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[Star Orpheus]

I don't even have some sweeping reasoning. I just lost interest in this series after DR3 being the biggest turd and only was interested in v3 because Female lead. Fully seeing the twist coming a mile away I read spoilers before making a purchase (way back at JP release) glad I did. Game could absolutely be amazing, but at this point its just not a game I want to play.

Just chiming in since I've been still following along with the thread due to curiosity.

This was my biggest concern. I knew there would be people who wanted this game purely because it supposedly had a female lead and they'd be duped into buying it. It's why I can't enjoy people's shocked reactions like some others are because people are going to be not just surprised but genuinely upset.

 

[Royal_Phalanx]

I am briefly jumping on into enemy spoiler territory to give my opinion on Kaede and how they handled her.

A female protagonist was not my reason to buy this game. I wouldn't have cared if the protagonist was marketed to be just another generic VN protagonist dude. When I found out about a girl being the lead I was more interested in V3 because I thought it was something cool, new and interesting. So, having them switch to generic bro Shuichi as our 2nd lead was a massive kick in the balls because having just another unconfident,awkward dude felt so...utterly dull.

I might end up liking him if he's so good. I'll probably love the game regardless. My reaction is more disappointment than anything. But I'll also probably have this inescapable feeling of 'I wish I was still in Kaede's shoes' throughout. The dev's statements that they began to care a lot about her and how they consider her 1 of 2 protagonists doesn't make me feel better. I'm looking at this from a Western European resident's mindset (and in the mindset of the West in general) of female protagonists being something cool, interesting and something to be applauded here. With that mindset ingrained in me from recent new releases of games and movies of course there will be disappointment from us. Be glad that we care so much about the writing of this game and the characters the writer has created.

Having said that some of the best characters in DR have been girls. Kyoko and Junko for example. I love our queen of despair Junko. It's not like Kodaka hates strong female characters or something.

 

[Star Orpheus]

I can only imagine the shitstorm if a western dev did something like this.


Can you imagine the amount of articles that would be made if NaughtyDog did something like this in The Last of Us Part II?

 

[Royal_Phalanx]

I really wanna post this Junko sprite in response to our Kaede despair but I feel like some newcomers to Danganronpa curious about buying all the games don't know who Junko is.

Piano girl is too good for this despair filled world

 

[AniHawk]

I can only imagine the shitstorm if a western dev did something like this.


Can you imagine the amount of articles that would be made if NaughtyDog did something like this in The Last of Us Part II?

it wouldn't be too surprising given what the last of us started off as, with all the monsters literally all women when the game was originally called 'mankind'

 

[ULTROS!]

I did a quick rundown on the trophies. Looks like getting the platinum is going to be a pain, namely:

- You have to play the dungeon RPG game and play all the characters, I guess this also includes the rest of the cast of DR1 and DR2.
- You have to beat the casino mini games at mean levels and they are t o u g h.

 

[InternHertz]

I did a quick rundown on the trophies. Looks like getting the platinum is going to be a pain, namely:

- You have to play the dungeon RPG game and play all the characters, I guess this also includes the rest of the cast of DR1 and DR2.
- You have to beat the casino mini games at mean levels and they are t o u g h.

That's why I still don't have it even though I play the game since January
I did the story and tried to go into the extra content, I didn't last long... :/

I loved the extra minigames in DR1 and 2, but in this one, this is way too much
And I still would like the platinum...but damn...

 

[RRockman]

I am briefly jumping on into enemy spoiler territory to give my opinion on Kaede and how they handled her.

A female protagonist was not my reason to buy this game. I wouldn't have cared if the protagonist was marketed to be just another generic VN protagonist dude. When I found out about a girl being the lead I was more interested in V3 because I thought it was something cool, new and interesting. So, having them switch to generic bro Shuichi as our 2nd lead was a massive kick in the balls because having just another unconfident,awkward dude felt so...utterly dull.

I might end up liking him if he's so good. I'll probably love the game regardless. My reaction is more disappointment than anything. But I'll also probably have this inescapable feeling of 'I wish I was still in Kaede's shoes' throughout. The dev's statements that they began to care a lot about her and how they consider her 1 of 2 protagonists doesn't make me feel better. I'm looking at this from a Western European resident's mindset (and in the mindset of the West in general) of female protagonists being something cool, interesting and something to be applauded here. With that mindset ingrained in me from recent new releases of games and movies of course there will be disappointment from us. Be glad that we care so much about the writing of this game and the characters the writer has created.

