@Ralizah Yeah, like at first Miu just seemed like the necessary mean person who cusses a lot that both the previous games had (and most VN likes this, to be honest), but then the fact that whenever anybody actually has the guts to stand up to her she turns into a meek crybaby is hilarious. And while she isn't really my favorite character, I just love the way that the little mage girl's voice actor says "It's maaaaaagic" as her go-to spoken line when she talks. Makes me laugh every time. I still haven't even gotten to the second killing yet since the game keeps freezing on me, but I can definitely already see different dynamics at play that should make the story very interesting.
As for the anime, I'm about half way through it. There are some things that are confusing that I don't really get, but mostly it's good. I also get confused because the anime calls everyone by their last name instead of their first names so it often takes me a minute to realize who they are talking about. I just hope it will eventually explain why Chiaki is a real person in the class when she wasn't real in the second game because that doesn't make sense to me.
@Xyphon22 Miu becomes a lot more tolerable once you realize the profanity and crudeness is simply a way to disguise and compensate for her own lack of self-confidence.
V3 is freezing on you? That's... not ideal. The Vita build ran perfectly. Good thing to keep in mind if I ever want to replay it, I guess. :/
No worries. The anime explains... well, not quite everything, but a lot.
@Ralizah Yeah, I'm playing on Game Pass on PC, and it's really annoying. Neither of the first two games did this. I just have to keep saving every couple of minutes so I don't lose much progress if I have to reset so it could be worse. But, yeah, not ideal and makes me stop playing for awhile sometimes.
I finished Danganronpa IF yesterday and i thought i was super interesting. I liked the interactions and fights Mukuro had with the other characters. I saw there is another novel called Danganronpa Zero. I wonder if it's included in v3 just like IF was included in the second game, that would be amazing. Otherwise i might buy it and read it after i play the third game.
I finished up the second class trial in V3, and I have to say, I was highly disappointed in it. First of all, it might have been the easiest case to figure out in the entire series so far. It was blatantly obvious HOW the crime was committed almost from the start finding the clues, and I even figured out WHO had done it a lot earlier than usual. It's often not until the end of the trial when some new twist pops up that you can figure it out, but I knew the culprit quicker than probably any case since the first one of the first game. Also so much of this case made no sense whatsoever and contradicts itself. But the most disappointing thing of all is that while I said I liked the cast of characters in this game better than in 2, probably my two favorite characters were the victim and the culprit in this case, so now they are both gone already. I am saddened.
Wow i'm hardly at the start of v3 and there's so much new stuff. The UI is different, new mechanics, Gundham's VA sings the Monokubs theme <3 and the new cast is slowly starting to grow on me. Also i wanna adopt Kokichi Oma T_T
@Yannis I didn't realize he was the one doing that song. I often find it offputting and a little annoying that there's a voice that pops up counting numbers while they are talking, but now that I know it's my favorite character from game 2 doing it, that will make it more fun.
@Ralizah I really like him as a character. He comes off as playful and acts childish, but seems like he has a really dark backstory. My favorite in v3 so far though is Korekiyo Shinguji. I love his outfit and his talent is so cool. I could listen to him talk for hours upon hours..I also want a keychain, but the Monokuma one!
Yannis
Switch Friend Code: SW-1329-7751-0704 | Nintendo Network ID: Johnnie
Alright, so I may be jumping the gun here as I just found the third victim and haven't even started the investigation or the trial yet, but I'm again very disappointed at just how blatantly obvious this was. As soon as we discovered the art room and it went into a big description of the two different locks it was obvious that this was going to be the scene of the next crime with a locked room scenario and Angie was likely going to be the victim. After the first case completely turned everything on its head with both the victim and the culprit, it's kind of gone downhill since then. At least the atmosphere and the overall vibe of the game is really good. Maybe the trial will play out better, though. We'll see.
I finally finished up the anime last night. It was pretty good. It was just odd how it both had a few times where it was more grotesque and disturbing than I care for (I guess due to it being in actual motion rather than everyone being cardboard cutouts like in the games) while also having an ending that was far more cheerful and positive than I was expecting for the series. Considering that it seems to be considered canon, though, I am quite intrigued to see where V3 goes as it doesn't seem fit.
