, Failinhearts said:

 

 

This tweet from Danganronpa creator and writer, Kazutaka Kodaka is basically saying he's posting ads regarding people taking his role as lead writer for the Danganronpa series.

So this basically means Kodaka's stepping down as the guy in charge and someone else is taking his place.

My feelings on the matter?

Not only has Kodaka left a sour taste in my mouth after V3, but of course I'm tired of the stale formula his Killing Games follow. Someone new in charge can finally breathe new life into the series that it desperately needs, and I await another Ultra Despair Girls level of fresh storytelling to be given to Danganronpa once more with Kodaka's guidelines now chucked out the window.

Trust me, I'm up to Chapter 3 in V3 and I'm already getting hit by the extreme cliches that's being thrown.

Y'know Kodaka, you can't have much of a mystery game if your mysteries are based around what's been previously shown at least twice. This is the reason UDG is my second favourite of the series, because alongside THH, it's the one game that breaks the formula completely and goes down a completely different road filled with twists.

[Failinhearts]

1 minute ago, Ryannumber1Scarer said:

Trust me, I'm up to Chapter 3 in V3 and I'm already getting hit by the extreme cliches that's being thrown.

Y'know Kodaka, you can't have much of a mystery game if your mysteries are based around what's been previously shown at least twice. This is the reason UDG is my second favourite of the series, because alongside THH, it's the one game that breaks the formula completely and goes down a completely different road filled with twists.

Yeah. The problem also is that Kodaka tries to write reasons to the game to justify the extreme amount of re-hashing. Even though really, it's NO excuse.

I can justify punching my friends in the gut... doesn't make it right. Neither does this.

This is even why I didn't mind DR3 as much as many others do. Despite how botched the execution can be, it tried something DIFFERENT and that alone is welcomed in my book.

[sonicgirl313]

On 10/15/2017 at 3:54 PM, Failinhearts said:

Yeah. The problem also is that Kodaka tries to write reasons to the game to justify the extreme amount of re-hashing. Even though really, it's NO excuse.

I can justify punching my friends in the gut... doesn't make it right. Neither does this.

This is even why I didn't mind DR3 as much as many others do. Despite how botched the execution can be, it tried something DIFFERENT and that alone is welcomed in my book.

Well I didn't hate V3, but even I have to admit it didn't catch me off guard much. Really there was only two plot twists that caught me off guard and the were the ones in Chapter 1 and of course the reason for a certain character dying. Those things had never been done before. But other than that, there's been a very noticeable pattern among the games.

The main character always has an ahoge, the first execution always drags the murderer away with a chain, there's always a family motive, there's always two murders in the third chapter, a certain type of character always dies in chapter 4, there's always a Ultimate ?????, the character mostly seems like a murderer kills someone, and there's always a huge plot twist for the sake of it.

I don't mind the second and third thing I listed. The chain has practically became tradition and naturally family would be one of the first things that come to mind as a motivation. My real problems lies with the fifth and eighth patterns. Tackling the issue of a certain type of character dying in chapter 4, it becomes way too predictable. My brother was able to easily look at the DR2 cast and figure who would die in Chapter 4 since that character had the traits. Then there's the whole plot twist for the sake of it. There's nothing wrong with plot twists if they're done right. DR1 was very effective since it was the first and UDG shocks you with exactly what the villain was planning. DR2 was still effective with it's plot twist, but not quite as much as the first game. Finally there's V3 with a poorly done plot twist. It honestly didn't seem interesting at all and came off more as confusing. At I comprehend what had happened in the other plot twists; V3 felt like a message lost in confusion. Not to mention it almost copied the first game beat for beat. I think the reason why I don't hate the game is because many of the character interactions. It's why I choose to accept the ending as a lie. Otherwise all those interactions are wasted and I don't want that.

[Failinhearts]

I don't mind the ahoge or the dragged murderer traditions, because they're trademarks of the series that, and I will emphasize here DO NOT AFFECT THE OVERALL STORY.

The mysteries these games focus on have nothing to do with the main character's design, or how the executions play out. Characters barely mention the method of how a character is executed, after all. 

But when your mysteries, the core of the story revolve around the same damn thing over and over, it's not a cheeky tradition, it's a case of staying too close in your comfort zone that it becomes a detriment.

[sonicgirl313]

31 minutes ago, Failinhearts said:

I don't mind the ahoge or the dragged murderer traditions, because they're trademarks of the series that, and I will emphasize here DO NOT AFFECT THE OVERALL STORY.

