Lurker > KCF0107

Also, I don't think that I can do trials in one sitting any more. It's a bit much. I was trying to do each chapter in a span of three days (one each for pre-murder, post-murder, and trial), but there's so much to do during trials that it is a bit exhausting to do it all at once. I guess that they have intermissions for those for a reason. I may try to space chapters out for five days (maybe even take a day off during each chapter) or something as I am expecting chapters to increase in time the further we go.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Personally I think the Case 3 curse is still in effect here, but I can't I can't remeber if you agreed with that general stance amongst these games.

I distinctly remember completely eviscerating the third case from THH if that was the one involving Celestia/Hifumi/Kiyotaka

If more games had murder mystery elements in similar abstract scenarios like this, I would play them. As you can probably tell, I'm attentive and super into theorizing the truth once a body drops. It's unfortunate that it has to come in a package deal with cringy anime crap.

As I won't be playing any games this month, I'm going to knock out my nomination now and do a Game Pass game in Kraken Academy

Just-for-Fun Top 20 Standings
KCF - 145
gameking - 116
ArkOfTurus - 85
Mr Crispy - 82
Lolo Guru - 70
Cody - 4
KnightOfNee - 35
MegamanX - 28
Arti - 23
scarletspeed - 23
Wickle - 22
darkx - 18
Fenny - 16
ViolentAbacus - 17
FakeAccount - 15
GreatPaul - 15
MZero - 14
Suprak the Stud - 14
tazzyboy - 14
Robazoid - 13

Spreadsheet with history
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X8E8oqzES42W4S82j7WTfNnzNa8c3uXdSE1rnqYG7WM/edit?usp=sharing

Additional noms this month
Cody - 1
Crispy - 1
darkx - 1
MZero - 1

Aprils Games:
Deemo (PC/Switch/PS4/Android/iOS/Vita)
Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA/Wii U)
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (PC/PS4)

What is Game of the Month Club?
Game of the Month is a community project open to all B8ers where users share, discover, play and/or discuss a select few games every month. The games featured each month are chosen by YOU the users (and Lady Luck)

The Basics
- Each month will usually feature three games that were chosen via a random drawing from a pool of games that users nominated
- For each game you beat, you get a cool point on our just-for-fun standings as well as a nomination for next month's randomized drawing
- In order to receive the point and nomination, you must beat said game within the calendar month
- If you beat one of the current month's games in the previous month, you can apply for a "recently beaten waiver," but you will only receive a point and no nomination should you do so
- Drawing for next month's games is usually on the 25th
- If you periodically keep us posted on your progress and/or talk about different aspects of the games, then everyone will think you are super awesome!

Nomination Rules
- You get one nomination automatically each month
- You receive additional nominations each month for every featured game that you beat
- Each game you nominate has to be unique from all other nominations and cannot include a game that has already been selected for GotM
- Each game must be a standalone game that can be acquired and played on its own (aka cannot be DLC/expansion that requires the base game)
- Nominations only carry over if you beat a featured game after the drawing for next month's games but before the end of the month
- You have 9 supports you can use throughout the year. Your only limitations are that you can't support your own nomination, and you can only use one support per game per month

I have no idea what you saying that in response to

Again, I like the crime. I think that is the one area that the game has improved upon. However, I hate how they hide or outright lie to the player just so they can reveal it as a "twist" later and act like they were being clever. I know the games lie to the player, hide pertinent info , and tease about everything of even minor importance non-stop like its their entire purpose for existing, but leave that out of the investigations and trials at least! That's the one thing that I look forward to in these games!

lol Shu got a vote. That has me thinking. Why does it matter who I vote for at the end of the trial? At that point, we clearly have someone singled out or even having admitted to their crime, so there is no risk of a split vote. If I had voted for like Tsu, shouldn't it still be 11 votes on Kirumi?

Kirumi is in essence Japan's prime minister...there are no words. I fucking knew it that there was some implicit agreement between Ryoma and Kirumi. I totally redeemed myself right? Right? *Sobs*

Well damn, that is one of the more brutal executions that I can recall. Mono Green killed Mono Yellow (R.I.P. fellow Pats hater). Maki is also the Ultimate Assassin. As dumb as that reveal was, I suppose it is better than Ultimate Child Caregiver.

Ch. 2 End.

Oh, there's still more new trial stuff. Psyche Taxi is pretty basic and boring. There were billboards of I want to say Angie littered along the side, but I couldn't make out the context of the scene. Is that important? Oh, so I was wrong about some things regarding the murder. Yeah, the Tennis lab sink was the murder location, but the body was never lowered into the pool. They went straight from the lab to the gym. I totally forgot about the rope in the gym, so they used the rope and cable. Okay, I get the picture now. The black piece of fabric has to be the critical clue, but I don't know if it has to do with the culprit or the manor in which they went from window to window. Given the inner tube was right next to it, I'd say the latter.

Oh, another new trial mechanic. Mind Mine. It too is whatever. During the reenactment of the innertube ride, they gave the culprit a male physique. I would think they would use a gender neutral one, but maybe, just maybe, my dead-in-the-water Kaito theory still has life left in it! I'm also getting a little hopeful because if this took the culprit well into the night, they probably needed to sleep in some, and that would explain Kaito's absence for the magic show.

Okay, they are fully in on Kirumi, so I'm inclined to believe it now. Like half of the characters incorporate black into their outfit, so I'm guessing that the fabric is Kirumi's glove or head piece. Damn, they are making Kirumi look sadistic in the comic book recap like she's some psychopath who takes great glee in murder and making others react in horror.

