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New Danganronpa V3 Spoiler Thread

Trigger

Member
Do we really need to use spoiler tags anymore?

Yeah, It's my understanding that she was chosen to be the mastermind. Still that would give her access to stuff the other students wouldn't get.
 

GSR

Member
yo what the fuck was this game

Y'all look like you were having some kind of a time getting by on leaks/partial livestreams, lol
 

UberTag

Member
Welcome to the other side, GSR.
Glad to have more people on board with Chapter 3 being the weakest of the lot.
 

GSR

Member
Chapter 3 suuuuuuucked (relatively speaking.) The second death scene was pretty hype but the trial was boring and the culprit was pretty much dancing with a big sign saying "IT WAS ME".

Funnily enough, after he denied Angie's murder I thought Shirogane did it. I kept expecting Shirogane to be the culprit sooner or later. I guess in the end I was right sooner than I even realized, lmao.
 
I'm still bummed about Kaede but man... I'm absolutely convinced that Kodaka is a master class VN writer. Like damn, mad respect to him. All of that obnoxious recycling of tropes was intentional. This game is 100% antithetical to DR3 and amazing for it.

V3 obliterates ZTD and AA6 tbh. DanganRonpa is hands down the best of the 3 big VN series.

Kodaka a master class writer?

pbjXhij.jpg
 

PK Gaming

Member
Kodaka a master class writer?

pbjXhij.jpg

Ps7u1ta.png


I did say VN writer, did I not? It's not like the bar is particularly high, and Kodaka clearly ranks among the best in that regard. You know, I was thinking about throwing a snide remark about ZTD, but ZTD kind of embarrasses itself so it's pointless.
 
In the context of ZTD shitting the bed, then yes.

Ps7u1ta.png


I did say VN writer, did I not? It's not like the bar is particularly high, and Kodaka clearly ranks among the best in that regard. You know, I was thinking about throwing a snide remark about ZTD, but ZTD kind of embarrasses itself so it's pointless.

So ZTD "shitting the bed" magically makes Kodaka a master class VN writer? LOL. The fact that you both even mentioned ZTD says it all really.

The whole high school students theme for Danganronpa is fitting considering Kodaka has the writing skills on par with one. A master class VN writer? Please.
 

PK Gaming

Member
So ZTD "shitting the bed" magically makes Kodaka a master class VN writer? LOL. The fact that you both even mentioned ZTD says it all really.

The whole high school students theme for Danganronpa is fitting considering Kodaka has the writing skills on par with one. A master class VN writer? Please.

Woah, let's not put words in my mouth. I don't even think ZTD shit the bed (we posted in the same OT, remember!), I was just being snarky with my response. But yeah, I genuinely think his VN writing skills are amazing. Clearly we disagree, and that's fine but RELAX.
 
Sorry for the bump but the demo thread made me curious. Considering how people are really paying attention to how female characters are treated these days, do you think we could expect any controversy from this game.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Sorry for the bump but the demo thread made me curious. Considering how people are really paying attention to how female characters are treated these days, do you think we could expect any controversy from this game.

People are gonna lose their absolute shit over Kaede alone.

9PNn2tZ.png


I can't wait, tbh.
 
I'm just wondering if Danganronpa is niche enough to escape any mainstream controversy. Like could you imagine the shitstorm if The Last of Us Part 2 pulled something like this?
From a purely mainstream perspective, yeah, it's niche. From a general game enthusiast's perspective I'd say enough people know about the series.

I'd say Ace Attorney, Zero Escape and Danganronpa are the most well known VN series.
 

daevious

Member
People are gonna lose their absolute shit over Kaede alone.

9PNn2tZ.png


I can't wait, tbh.

Hell, check the first page of this thread.
Everyone was already set to riot over Kaede's death and there are still people really bitter over that bait-and-switch.

That being said, how this game treats Monophanie will be a way bigger shit-storm than any hand-wringing over Kaede.
 
Hell, check the first page of this thread.
Everyone was already set to riot over Kaede's death and there are still people really bitter over that bait-and-switch.

That being said, how this game treats Monophanie will be a way bigger shit-storm than any hand-wringing over Kaede.

Would you mind elaborating? I've mainly only gotten the big stuff spoiled so I'm curious?
 