Speaking of V3, I have completed the fourth trial. It was easily the best case since the first one, although I still knew who the culprit was since even before it hit the halfway point. I don't know if things really are easier and more obvious in this game, or if after two previous games I just know the way things are going to go at this point. But now that I got the anime out of the way hopefully I can get through this and finally get the whole story.
Hooray! I finally managed to get through all the freezes and lack of time and finish V3. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get through the final post-credits scene because it keeps freezing and you can't save during that part, but I was at least able to just watch it on YouTube. I'll put most of my specific thoughts in spoilers, but now that I've finished the series, I think I would have to put my favorites in the same order that the games are in, with the first being my favorite and this being my least favorite. I think that for those who are pure VN fans then V3 would probably be the best, but I'm not. I've only been able to get into ones with gameplay (like Ace Attorney and 999), and in that aspect this game fell far shorter than the first two after the first trial. As for specifics...
I don't understand why endings like this are still a thing, either where it was all a dream or complete fourth-wall breaking like this. This was perhaps the worst I've ever seen, though, because it ruined not just this game but the entire series. I didn't care for the ending of the second game, but this one made both previous endings completely pointless and doesn't really even make sense. The anime also doesn't make any sense because if it was all fictional backstory then all the stuff before the original cast came to Hope's Peak never actually happened. But it also wasn't a killing game, so it's not like you could just say it was one of the missing 50 seasons. And what happened to the real Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko (and everyone else for that matter) who wanted to be a part of the show? Do they just disappear into the cosmos? And this all just deals with the ending, not even getting back into that the cases themselves I found much easier and more obvious than in the previous two games. No matter how much they tried to make it seem otherwise, it was clear from the start that Kaito killed Kokichi in that case. And for a series focused on brutal murders, the ending of Kiyo's case was by far the most disturbing thing in this series. And so many of them were only solved because of ridiculous decisions that never should have happened. If Kirumi had just killed Ryoma and left him in the bathroom, there would have been absolutely no evidence and we would have just had to guess who the culprit was. It was only by her trying to frame Himiko that she left evidence. And if Kiyo had just not killed Tenko there would have been no evidence that he killed Angie. Then he could have given his sister many more friends than just Tenko. Overall, this game just made much less sense than the previous two.
So those are my thoughts. Haven't played Ultra Despair Girls yet, and don't know if I will unless it gets a really good Steam sale, but I'm glad to have experienced this series, but also glad to finally be done with it, especially since that final game took forever with all the freezing.
@Xyphon22 I see this sort of reaction to the V3 ending a lot, but have never fully understood it. V3 doesn't take place in the same universe as the games or anime to begin with. Danganronpa was always fictional in this timeline. So saying it makes the ending of the previous entries pointless because they never happened... I mean, they're fiction, so they never happened anyway.
DRV3 primarily tackles the theme of truth, as well as its inverse, and comments meaningfully on the nature of fiction, how lies and untruths can have a positive meaning that impacts the real lives, etc. Thematically, it's a far more coherent work than previous games. The twist also allowed the writer to comment on his own discomfort with death game fiction and satirize the tendency for capitalist excess to distort and destroy the meaning of art.
I've actually never been a fan of the first game. DR2 is probably still my favorite, since I love the cast, but I really appreciated the ballsy approach the developer took with the direction of this last entry.
@Ralizah Yes, I understand all of that, and that's my point. Obviously I know these are all video games and hence all fiction, but having the characters within that fiction discover that is old and cheap, in my opinion. I liked the mystery of the ending of the first game and how it could lead to the stories of the next games and made me wonder what the larger picture is. For it to end with there not being a larger picture because it was all fake feels like a cop out. It was Thimbleweed Park all over again. Clearly some people like it, though, because all types of media keep doing it.