You are telling me that Kirumi asked to meet Ryoma after midnight, and Ryoma, one of the more sensible characters out there, said sure why not? What I don't get is why didn't she just go to the pool during the day to grab the tube and fabric and if it came up, just say that she couldn't make it to the magic show or whatever because she needed to make meals for those who didn't show up for breakfast. Maybe there was a better excuse or something, but the point is, she had viable options to remove evidence.

Awesome, we had our out-of-left-field bombshell that could have and should have just been revealed in the death file and during the investigation but was instead used in the form of a terrible plot-manipulation twist. Ryoma and Maki met after midnight, and clearly nobody could impersonate him, so literally nobody has an alibi for the murder. Are we sure the writers aren't actually 12 or people who flunked out of creative writing schools/programs?

I was going to call out Koki for saying that there's no certainty that the night Ryoma and Maki met was last night to discuss the motive tablets (implying that he believes that met one night), but I guess if Maki keeps her dorm room unlocked, Koki could have seen the tablet the night before or something. I don't have a great sense of time within this game, but I feel like there were maybe four days and then the murder was revealed on the fifth?

"Gentlemen do not chuck dead bodies." - Gonta
- Debatable

Hmm, they gave a hint about the culprit being the one who focused on how the body was placed instead of where the murder took place. The chat log doesn't go as far back as I would need, but you can make the claim for a couple people, but Kirumi and Angie are the ones who talk about that topic the most.

"This is the of the Jets! Fuck the Patriots!" - Mono Yellow
- Swap Jets for Dolphins, and you my man are my fav

Hmm, I wonder if I should be paying attention to the pre-trial character panels to maybe be a clue as to what group will see one of theirs depart either from this trial or next chapter:
- Panel 1: Kirumi, Himiko, Tenko, Kaito, Ryoma
- Panel 2: Gonta, Keebo, Tsu, Kiyo, Maki
- Panel 3: Miu, Kaede, Angie, Shu, Kiko

If the culprit isn't from Panel 2, then I would wager that the victim, or at least one if multiple, from Chapter 3 will be from that group. I bought something to increase the focus since I recall it draining pretty fast.

For the longest of time, we just spent the trial talking about the magic trick that was more or less simple to solve during the initial gym investigation and had no direct bearing on the murder. Now that we moved on, the square glass pane in the bottom of the tank actually came from the piranha tank and was used to separate the piranhas from Ryoma, and that in turn made it seem like there were more piranhas. See, we are learning stuff now!

We have established and 8-10 murder window, and we have quickly narrowed the suspect pool to Kaito, Miu, Kirumi, and Maki. Since I am convinced that Maki and Miu are innocent, I'm getting a bad feeling that the real culprit is actually none of the above thanks to some trial-introduced bit of evidence that completely changes things that could and should have been revealed during the investigation OR that it is Kirumi and given her policy on requests, Ryoma asked for or allowed Kirumi to kill him or something stupid like that.

If it isn't one of the four, I'm getting Angie vibes since while the trick was not directly involved in the murder, it was used to obsfucate the crime, so it would have to be someone with some involvement with it, whether as an assistant/promotor or helper. I'm looking at the alibi evidence, am I am seeing that Angie's whereabouts aren't listed from 9-10. I thought she was with Himiko and then later captured together, but maybe that was just an assumption I made.

Koki took Ryoma's motive tablet that obviously had Maki's motive on there. I thought Koki said that he didn't have time to watch the contents of the tablets? Okay, when it was down to Kaito and Maki, which obviously meant that it was going to be neither because we hadn't even begun to dissect the murder method and transportation of the body, the former declares neither to be the murderer. Okay, it's totally going to be Angie or Kirumi.

16. Beat a rhythm game
Sayonara Wild Hearts

Sayonara Wild Hearts (XB1)

A really neat rhythm game to go through once, but I can't fathom attempting to collect everything and get gold rankings in all levels.

skullbone posted...

I'd play a sequel but doesn't look like that will ever happen unless they go to Kickstarter or something.

Can you imagine if Ubisoft went to Kickstarter lol? I wonder what the largest company to start a Kickstarter/etc campaign has been.

The tennis net in the lab is down, and they had mentioned that something was off in the room, but apparently I can't investigate it or anything. What was the point then? The shower room here is prison themed. Okay. Handcuffs obviously came from here, and there are scratches from the sink, probably matching the handcuffs. I'm guessing that Ryoma was drowned in this sink and those scratches are a sign of resistance. This is the window that leads to the pool, and there are marks here that match those from the gym window. If Ryoma was drowned here, he was transported from the shower room to the gym using something connecting the windows?

NOW we are investigating the net. It uses a cable to keep it upright, and this cable is probably what caused the window frame abrasions. It certainly isn't long enough to reach window-to-window, so Ryoma must have first been transported to the pool and then from the pool to the gym.

Checking out the pool last, there is an air pump in the storage room, a piece of fabric in the pool along with an innertube with a rope attached. Curiously, the innertube and rope were not considered evidence while the other two were. Monokuma said that nobody living entered the gym or pool at night. Given his explanation of a loud alarm if someone violated the nighttime rules, Ryoma likely did drown in the shower room sink.

I'm not sure the exact details after that, but the tennis net cable then was used to transport Ryoma into the pool at night. Not wanting to risk violating a rule, Kaito came back to the pool during the day and using whatever knowledge of the magic show that he had, and it must have been enough to add more piranhas to ultimately obscure Ryoma's corpse, he hoisted Ryoma into the small tank in the gym after it was in its final position. I'm clearly unsure of how the air pump and the frabric from whatever come into play, but Kaito also had to put the cable back into the lab but didn't have enough time to put it back in the net.