Linkura

Member
So I'm reading the wiki for this and I'm kind of confused.

The wiki says the first two games were
literally just videogames. "Tsumugi also revealed that everything that took place in the Hope's Peak Academy Saga were nothing more than fictional events from a very popular anime and game franchise known as Danganronpa."
But this thread is saying they were
the first two TV show seasons.

My question is....

200.gif
 

Puruzi

Banned
So I'm reading the wiki for this and I'm kind of confused.

The wiki says the first two games were
literally just videogames. "Tsumugi also revealed that everything that took place in the Hope's Peak Academy Saga were nothing more than fictional events from a very popular anime and game franchise known as Danganronpa."
But this thread is saying they were
the first two TV show seasons.

My question is....

200.gif
It's TV.
 

GoldStarz

Member
Thank you.

Actually, either interpretation is correct, it's not made clear by the text.

Would you mind elaborating? I've mainly only gotten the big stuff spoiled so I'm curious?

In Chapter 4, Monotaro gets amnesia and thinks Monophanie is his wife and acts as an abusive husband. She also 'gets pregnant' with a giant insect that kills her Alien-style in that chapter's execution.
 

Linkura

Member
Actually, either interpretation is correct, it's not made clear by the text.

giphy.gif


In Chapter 4, Monotaro gets amnesia and thinks Monophanie is his wife and acts as an abusive husband. She also 'gets pregnant' with a giant insect that kills her Alien-style in that chapter's execution.

giphy.gif


Ok... glad I decided against picking this up. I could tell this one was a bit more off the wall than even the previous games in the series from the demo. Turns out I'm right.
 
Actually, either interpretation is correct, it's not made clear by the text.



In Chapter 4, Monotaro gets amnesia and thinks Monophanie is his wife and acts as an abusive husband. She also 'gets pregnant' with a giant insect that kills her Alien-style in that chapter's execution.

While that's pretty bad I still feal that promising to have a strong female lead only to switch it out for another milquetoast generic dude is probably going to rub more people the wrong way. Like it's combining the Raiden switch and woman in refrigerator all in one.
 

GoldStarz

Member
While that's pretty bad I still feal that promising to have a strong female lead only to switch it out for another milquetoast generic dude is probably going to rub more people the wrong way. Like it's combining the Raiden switch and woman in refrigerator all in one.

Oh yeah, I agree, I was just saying what Monophanie's deal was, I don't agree that it will cause a bigger shit that Kaede's bait-and-switch, especially with the later details from Chapter 6 that make it even worse. Honestly, between the First and Sixth chapters, I wonder if Kodaka was trying to get everyone burnt out on DanganRonpa. Those chapters are definitely the ones that will make or break whether you like the game, in my opinion.

I'm honestly still not sure if I'm going to get the game. The chapter 1 twist really soured my opinion on it. Like I was actually going to buy the PS4 ports of all the games, then I saw that and it just about killed my interest in this franchise. I say this as someone who actually didn't mind the 3 anime for the most part.

If you're feeling burnt out by Chapter 1, you should probably skip it, it just gets more controversial from there.
 
Even though I fucking love this game, this game is going to be a thing, thats for sure.

I'm honestly still not sure if I'm going to get the game. The chapter 1 twist really soured my opinion on it. Like I was actually going to buy the PS4 ports of all the games, then I saw that and it just about killed my interest in this franchise. I say this as someone who actually didn't mind the 3 anime for the most part.
 

Alec

Member
I'm under the impression that anything involving the DR 1 and 2 cast are "fictional". So DR1, 2, UDG and the anime aren't "real". So DR4 would be the first season of the reality TV show.
 

UberTag

Member
While that's pretty bad I still feal that promising to have a strong female lead only to switch it out for another milquetoast generic dude is probably going to rub more people the wrong way. Like it's combining the Raiden switch and woman in refrigerator all in one.
Both the OT thread reactions and Twitch stream fallout from Chapter 1 is going to be delicious.
Although I think the bait and switch may have gone over better had it been done in a later chapter of the game so fans didn't feel completely shafted by the trial's outcome.

Why are we spoiler tagging things in the spoiler thread again?
 

