New Danganronpa V3 - review

(DISCLAIMER: I am definitely not a professional. I've tried to eliminate as much bias as possible, but I can't ensure that everything in this review will be purely objective. Frankly, this is less a review and more a relatively structured collection of ramblings.)

~~Welcome to New Danganronpa V3~~

~~Third time's the charm in the third iteration of~~

~~Team Danganronpa has~~

Okay, to be honest, I'm not sure where to begin with this. I've been a longtime fan of the Danganronpa series since its inception in 2010 and this most recent entry has me thinking a lot. On the one hand, I have more than a few problems with it even just as something bearing the Danganronpa name; on the other, it would be criminal not to acknowledge and respect the sheer creative spirit that went into this game. So here we go. I'll try and verbalize that gale. The twister of thoughts whirling in my mind.

New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shingakki, officially titled Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony in English (hereafter referred to as V3) is the latest entry in the DR series after Ultra Despair Girls in 2014, released in early 2017. After the two PSP generation games, V3 is the first to be created from the ground-up for PS4 and Vita. This definitely suggests a technical upgrade, and it was marketed as something new to the series after Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibougamine Gakuen ended the Hope's Peak universe in 2016. Scenario writer Kazutaka Kodaka created more hype, stating that he was able to do much with V3 that he hadn't been able to do previously, and warning players not to get spoiled.

Well, no worries - I won't be spoiling anything; that'd be quite mean. Ask anyone about V3 and they might have trouble describing it since it's such a complex toopic. I won't try to influence you with anything, and I don't recommend reading into it so much. It's best to play the game yourself and make your own judgments. Honestly, if I were you I'd stop right here and pick up the game if you haven't already.

Make sure you play at least the first two games before this one.

==**Special Note on the Official English Translation**==

This was first brought to my attention when the NISA demo was released. Based on testimonies from several key members of the fanbase (and my own limited abilities), I've come to the conclusion that the official English translation is a decidedly poor job. At its core, it at least still delivers the bare-skeletal meaning of the raw text, but it's been so over-localized and Westernized that it's nearly unrecognizable. In almost every single line of dialogue, NISA's official translation adds unnecessary phrases and removes entire sentences with reckless abandon, all the while changing cultural references, jokes, and frequently making the dialogue much cruder than it really is. For some examples from the demo, [see this link](https://curiouscat.me/BlackDragonHunt/post/168546124). The full game often is much worse.

Essentially, this skews your perception of most of the characters' personalities and other content, making it an unacceptable error to me. The degree of localization applied can't have been simple and must have taken a huge amount of effort, which is all the more inconceivable to me. It was unnecessary, unwanted, and unexpected from what is supposed to be a professional company. Shame on you, NISA.

==Story==

Before I even talk about this, a lot's been said about V3's story. Whatever you or have heard or may think, I believe it would be a good idea to put aside any preconceptions and approach the plot with an open mind. Plain and simple. There's not much V3 won't do to surprise you - it certainly goes places you won't expect. Consequently, it's sowed much division within the community and almost edges out Ultra Despair Girls as the most controversial game in the series so far. Thus the importance of approaching the game with an open mind can't be overstated; your state of thinking may determine whether or not you like the game.

Now let's talk about how *I* feel. I've got good news and bad news. The good news: For the most part, V3 succeeds as a DR game. For the most part it maintains the same successful formula indicative of previous DR games, and for the most part it works. For the most part it follows a reasonable sequence, and for the most part it doesn't run off course. In essence, for the most part V3 manages to be something you'd expect from DR: an engaging story with gripping twists and a strong climax. For the most part you shouldn't expect anything you wouldn't normally expect. Now, the bad news... there are also things I didn't expect.