As for the themes, I understand, and it's why I feel like for pure VN fans this would probably be the best game. Up until the ending, it was probably my favorite story of the three games including the way the characters interact with one another. I guess I feel like it has the best non-gameplay of the three. But for me, I prefer the gameplay aspects of VNs, and that side of V3 was by the far the worst of the three in my opinion. But to say the ending "ruined" it is an exaggeration. It was still a good game and a good series. I just personally would have preferred an ending that tied everything together rather than blowing it all apart.
@Xyphon22 There is a larger picture, though. DR2 hints at it, and it's more thoroughly explored in Ultra Despair Girls and the DR3 anime (which does, in fact, tie together the events from the first two games, as well as the spinoff). None of this is invalidated by V3, since that takes place in an entirely different universe. The events of the other DR games are still canon within their respective timeline. V3 does nothing to change that.
Out of interest, what aspects of the gameplay did you not care for? It's pretty much on par with the older games, except it also makes use of a lying mechanic (not enough for my liking, but it was interesting, nonetheless), and the arcade games are actually pretty challenging.
And while it's not part of the main campaign, I assume the version you're playing still has the board game/JRPG modes.
@Ralizah I don't see how V3 does not invalidate what came before. If they are all in a different universe, they should not know about the others. The fact that the characters of V3 all know about Hope's Peak and Junko and Makoto and everyone proves they are in the same universe and share a timeline where V3 is the most recent, doesn't it? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm not a "multiple universe" guy. I don't follow the MCU, I hated Bioshock Infinite with its multiple universes, etc. And yes, the anime ties together the first two games well, but if the first two games were pure fiction and their pasts were all character backstory as V3 states, then everything from the Despair Arc of the anime never actually happened (even within the fiction) and was only placed in Hajime and company's heads via Flashback Light or some other source. So I think the anime is invalidated by V3 even more than the first two games.
As for the gameplay, it's not so much the minigames and stuff as it is the cases themselves. They just seemed far more obvious and easier than in the first two games. Other than the first case, I think I knew the culprit of every case before we even hit the intermission, many of them from the start. I agree that the lying mechanic was cool and that I would have liked to have used it more often (and not made it so obvious when I was supposed to use it). I even put both difficulties on the hardest mode which I had not done for either of the previous games, and I still found it easier than them. I did not care for Psyche Taxi, though. I thought the Sonic 2-esque tube run from the second game was better.
And I haven't done any of the extra modes yet, but I plan to. I at least need to try out the board game since there is an expanded version on Switch. Is that Summer Camp or whatever it's called something that is worth it for fans of the series (which I am, I don't want what I'm saying to sound like I don't like it)?
@Xyphon22 I don't mean multiple universes in the MCU sense. They explicitly state in the last trial that Danganronpa branched out from "video games and anime" to becoming so popular that they modeled an IRL (in that universe) reality show death game after it. So the previous games were always just fiction in the universe of V3. Like they're just video games in our universe. DR 1/2/etc. not being canon in V3 doesn't invalidate what happens within the universe of those games anymore than them not being real in our universe invalidates them. What happens within the rest of the Danganronpa franchise, which all shares the same universe, is still canon in its own fictional context.
There is admittedly a bit of implied metacommentary in the way the game deconstructs the thematic context of earlier entries and highlights the creator's concern that his mystery/science-fiction franchise could possibly become little more than a meaningless, never-ending vehicle designed to peddle extreme violence in increasingly outlandish ways, but it all takes place within its own fictional reality as well.
I've also seen fans claim that the bloodthirsty denizens of this universe reflect how the creator feels about his audience, but I believe this is another misinterpretation, because the game's reality isn't meant to be our own. The denizens of the V3 universe are stated to live within an almost utopian civilization free of suffering. The distance this creates from the survival instinct inherent to human beings creates a pent-up demand for extreme content. Thus the explosive popularity of the initial Danganronpa games and anime, to the point where they end up creating a reality show based on it where people actually do sign up to suffer and die in order to entertain the masses
So, I mean, it's true that the previous Danranronpa games aren't real. Neither is V3. They're fiction. But this doesn't make them meaningless. Which goes right back to the themes of the game and how truth and untruth intersect in interesting ways.