GoldStarz

Member
I'm under the impression that anything involving the DR 1 and 2 cast are "fictional". So DR1, 2, UDG and the anime aren't "real". So DR4 would be the first season of the reality TV show.

Probably not,
Tsumugi outright says she's only cosplaying as HPA saga characters because that's the universe they're 'in' for that season (mostly as a save for why she doesn't cosplay as new characters, although that still doesn't explain why any DR3 characters never show up). Also, Saihara's case files are past DanganRonpa cases and the shift from illustrations to actual pictures is gradual, meaning there are at least a couple more 'completely fictional' DRs.
 
Both the OT thread reactions and Twitch stream fallout from Chapter 1 is going to be delicious.
Although I think the bait and switch may have gone over better had it been done in a later chapter of the game so fans didn't feel completely shafted by the trial's outcome.

Why are we spoiler tagging things in the spoiler thread again?

I just wanted to be careful in case someone clicked on this thinking it was the demo thread by accident.
 
Probably not,
Tsumugi outright says she's only cosplaying as HPA saga characters because that's the universe they're 'in' for that season (mostly as a save for why she doesn't cosplay as new characters, although that still doesn't explain why any DR3 characters never show up). Also, Saihara's case files are past DanganRonpa cases and the shift from illustrations to actual pictures is gradual, meaning there are at least a couple more 'completely fictional' DRs.

The real reason that DR3 characters did not show up was budget. Kodaka stated that he really did intend for DR3 characters to also show up in the Chapter 6 trial, but just getting the DR1 and 2 voices back made the budget really high, plus having to create all new art assets for all the DR3 characters made him decide to not do it in the end.
 

GoldStarz

Member
The real reason that DR3 characters did not show up was budget. Kodaka stated that he really did intend for DR3 characters to also show up in the Chapter 6 trial, but just getting the DR1 and 2 voices back made the budget really high, plus having to create all new art assets for all the DR3 characters made him decide to not do it in the end.

I know the actual reason, I'm saying there's no in-universe reason
 

PK Gaming

Member
I'm honestly still not sure if I'm going to get the game. The chapter 1 twist really soured my opinion on it. Like I was actually going to buy the PS4 ports of all the games, then I saw that and it just about killed my interest in this franchise. I say this as someone who actually didn't mind the 3 anime for the most part.

If you didn't mind the anime then you better reconsider getting it because it's 67x better. Especially the final case, which has an emotional component that matches if not arguably eclipses DR2's final.

And tbh Shuichi > Kaede, though I would much, much rather have her as the main protag.
 

Puruzi

Banned
Yeah I mean the only thing Kaede has going for her is that she's a girl. Shuichi is better than her.

Anyway don't skip this game for something like that, it's probably the best DR game
 

PK Gaming

Member
Yeah I mean the only thing Kaede has going for her is that she's a girl. Shuichi is better than her.

Anyway don't skip this game for something like that, it's probably the best DR game

Kodaka probably should have just been upfront about it, or make Kaito the decoy. Shuichi is going to get fucking trashed by the western fanbase and it's legit sad

:(
 
Yeah sorry but I feel they topped it with Hajime. Maybe there's more to it but nothing I've read about this guy has me remotely interested in finding out more about him. Combine that with the cheap shock value and getting rid of a female protagonist for another plain dude. It just really killed my hype for this game.

Like the TV twist that seemed to split the fandom? Didn't bother me in the slightest. But the thing with Kaede just really rubs me the wrong way. Like I doubt they had any malicious intent beyond trolling the fanbase but I don't think they realize how killing off a female lead to motivate a dude comes off as. Never mind the fact they've done that TWICE already.
 

Linkura

Member
Some of the posts in the demo thread are pretty hilarious knowing the spoilers. Some major salt is going to be had in about a month.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Yeah sorry but I feel they topped it with Hajime. Maybe there's more to it but nothing I've read about this guy has me remotely interested in finding out more about him. Combine that with the cheap shock value and getting rid of a female protagonist for another plain dude. It just really killed my hype for this game.

Like the TV twist that seemed to split the fandom? Didn't bother me in the slightest. But the thing with Kaede just really rubs me the wrong way. Like I doubt they had any malicious intent beyond trolling the fanbase but I don't think they realize how killing off a female lead to motivate a dude comes off as. Never mind the fact they've done that TWICE already.

