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[ZeroX03]

Finally beat the game. Getting spoiled on heaps of shit (most of the killers and victims, big ups to the fucker who posted unspoiled stuff in the other thread) really hurt a lot of the game, and I was also aware of the Future Foundation so that twist fell flat.

I feel the game was a lot more uneven than the first one, but the pacing was improved in later chapters. Had no emotional connection to any of the characters so the big twist at the end just fell flat. Even their motives felt a lot weaker than the first game, which is surprising considering they should all be somewhat predisposed to murder anyway. Still hard to see why people were calling the game a big improvement over the first one, and still a lot of plot points that were a lot more vague than necessary.

Hope the series completely ends after Another Episode and DR3. The premise is already wearing thin and writers back themselves into a corner when you have to write a compelling cast of characters where 2/3 of them have to die. Drop subtlety, complete the story and go out with a bang.


then there was the stupid fucking mini games, jesus, get rid of those

 

[Wazzy]

Finally beat the game. Getting spoiled on heaps of shit (most of the killers and victims, big ups to the fucker who posted unspoiled stuff in the other thread) really hurt a lot of the game, and I was also aware of the Future Foundation so that twist fell flat.

I feel the game was a lot more uneven than the first one, but the pacing was improved in later chapters. Had no emotional connection to any of the characters so the big twist at the end just fell flat. Even their motives felt a lot weaker than the first game, which is surprising considering they should all be somewhat predisposed to murder anyway. Still hard to see why people were calling the game a big improvement over the first one, and still a lot of plot points that were a lot more vague than necessary.

Hope the series completely ends after Another Episode and DR3. The premise is already wearing thin and writers back themselves into a corner when you have to write a compelling cast of characters where 2/3 of them have to die. Drop subtlety, complete the story and go out with a bang.


then there was the stupid fucking mini games, jesus, get rid of those

The motives are stronger in this game because they're actually forced to murder in most chapters.

 

[ZeroX03]

The motives are stronger in this game because they're actually forced to murder in most chapters.

"I'm hungry" and "I'm sick" aren't even remotely compelling reasons for murder. They may make sense, but it's not very interesting storytelling. The second case is only really a specific motive for a few people. The fifth case is "accidental" which is involuntary manslaughter not murder, but at least it was slightly more compelling than the others. Like these are all people who should be significantly more susceptible to murderous impulses than the previous cast, but they're forced into it. What the hell is that?

 

[Basileus777]

"I'm hungry" and "I'm sick" aren't even remotely compelling reasons for murder. They may make sense, but it's not very interesting storytelling. The second case is only really a specific motive for a few people. The fifth case is "accidental" which is involuntary manslaughter not murder, but at least it was slightly more compelling than the others.

The difference for me mostly comes from the atmosphere of the two games. In the first game things were much bleaker and it felt like anyone could be a killer and no one could be trusted, while the 2nd game went too far making in everyone sympathetic and giving excuses/justifications for the murders. Everything just felt too clinical. It doesn't help that they have to hide the motivations until the end of the trial so as to not prematurely give away the killer.

 

[Venfayth]

"I'm hungry" and "I'm sick" aren't even remotely compelling reasons for murder. They may make sense, but it's not very interesting storytelling. The second case is only really a specific motive for a few people. The fifth case is "accidental" which is involuntary manslaughter not murder, but at least it was slightly more compelling than the others. Like these are all people who should be significantly more susceptible to murderous impulses than the previous cast, but they're forced into it. What the hell is that?

I've said this before, but Nagito was way more compelling as an instrument of despair than Monokuma ever was in this game. He was more instrumental in almost all of the murders happening, with the exception probably being in chapter 4. That also makes sense, Junko just wanted to get corpses to use to become her; she really didn't care about how interesting or compelling the motives were. Nagito is just insane.

The point of them not being susceptible to murderous impulses is kind of the point of the game. They were the Ultimate Despair not because they were horrible people but because of Junko's corruption. That's why they were thrown into the VR world in the first place, to undo Junko's insanity. Of course, the moment it's restored - you see how vicious they become (ch3).

 

[Phamit]

I don't think the motives in first one were better.

The strongest motive in the first one was Sakuras to kill herself and thats the only one I would say is better, but I would say its as strong as Nagitos. Nagito tried to kill everyone except the traitor and killed himself, because he knew they were monsters in the past.

The 4 other motives in the first game weren't better. The first motive was pretty much the same, except Sayaka failed and Leon took advantage of the Situation, the second motive was Envy, I still don't really know why Hifumi needed to kill Kiyotaka( it wasn't really deep), Celeste planned the death of Hifumi and Kiyotaka because she wanted money.