It's trial time, and I don't have much in the way of hard evidence. I will give the evidence a thorough look once I decide to play again, but with the murder timeline almost certainly in the 8-11 PM range, there are only three realistic suspects. I'm sure we are going to talk about and severely embarrass Miu about her tactics to get Gonta off her case, and Mika was almost certainly at her lab during this chapter, and we will either know this trial or next chapter just what she has been caring for. That just leaves Kaito. Again, I have no hard evidence against him, but he has no alibi, I have long viewed his actions and words, even before the murder, to be sketchy this chapter, he seems to be one of the few physically capable of pulling off this in a relatively rigid time frame, and since we are trying to build up Shu's confidence, they inexplicably thrust Kaito into a prominent role, and it would be on brand to manufacture drama and whatnot immediately removing him from his current role and into the villain of this chapter.

There are scratches on the handcuffs and marks on the window leading out to the pool. I don't know if they are a match because maybe the handcuff scratches were marks of a struggle, but it seems to me that Ryoma's corpse entered the gym being hoisted up through there or something. I don't know if it was a joke, but saying that Ryoma was both the Ultimate Tennis and Ultimate Prisoner has me rolling my eyes. Ultimate Prisoner...give me a break lol.

They told me that there was now a bucket of piranhas, but I wasn't expecting that image of a bunch of piranha heads sticking out. They made it sound as if they were still alive earlier, but seeing how exposed their gills are to the air makes me think they are or are about to be gonners. There are apparently more piranhas than usual. I'm not even sure how there were piranhas to begin with as they weren't in Himiko's lab before.

Speaking of her lab, while there again, Koki explained his stunt. He left at 8:55 and was grilled by Kirumi at the dorms until 10:00. He says that they played tag, which I highly doubt Kirumi views chasing after him the same way...and I stand corrected. Neither of two have an alibi for 10-11, but Kirumi did come back with a bunch of tablets presumably from locked dorm rooms, so I have to assume that he's in the clear. There was also a girl walking around in underwear. I really don't want to spend any more time on that, but you know we will and more than necessary talking about how Miu avoided being captured by Gonta.

There was no tablet in Ryoma's room, but did Kaito make a slip up? He said that the motive video showed us the people most important to us, but did Monokuma mention that? I honestly don't remember, and since I am dead set on Kaito being the murderer and willing to twist any evidence to support that theory, I'm going to say he slipped up!

Yeah, there was totally a body in the piranha tank, but why did it have to be Ryoma? Poor guy was already dead and handcuffed, and they had to mutilate his body like that. At least they gave him a cutsy skeleton. For now, I'm willing to overlook the piranhas not doing anything to the corpse until the moment they went into the other tank. I put Ryoma on my survivor list just because the games always have multiple, random and irrelevant characters survive until the end (Yasuhiro, Aoi, Akane, Sonia, and Kaz through two games) and I don't know, I felt like he could have been another example.

Hmm, Ryoma died via drowning. The pool is literally next door, and the only other water sources that I can think of are bathroom sinks in the school. I think one person mentioned each dorm room at their own bathroom, not that I can collaborate that. I suppose Kaito, or someone else, could have drowned him in a dorm sink while everyone was trying to evade or endure the Gonta/Kiko affair.

They also wouldn't put in a time of death. If it was let's say 2 AM when it occurred, then everybody is a suspect. Because the only notable event from that night was Gonta/Kiko's plan, the murder time had to have occurred during that or there's no reason to hide the time of death. That would make the suspect pool Kaito, Kiko, Miu, Kirumi, and I guess Kiko and Gonta. It would be an idiotic twist by even DR standards for Kiko to not be care giving to something in her lab, and it would be a bit ridiculous for Kiko or Gonta to make this viewing party a ruse for a murder, so really it is just Kaito, Miu, and Kirumi. I've been on Kaito's case since he inexplicably came to my room about Gonta, so I'm still fully behind him being the murderer with no hard evidence.

Kaito revealed that he was one of the people who helped set up Himiko's show, but out of the four, he was the only whose whereabouts are unaccounted for last night. Is it really this easy? Himiko and Angie were captured, so Kaito could have taken the time to check out and/or tamper with magic show equipment. Now that I'm reminded that the gym is one of two places off-limits during the night, you can enter the pool, just not enter the water. The pool is right next door too...

Might as well bump this as we await Menji

I'm pretty sure Road 96 has been out for almost a year

Yes

The next scene placed us inside Gonta's lab along with Tsu, Keebo, Tenko, Kiyo, Koki, with Himiko, Angie, and Gonta arriving later. We are to have a motive viewing party under the guise of an insect meet and greet. Both events sound like a delight. There's no way they are going to show 16 different videos, so how are we going to get out of this mess. Ah of course, Keebo and his built-in audio recording device. After escaping, Mono Green was supposed to return the tablets, but will that mean they were returned to whom they were originally sent to or whose motive message it belongs to? I'm sure that will be brought up in the trial.

"I was not able to train with Kaito today. It's not like I'll never see him again or anything"
- Shu thinking to himself before sleeping.

Well I will take that bet. Even better is that the tablet was not returned to my room. I would have thought that Kiko would get on my case about hiding my tablet when he went to get them all, but it makes far more sense that Kaito did in fact get me out of my room to steal and watch the tablet.

