It’s Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, and this time it’s on a tropical island. Now, being a sort of anime-ish game, you’d think that means the variously endowed female cast taking their turns to show up in swimsuits in a somewhat desperate parade of fanservice, and you’d be right! Danganronpa 2 in no way subverts this expectation, and that’s pretty much symptomatic of its approach to following up the classic original.
Don’t take that as an abrupt write-off, though. We know what we’re getting into with this series, and that’s no small amount of sleaze. Indeed, Goodbye Despair is even grosser and slimier than the first game, which is an achievement of sorts. The murders are more brutal, the solutions more convoluted and the cast of characters even more vulgar and over-the-top. It's all that a fan could ever want, really — so why do we not like it quite as much as the first game?
Well, it's a question of familiarity, to some extent. As good as Danganronpa 2 is, it can't really help but hit similar beats to its illustrious forebear. There's also less of a curve here — not so much in the difficulty, but in the way it eases you into its story. Goodbye Despair essentially takes a look at how Trigger Happy Havoc went up to 11, starts from that intensity and never really falters. It's carnage from start to finish. And it's very good carnage, but sometimes it all feels like it's just a little bit much.
The students would likely agree. What was supposed to be a Hope's Peak school trip for new protagonist Hajime Hinata has turned into a nightmare as Monokuma resurfaces and begins a second Killing Game. Thankfully — and unfortunately, given (SPOILERS!) you're going to watch most of them die — the new cast of students are as charismatic, interesting, hilarious and downright entertaining as the first game's, and all brand new besides just one returning character in a different, portlier guise. Once again you'll be fraternising with peers and drying your tears as they drop like flies thanks to the Killing Game.
Exploring your prison, Jabberwock Island, is a little more tedious than Hope's Peak Academy, too. Rather than rely on the full 3D maps, here you mostly run around on a 2D plane from left to right across each of the various peninsulas you'll visit. Fast travel returns, yes, but travelling by foot is incentivised by the new virtual pet style minigame that sees your little chibimi gain XP with each step you take. The rewards for raising these pets aren't, in our view, useful enough to make them worth the repetition of checking in on them, but it's a shame to have a new feature in this sequel that we simply suggest you ignore. It's a bit like how you always switch off Tails whenever you play Sonic the Hedgehog 2. You... do switch off Tails, right?
The Class Trials return, of course, and unfortunately so does the Hangman's Gambit, even more obtuse, tedious and frustrating than before in its new incarnation. Thankfully, though, things have been amped up with the new Rebuttal Showdown mechanic which sees you using the analogue stick to quite literally slice your opponent's argument to pieces before going for the cold deathblow of pure logic.
There's another new minigame that feels like a clone of old Flash game Seconds of Madness; you're careening down what can only be described as a snowboard slope of the mind and must steer your board and body into the answers to logical questions as they fly up on the screen. 1080° Snowboarding was never like this.
Within the debates themselves, the new feature is the ability to corroborate another student's statement with your Truth Bullets, adding a layer of further complexity (and therefore critical thinking) to the proceedings. And it's a good thing, because Danganronpa 2 is longer and harder than the original, running to roughly 30 hours on a typical playthrough. There's more to do post-game as well, with more interesting, better unlockables than those on offer in Trigger Happy Havoc.
Of course the game once again looks superb, bringing back the stylised visuals and another stunning soundtrack to boot. If anything can be criticised, the Jabberwock Island location simply isn't as atmospheric and creepy as Hope's Peak high school, but there are plenty of spooky vibes nonetheless and the story's dramatic twists and turns will once again draw you in.
Conclusion
Even sicker and more delightfully disturbing than the marvellous original, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair doesn't match its predecessor in some ways but makes up for its shortcomings in others. Once again we'd argue that the journey is better than the destination — we thought the first game's ending was nearly incomprehensible rubbish and this one is even worse. But it's absolutely a journey well worth taking, as the brilliant cast and smart murder mystery gameplay once again sucked us in and didn't let go. An aesthetic and narrative treat, Danganronpa 2 is an easy recommendation and we're delighted it's finally made the leap to Switch.
Comments 14
Never...EVER switch off Tails.
2 and 3 are so much better than 1 which I found to be extremely claustrophobic. Navigating the island is far more intuitive and enjoyable than the first game.
When Nagito on the Switch becomes reality.
That aside, Goodbye Despair will always be my favourite Danganronpa. Love that the Anniversary Edition content is included.
Best cast in the entire series. Absolutely love this game to death. It's one of those rare sequels that improves on the original in nearly every way.
Again, not really understanding the cons here. I'm beginning to think these kind of games simply may not be the reviewers cup of tea but that's fine. No disrespect.
Danganronpa 2 has the best characters, music, story and gameplay out of them all and it's very easily what I would consider to be the best Visual Novel ever made and I'm an avid enjoyer of the game genre.
After this, the series would go on to release Ultra Despair Girls and the Danganronpa 3 anime which are also awesome before becoming a complete joke with V3 but that doesn't stop Danganronpa 2 completely blowing the likes of the Zero Escape Trilogy and Ace Attorney out of the water.
Danganronpa 2 is the 10/10 masterpiece of the Visual Novel genre of video games!
@Ralizah
Very well said!
@Aya-chan Besides the cast, expanded trial mechanics, and larger OST, what really brings this one home for me is the way it expands on the worldbuilding of the original. The first game does a decent job of introducing the premise and basic mechanics of the series, but it very much leaves everything outside of the central conflict something of a mystery. DR2 really expands on the original and gives one a sense of what the wider Danganronpa universe is like post-Tragedy. And this is also decently expanded upon in Ultra Despair Girls, so it's a little annoying that the spinoff isn't here.
I also feel like DR2 fully nailed the unique tone of this series with its mixture of fanservice, apocalyptic horror, dark humor, and zany violence.
Still not getting the Hangman’s Gambit complaint that it’s worth noting as a con.
@Aya-chan I love these games, that's why I wanted to review them. Poured hours into them, read the various manga, watched all the anime, even have perler bead sprites from the game on my walls
I've just got to be honest in what I see as the shortcomings. Surely you don't think two 8s and a 9 are low scores?
@StuartGipp
Not at all, 8 and 9 are amazing. I do think 5/10 reviews should be seen as average.
Sorry I made an assumption on your character. It's always great to hear there's Danganronpa fans out there and your opinion is more constructive and well thought than my own.
I mean hey, you review games for a living. I massively respect that, I'm just an idiot on the Internet. Sorry if I came across as rude. Much respect to you, dude!
@Ralizah
This. So much. I love how 2 toyed with my knowledge of the first game and took things to another level.
@Aya-chan Didn't take any offence. Keep the comments coming
@Bass_X0 I really needed that claustrofobic feel for the suspense. Now I'm wondering if there aren't any boats, or planes that can help! (There's sure to be a plottwist to explain why there isn't. )
The only downside so far: it took a loooooong time before the first body dropped. Seriously, we know what's going to happen just get on with it! 😂😅
I'm starting back up again tomorrow, the first victim was such a shock, I need to know how and especially Why they killed him!
Any performance issues or no?
Tap here to load 14 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...