Hajime's character lives and dies on his "reveal" and Shuichi's very much the same way. You're not going to get much out of "Ultimate Detective who lacks confidence" until the game peels that away, and when it finally happens, the truth behind him legitimately hits hard. I'm not going to defend Kodaka on the set up though, and my post from page 1 still holds true:

Re: Kaede as the main protagonist

YSNhsHZ.jpg

But that doesn't mean Shuichi sucks or the game isn't worth playing. As an aside, it's amusing how Japan didn't really react too harshly to the Kaede twist (I mean I know why), but i'm also positive it's going to blow up in the west and I just can't wait.
 
What exactly do you find makes him interesting? Because if it's the
he volunteered for it twist
I don't really feel it's that compelling especially compared to the similar twist in 1 and 2.

I think that maybe the crux of it. I'm getting tired of the repeating story beats mixed in with the bitter taste from the Kaede twist.

Like I admit I haven't watched the full game and I'm just going through second hand information. Maybe if I play the full game I'll actually love it. But I can't find the motivation to want to play it. I spoiled 1 and 2 before playing them as well and had no problem getting through them. This one, I just don't know.
 

PK Gaming

Member
What exactly do you find makes him interesting? Because if it's the
he volunteered for it twist
I don't really feel it's that compelling especially compared to the similar twist in 1 and 2.

I think that maybe the crux of it. I'm getting tired of the repeating story beats mixed in with the bitter taste from the Kaede twist.

Like I admit I haven't watched the full game and I'm just going through second hand information. Maybe if I play the full game I'll actually love it. But I can't find the motivation to want to play it. I spoiled 1 and 2 before playing them as well and had no problem getting through them. This one, I just don't know.

There's a big difference between reading about a character and experiencing them. Consider the following:

A talent-less boy who adores Hopes Peak manages to get in as a Reserve student. He consents to being experimented on and turns into Izuru, and helps usher in the end of the world.

I just described Hajime's arc in an incredibly reductive way, but none of what I said properly conveyed how significant it was in practice. I totally glossed over the trials, character dynamics and general nuance that made up his character. It's the same with Shuichi; he's
a loser kid who's life ends up being defined by DanganRonpa, and effectively throws his life away for it and suffers for it bigtime.
That's the surface of it, but there's so much more than that, and you can only get a good read on it by playing through the game.
 

Puruzi

Banned
Well if you're so mad about Kaede then just don't play the game I guess. Doesn't seem like anyone is going to convince you otherwise
 
As an aside I wish they let you play a shortened Prison Mode as Kaede cuz she has her own short 2 scene long FTE's to complete and you have to repeatedly play Chapter 1 to do them all
 

GSR

Member
It's been a while since I played, but doesn't the ending imply the students might not actually have volunteered, and the videos of them doing so might have been faked/caused by brainwashing? I could be misremembering, though.

Anyway, DRV3 is a game I have a lot of mixed feelings about. Putting aside the ridiculous fanservice, the Monophanie stuff, Kaede's death in the greater context of fridging female characters - all of which annoys the hell out of me, to be clear - what it boils down to is that DRV3 is a game that I enjoyed playing, and which I can pick apart the story structure and feel it's well structured, but which has an overall plot that I just don't enjoy at all.

Like, let's talk about Kaede and Shuuichi. For the story Kodaka wants to tell, these two are very well done. Kaede is presented as the kind of character fans have been clamoring for for a long time - optimistic, a leader rather than a follower, with a focus on the big picture from the get-go and a willingness to do whatever it takes to solve things. So... when you put someone like that in this situation, they're going to turn to murder. Then the perspective bumps over to the much more typical Shuuichi, who we get to watch grow over the course of the game... only for the end of the game to reveal that that character arc is intentional in-universe as well. Everything about these two builds to support the game's ending reveal and the big idea of doing self-reflexive critique of the series.

But that doesn't mean I have to like it, you know? Just because these two fit the story they're in doesn't mean that story is actually worth telling. Kodaka basically pulls out all the meta stops at the end, but in doing so he tosses out an actually interesting protagonist and gives us a retreaded arc in Shuuichi. Even if I like Shuuichi (I do) and even knowing how it ties into the game's bigger ideas, I'd still rather have Kaede as the lead and follow wherever that story goes instead.