Well, it is magic show time. A large tank filled with water with a timer, a curtain, and another small tank suspended above with something moving around. Clearly this bodes well. The suspended water tank was noted for its water being "murky" and those are piranhas if I am interpreting Kiyo's remark correctly. There will be no deaths or dead bodies for sure. Everyone here is accounted for except Ryoma, Kaito, Maki, and Koki.

Ominous music is playing once the magic trick was underway as if we didn't already know something bad was going to happen. Hmm, will Himiko survive and then someone else be found in tank before or after the piranhas drop? Himiko hit the water, so the time is ticking. Gonta got antsy and climbed on top of the tank, but his reaction looking into it suggests that the tank is empty. The time expired and the timer now says death. The short animated clip of the piranhas being dropped went so fast, but I'm pretty sure either the shape seemed off or my eyes picked up on something that wasn't like the uniform shape and color of the piranhas. After the audience demanded it, the curtains were set to open...when I decided to call it quits.

I hung out with Kiko and Miu this time, unfortunately not together. It kind of feels too early for a murder, so all this uneasiness about what Kaito wants me out outside of night from other characters seem unwarranted, even excluding that there's no way that they would remove Kaede and Shu from the game and have a third character (it would have to be Keebo right?) with their own friendship meters. It was just an impassioned speech and push-ups, of which Shu did more than twice of what Kaito could muster. That makes sense.

There seems to be quite a bit more focus on Kaito and Kirumi this chapter. Just thinking out loud. The ominous monologue after parting ways with Kaito gives me pause that we have more time this chapter, but there has to be something else that happens. There must be some big and/or dramatic event to really tie in a murder...and we now have our murder window. Himiko is putting on a magic show.

I ended up going to the casino with Miu, which apparently also included Kiyo, Kiko, Ryoma, and Kaito. The boys had a slot machine competition, whatever the fuck that means. Whatever, I ended up hanging out with Tsu when given free time. That was the third free time period, so now the murder must be coming up within the next day.

A strange event unfolded where Kaito rushed to my room to inform me that Gonta was on a rampage and I should run. Uh, let's back up here a moment. I was safe in my room. While Gonta has been shown to be able to lift a manhole cover, ripping a door off its hinges is a different thing, and given the emphasis of needing keys to open doors and lamenting that we couldn't enter Rantaro's room any more, the game has implied Gonta is not capable of that. So why would Kaito risk himself being caught by Gonta to let me know while I was completely safe from him in my room? I suspect that this is ultimately a ploy for Kaito to watch the tablet with Kaito's motive. Shu had already implicated that he had Kaito's message to several students before, so I'm sure word got around. Surely the Ultimate Detective should have the foresight to not fall for this...nope, silly me. Shu is a dumbass, so of course he ran out of the room and ultimately got himself knocked out by Gonta.

Oh, the flashlight affects everyone. What does it even MEAN to erase talent? I guess that's DR science for you lol. I don't know why everyone is suddenly incapable of deciphering language because none of them have any inkling of what an ultimate HUNT is, only that they were avoiding it.

It was free time, and I was curious if I could enter Maki's lab at this time. Not only was that not possible, but I couldn't even hang out with Maki herself. I'm strongly suspecting that she will be around for Chapter 3 at this rate. I ended up hanging out with Kiyo and Miu, checking out the latter's lab. Speaking of the labs, Kiyo, Kaito, Koki, Keebo, Tenko, Tsu, and Angie are without one to my knowledge. I would like to think that would make them self from murder and being murdered this chapter, but you never know.

I also took the time to check out the tablet for Shu's friendship meters, and they are separate from Kaede's, including Kaede as an option. I'm not sure that I will want to basically do twice the work this time around. We also got a new tablet as a means of motive, except mine was Kaito's motive. I'm guessing everyone else's tablets have a different student's means for motive. Yeah, I'm not believing it was an honest mix-up.

I'm not sure if it means anything, but everyone is piling on tasks for Kirumi to complete. She's more agreeable and pleasant than most, so I hope that this isn't a prelude to something this chapter. I then tried again talking to Maki, and as she was standing outside of her lab, she told me "I'm not letting you in, and I'm not coming out." Uh huh...

Yeah, the Titans have finished their divisional slate by going 1-5 on the season, so by already being a game or more back of everyone in overall record, they are going to have to win two more games than every other team in the division in the second half of the season.

I guess the ocarina removed the vines covering the pool entrance, a classic murder spot. They spent a lot of time describing the pool, and there was even a rule update. Hmm, foreshadowing? We soon went back to the gym for Angie to tell us she figured out nothing about the flashlight. Monokuma says it is a flasback light that restores memories. It was so obvious, why didn't I think of that? lol Kaito saying, "Then it's decided! Let's use it!" after it was nearly unanimously agreed not to.

I ended up stopping there before it was revealed who will be the guinea pig.

Inserting the dragon gem revealed a path behind the statue, but since I still have no idea what to use the remaining two items on, I will explore this new area. First room was an ultimate lab, given Kiyo and Kirumi are here, I'm guessing it has to be one of them, and there's a dining table with fake people in the seats, so I have a good idea who it belongs to. Who the hell looks at the decor and is first reminded of Jack the Ripper? Hmm, there are a lot of washing machines here, hopefully none that will house a corpse later.

There was a random treasure chest back in the hall with what looked something like a flashlight. Angie took and ran off with it though. Whatevs. There's another ultimate lab on this floor, and it has insects, which could only mean Gonta. The poor guy couldn't get another visitor like Kirumi did with a far less interesting title theme.