As for the post-game modes, I really loved them. They're grindy as hell, but, for me, it was worth seeing characters from the broader franchise all interact in the board game skits. It's like fan-fiction, but from an official source. From what I understand, the Summer Camp game is just an expanded version of that.
@Ralizah Now see, I didn't get that from the final trial. The way I understood it is that the first two games were the first two seasons of this TV show. Danganronpa was never a video game or an anime in that world. . But either way, I still don't understand what happened to the real Shuichi, Maki, Himiko, and the others. If they really joined this reality TV show like contestants on Survivor, then how are they fictional? But if they were just used as models for these fictional characters, then where are the real people? Are they saying that "Ultimate Detective Shuichi" is fictional but the physical person of Shuichi is real, he's just been brainwashed by a Flashback Light and so can never become normal everyday Shuichi again? But if it's just a TV show in a normal world and not the sadistic workings of an evil megacorporation as we were led to believe in the first two games, then how is that kind of sci-fi technology real and possible? And even if they were big fans of this TV show, why would they volunteer to go on it knowing that the only conclusion is to be trapped on the show until you're killed? The three survivors at the end question this, too, and an answer is never given. But I digress. It is just a video game series after all. I'm not going to get caught up in it. I enjoyed it, I'm just saying I didn't care for the ending.
@Xyphon22Yeah, it literally says in the final trial that it became the reality show after "transcending games and anime." The Danganronpa games and anime were all still games and anime in that universe.
Anyway, yeah, they explain in the final trial how the personalities of the characters are actually implanted in real people. People audition for the show and have their real personalities erased if/when they make the cut. This is brought up when one of the characters talks about going back to their real home, and Tsumugi/Monokuma point out that, because the person they were before is gone, there is no 'home' for them to return to. The utopian peacefulness of the outside world in the V3 universe has apparently led to a lot of boredom, and the elicit thrills of the Danganronpa death game are used as a way to sate this boredom in the population. Even if it sounds bizarre to you that people would sign up for this willingly, it wouldn't surprise me one bit. Doing stupid stuff for attention which leads to injury and death happens today, in our extremely imperfect world, all the time. These people in the V3 universe have the opportunity to become the stars in the world's most popular program.
As to the technology, keep in mind the details of the society are kept deliberately vague. It seems highly likely that the V3 universe is one far more technologically advanced than our own. This is also implied by its utopian nature.
@Ralizah OK, I see where it says they "transcended games and anime," but literally the very previous line says, "Starting with the Hope's Peak Academy arc in Danganronpa 1, 2, then 3 the seasons just kept coming." So, which are they, seasons or games and anime? Even the writers don't seem to know. Which is more evidence for my belief that the game creators painted themselves into a corner and so came up with a cop out answer. After the ending of DR 2 (which I already felt was a minor cop out with its "It's all a simulation" ending) and especially the anime which tied things up nicely with a remarkably happy ending for the series, I wondered how the meteorites and everything were going to fit. Was the world really finally going to rid themselves of the Remnants of Despair and all the war they caused just to get hit by a freak natural disaster from space? Nope! All fake! And the ending was part of the reason the first was my favorite game. Was Junko lying and the world is fine? Or was she telling the truth and the world is a ruined warzone? The six survivors open the door and...we don't know. It's a mystery. Then in game 2 we discover she was telling the truth, the survivors opened the door and found a ruined warzone but also found a way to work through it and try save the world. But then in game 3 we discover that when they opened the door at the end of game 1, what they actually found was...the end credits for the TV show/game/whatever it might be. I'm sorry, I think that's dumb.
But I don't care if you like the metacommentary of it and see some deeper meaning. Others are more than welcome to love the ending, I'm glad if you do. I didn't like it. Even if it wasn't a cop out and was entirely designed from the very beginning of game 1, I still don't like the decision. And there are many other issues I have that don't make any sense, with the ending and otherwise, but I'm ready to move on. I'm definitely looking forward to Rain Code now, which I think will be more up my alley since JRPGs are my favorite genre.
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