The mysteries these games focus on have nothing to do with the main character's design, or how the executions play out. Characters barely mention the method of how a character is executed, after all. 

But when your mysteries, the core of the story revolve around the same damn thing over and over, it's not a cheeky tradition, it's a case of staying too close in your comfort zone that it becomes a detriment.

I agree it's why the ahoge point was kind of a meh one for me. Just a pattern I pointed out. The ones I had issues with were definitely story related. While me and my brother like V3, after playing DR1, we were kind of disappointed how close the storyline was to the first one. We had already watched the anime beforehand, but had no idea exactly how close it was till we played the game. I was even stunned that Kokichi acted almost similarly to Byakuya with some personality differences. The only plot twists that really shocked me were the ones concerning chapter 1 and a certain character that died in chapter 5. You never expect that plot twist since it plays with your expectations. As for the certain character, they experienced something that was never done in Danganronpa before. It made me sad, but imagine how much the impact would have been lost had that storyline already been used in the series. It would feel like you're only going through the motions.

Though on a side note, while my brother and I enjoyed the chapter 1 plot twist, at the same time we wished it didn't happen. Would have helped to make the game more different and interesting at least.

[Salamander]

It's honestly a real shame that this game turned in on itself so much.  It's so inward-looking, so self-reflexive, when it could and should have been been innovating and doing more to open out the plot of the series.  When the game was first announced, and it looked like a completely fresh universe and we weren't even sure the characters were going to be Ultimates - that was an exciting time because we had no idea what might happen.  But in the end... we actually already knew so much.

[Danj86]

Isn't it also a recurring trope to deliberately troll the player with killing off the most unlikely character very early?

Like wasn't Sayaka featured heavily in promotional art for the first game? You meet and interact with her and it seems like she is likely a love interest and the main heroine...until...well, y'know...

That on it's own is fine until DR2 when they basically do it again. Byakuya? A returning character and survivor of the first game? I'm sure he will...oh...never mind.

Then V3 does the same thing again but trolls the player even more than before. When something is called a mystery, where is the mystery part? I mean, I've seen TV shows and Movies when you see a character and think 'Yeah, I bet that character is gonna die.' That's just guessing and most of the time I'm wrong, but this pattern makes it easy.

[Salamander]

Exactly.  If you know what's going to happen, there is no mystery.

[Failinhearts]

1 minute ago, FFWF said:

Exactly.  If you know what's going to happen, there is no mystery.

No denying with you there. It makes investing yourself in characters much harder too when you expect who's going to die. You know it's Danganronpa tradition that the heavily advertised ones die. You know it's Danganronpa tradition that the big dude dies. You know it's Danganronpa tradition where somebody's a serial killer.

Giving Danganronpa 3 credit, it had no pattern aside from the first death. (But even that first death was given significance beyond the usual fridging when given that character's entire role in Despair Arc) What made that anime engaging compared to V3's "shocks" was that you didn't know who was next to die.

[sonicgirl313]

2 hours ago, Failinhearts said:

No denying with you there. It makes investing yourself in characters much harder too when you expect who's going to die. You know it's Danganronpa tradition that the heavily advertised ones die. You know it's Danganronpa tradition that the big dude dies. You know it's Danganronpa tradition where somebody's a serial killer.

Giving Danganronpa 3 credit, it had no pattern aside from the first death. (But even that first death was given significance beyond the usual fridging when given that character's entire role in Despair Arc) What made that anime engaging compared to V3's "shocks" was that you didn't know who was next to die.

I'll give DR3 credit on that. Each death was a surprise. Well except for the first, I got Sayaka vibes from that one. Though it was shocking to learn exactly who the attacker was. It was perfect but the story could have used more than 12 episodes that way people could get a bit more attached to the characters and kind of clarify exactly the Mastermind's motive. I know the Mastermind's motive and why they created a killing game, though that info was clarified in a manga. That's my only gripe that I could be able to connect and understand characters better.

3 hours ago, FFWF said:

It's honestly a real shame that this game turned in on itself so much.  It's so inward-looking, so self-reflexive, when it could and should have been been innovating and doing more to open out the plot of the series.  When the game was first announced, and it looked like a completely fresh universe and we weren't even sure the characters were going to be Ultimates - that was an exciting time because we had no idea what might happen.  But in the end... we actually already knew so much.

Moving a bit back from the story, what's your thoughts on the character interactions? I felt the three best written characters were Kaede, Kaito, and Himiko. Maki is kind of okay and Suichi come off mostly as someone reacting to his surroundings.