**(Don't read the bad news if you don't want to know anything about plot structure.)**

My feelings on the story as a whole are conflicted, but the biggest problem I have relates to its structure (and I'll elaborate more on this in Direction). There isn't much I can go into without spoilers, but the story seems to have trouble working as one cohesive unit: For example, several cases feel weaker than others (to the point of suspicion that they were written by different people), there's a lack of adhesion to the overaching story before the climax, and there doesn't appear to be a strong emphasis on overall theme. Much of the story feels almost filler-ish (gasp!), as it were written in blocks by different people, cobbled together at the end and tied flimsily with a bow. The climax feels especially disconnected from the rest of the game, and depending on how you look at it, that could or couldn't be intentional. This uncertainty hits me the wrong way. Most people will take issue with the climax itself (whose interpretation is more subjective than anything), but I was more concerned with the cohesion of the story as a whole. As a result, V3's plot doesn't seem like a great fit to Danganronpa.

**(Start from here if you skipped that last section.)**

Of course, none of this means that the writers were incompetent. The cases are still great fun and manage to stay interesting. At its core, it's a DR game. If you're playing a DR game, you probably know that there's more things than the game may let on. DR2 epitomized that concept, and well, all I'll say is that Spike had some pretty high expectations to meet this time.

An objective rating of V3's story is impossible. It gets an 8/10 from me.

==Gameplay==

In contrast with the uncertainty surrounding the story, there's one thing I *can* be sure of: V3 is the final evolution of the DR gameplay we are all familiar with and brings significant improvements and new mechanics to the table. It is not, however, without flaws.

Increased processing power has allowed more complex exploration mechanics and minigames: Exploration now includes new methods of investigation and interactivity with the environment, such as the ability to "slap" objects out of your way to see what's behind them. The environment is huge and richly designed and very much worth traversing. The flipside of this is that your surroundings may seem overly monotone at times, sacrificing quality for quantity, which wonky camera controls (at least on Vita) do not help. Unlocking new areas may also seem cumbersome, as you must actually work for access to new areas this time in contrast to previous games.

Free Time remains largely unchanged at its core, largely consisting of puzzling conversations and present exchanges with other characters. But in V3 there are more diversions rather than simply taking a nap in your bed - you can play fun minigames in hub areas, which you can go back to anytime in case you need a break from all the relentless murdering, and, well, let's just say that... facilities exist for those who wish to know their fellow classmates in a way that... exceeds simple conversation. Though I think the game should have given the player more time to socalize with characters, given that I had trouble connecting with many of them, and I believe there is wasted potential in the monotony of Free Time.

The cast of V3 is the most zany collection yet in the series. They are all wonderfully unique and creative, each with his or her own quirks and traits. They are satisfyingly varied and cater to all sorts of people, meaning that there'll likely be at least two or three people you'll enjoy being around. However, again, I believe the game should have allowed the player to connect with the characters more before they died, or provided better incentive than was provided during Free Time. Personally, I felt like I wasn't able to connect as well with V3's characters as well as 2's, and I attribute this mainly to a lack of adequate time spent with them.

The biggest upgrades are in Class Trials. It's clear how much attention was directed to them instead. Many previously seen mechanics such as Rebuttal Showdown and Hangman's Gambit have been brought back and upgraded, and several new ones have been added as well, such as Mind Mine, Panic Debate, Argument Armament, and of course, who could forget Debate Scrum? And did I mention that you can *lie* in Class Trials now? Unfortunately, despite the gameplay upgrades, Trials vary greatly in difficulty and quality, with most bringing a step down in difficulty from DR2 and often inconsistently paced with the player's reasoning. Sometimes you'll having no problem keeping up, and sometimes you might find yourself questioning what audience the game was written for. "Mean" difficulty is definitely recommended.

Even after you finish the story, V3 serves up a huge and pretty fun post-game. New modes like the Talent Development Plan boardgame complement old standbys like School Mode, sure to deliver hours of fun that contribute to a more complete package for your money.

One thing I should mention, and I talked about this in my writeup on DR2: The overall gameplay structure of Daily Life -> Investigation -> Trial -> Rinse and Repeat remains the same. It's reached the point where it's gotten old and can only rely so much on plot. Now, typically I'd subtract some points for lack of originality, but V3 does several things I consider to make up for that. Regardless, gameplay-wise, at this point the series is between a rock and a hard place and I think it would be difficult for a potential fourth game to capture and maintain my attention if they do not significantly change up the established formula.