Going up another floor, Maki wouldn't let me in her lab. What a bitch, Koki too at that matter now that he showed his face. Later. Ryoma's tennis court is also on this floor with Miu surprisingly here too. There's a shower room in the back, but for some reason, I couldn't explore it.

Frantically searching for where to use the remaining "prizes" I was given, I never realized there was a wall of passports near the gym. All of that for a single ultimate lab. I'm not sure why a strawberry is front and center, but that might be a magic circle, so I'm guessing Himiko. Lot's of stereotypical magic trick stuff. I'm noticing that most of the new labs that I've entered look like prime spots for murders or body dumpings with all the dangerous objects/machinery and storage spaces.

Whatever this intro funeral thing is, there were 16 photo frames, but the only photo was of Kaede. No Rantaro, so there's that to remember, maybe. With a chapter name like A Thin Line Divides Heaven and Hell, my eyes are on Angie potentially playing a big role this chapter.

Hmm, upon leaving the dorms, I noticed some bright neon signs beyond the nearby wall. Where those always there? They mention a casino and a hotel. I wonder if that message in the grass Gonta say that said Horse A is casino/betting related.

In the dining hall, Tenko actually used the word male with no degenerate surrounding it. Maybe we are in the midst of a redemption. lol Kiko saying that he would bring Keebo a broken TV to eat. The Monocubs gave us a bunch of crap, but two stood out to me. The crank has to be used to go through the door where this casino and hotel are. The dragon gem must be the dragon statue's right eye. As for the ocarina and passport, you got me.

I decided to use the crank first, and it really is just a casino and hotel through the gate. They wouldn't let me access the hotel, but of course the casino is. I could only play the slots, but I bought 220 casino coins and turned them into over 1000, so I went and bought items that I assume are exclusively casino prizes.

Just some quick thoughts after the first chapter:
- I'm really not feeling that the setting is adding anything to the atmosphere, or maybe it would be more accurate to say that it doesn't feel as if the setting has an atmosphere of its own to add value to the game. If it hasn't already, it's hard to believe there will be much improvement on that front.
- I like several of the new trial stuff like the mass panic debate and whatever the one was that had two schools of thought pitted against each other. Others like the revised Hangman's Gambit, rhythm game, and comic book closing argument I was less than enthused with.
- While I like the conclusion of Kaede being the culprit in theory, it ultimately feels cheap because even with (flimsy) flashbacks in an attempt to claim that it was foreshadowed, going the unreliable narrator route as a shock plot point is something that needs to be deftly pulled off, and that was obviously not the case. If they would have gone with dual playable characters or make Kaede an unreliable narrator from the start, I think it could have worked out with some necessary tweaks.

Well it appears that they went through with the execution. Mono Green did something weird and caused Mono Blue to be destroyed. It wouldn't surprise me if they decided to put blood or a red liquid inside of the Monokumas, so I suppose that they presented an option to have Kaede return late in the game or something. I guess Mono Green could have been hacked by someone too. Who knows, but I'm moving on.

Ch. 1 End

Yeah, puzzles were neat in Supraland, but the combat was an annoyance at best and usually more of a momentum-halting slog

Uh oh, I went to the tablet, and the menu changed from yellow to like a teal. I think this accusation is serious if they are already having me use Shu's tablet. What, the ball went through the vent. You are telling me that someone on the opposite side of where the monitor was and on the side of the vent could not hear ANY bizarre, loud noises that would only increase as it came closer to them? I'm having a really hard time buying that. I thought that the drone view of the room might have actually helped Kaede's defense, but I guess the view must have been more tilted than I thought because my original thought was that an iron ball would have landed left of the camera area, but as everything unfolded, my concern went unanswered. I guess it had to have been right on the mark.

The comic thing at the end was a bit obnoxiously set up. I remember it being more straightforward in the previous game or games. They kept droning on and on with the sappy stuff, and I was getting tired, so I technically haven't finished the chapter. I suppose that I could have skipped a bunch of text, but I'm afraid that I will miss something that I could use in a future murder mystery. I'm hoping that when I resume next, the Monokumas will interrupt them so we can do the execution.

I guess I never suspected that Kaede would be killed off until the last chapter at the earliest because of the friendship stuff. Shu has a meter/flower/ribbon thing but I don't believe that she did. That would mean that you would have to choose between the two in whatever post-game mode is meant to max out friendship levels in order to accomplish that with both. That is why I am possibly bracing for her to be spared from execution, but I won't hold my breath.

Normally, I want what others have stated in this topic and for several characters to STFU, but I find Shu's silence aggrevating right now. Does he have a great idea who the culprit is and is staying mum because of the look that one murderer he help arrest gave him?

Uh oh, we are adding lying to the trial tactic mix. Aha! They brought up the flash, but another thought occurred to me. If it takes 30 seconds to auto-roll, the hidden door photos don't make sense. Rantaro noticed the flash in one photo, and in the next photo, he was making a move for the camera. I can't imagine it took him 30 seconds to do that since the camera wasn't exactly hidden. He must have seen it right away.

I'm sorry, what even IS this trial? Are we really going down the route that it was me all along? I appreciate that this opening trial is going hard, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to accept the unreliable narrator route. I'm guessing that this is a desperate ploy to lure out the real culprit, but if it really is Kaede, then I can see the attempted build up here Shu to take the lead after this. It would just be so out of left field and leave me with conflicted thoughts and feelings.

Yeah, I stopped to type up what I had once they shifted in this direction. It's getting pretty late, but maybe I can finish this trial up and also put everything in the topic.