Having said that some of the best characters in DR have been girls. Kyoko and Junko for example. I love our queen of despair Junko. It's not like Kodaka hates strong female characters or something.

Dude, thanks for sharing but like get out, and don't look at my post history at all. You were like less than a page from ruining EVERYTHING for yourself XD. I just got done posting about her death with respect to DR as a whole. Got me seriously considering spoiler tagging my post now, lol.

But if you are still here I want to let you know that I agree that it was dissapointing, and I do wonder what the game would be like if Kaede was be the lead, from time to time too.

 

[Brazil]

I did a quick rundown on the trophies. Looks like getting the platinum is going to be a pain, namely:

- You have to play the dungeon RPG game and play all the characters, I guess this also includes the rest of the cast of DR1 and DR2.
- You have to beat the casino mini games at mean levels and they are t o u g h.

The RPG mode is complete garbage. I just can't picture myself going through that slog.

 

[RRockman]

The RPG mode is complete garbage. I just can't picture myself going through that slog.

Seriously? I was really looking forward it...

 

[ULTROS!]

Seriously? I was really looking forward it...

If you want to get the platinum, you have to play through all 47 characters (including the ones from DR1 and DR2) and level them up.

That's why I still don't have it even though I play the game since January
I did the story and tried to go into the extra content, I didn't last long... :/

I loved the extra minigames in DR1 and 2, but in this one, this is way too much
And I still would like the platinum...but damn...

I'm probably going to skip getting the platinum here and go for Ys VIII's instead.

 

[Gradon]

So after that ending, do you people see the series continuing?

A few of my friends feel it's over but I feel it's just given the series endless possibilities for any kind of story now.

 

[Puruzi]

I can see this being the ending but I don't really want it to be. It could be a good one but i like the series and would always be down for more. Also they set up some potential bigger bads for this saga of DR provided it does become a saga, so more cool things could be done.

 

[RRockman]

So after that ending, do you people see the series continuing?

A few of my friends feel it's over but I feel it's just given the series endless possibilities for any kind of story now.

I think it's done too. Somehow, I got the feeling Kodaka was pissed when he was writing this one Lol. I think he should work on something else now without the baggage of this series. Maybe someone else could continue it, but it probably wouldn't feel like danganronpa at all.

 

[ULTROS!]

Maybe he can do a collaboration game instead. Same gameplay and style, different world and cast.

Like... Danganronpa Persona.

Imagine the victim being Chie and finding out Makoto is the murderer.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

ok, i didn't read the thread.... but i've got spoiled about a huge thing on youtube... and i only finished chapter 1...

was just going around wanting to watch the nail scene since i missed it, when i stumble upon a title in CAPS, just under the video i was searching for, that reveal something really important, i'm pissed off, don't read if you haven't finished the game since i don't know when i take place :

Spoiler

RANTARO AMAMI's EXECUTION.... So now not only i know he's alive somehow, but i also now he's the culprit of a case....

please juste tell me one thing, please tell me it's not one of the biggest reveal of the game and that i have still big things to uncover!

 

[Puruzi]

ok, i didn't read the thread.... but i've got spoiled about a huge thing on youtube... and i only finished chapter 1...

was just going around wanting to watch the nail scene since i missed it, when i stumble upon a title in CAPS, just under the video i was searching for, that reveal something really important, i'm pissed off, don't read if you haven't finished the game since i don't know when i take place :

Spoiler

RANTARO AMAMI's EXECUTION.... So now not only i know he's alive somehow, but i also now he's the culprit of a case....

please juste tell me one thing, please tell me it's not one of the biggest reveal of the game and that i have still big things to uncover!

It's fake, don't worry.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

It's fake, don't worry.

wow, i'm reassured a lot, thank you! (and then it turns out you lied just to ease my pain, if so, thank you anyway, )

 

[Puruzi]

wow, i'm reassured a lot, thank you! (and then it turns out you lied just to ease my pain, if so, thank you anyway, )

No worries. It's really not real though, you're good.

 

[Cheshire_Buddha]

Second case MASSIVE SPOILERS

Spoiler

Can't believe my girl Tojo did that... Damn. I was loving her character out of everyone.

 

[Brazil]

Second case MASSIVE SPOILERS

Spoiler

Can't believe my girl Tojo did that... Damn. I was loving her character out of everyone.

This is the spoiler thread, my man! Careful not to read stuff you don't wanna!

 

[Cheshire_Buddha]

This is the spoiler thread, my man! Careful not to read stuff you don't wanna!

This isn't my first rodeo around GAF spoiler threads.

