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#41



and...

#40



Years of release: 2010 (DR1 - PSP, Japan) 2012 (DR2 - PSP, Japan), 2013 (Vita, Japan), 2014 (Vita, NA/EU), 2016 (PC), 2017 (PS4)
Beaten?: Yes

It is very appropriate, for a game series that talks about hope and despair so much, that Danganronpa should be a series for me that is completely defined by my love/hate relationship with it. I have never loved/hated a game as much as Danganronpa, ever. It is the master of mixed bags, the king of conflicted feelings.

Where do I even start with it. Do I talk about the annoying characters that are impossible to take seriously or care about, who frequently have no impact on the plot? Do I talk about the writing that is more frequently cringe-worthy than it is funny, with awful anime cliches galore? Do I talk about the completely nonsense plot where nothing anyone does makes sense and barely wraps up competently? Do I talk about the frustrating minigames that do more to break up the action in a bad way than they do to provide variety? Do I talk about how disappointing most of the murder plots are compared to Ace Attorney? Do I talk about how much I hate Monokuma?

Or... do I talk about the good? Do I talk about the great premise of people trapped in a place where they have to kill each other to escape, which hooked me immediately? Do I talk about the bright, almost psychadelic visuals and energetic soundtrack, which provide this game an undeniable sense of style? Do I talk about the wonderfully-delivered voice acting performances, which make said annoying characters tolerable and almost funny at times? Do I talk about the few times some of the characters really break through and make me interested in them, or the few times that the plot really had me hooked on finding out what the mystery was? Do I talk about how undeniably clever some of the murder plots are, occasionally even rivaling Ace Attorney in ingenuity? Do I talk about how, despite all of this game's bizarre flaws and frustrations, how I was hooked from beginning to end and wanted to see the story through no matter what, and how fun it is to play with a friend, laughing at all the game's funny shit and stupid shit alike, discussing the murder plots and coming up with crackpot theories for what's going to happen?

I guess, at the end of the day, I'm choosing "hope."

Both of the first two Danganronpas are pretty close in quality, for me. I think DR2 has the far better cast and the highest peak, with the game's penultimate chapter rivaling the very best moments that even Ace Attorney has to offer, but I do like the school environment of the first Danganronpa more, and I think the first Danganronpa had more exciting and fun twists and a more satisfying mystery to unravel all the way, since you have no idea what's going on, whereas in DR2 you have more of an idea since it's no longer as novel. Overall I do prefer DR2 just a bit, but I felt like it would make sense to rank these and talk about them together, since they're roughly the same and there isn't much more I could talk about with one over the other.

Even if there's a lot of terrible writing and missed potential all over the place here, these games were stil one hell of a wild ride, and even very good games in this genre are something I can't overlook given their rarity and novelty. I've spent lots of time talking about and thinking about Danganronpa ever since playing them and, for better or worse, they're some of the most impactful gaming experiences I've had in the last few years.