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Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair: Review Thread

Hugstable

Banned
Metacritic Rating Currently at 85 out of 13 Reviews http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-vita/danganronpa-2-goodbye-despair

Gaming Trend - 90/100 http://gamingtrend.com/reviews/danganronpa-2-goodbye-despair-a-hope-for-the-future/
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is a game that understands what it means to be a good sequel. It effectively keeps what made the first Danganronpa great while making an active attempt to correct its predecessor’s mistakes, it is unapologetically tied to the first game without ever feeling so obtuse that new players can’t enjoy it, and most importantly Goodbye Despair feels essential in that by the time it’s over, it leaves you feeling like it was a necessary addition to a seemingly complete story.

Gamespot - 8/10 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/danganronpa-2-goodbye-despair-review/1900-6415852/
Danganronpa 2, like its predecessor, fuses text exposition with mystery puzzle-solving and action elements. The game is divided into several chapters, and each chapter has three parts. During Daily Life, you spend time interacting with your fellow students and advancing the story. After a certain point, what feeble harmony might exist shatters into Deadly Life, in which you must explore and find clues about a vicious murder. Every chapter wraps up with a Class Trial, where the surviving cast must convene to discover who amongst them is the killer. Choose correctly, and the killer is punished with execution; assume wrongly, and the life of everyone remaining is forfeit.

Kotaku - YES http://kotaku.com/danganronpa-2-goodbye-despair-the-kotaku-review-1629788491

And really, it's like you said - together they feel like two halves of a full game, a la Kill Bill vols. 1 and 2. People would be missing out to skip the first game and jump into the second one, particularly given that many of the revelations that came at the end of the first game are treated as common knowledge in the sequel.

GamrReview - 8.5/10 http://www.gamrreview.com/review/91839/danganronpa-2-psv/
Danganronpa continues to be one of the few video game series that legitimately makes me feel sad when certain characters die. All of the Ultimates are interesting - each having mastered a particular field and having an original background - that learning about them is one of the series' great strength. Thankfully, once you complete the main storyline other modes unlock that let you delve deeper into these characters that you've become attached to over the course of your playthrough.

Siliconera - No Score http://www.siliconera.com/2014/08/15/danganronpa-2-finer-details-count/
Despite the many call backs, however, DanganRonpa 2 develops a distinct identity through sheer insanity. Things just feel grander: instead of an abandoned school you’re trapped on an abandoned island, instead of being blocked off by gates and locked doors there are now giant mechanical Mono-Beasts sanctioning places off, and the game itself is kicked off by one of the most amusing introductions I’ve ever seen to a game.
Read more at http://www.siliconera.com/2014/08/15/danganronpa-2-finer-details-count/#LFTK2L8IffyE15gT.99

Gaming Union - 9/10 Review
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is what a sequel should be. It keeps what worked in the original and expands even further with that concept in a more refined manner. If you enjoyed the original at all, you'll do yourself a disservice to ignore this sequel. Say goodbye to your despair: the sequel you were waiting for is here.

Gameinformer - 8/10 http://www.gameinformer.com/games/danganronpa_2_goodbye_despair/b/playstation_vita/archive/2014/08/29/danganronpa-goodbye-despair-review-game-informer.aspx?utm_content=buffer767d6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

If you enjoyed the first entry, you absolutely owe it to yourself to play Goodbye Despair. If you weren't enamored with it, you won't find anything here to change your mind. Nonetheless, you still won't find a series out there that messes with your head like Danganronpa. It sticks with you long after you've watched the credits roll.


Hardcore Gamer - 4.5/5 http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2014/08/29/review-danganronpa-2-goodbye-despair/101338/
This is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most acutely self-aware game of 2014. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair firmly understands what it is; from mocking Final Fantasy to frequently acknowledging that players are simply playing a game, this is a title that never takes itself too seriously. The fourth wall is constantly broken, making for an experience unlike anything else on the PlayStation Vita (other than Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, of course). - See more at: http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2014/0...-goodbye-despair/101338/#sthash.8KJOMfcW.dpuf

Battlescreen.net - 9.5/10
RPGSite - 10/10\
TechnologyTell - A+
Digitally Downloaded - 10/10
God is a Geek - 90
Playstation Lifestyle - 90
Game Critics - 90
ZTGD - 90
Vandal Online - 86
Everyeye.it - 85
RPG Fan - 85


Will update with more scores as it comes in. Thanks to Labrys for gathering the reviews earlier! If anything is wrong with how the thread is set up please let me know, still one of my first threads and I really love this game!
 
Can I play this if I havent played the first?