 

[ULTROS!]

I don't get why some people who just know 1-2 chapters and go to the spoiler thread where the story is fully spoiled with no bars.

That's kinda like something an Ultimate Despair would do: seek out despair.

 

[Wayoshi]

100% agree with this. They did the opposite bait & switch that they should have.

[OMEGA ENDGAME SPOILERS]

Spoiler

I strongly feel like they tried too hard to make the twists more outrageous and the writing quality suffered as a result. DR2 was amazing in that it was more insane than DR1, but still drove home the theme of hope vs despair really well, and it straddled the line of not being too outrageous. A false protagonist, all the main characters being essentially fake, and reality TV crosses those lines for me.

 

[RRockman]

100% agree with this. They did the opposite bait & switch that they should have.

[OMEGA ENDGAME SPOILERS]

Spoiler

I strongly feel like they tried too hard to make the twists more outrageous and the writing quality suffered as a result. DR2 was amazing in that it was more insane than DR1, but still drove home the theme of hope vs despair really well, and it straddled the line of not being too outrageous. A false protagonist, all the main characters being essentially fake, and reality TV crosses those lines for me.

I was just talking about this a couple pages ago. the reason why this game is so divisive is that Kodaka pushes it to its absolute limits. It's also why DR 1 is still my favorite, despite the fact I liked the v3 twists.

 

[GoldStarz]

So after that ending, do you people see the series continuing?

A few of my friends feel it's over but I feel it's just given the series endless possibilities for any kind of story now.

Kodaka said he's done (for now), but it's also pretty clear he wants the franchise to continue. Either way, there's no way Spike-Chun is going to leave a perfectly good franchise on the table like that.

 

[Wayoshi]

I was just talking about this a couple pages ago. the reason why this game is so divisive is that Kodaka pushes it to its absolute limits. It's also why DR 1 is still my favorite, despite the fact I liked the v3 twists.

Yeah I caught up with the thread after posting.

I can't say I like the big twists here either. Meta can only go so far

 

[Gradon]

Either way, there's no way Spike-Chun is going to leave a perfectly good franchise on the table like that.

This was my reasoning for why I don't think the series is going to end. Kodaka maybe done but that doesn't stop Spike from asking someone else to continue writing the games right?

And with the endless possibilities the final twist throws on the story, I'm not even mad if it stops dead here or continues forever.

Ending spoilers

Spoiler

Even if that's kind of the opposite to the ending you're meant to want for the survivors 😂

 

[Star Orpheus]

I just want 4 to break from the needles repetition. Spoilers for patterns in previous games.

Spoiler

No double murder in chapter 3 ,don't kill the giant in chapter 4, and please for the love of hopeman some other kind of protagonist then bland generic guy with a dark secret.

Actually this game reminds me of an idea I had. What about having a character attempt to murder someone but the victim survives and is rescued. That could cause some real tension in the group.

 

[RRockman]

Yeah I caught up with the thread after posting.

I can't say I like the big twists here either. Meta can only go so far

Ah, ok. My Bad. I do wish Kodaka could have balanced charaters vs plot a little more but oh well. It does make me really want a DRV3if though. Katie finding the escape button and receiving a premonition on how everything goes down would flip the already flipped story on its head again and we would get much more interesting development from the cast as they come to terms whith who they were and what they were turned into.

This was my reasoning for why I don't think the series is going to end. Kodaka maybe done but that doesn't stop Spike from asking someone else to continue writing the games right?

And with the endless possibilities the final twist throws on the story, I'm not even mad if it stops dead here or continues forever.

Ending spoilers

Spoiler

Even if that's kind of the opposite to the ending you're meant to want for the survivors 😂

I think what they should do is have an new continuity for every single game here on out. Have some stories played completely straight and then have some that are cray-cray to keep fans on their toes. Having a saga again is asking for trouble IMO. I don't think DR1-DR2 could be repeated again.

 

[Brazil]

I just want 4 to break from the needles repetition. Spoilers for patterns in previous games.

Spoiler

No double murder in chapter 3 ,don't kill the giant in chapter 4, and please for the love of hopeman some other kind of protagonist then bland generic guy with a dark secret.

Actually this game reminds me of an idea I had. What about having a character attempt to murder someone but the victim survives and is rescued. That could cause some real tension in the group.

There won't be a 4th game. We ended Danganronpa with our own hands.

 

[Star Orpheus]

There won't be a 4th game. We ended Danganronpa with our own hands.

I'm not holding my breath. Money is money.