Similarly, the ending is a lot of fun to play through - you can see my brain melting post-by-post in the import thread - but when all is said and done it feels hollow. Kodaka goes full meta, but the point of the meta is basically "unnecessary sequels are bad". I'm sure he feels that way, and I'm not knocking his choice to make a story around that idea, but it also feels kind of obvious? Like if you're gonna do meta in a series, that's like meta 101. So I was going through chapter 6, enjoying the line-to-line writing and the use of the medium to tell the story, but also thinking "man, this really is a nothingburger of a plot."
 
Well if you're so mad about Kaede then just don't play the game I guess. Doesn't seem like anyone is going to convince you otherwise

Ehh I'm not trying to be a downer but I just got this account a few weeks ago so I guess I'm venting for the first time.

Like I loved this series and I'll probably crack and play this. But I can't help but wonder if there's merit to theory that the creators are just trying to piss people off.

I do agree that no matter how well the story is handled Saihara is going to be shredded by the western fanbase. You get the usual rage from replacing a confident character with an indecisive one.(I say as a fan of both Raiden and Nero.) Combine that with people who will be upset with the blatant fridging and that is not a pretty picture.
 

UberTag

Member
Part of me thinks that Kodaka should have pulled a Persona 3 Portable and had Kaede available as a protagonist that didn't get offed in Chapter 1 via a second playthrough that boasted some similiarities but had enough unique content to justify playing through the game twice. Have Shuichi wind up as Chapter 1's victim instead.

If he felt really ambitious he could have incorporated twists to the murders in subsequent chapters that subverted expectations based on their original outcomes only to result in different victims/murderers in Kaede's playthough and then have the two endings tie into one another in some fashion (via alternate universe shenanigans). Perhaps have only one character wind up surviving to the end in both playthroughs and make them the ultimate mastermind... might have wound up faring better over the long run than simply having Tsumugi roleplay as the entire cast of DR1 and DR2.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Similarly, the ending is a lot of fun to play through - you can see my brain melting post-by-post in the import thread - but when all is said and done it feels hollow. Kodaka goes full meta, but the point of the meta is basically "unnecessary sequels are bad". I'm sure he feels that way, and I'm not knocking his choice to make a story around that idea, but it also feels kind of obvious? Like if you're gonna do meta in a series, that's like meta 101. So I was going through chapter 6, enjoying the line-to-line writing and the use of the medium to tell the story, but also thinking "man, this really is a nothingburger of a plot."

While I agree with the majority of your post, I don't agree with this particularly assessment. DRv3's take isn't "unnecessary sequels are bad", it's the lampooning of the concept of sequels in general. The 6th chapter reads more like: "how fucking wild would it be if DR was fictional in-universe, and the characters in the game enjoyed it the same way that we did." They even explicitly say this in an interview, making the case that they wanted the player to be on the same level as the protagonist's. Then there's "fictional vs real" dichotomy, which is clearly there for the passionate fans who fervently believe everything wasn't fictional.

I mean one of the DR sequel logo's literally riffs on FF7... You can't tell something like that is saying that unnecessary sequels are bad, especially since so much effort was put into actually making the game. It's a game that so obviously loves the fact that it's a game, and very much made as the "last" DanganRonpa game in mind.

Calling it a nothingburger of a plot is massively selling it short, imo.

Part of me thinks that Kodaka should have pulled a Persona 3 Portable and had Kaede available as a protagonist that didn't get offed in Chapter 1 via a second playthrough that boasted some similiarities but had enough unique content to justify playing through the game twice. Have Shuichi wind up as Chapter 1's victim instead.

If he felt really ambitious he could have incorporated twists to the murders in subsequent chapters that subverted expectations based on their original outcomes only to result in different victims/murderers in Kaede's playthough and then have the two endings tie into one another in some fashion (via alternate universe shenanigans). Perhaps have only one character wind up surviving to the end in both playthroughs and make them the ultimate mastermind... might have wound up faring better over the long run than simply having Tsumugi roleplay as the entire cast of DR1 and DR2.

XO3HQVt.jpg


That would have been really cool, yeah. An unbelievable amount of effort, though.
 
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