With a seemingly dwindling suspect pool, I swear if it ends up being Ryoma and he somehow was able to sideway launch an iron ball without leaving the vent...

Oh, I really should have looked at my clues in depth before the trial. Now I'm seeing that the hidden door opening really goes out so far that it blocks the nearby door to the hall. Also, am I seeing the flash going off in both hidden door photos. Didn't we or have Miu disable that?

If I hear Tenko say "degenerate male" one more time, she's going to the bottom of the character rankings, and also because I have seen her [sexually] harass Himiko like half a dozen times already.

Hmm, if the shot put ball was launched, could have have turned off the sensor while checking up on the Kaito group and wedged it between something in the library so that when he theoretically got Rantaro to go there, he would ultimately get himself killed? Shu could have also manipulated/failed to turn off the flash at some point, prior to this even. Okay, I don't feel as bad about messing up my pre-trial hypothesis right now because I was never told about this super important bit about the cameras in that they will not take a picture for 30 seconds after one in order to auto-roll. I was suspecting Shu even more, but then everyone started railing on him, so once again, I know he is innocent.

Intermission

Koki and Miu are such a disaster together that I kind of love it.

Oh great, we have to bring up cosplox in trial. What the fuck is wrong with these kids?They just accepted the existence of cosplox and that Tsu has it without any hesitation or proof while I will probably have to fight tooth and nail to get them to accept that water is wet for 10 minutes in the penultimate trial. I just realized that in previous games, I'm usually left with morons and uncooperative asses, so I guess preemptive R.I.P. to Kirumi and Kiyo.

This still seems pretty early in the trial, so I'm getting a bit uneasy that we are already narrowing on the six who came down with Rantaro, not to mention that nobody is considering Shu or Kaede as a suspect yet Miu was because she was involved in the camera plot. Mass panic debates are kind of insane but sort of fun.

Mono Yellow was insulting Gonta for watching a bug movie to get him into the fighting spirit by saying it was a terrible idea like putting a ketchup on a hot dog. You tell 'em yellow! The entire group seems to be in unison going after Gonta, and at this moment, I realized I must have made a horrible mistake. There's no way these people are right, so therefore, I must be wrong, and for that I feel a little ashamed and humbled that I got the very first murder wrong.

I'm scrambling, without taking the time to actually sort through the evidence, trying to figure out who else it could be. Is intentional or unintentional suicide still on the table? Drones don't appear to be part of evidence, and if nobody else physically triggered a sensor, came through the vent, or even went down the stairs, can it even be Miu or one of the three with no alibis?

I actually stopped mid-trial so I could type all of this, but I will resume before I go to bed.

I began the pre-trial period by zeroing in on where people were located in the elevator because they use the same image and positioning for each character through the entire game, and they haven't had all surviving late-game characters all clustered together. My first thought was maybe Maki isn't long for this game.

I would like to know what was in Keebo's database for him to say that this makeshift courtroom was an uncanny replica of the real thing. At the final screen before the trial begins, I'm looking at all these skills that I can purchase with my 19 points, and I have absolutely no idea if anything is actually helpful, so I just pocketed my points for a future trial.

The first thing that we decided to discuss was why nobody stepped up for the blood perk. I feel like this is crucial and weighing on my mind. Everything seems to stack in Gonta's favor, but what if this was an intentional/accidental suicide? I could easily be wrong about where the iron ball came from. There is also the possibility that this was a murder and the murderer didn't realize that they killed Gantaro. I feel like that can't be the case as they would see the bloody shot put and think, "Oh shit, I did that didn't I?" I guess they could be too ashamed and guilt-ridden to accept the perk even if theoretically that would be beneficial for the group. Gonta does appear to have low self-awareness, so maybe I am overestimating him.

I would think by now Kaede would realize that the people behind this have eyes and ears everywhere as, among many things, there are monitors in basically every room and hallway, and the Monokumas can and have been appearing and disappearing at a moment's notice. But no, she's shock that her secret plan with Shu might not have been so clandestine.

I think that I ended up with 18/23, so based on what others have said, I'm probably finishing near the bottom lol.

I'm scared of what kind of changes/additions they made to trials. In GD, I remember they added like snowboard segments that felt like they took an eternity.

Checking out the library photos in the warehouse with everyone in tow, the front shows everyone but Rantaro entering, so he must have entered from the side/back, and yep he is the only one who did. The hidden door camera showed Rantaro moving the bookcase and also going for one of the cameras with the door open and tablet in hand. Wasn't his tablet found in "his pockets" or something? I would presume that all the positioning was convenient so we couldn't see that a shot put ball was on the verge of hitting the back of his skull. That being said, can the sensor only be triggered once in a short span? I would think that if a shot put came from the A/V room, the sensor would have triggered the camera facing the side entrance. Perhaps that is also when Shu inconveniently shut off the sensor because Gantaro triggered the hidden door one. Typical DR if so.

Anyway, I guess it is trial time already? I was wrong about the black and white door near the gym, as the trial room is the conservatory where I met Angie. I suppose now is also the time to predict the culprit? This is the first murder, so it should be relatively easy. It appears that nobody else was physically in the room when Gantaro died. I don't know much about blood splatter but given the direction it went into, the attack was probably not from above but from a level similar to Gantaro. That would make it seem like the iron ball was thrown and not dropped from above. It has to be Gonta right?

