Danganronpa Review (VGR)

Overview

Are you tired of your boring, average, everyday life? Then, enter Hope’s Peak Academy, the school for only the most talented students in the world… Or, is it?

Hope’s Peak Academy has turned into a prison & you Makoto Naegi most figure out why, while surviving an onslaught of murders set up by the mastermind & your fellow classmates. Sounds like the most fun you can get, without getting off the couch right, but how does Danganronpa play out as a visual novel/mystery/rhythm game overall? Well let’s get started!

Story

The story of Danganronpa starts like most games/visual novels with anime kids in high school, except Hope’s Peak Academy isn’t really your average high school. Hope’s Peak Academy is a school for only the most talented students. The main character, the all too average Makoto Naegi, finds himself at the doors to Hope’s Peak Academy on his first day. When all of a sudden, he passes out in the main hallway to the school. After Makoto wakes up, he finds himself locked into a ‘killing game’ with his fellow Hope’s Peak Academy students. Can Makoto survive among other Ultimate Students that may be out to kill him and escape the dreaded Hope’s Peak Academy?

Gameplay

The gameplay for Danganronpa is honestly pretty intuitive & the game guides you every step of the way. You will walk, run, & search every corridor as you try to survive this killing game. During the class trials, the controls change all of the time & most of the time remain fairly intuitive & easy to explain. There were a few times that the controls honestly became a little bit annoying. For example, during the rhythm beat sections it was pretty hard to keep in time with the music when the game goes silent as the music slows back down. The hardest part of the gameplay for me though, honestly came from the closing arguments, where you have to use the pictures the game gives you to recreate the scene of the crime. I did play the game on hard mode, so it was a little hard for me to tell, which picture went where, but the game gives you several chances & is a lot easier in normal.

Immersion

The game’s art style and puzzles create a very immersive game in the world of Danganronpa. You struggle to identify killers as you get to know each of your fellow Hope’s Peak Academy students. There are several moments in the game, where I felt like I didn’t want to identify the killer because that will of course lead to their overall demise. As you go through the game you really get to feel for each character & you can even read more about them in their data entries.

As for Hope’s Peak Academy itself, one definitely does get the feeling of being trapped in a high school. Everybody’s worst nightmare, unless you were the high school quarterback or cheerleader. In which case, Hope’s Peak welcomes you with open arms.

Music

The music of Danganronpa is absolutely beautiful. No matter where you are in the game the music fits perfectly except for that one time [Spoilers] Naegi got that tragic news and was like well that was depressing, what should I do today?[End Spoilers] Really Naegi? Really? The rhythm sections of the game are pretty awesome but I still can’t stand when the music happens to go silent I the middle of a moment of truth.

Art

The art style of Danganronpa is honestly one of the best parts of the game, or should I say art styles. Danganronpa uses several different art styles, mainly, anime, paper, & 3d modeling to express the complex world of Danganronpa. From comedy, to sadness the art fits the mood of the game all the way throughout.

Plot

The actual plot of Danganronpa is complex to say the least, & not easy to explain without spoilers, but I’ll try my best. As I said before, Makoto finds himself trapped in the world of Hope’s Peak Academy trying to figure out the best method to escape the academy. ‘The killing game’ leaves each of the students with one of two options either win the ‘killing game’ by tricking your fellow classmates into thinking that you aren’t the murderer when you are or by figuring out a way to escape (which honestly isn’t really that much of an option).

Replay Value

As for replay value, Danganronpa honestly exceeded my expectations. Even once you’re finished with the game, there’s still a lot more to discover about the characters. Not only that, but there’s definitely a quality to playing this game yourself. If you’ve only watched somebody play Danganronpa, you have not yet lived the Danganronpa experience. The Steam version has also allowed for a lot more accessibility for people without PSPs & adds some value to the game with steam achievements. [Spoilers] Although, I honestly still wish there was an achievement for killing Kyoko. I mean c’mon you beat Kyoko. That’s an achievement in and of itself.

Overall

Danganronpa is an excellent game that I would suggest for any to check out. This jewel of the PSP/PS Vita era has definitely expanded its horizons with its recent release on Steam, IOS, and Android. Danganronpa has met & even exceed my expectations. That’s why Danganronpa receives:

An expected value of 100%

An average value of 89%

And

an overall value of 89%

Plot

I honestly don't want to spoil anything about House of Leaves, even if someone's already read it because that's part of the magic of this book, but what I will say is this: these authors really know how to make these books come alive. No matter where I was in this book I always felt like I could feel something moving in the background. I never once felt at ease. This book is absolutely chilling. It also goes to mention that I'm not sure if parts of this book are appropriate for children or the easilly sexually-corrupted. Oh Thumper and other beautiful ladies of the night...

Characters

Most of the characters in this book are very well-orchestrated. I knew exactly what each character was doing, but I never felt like I knew what the characters were thinking, well except for the keeper of the Navidson Record, the tattoo artist. I usually got a pretty good understanding of what he was thinking, perhaps I even understood a bit too much of what he was thinking if you know what I mean :(. Frowny Smilees aside I think that our keeper of the Navidson Record makes for a great narrator with an interesting mind that slowly begins to divulge into darkness, something that I very much can appreciate. In fact, I often feel like the monster in this book and I would make great friends, since we both loom within the darkness like a heavy anvil awaiting Bugs Bunny. As for the characters of the Navidson Record itself, I believe that Navidson is an exuberant thrill seeker, his wife Karen a claustrophobe, and their son and daughter honestly somewhat mindless. You never hear much from the son and daughter in this book. There just kind of... there I suppose, there like those last few fries at the bottom of the bag that your uncle Fred will one day pick up and dissect, like one of those poor innocent frogs from biology, before devouring them whole.

Setting

The main setting of this story takes place inside of a house, and no I'm not kidding it takes place inside of a house, or at least I think it does. Does it? I'm not entirely sure. The more I read about the house the less that it sounds like a house & the more it sounds like the inside of Monstro from Kingdom Hearts. (I would put an annotation here for you, but I think that you know exactly what I mean, and if I don't you should. Go watch it or play it. You can find it on YouTube. Shoo. Shoo.

Well not yet because it's time for our)

Final Verdict

House of Leaves is a book that is sure to leave you waiting on the edge of your seat with one hand against your chest and the other hand searching through your cell-phone for more answers. It will also leave you with many questions and a throbbing headache as well as you try to figure out what really just happened for the 14th time in the book. All of these things and more are why House of Leaves receives my

Expected Rating of: 8/10

Average Rating of 90%

and

Overall Book Rating of 92%