 

[MSMrRound]

Reactions to Chapter 5 are the best. I get my daily fill of despair reading up on those.

 

[R_thanatos]

"I'm hungry" and "I'm sick" aren't even remotely compelling reasons for murder. They may make sense, but it's not very interesting storytelling. The second case is only really a specific motive for a few people. The fifth case is "accidental" which is involuntary manslaughter not murder, but at least it was slightly more compelling than the others. Like these are all people who should be significantly more susceptible to murderous impulses than the previous cast, but they're forced into it. What the hell is that?

It wasn't a "i'm hungry" it was because nobody was able to move on. So one decided to do it.

 

[ZeroX03]

It wasn't a "i'm hungry" it was because nobody was able to move on. So one decided to do it.

It stemmed from forced starvation. Either way it's pretty uninteresting to me. Monokuma gave them no choice, eventually someone would break. Same with Case 3, he just manipulated someone with sickness. Forcing to kill isn't as compelling in a story as someone making a choice. Case 5 also wasn't a choice, but at least it was cleverly thought out.

 

[Sorian]

It came back to forced starvation. Either way it's pretty uninteresting to me.

I think motives across both games were fine but let me address the elephant in the room. You thought large stacks of cash was a compelling motive?

Edit: Saw your clarification. I see where you're heading then though I could argue that no one was forced to kill in chapter 3. Mikan was just given a personality shift and it was a assumed she would cut people down.

 

[PKGaming]

I just beat the game as well. During Chapter 6, I was actually getting pretty disappointed that they were pulling the old "Everything you knew was all just a computer program" thing. But the fact that everyone was actually members of Ultimate Despair and the Future Foundation was trying to cleanse them made up for it. But, I still have many questions:

1. What the hell is up with Nagito? Why's he so obsessed with hope? I thought they were about to say that Nagito and Hajime were actually the same person, but that didn't happen. And why's he so crazy? I kind of thought he'd have a much more significant connection to Junko or something considering how insane he was compared to everyone else. And what did he mean by "Will I get to see the person that I hate so much"??

2. Why did Hajime as Izuru start killing those students? Wasn't this before Junko influenced him?

3. What was with Mikan? Who was the person she claimed she loved and killed for that love? Was it Junko?

4. What was with that ending? Did they all keep their memories from the Neo World or no? And why'd they decide to stay on Jabberwock Island? That place actually exists? And why did Hajime look like he did before the experimentation? I thought they made it clear that Hajime was completely changed? How can he change back just like that?

5. This really isn't a question, just a wish. I really wish we could've seen what everyone was like while they were Ultimate Despair. All we got to see were Nagito and Hajime.

 

[ZeroX03]

I think motives across both games were fine but let me address the elephant in the room. You thought large stacks of cash was a compelling motive?

To kill someone? Drug dealers, home invaders, assassins, plenty of real life examples. I'll grant you that it's probably the least interesting in DR1.


EDIT: I think with both games there's a big problem with motives and character development in general: we just aren't given long enough with the characters to know them that well so it's hard to delve into their psyche too hard. I think DR1 does very well by introducing Sayaka and making her appear to be the deuteragonist, so we get to learn more about her without suspecting she'll die. But a lot of the other cases, the victims & killers just don't get enough time in the spotlight - and it'd be obvious they're about to kill/die if they did get focus drawn to them - so motives and actions can come off as unclear or bland.. Gundham, Peko, Teruteru all suffer from it in this one I think. In the end the brunt of the interesting actions fall on the protagonist and whoever the game has shown as major players (Kyoko, Chiaki, Nagito). I think in general DR1 did a better job justifying the motives and characters than DR2 did, where DR2 had a tendency to fall back on simple plot elements like sickness or starvation and just let Nagito's crazy keep the player interested.

 

[Sorian]

I just beat the game as well. During Chapter 6, I was actually getting pretty disappointed that they were pulling the old "Everything you knew was all just a computer program" thing. But the fact that everyone was actually members of Ultimate Despair and the Future Foundation was trying to cleanse them made up for it. But, I still have many questions:

1. What the hell is up with Nagito? Why's he so obsessed with hope? I thought they were about to say that Nagito and Hajime were actually the same person, but that didn't happen. And why's he so crazy? I kind of thought he'd have a much more significant connection to Junko or something considering how insane he was compared to everyone else. And what did he mean by "Will I get to see the person that I hate so much"??