- Gonta was known to be in the A/V room alone as he locked it for a weak-ass reason
- He has the strength to throw an iron ball
- The writers conveniently mentioned that a baseball could fit through the space that the door could open up to
- The side door to the library and the A/V room door are across from each other

I guess the only thing missing is how he knew to take an iron ball with him (unless they have some lame excuse like he took one to toss to himself) and how he thought up this plan (presents himself as dumb but I wouldn't be surprised if they do a 180 on his character and he is actually cold and calculating)

I have not been paying any attention to the results. Has anyone self-counted their predictions and felt like they are doing great?

Looking over the crime scene again, Rantaro had a room key and tablet on him. I guess we can rule out robbery as a potential motive. In all seriousness, we aren't even checking out the blood splatter, not that anyone, especially myself, is an expert on the subject. That being said, inspecting it in detail could help us determine where he was killed from at the very least. That would be too helpful though, so I guess that option is off the table. The books surrounding the vent were untouched, so it is unlikely that a body went through it at any point.

Okay, so an assumption that I had was wrong. Rantaro didn't form the group heading down into the basement, it was Kaito, which makes sense why he was out in front in the still image. He apparently wanted to form a group to take down the Monokumas when the deadline hit. Even ignoring that there's no privacy in this place, why bother hand-picking people and not just get everyone involved. Seven is nearly half of the group, and that isn't exactly inconspicuous. I also don't understand why Angie and Maki were included over the likes of Ryoma (athletic, self-proclaimed murderer), Miu (tech-savvy and could come up with usable weapons on the fly), and maybe even Keebo (who knows what kind of hidden talents he is capable of and probably has a higher pain tolerance and threshold). Angie was selected in case of a divine miracle, but Maki was because "she looked like she probably knew how to fight" lmao.

Getting the details on this group and how this could have happened, Rantaro left soon after the game room meeting began. It was allegedly to use the bathroom, but that is clearly a lie. Gonta also locked himself in the A/V room to allegedly watch a bug movie to convince him to attack the Monokumas. Kind of a weak reasoning, but you do you big guy. I had been smacking things all the time that I just got an achievement for smacking 1000 total objects already lol. The door here is still jammed, but they had to put out a comment that the space you could open up was big enough to fit a baseball. I'm sure that wasn't foreshadowing...

As for the others who came after the dead body message, Keebo, Ryoma, and Koki were allegedly by themselves while Miu, Tsu, Kurimi, and Kiyo were eating "pasta that tastes like a lonely old lady eating her grandchild's birthday cake" in the dining hall. Yummy meal choice aside, Tsu went to the bathroom and Miu was tinkering with something. Tsu has...cospox. Well...I suppose it is better than despair disease, but that is a very low bar to clear and at least that was like a computer virus or something in the end.

Hmm, the still image of Rantaro's crime scene is completely different from that of the clip. What gives? Now there's no blood splatter on the camera and it's all over where the book cases meet or the middle of a single book case. I can't tell. I actually pressed the button to proceed right as something caught my eye, but it is possible that Rantaro's [left?] hand was bloody as well.

Ah yes, Rantaro was revealed to be the Ultimate Who Cares. I am not so secretly hoping that this joke by Monokuma is in fact the truth. Nobody stepped forward to claim his murder. That is a bit of a puzzler whether the decision to murder was born out of selfishness or with the idea of going to get help in mind, so is it possible that this was a suicide? From what I recall from the conversation in the dining hall, Rantaro boasted about a plan only to admit he had nothing as to prevent Ryoma from getting himself killed. The ultimate irony would be if Ryoma was the murderer. I forget the exact wording of the threat, but I thought that someone had to be murdered from nighttime on X day. If it was merely someone had to die, then suicide is looking more plausible even if not the most likely of realities. Well, because nobody took responsibility, we are having a trial. What a lame way to force it.

So Rantaro died at 9:10. I believe that nighttime is 10:00, and the announcement accompanied by the frantic music was one hour before the deadline, so 9:00. Didn't the group of seven pass by the classroom during the music? Would that mean that Rantaro went straight to the library or basically immediately left the game room to the library?

When it came to developing the camera film, Kirumi volunteered, so I shall remember this hidden skill of hers in the future. Of course, it ended up being Mono Pink. The moving bookcase acts like an automatic door, and the card reader is still dusty, so I'm guessing that Rantaro is the only one who moved it.

Tsu is acting a bit stranger than normal repeatedly saying that this was Monokuma and the music's fault, like she's on a guilt trip or something. Miu just went and busted out a drone too, so unless she's a complete moron who felt like implicating herself, she's not the murderer.

So I stopped when I did because I was also a tease in GD, and I figured with two being added to the group, we would find a dead body. They got me at first because there wasn't immediately one, but then we rounded one of the corners, and there was a crumbled Rantaro. I didn't have a strong reason why I put Rantaro in my victim list, but his character circumstances reminded me to those of GD victims fake Byakuya and Nagito. The short video showed an iron ball looking like the murder weapon and curious blood splatter that only went on the camera. Without doing any sort of investigation, I'm immediately in on Ryoma, Miu, and Shu.

Ryoma
- Was one of five characters to know that Rantaro was up to something
- The game randomly mentioned that he used iron balls to murder mafia members
- Can easily fit through vent, and in typical DR fashion, they had Shu and Kaede leave the classroom just when he would have come up through the vent

Miu
- Known to frequent the warehouse and front and center were I believe drones (and iron balls) that she could probably use/maniupulate/figure out easier, sooner, and better than anyone else. Whether drones were used or capable of holding/launching iron balls is unknown at this point.
- She along with Kaito are the clear two characters who feel they are destined for too great of things to die here and would totally play this game if necessary, which the time limit would certainly qualify.