 

[Ludger Kresnik]

Build Your Own Danganronpa V4, essentially Madlibs as a video game. Spike can mail me my check, you're welcome.

 

[Brazil]

That dude in the other thread falling for the cheapest red herring ever and getting mad at the game :lol

 

[h0tp0ck3t]

Let the meltdowns begin

 

[Star Orpheus]

I hope we get one more game because I don't want to leave this series as angry as I am. I loved 1+2 and wanted to get excited for this game but the Kaede twist completely took the wind out of my sales.

I realize I'm in the minority but I would legit be less upset if 3 was my last memory of this series.

 

[Gradon]

I realize I'm in the minority but I would legit be less upset if 3 was my last memory of this series.

I thought 3 treated the series worse than V3 lol. I am totally with you though, I want a 4th game from a fresh new writer (even though I still love Kodaka) to see how it goes.

 

[Star Orpheus]

I thought 3 treated the series worse than V3 lol. I am totally with you though, I want a 4th game from a fresh new writer (even though I still love Kodaka) to see how it goes.

It's purely selfish because(Spoilers for the 3 anime)

Spoiler

I like that the cast of 2 is ok.

3 had a lot of problems but a part of me will always be happy about that.

 

[Brazil]

I hope we get one more game because I don't want to leave this series as angry as I am. I loved 1+2 and wanted to get excited for this game but the Kaede twist completely took the wind out of my sales.

I realize I'm in the minority but I would legit be less upset if 3 was my last memory of this series.

I do sympathize with your plight, but I honestly think they've completely exhausted the formula now. Even if they hadn't ended V3 with such finality, I don't think I'd be in for another one.

 

[Star Orpheus]

I do sympathize with your plight, but I honestly think they've completely exhausted the formula now. Even if they hadn't ended V3 with such finality, I don't think I'd be in for another one.

True. Despite my gripes I wouldn't want them to force anything they weren't up for.

I duno maybe they really will make Ultra Despair Girls 2.

I'd be up for that.

 

[NotLiquid]

I'll write more detailed opinions once I sleep on it all but some stray thoughts

- Kaede not actually being Rantaro's murderer makes me all the more frustrated. They knew how shortchanged she got. And we got nothing for it. Not even a proper Chiaki-esque send off at the end of the game to round out Shuichi's character development. I demand justice for Kaede.

- Finally this game comes down on the Hope/Despair angle. DR2 technically kind of did this already and in some ways a little more gracefully without the meta commentary - but one thing I noticed throughout the game was how little hope/despair seemed to even be brought up, and it paid off well in the ending.

- The "big" twist... it's okay. I kinda dig it. While the overtness of it emphasizes how I've always felt this series was style over substance, the Danganronpa concept seems to basically have been exhausted at this point in the eyes of Kodaka, it feels clear that this is meant to be the end of the franchise. At the very least, I wouldn't be very interested in playing another one. It could've been a little less heavy handed about it all. It got a bit exhausting near the end (which I imagine had to have been the point) but I'll say I do like that we got survivors out of it because as it went on my only real thought was "I just don't want the characters to suffer" - and I'm glad that line of thought was acknowledged.

 

[GoldStarz]

I do sympathize with your plight, but I honestly think they've completely exhausted the formula now. Even if they hadn't ended V3 with such finality, I don't think I'd be in for another one.

They've been using the same patterns for literally all three games. Even DR3 adheres to some of the patterns, it's ridiculous.

Trial 1-Highly publicized character dies
Trial 2-Body is moved post-death to a place that seems impossible
Trial 3-Double Murder
Trial 4-Locker Room Murder w/ sacrificial overtones
Trial 5-Wild Card/Something really crazy happens for the trial and it seems impossible to solve
Trial 6-Mastermind reveal (this one kinda has to be the case but the rest)

You could do SO MUCH MORE with the franchise. If by 'exhausted the formula' you mean that they've done these patterns to death than I agree. If you mean they've done DanganRonpa to death than I gotta laugh because they have not even tried to deviate from the pattern they set in DR1. The series isn't going to end, it's clear Kodaka doesn't want it to since he said that he's fine with someone taking the mantle from him and Spike-Chun isn't going to let a high-selling franchise just stop, Kodaka's done and that's fine. He laid a good foundation with DR1 and SDR2 and should've left it at that imo, but what we've got is still fine for someone else to take over.

 

[Brazil]

They've been using the same patterns for literally all three games. Even DR3 adheres to some of the patterns, it's ridiculous.