2. Why did Hajime as Izuru start killing those students? Wasn't this before Junko influenced him?

3. What was with Mikan? Who was the person she claimed she loved and killed for that love? Was it Junko?

4. What was with that ending? Did they all keep their memories from the Neo World or no? And why'd they decide to stay on Jabberwock Island? That place actually exists? And why did Hajime look like he did before the experimentation? I thought they made it clear that Hajime was completely changed? How can he change back just like that?

5. This really isn't a question, just a wish. I really wish we could've seen what everyone was like while they were Ultimate Despair. All we got to see were Nagito and Hajime.

1. He's just always been obsessed with hope. His FTE's shed some possible light on the situation:

Spoiler

He has a frontal lobe tumor which has a common side effect of delusions

2. I think Danganronpa Zero answers this, I'm currently in the middle of the read so I don't know for sure.

3. Yeah, it was Junko. Her "remembering" disease made her remember that she was an ultimate despair. She was hoping to get everyone killed quick so she could offer up more bodies to her love. Based on the way she spoke, I think it's safe to assume that she would have dreamed constantly of Junko's being in control of her body.

4. Open ended. The way Hajime talks, it sounds like he kept both of his despair memories and his neo world memories and I think it could be assumed that the same could be said for the rest that woke up. Jabberwock was indeed a real place and the info you read about it in the library and later from a computer (?) were all true, basically was a resort before the tragedy and was now a little Future Foundation outpost. They stayed because they knew the Future Foundation probably had them as kill on sight and they wanted to be with their friends who may possibly wake up. Hajime didn't really look much different as Izuru, the only two noticeable differences were long hair and red eyes. We only saw him from behind so who knows on the eyes but maybe just felt like he needed a haircut when he woke up?

5. Keep hope

Spoiler

and despair

that we may see them in Danganronpa Another Episode which takes place between one and two. People of theorized that they may make an appearance since it should be before they were captured.

 

[Phamit]

I just beat the game as well. During Chapter 6, I was actually getting pretty disappointed that they were pulling the old "Everything you knew was all just a computer program" thing. But the fact that everyone was actually members of Ultimate Despair and the Future Foundation was trying to cleanse them made up for it. But, I still have many questions:

1. What the hell is up with Nagito? Why's he so obsessed with hope? I thought they were about to say that Nagito and Hajime were actually the same person, but that didn't happen. And why's he so crazy? I kind of thought he'd have a much more significant connection to Junko or something considering how insane he was compared to everyone else. And what did he mean by "Will I get to see the person that I hate so much"??

2. Why did Hajime as Izuru start killing those students? Wasn't this before Junko influenced him?

3. What was with Mikan? Who was the person she claimed she loved and killed for that love? Was it Junko?

4. What was with that ending? Did they all keep their memories from the Neo World or no? And why'd they decide to stay on Jabberwock Island? That place actually exists? And why did Hajime look like he did before the experimentation? I thought they made it clear that Hajime was completely changed? How can he change back just like that?

5. This really isn't a question, just a wish. I really wish we could've seen what everyone was like while they were Ultimate Despair. All we got to see were Nagito and Hajime.

1. I think to understand that you need to talk to him and collect his hope fragments. He is talking about his luck and about some incidents that happened to him. Example: he was kidnapped by murderer but he found a lottery ticket in the murders pocket, he got free and won 300 Million Yen. Everytime something bad happened, somehow he got something good and everything was fine. That's the reason he thinks you need despair to create hope.

He says also that he had some kind of disease ( i don't really know if this was true) something with brain, don't remember what it was.

2. I think junko already influenced him, I think thats the story of Danganronpa Zero.


3. Yes, she turned into her ultimate Despair version and probably meant Junko

4. It isnt really explained, it could be mixed or they just had the feelings they had, when they left the game. So they knew they need to change. Hajime probably just cut his hair pretty short after, he didn't that much different except ghe eyes and the long hair

5. Yeah, it would have been nice to have how they actually look like,m you forgot the mature Hiyoko, but it could be a pic from before the tragedy

 

[SolarKnight]

Izuru is a survivor of Junko's original game of mutual killing. That was more Battle Royale and 100% less Ace Attorney though.

 

[dakkumauji]

Going through Chapter 4 and I forgot what a twat Soda is during that chapter.

It's so amazing that it was literally making me like Hiro more compared to him.

 

[Busaiku]

So I still never got the purpose of Monokuma Theater.
Like, were they hinting at some stuff I just didn't catch?

 

[cosmicblizzard]

So I still never got the purpose of Monokuma Theater.
Like, were they hinting at some stuff I just didn't catch?