Shu
- While the game doesn't exactly do a great job at giving players an idea of how much time elapsed, when Shu left to check where the group was heading, he seemed to be gone more than needed if all he wanted to check out was where they were headed.
- Kaede is clearly just following Shu's lead on this, so who is to say that Kaede wasn't made to be an unknowing accomplice?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/9/9/AAN44mAADEp7.jpg

R.I.P Gracie (not pictured: Porsche, Gunther, and Scrappy, R.I.P. to those three as well)

Once that was all over with, we spent an awful lot amount of time setting up cameras and checking this vent. God I have to assume someone will be traveling through this vent and Ryoma is clearly the most suited for it. Nobody is dead yet, to my knowledge, and already I am building a case against my dear Ryoma.

Okay, so Shu was given the Ultimate Detective title for solving a whopping one case. The more ridiculous things are why he would be present at the arrest of a murder suspect and why the apprehended would know right then and there that he was arrested in part by Shu's assistance? The Danganronpa games require a suspension of belief that far exceeds any other video games that I've played, but I will always call them out on their nonense.

After that talk, a group of students went down to the basement. Yeah there was Kaito, Gonta, Maki, Tenko, Angie, and Himiko, but the important figure was Rantaro, so this probably has to do with his plan to end the killing game. Shu left and came back up saying they went to the game room. Eventually the camera was triggered and we went to check it out. Kaito and Tenko saw us just outside the library and claimed that they came down to the basement for a meeting. The four of us were just about to enter the library hoping to catch someone red handed when I decided to call it quits for the night.

I was thinking about that piano room, and Monokuma stopped by to inform me that I can finally visit it. Before I can, Shu had to stop by and tell me his plan of using motion-detecting cameras to catch whomever is working with Monokuma. While I'm sure this won't end the way we want it to, we need Miu for help, and man what a bitch lol! Heading to the warehouse to gather the items we need, I see that there are iron shot put balls that I wasn't made aware of in my last visit. Maybe a red herring, or maybe it is just what Ryoma needs to murder, again.

Getting another free time period, I decided to check out the piano room, and man what a let down. It's nothing special. All this self-inflicted hype for an ordinary reveal. I then hung out with Ryoma and Tenko. Ryoma loves cats and has thus catipulted (no pun intended) up my character rankings. It's going to suck so bad if he's going to be the first murderer because of those stupid iron balls.

The following morning, we were to go directly to Shu's, and a part of me was hoping that they would do something bold like kill of Shu right away. Nobody is around the dorm, and Shu didn't immediately answer my door, giving me some belief that I was onto something until Shu finally answered. If anyone died last night, it wasn't Angie either as she took me to an argument in the dining hall. I only saw Kiyo, Rantaro, Ryoma, and Kirumi there. That wasn't the group that I was expecting to be involved in an argument. I guess Ryoma was offering his life to allow the would-be killer to leave and get help. Of course Rantaro swears that he has/will come up with a plan. God, what if Ryoma kills Rantaro lol?

As we are to the halfway point, I will do a mid-season Power Ranking. I will try and be brief.

1. Miami Dolphins
2. Portland Express
3. St. Louis Rams
4. New England Patriots
5. San Juan Orcas

Yes the Express have beaten the Dolphins and are undefeated, but the Dolphins are statistically the league's best team being #1 in points per game, #3 in points allowed, #2 in yards per game, and #1 in yards allowed per game while flipping their turnover script once Sam Keller made his season debut.

The Express have an absurd D that is #2 in yards and #1 in points allowing a mere 6.4 points per game, nearly half of the next best (Pats at 12.4). The injuries are piling up, and given their skew on the offensive side, the Express boast a below-average O at this point in the season. Still, they are undefeated and have such an elite defense that it's hard to justify putting them below this spot.

The Rams are just behind the Dolphins and Express in defensive prowess. Ryan Tannehill continues to be among the best QBs in the game, but even though he has always been a gunslinger, his turnover rates have risen a bit this year. HB Mike Davis has come on as of late, but the running game is still not quite a strength of this team.

The Pats at one point had the league's worst offense, but even though they've helped their standing in recent weeks, they are still in the bottom 10. Luckily, they have been turnover averse and their defense has been one of the league's best units. They still lead the AFC East at this moment.

While teams like the Falcons, Cowboys, and Ravens are worthy of this spot, the Orcas are a quiet 5-2 thanks to a great defense to go along with an above-average offense that will likely improve their standing now that HB Knowshon Moreno. Additionally, they have one of the league's best special teams units. Unlike the vast majority of teams, they just don't have many flaws in their game.

Week 8 Players of the Week
Offense - Patriots HB Dexter McCluster
Defense - Bills OLB Jelani Jenkins

Game of the Week
Rams at 49ers

Byes
Eagles
Washington
Titans
Vikings

Week 9 will be simmed on Tuesday, April 5th

Bears - 12
Lions - 20

Notable Players
Lions QB Jared Goff 14-22, 139 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Bears WR Willie Snead 12 rec for 105 yards
Lions WR Torrey Smith 3 rec for 34 yards, 2 TDs
Bears SS Nate Warfield 11 tackles, 1 INT
Lions OLB Willie Williams and MLB Austin Zeppuhar 7 tackles, 1 sack each

Packers - 7
Panthers - 10

Notable Players
Panthers QB Lamar Jackson 13-23, 140 yards, 2 INTs
Panthers WR Tyreek Hill 9 rec for 114 yards
Panthers MLB Reggie Outlaw 9 tackles, 1 FF