Looks like my predictions at the start of the game were way off. I only got Kazuichi and Chiaki right, but that's fine. There were a ton of things I was surprised by in this game, even if I got the virtual world stuff right off the bat. I, uh, also expected the second game to explain what the deal was with Monokuma coming back to life at the end of the first game? I guess that was just Junko's AI? Because if so, that raises a ton of questions I know won't be answered. It's fine, though, I know this isn't the series to ask those kinds of questions about.
I'm not quite sure how to put this... Danganronpa comes across to me as a mix as Phoenix Wright, Persona, and Metal Gear Solid? You've got the wacky murders of PW, the high school setting and hangouts of Persona, and the hopelessly convoluted story and meta stuff of MGS. The MGS2 comparisons in particular are impossible not to make; both series have first games with stories that seem complicated but are actually fairly straightforward, and that have some video game-y references that don't really affect the plot, but then sequels that ratchet up the game-y stuff to create plots about meta stuff. It even goes beyond that, though, with really specific things, like avatars of previous games' characters, a villainous-but-not-really character whose power is luck, a setting on an off-shore oil rig/island no one can reach, a new protagonist who's similar to the old protagonist, the new protagonist getting a girlfriend who turns out to be a computer program (I'm aware Rosemary is real in MGS, but it's still weird), and a villain replacing his arm with the first game's villain's arm. I don't really know what to make of that?
I didn't expect Junko to return. You can only pull that kind of trick once, so I have no idea who the villain of the next game will be.
As for the plot itself removed from the meta aspects, hm. In the first game, everyone was constantly suspicious of each other, like you would expect. In the second game, no one ever seems to seriously suspect anyone except Nagito. No one ever takes precautions against each other besides "Byakuya" and Fuyuhiko, no one besides Nagito puts much thought into the traitor issue, and everyone just sort of instantly agrees to work together except Fuyuhiko and Nagito. There was a definite downgrade in the amount of "how would people react in this situation" compared to the first game.
People told me that the second half of D2 was the good half, and indeed that proved to be the case. There was a noticeable increase in the amount of "wacky location or event" murders compared to the first game, which brought things more in line with PW. I guess that's just how detective sequels have to progress? The wackiest murder in the first game was, what, 1-3? D2 has a murder in a funhouse, a murder in a plushie factory, a murder on a concert stage, and so on. The first game kicks off with a dude stabbing a girl to death in a shower in a fit of rage and panic. The second game kicks off with a chef using someone else's murder plan to allow himself to use a portable stove to light the way to an underground hatch that will let him stab a kebab skewer through a floor panel that he hid inside of a piece of meat. The second murder involves a ninja! I go into this more in the characters section, but there's a very clear ramp-up in the zaniness of these games. I don't really like that? The slightly more grounded tone of the first game was more my style.
1-3 really stands out for being the only case where someone actually just murders someone and that's it. There are no hidden noble goals, no accidental homicides, no crimes of passion, or any of that. Celeste is the only person in the entire series who engineers a situation where she can murder a guy with the genuine intention of graduating.
Like people said, the characters did indeed get wackier compared to the first game. The easiest comparison is Persona 3 compared to the later games: no one in P3 is very extreme in personality, but by P5 everyone has a very extreme personality. Likewise, D1 has Toko, Taka, and Hifumi, sure, but everyone else is played fairly realistically, at least compared to D2, where everyone is a wacky stereotype except Mahiru. This was also noticeable in just the characters' maturity? D1's characters can all pass for being teenagers even when they're being condescending rich guys or even murderers, which is ironic since they aren't teenagers, while half of D2's cast seems like adults. Nekomaru is the biggest offender, but it goes beyond him. By the way, it took me until 2-6 to realize that the X over Teruteru's portrait at the trials is a knife and fork.
So, I mean, this is weird to say, but I'll say it anyway. I might like the individual characters of D2 more than D1, but I like the cast of D1 more than D2. D1's cast forms a way more cohesive whole than D2's, completely embarrassing the sequel in that regard. The slightly more realistic tone and less extreme personalities really benefit the game's atmosphere, where you're doubting your friends a lot because it's a murder mystery game. Overall, I'm declaring that D1 > D2, but it's not like I dislike D2 at all.
So, uh... what was the deal with the Ultimate Imposter? Why did he pretend to be Byakuya, why did he even know who Byakuya is, and why did he he pretend to be fat? Why did he take charge of everything so quickly and why was he so dedicated to everyone's safety? Why did he seem to know what was going on the entire time?
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Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig. Started: July 6, 2005