It's a series staple at this point. Just a humorous little extra that's sometimes cynical and sometimes absurd. Sure, there's some light foreshadowing in it, but that's not really the purpose.

 

[Curler]

So I still never got the purpose of Monokuma Theater.
Like, were they hinting at some stuff I just didn't catch?

I feel like in the first game it was talking about Junko's inner most thoughts in a sense, but this time it was more or less crazy nonsense being spewed out.




As for Hajime cutting his hair, I think of it as being symbolic. Shedding off his past and being redeemed and the new him. Becoming more like his original/present self.

 

[dakkumauji]

So I still never got the purpose of Monokuma Theater.
Like, were they hinting at some stuff I just didn't catch?

Speaking of which, what did that Morse Code one translated into?

 

[Labrys]

We're talking about a group that sacrificed their families to be tortured, starved themselves, mutilated their body and murdered countless people.

I'm not sure if harvesting organs is any less "shoehorning in" as far as fucked up stuff goes. Even with necrophilia (whether it's supposed to be in there or not), they drew a line as far as implying how deranged Ultimate Despair is goes. They could have essentially turned them into walking Aristocrats jokes by making them baby raping cannibal mass murderers, but instead Kodaka just wants to let the audience's imaginations run wild with just what kind of despair they caused.

You definitely have a point. I don't mean to argue in general, I guess I just dislike that the line was originally slightly ambiguous to it's meaning. Sorry.

Speaking of which, what did that Morse Code one translated into?

Something like "Be sure to drink your kumatine". A Christmas Story reference.

 

[PKGaming]

So Nagito doesn't have any kind of special connection to Junko other than being part of Ultimate Despair like the others? So he's just a crazy, that's all.

 

[PK Gaming]

So Nagito doesn't have any kind of special connection to Junko other than being part of Ultimate Despair like the others? So he's just a crazy, that's all.

There's no special connection, but on a thematic level they're parallels. They're both obsessed with Hope/Despair to an extreme degree and both use Despair/Hope as a stepping stone to achieve greater Hope/Despair.

 

[ScraftyDevil]

So Nagito doesn't have any kind of special connection to Junko other than being part of Ultimate Despair like the others? So he's just a crazy, that's all.

There's no special connection, but on a thematic level they're parallels. They're both obsessed with Hope/Despair to an extreme degree and both use Despair/Hope as a stepping stone to achieve greater Hope/Despair.

I'm seein' double, here! Four PK's!

 

[Acid08]

So Nagito doesn't have any kind of special connection to Junko other than being part of Ultimate Despair like the others? So he's just a crazy, that's all.

There's no special connection, but on a thematic level they're parallels. They're both obsessed with Hope/Despair to an extreme degree and both use Despair/Hope as a stepping stone to achieve greater Hope/Despair.

Got real fuckin' confused for a second here

 

[LX_Theo]

Confusion level rising.

 

[Viridian6]

Just beat it. Honestly felt DR1 had a better cast (though Nagito is indeed awesome) and more compelling plot.

One thing I never really understood in Case 2: how complicit was Fuyuhiko really in Mahiru's death? He was certainly in on the "lure Mahiru to the beach house" scheme, and seemed to be aware that Hiyoko was drugged in the closet, so did he have his own idea of what was going to happen? His account suggests that he hadn't planned to kill Mahiru but was about to do it in rage, forcing Peko to kill Mahiru herself. And yet Peko seems to have been planning to kill Mahiru all along as part of her (ludicrous) plan to save her master...

 

[Feep]

Oh yeah, question:

Why is Nagito Komaeda a Japanese anagram for "I am Makoto Naegi"? Just trollin'?

 

[Wichu]

Oh yeah, question:

Why is Nagito Komaeda a Japanese anagram for "I am Makoto Naegi"? Just trollin'?

Apparently it's a coincidence. I don't buy it, though. It's probably a coincidence in the same way that Phi from VLR looking like Santa from 999 is a coincidence

Spoiler

because we're never going to find out

 

[Venfayth]

Also, kind of a weird request, does anyone know where I can find the sound clip (in a youtube video or the raw audio file would be ideal) of the electronic voice saying "danganronpa" ?

 

[Viridian6]

Oh yeah, question:

Why is Nagito Komaeda a Japanese anagram for "I am Makoto Naegi"? Just trollin'?

Yeah, I thought it was pretty lame that he had no connection to Makoto in the end.

