You speak to your fellow classmates, give them presents, and choose from dialogue options in an attempt to gain favor with them. Breaking these parts up are “free time” sections where the player engages in Persona-esque social link events. A typical chapter involves a visual novel opening along with some minor adventure game-style exploration. The game mixes different gameplay mechanics throughout, and none of them quite work the way they should. Unfortunately, the part where Danganronpa is a video game is rather weak. Even on its own, it’s a pretty wonderful score to listen to. Often times, peaceful, pleasant music is played in opposition to events that have just occurred. At other times, the score produces unnatural, almost unnerving sounds. For instance, the game’s main theme is a jazzy number with operatic chanting like something from Lord of the Rings. There is something off-kilter and manic about the way the game mixes musical styles. The dichotomy of the game’s art style at play with its grim imagery results in some of my favorite art design in recent video game memory.ĭanganronpa also features a great soundtrack.
And yet it is all presented in somewhat comic fashion. Dead bodies are strewn about in what should be grotesque ways and characters are killed off in over-the-top sequences. Characters are presented as 2D drawings for the most part save some cutscenes. The cutesy art design of the game is in constant contrast to its macabre and morose subject matter. The narrative eventually wraps up in an incredibly satisfying way even while there is a certain ambiguity to its events. That plot’s misdirection is also used to make the player reach obvious solutions to obvious mysteries even while distracting them from the deeper mysteries going on. For a game borrowing much from the slasher genre, it takes the inverse approach to many of those works and makes you hate seeing the cast killed off one by one. You’ll come to care about characters who by all rights you probably shouldn’t. The game continuously uses the player’s preconceived notions of these archetypes against the player in clever ways. Each character is based off an anime archetype and is referred to as one of the “Ultimates.” There is the Ultimate Gambler, the Ultimate Swimmer, and more. What makes the story work is the game’s memorable and diverse cast. Some sequences are both horrific and yet also humorous thanks to the game’s great sense of black comedy. Some scenes in the game bring to mind movies such as Nightmare on Elm Street. The plot of the game is equal parts human tragedy, morality play, and horror movie. I do not use that term to be derogatory, as the way the game’s narrative uses anime stereotypes to constantly subvert the player’s expectations is quite masterful. The story of Danganronpa reads like a combination of Battle Royale and Phoenix Wright, except even more anime. A small robotic bear named “Monokuma,” claiming to be the headmaster of the school, informs the students that they are trapped and must live out the rest of their lives in the school unless they are willing to kill one of their fellow classmates and are able to get away with it.
DANGANRONPA TRIGGER HAPPY HAVOC ANIME EPSODE LIST WINDOWS
All exits and windows have been blocked, and there is no means to contact the outside world. Upon arrival, you pass out and awaken to find the school mostly deserted. You play the role of one of a group of students who have recently arrived at the prestigious Hope’s Peak Academy. In order to properly contextualize my thoughts on that game though, I think it is best that I start with Danganronpa.īy now, many of you have heard of the premise of Danganronpa. I also recently finished Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, and wanted to review it.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a game I finished last year, but I didn’t review it at the time.
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