I would say definitely give the first game a shot. Even though all the characters are new, it still seems like it's going to play off of how the first game ended. I'm about to start playing myself :D. I think the Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc was just on sale in US PSN recently.
 
Getting it in the mail tomorrow, can't wait to play it. Great to see review scores are so high.
 
So many uses of "obtuse" in these reviews when they mean "abstruse."

It's a fun game. Story and characters are ahead of the first game, but they went overboard with gimmicky mini-games and class trial nonsense with this one.
 
Why are people thinking about playing the second without playing the first :/ it's not like you can't get a hold of the first one for some reason. Come on people!
 
Those are great reviews. And here I am still waiting for a good price in the EU PSN since I can't afford the full-price right now :<
 
Was on the fence about getting it day one because of other games to play but not anymore. Pre-order placed. Loved the first game and this talk of the sequel being even better is very encouraging.
 
Finished the first over the weekend and picked this up today. Will finally be able to play it in an hour. Looking forward to hopefully having a few questions from the first answered!
 
If the good scores stick, this will likely be in the top 5 Vita games on Gamerankings. A bit further down on Metacritic, but what's above it are mostly ports (yeah, I know this is one too, shut up).
 
What're the odds that this (and the first game) will work on the NA version of the Playstation TV?
 
What're the odds that this (and the first game) will work on the NA version of the Playstation TV?

Probably 100%. They're ports of PSP games, and as far as I know, everything in the second game is touch-screen optional. The first certainly is.

Probably pretty high as the Japanese versions work on Vita TV. It was actually one of the games they used for the Vita TV reveal I think.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
 
I was shocked when I checked metacritic today and saw an 85. Games like this never score very well, so this bodes very well. Gamefly just shipped mine out today, so I should hopefully dig into this this weekend.
 
Even if it's only half as good as the first one, it will still be contender for GOTY for me. And from what I've read it's even better than the first, so I'm not surprised by the solid scores so far.
 
Pretty much no. I mean, you could and the game would make sense but you'd miss the over-arching plot and potentially spoil the first game.

Yeah, IIRC shortly into the opening cutscenes it basically spoils a good portion of DR1. And in Ch4 it would spoil even more (regarding who made it out).
 
September 11 feels so far.... ;____;

Thank you hugstable and labrys although I don't know if reading these will help sustain me until I get the game or will send me over the edge of despair :P
 
Even if it's only half as good as the first one, it will still be contender for GOTY for me. And from what I've read it's even better than the first, so I'm not surprised by the solid scores so far.

It's better. In a sense that you can't relax once you got passed prologue. At the 1st chapter only, and I already feel like I was at the 4th chapter of the first game.

My heart and my mind can't calm down.
 
It's better. In a sense that you can't relax once you got passed prologue. At the 1st chapter only, and I already feel like I was at the 4th chapter of the first game.

My heart and my mind can't calm down.

Yeah I'm just now finishing the first chapter and this is really amazing so far! Game really throws out the twists again early and the music has been great so far. The first case did same tougher and more packed than the first games, gonna be interesting to see how everything turns out. Really amazing to see such a niche game like this pulling good reviews as well, but with only 13 listed on metacritic, I wonder if we are gonna be seeing any more?
 
http://www.gamingunion.net/reviews/danganronpa-2-goodbye-despair/

My review's now live if you want to add it to the list (my first Editor's Choice this year incidentally).

Wanted it to come out yesterday, but the proofing took longer than expected due to the length of the review.

Alright just added it in there, just realized too that the metacritic is now at 18 reviews and score is still sitting at an amazing 85 total. Thanks for reminding me about this, gonna add the new score up there.
 
Damnit those are some great scores but i havent gotten the first yet... i know i should get it but WHY does it have to be so damn EXPENSIVE still? On Amazon.co.uk it's more than the new one (sequel). What gives?
 
Damnit those are some great scores but i havent gotten the first yet... i know i should get it but WHY does it have to be so damn EXPENSIVE still? On Amazon.co.uk it's more than the new one (sequel). What gives?

It's on sale on EU psn if I'm not mistaken
 
Damnit those are some great scores but i havent gotten the first yet... i know i should get it but WHY does it have to be so damn EXPENSIVE still? On Amazon.co.uk it's more than the new one (sequel). What gives?

I have the feeling that NISA only releases a limited amount of retail copies in Europe and they tend to get rare if a game turns out to be popular.
 
Looks like the metascore dropped to 84 because of a single mixed review. Ah well, it happens. Still damn good average over 22 reviews.

Wonder what the final average will be when it has the same number of reviews as the first game.
 
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