 

[Feep]

Apparently it's a coincidence. I don't buy it, though. It's probably a coincidence in the same way that Phi from VLR looking like Santa from 999 is a coincidence

Spoiler

because we're never going to find out

:/

Just sayin' I will totally be Byakuya again in DR3

 

[PK Gaming]

Oh yeah, question:

Why is Nagito Komaeda a Japanese anagram for "I am Makoto Naegi"? Just trollin'?

Well apparently the anagram is just an accident.

Based on the scans:

「怪しくてかっこいい名前になるように考えたら、偶然にも例の彼とのアナグラムに」
Basically loosely translated as 'while thinking of a mysterious and cool name for this character, it accidentally happens to be anagram of the main character'

Edit: More akin to 'we are looking for cool name, found one, then found out that it's an anagram'

 

[Schadenfreude]

Apparently it's a coincidence. I don't buy it, though. It's probably a coincidence in the same way that Phi from VLR looking like Santa from 999 is a coincidence

Spoiler

because we're never going to find out

You're a monster for reminding me about this.

 

[hohoXD123]

Just went through Nagito's FTEs. If he had 6 months to a year to live before entering Hope's Peak, how come he is still alive during the VR simulation? I'm guessing that occurs after a year from entering the school.

 

[Feep]

Just went through Nagito's FTEs. If he had 6 months to a year to live before entering Hope's Peak, how come he is still alive during the VR simulation? I'm guessing that occurs after a year from entering the school.

That's a damn quick turnaround for "bright and happy high school students" to "pathological maniacs". Nice job, Junko?

I really don't buy the whole Remnants of Despair transformation in general, but whatever, I'll go with it.

Edit: I see, it was longer

 

[QuiteWhittle]

Just went through Nagito's FTEs. If he had 6 months to a year to live before entering Hope's Peak, how come he is still alive during the VR simulation? I'm guessing that occurs after a year from entering the school.

It has been somewhere north of three and a half years since Nagito entered Hope's Peak. He's either lying or he had treatment at the school.

 

[Busaiku]

Yeah, I'm not buying that it was just a coincidence.
I mean, he has the green hoodie too.

How does Phi look like Santa though.

 

[LX_Theo]

Yeah, I'm not buying that it was just a coincidence.
I mean, he has the green hoodie too.

The name is a coincidence. The rest of it are intentional parallels.

 

[SolarKnight]

Yeah, I'm not buying that it was just a coincidence.
I mean, he has the green hoodie too.

They're only saying the name was a coincidence. He was designed to make people think of Makoto on purpose.

 

[dakkumauji]

:/

Just sayin' I will totally be Byakuya again in DR3

I hope next time you'll be a super buff Byakuya.

 

[antibolo]

Gonna collect some Chiaki hope fragments.

 

[Rubedo]

It has been somewhere north of three and a half years since Nagito entered Hope's Peak. He's either lying or he had treatment at the school.

He actually implies he's lying in his final FTE. Though that could be a lie too.

 

[Nyoro SF]

The three people I maxed FTEs on in my playthrough were Mikan, Chiaki and Sonia. I was almost done with Gundham until he got rekt. I also messed up on giving him a present.

Of the skills I gained from the three, Chiaki's was definitely the most useful. Being able to fire freely at purple text to gain time without worrying about hitting neutral statements was a big deal. Mikan's was great too, I'm glad I went for her skill first after all; having faster recharge of Focus during the Hangman segments was great.

However reading over the list right now, Teruteru's skill looks really ridiculous.

Description: Reduces an argument to three statements or less. Effective during the Nonstop Debate and the Rebuttal Showdown.

Is it even possible to get this skill before Teruteru gets fried? I don't think so.

 

[dakkumauji]

Gonna collect some Chiaki hope fragments.

He's such a healthy boy.

 

[Curler]

Gonna collect some Chiaki hope fragments.

I really wish someone would officially publish the manga and novels... I'd Day 1 those!

 

[Busaiku]

That's not a hentai?

 

[Zonic]

However reading over the list right now, Teruteru's skill looks really ridiculous.

Is it even possible to get this skill before Teruteru gets fried? I don't think so.

You technically could if you replayed Ch. 1's Daily Life twice before starting the trial. Do the free time events, save when it's time to go to the party, load your save file to go to the main menu, then Continue & select Daily Life to start the chapter over.

This is what I did when I was at Ch 3. or 4, especially since I couldn't get Akane & Chiaki to hang out with me during the free time in Ch. 4.

 

[antibolo]

I really wish someone would officially publish the manga and novels... I'd Day 1 those!

That's a doujinshi, not an official manga. The things that happen in the following pages are definitely not canon lol

 

[Moonlight]

That's not a hentai?

Curious, are we?