Considering the tenuous balance between quality-of-life upgrades and lack of originality, I give the gameplay an 8/10.

==Artwork==

V3 features the best artwork yet in the series. Development for a new console generation means significantly upgraded visuals, and V3's artwork does not disappoint. Environments, cutscenes, and objects are rendered in stunning detail, and Rui Komatsuzaki's new character designs are beautiful. In addition, the game's Psycho-Cool heads-up-display is groovy enough to deserve special mention.

Not much to say other than "eye-candy". 10/10.

==Soundtrack==

After Danganronpa 2's soundtrack borrowed a great many pieces from its predecessor, many music connoisseurs were clamoring for a shot of creativity in V3. Masafumi Takada delivers by mostly featuring new tracks and motifs, but simultaneously drawing inspiration from older themes. A few old tracks do persist for the nostalgia fans.

V3's soundtrack takes on a darker tone than any game coming before it, incorporating a familiar variety of styles that create a palpable atmosphere. However, its greatest strength can also be its undoing: most of the the soundtrack isn't significantly engaging enough to enjoy as a standalone, and only a few pieces stand out as noteworthy. But in the end, the music fits right into the game and does its job. The new opening theme is especially wonderful, and who could forget the thumping synths of Debate Scrum?

8/10.

==Direction==

**(I avoid talking about anything directly, but skip this whole section if you want to know zero. I can't talk about Direction while keeping completely clean.)**

Danganronpa V3 perplexes me. On one hand, I really take issue with the game's structure and presence in the series. On the other, this game does something I've never seen done in such a manner before and it's stunningly polarizing. You really should play and evaluate it yourself, because it's something that is decidedly open-ended.

First, the bad news. Bringing back what I mentioned in the bad news of Story: The issue of cohesion in this game is significant enough to warrant more discussion. I believe that the strength of this game hinges on the ending. For most of the game I felt as though I was on a different wavelength than the characters - the cast was wonderful, but many times they seemed completely unable to understand what the player should know already (and believe me, I'm a fairly stupid fellow). I also had trouble empathizing with them at times. This unpleasantly broke immersion. How do I say this - it seemed as though the characters themselves had trouble interacting with the plot, which I attribute mostly to a general sense of unrealism. Each case seemed largely self-contained and unimportant in the long run. For most of the game even the overarching story didn't feel quite as important as it should have, and it definitely seemed that there was a lack of overall mystery since the narrative was punctuated by bizaare humor every five minutes. I definitely think that V3 could have been a lot more consistent in tone, narrative, and pacing for me to have taken it more seriously and enjoyed it more.

Now, the good (?) news, and I will try to say this in the least spoilery way possible: In this writer's opinion, for all its shortcomings this game also does something utterly brilliant - although it may pad itself a bit, it *does not think twice* when crossing boundaries. It takes numerous risks for something as popular and anticipated as it is and is not afraid to do things most games wouldn't dream of thinking about. The result is something that you will either love or hate, and fortunately, I love it. Even if just for its creative value and spirit. As an aspiring writer myself, I will always respect creative spirit, and V3 rose far and above my expectations with that. The sheer weight of the balls it took for the developers to pull something so bold is astounding.

In my opinion, it's enough to mostly outweigh where V3 fails. Where DR2 was a refinement, DRV3 is an evolution. It may not fit perfectly into the series, but in a way, I believe it works as Team Danganronpa's swan song. I'll stop now before I accidentally spoil something. Play the game already. These developers deserve your attention.

10/10 direction. I was very impressed.

**(Start from here if you skipped that last section.)**

==Closing Argument==

In many ways, DRV3 is the final evolution of Danganronpa. It combines the tried-and-true bread-and-butter of the series we've come to know, expect, and love, and pushes boundaries we didn't know existed - risking everything in the process. It's a dangerous combination, and for the most part, I think it pays off. I won't say why, but I think this a send-off for Danganronpa, and if it is, it's a fitting one. That is the simple truth.

Final Score: 8/10