Trial 1-Highly publicized character dies
Trial 2-Body is moved post-death to a place that seems impossible
Trial 3-Double Murder
Trial 4-Locker Room Murder w/ sacrificial overtones
Trial 5-Wild Card/Something really crazy happens for the trial and it seems impossible to solve
Trial 6-Mastermind reveal (this one kinda has to be the case but the rest)

You could do SO MUCH MORE with the franchise. If by 'exhausted the formula' you mean that they've done these patterns to death than I agree. If you mean they've done DanganRonpa to death than I gotta laugh because they have not even tried to deviate from the pattern they set in DR1. The series isn't going to end, it's clear Kodaka doesn't want it to since he said that he's fine with someone taking the mantle from him and Spike-Chun isn't going to let a high-selling franchise just stop, Kodaka's done and that's fine. He laid a good foundation with DR1 and SDR2 and should've left it at that imo, but what we've got is still fine for someone else to take over.

You can look at the three games that way, or you could turn it into a setup checklist that the series has gone through in its entirety.

Stuff like:

- A third party forces the culprit's hand into murdering (DR3, Chapter 4)
- The victim forces an unwilling culprit into murdering (DR2, Chapter 5)
- The victim coerces the culprit into murdering (DR3, Chapter 5)
- The victim and culprit end up in a fight to the death (DR2, Chapter 4)
- The protagonist is the Blackened (DR3, Chapter 1)
- The culprit acted in self-defense (DR1, Chapter 1)

And so on. It's in those terms that I think the series has run its course.

 

[GoldStarz]

You can look at the three games that way, or you could turn it into a setup checklist that the series has gone through in its entirety.

And so on. It's in those terms that I think the series has run its course.

Sure there are different permutations and the cases aren't literally identical, but the fact that you can break down all three games that way just shows how repetitive and formulaic the DanganRonpa games are. DR2 justifies it, but DR3 and DRV3 have no justification at all and just shows how much room the series has to expand and how much potential there is to surprise players.

Also...

- A third party forces the culprit's hand into murdering (DR3, Chapter 4)

Also happened in DR2 chapters 3 and 4

- The victim forces an unwilling culprit into murdering (DR2, Chapter 5)
- The victim coerces the culprit into murdering (DR3, Chapter 5)

While not identical, these two are extremely similar

- The culprit acted in self-defense (DR1, Chapter 1)

Disregarding this is the first trial, the murder was not committed in self-defense.

 

[Big Green Anus]

I'm still confused about the ending. Are there any good "ending explained" articles or videos? Left on a major sour note for me

 

[GoldStarz]

I'm still confused about the ending. Are there any good "ending explained" articles or videos? Left on a major sour note for me

What's your confusion?

Also, I forgot to ask this but I heard a rumor that they swapped out the credits song for a medley of the DR themes, if that true?

 

[ymgve]

- Finally this game comes down on the Hope/Despair angle. DR2 technically kind of did this already and in some ways a little more gracefully without the meta commentary - but one thing I noticed throughout the game was how little hope/despair seemed to even be brought up, and it paid off well in the ending.

I wonder how many fans actually care that much about the hope/despair thing. I know I'm here for the murder mysteries and other mysteries, I find the metaplot pretty meh.

 

[Mohasus]

Nvm.

 

[NotLiquid]

I wonder how many fans actually care that much about the hope/despair thing. I know I'm here for the murder mysteries and other mysteries, I find the metaplot pretty meh.

It was a decent gimmick in the first game but it contributed to how predictable and pointless the plot of the first game kind of was, and in the second game they rightfully deconstructed how it's not a black and white concept. That was one of the things I hated about DR3 because it just went back to the boring concepts and embraced them wholesale. It was a relief to see that I rarely saw Hope/Despair mentioned in DRV3 and I'm glad that they seem to realize thats not where the strength of the games are - whether the game needed to be so heavy handed with meta commentary to do it though is up for debate.

The more I think about it the more I kinda like the twist; that said its kinda held back by the fact that the more I think about the Kaede twist the more I hate it. I know the point is we're not supposed to care about them so much since the characters aren't who we think they are but the game simultaneously makes the point that the characters we know went through real struggles/development just like in DR2, and knowing that Kaede died for nothing sucks.

 

[Sapientas]

Seriously? I was really looking forward it...

Did a run on it and it really is boring as hell. You throw the dice a bunch of times and go through some random shit, "leveling" your character and getting some skills that mostly seen useless, till you're thrown into a badly balanced RPG fight. Not even sure what you're supposed to be doing since this series's tutorials all suck ass.