Board 8 > Tell me about Danganronpa

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't think Leon lasted long enough for me to rank
And I never bothered with school mode or whatever

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The school modes really don't do much of anything for any characters.
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Actually, I just realized something, what was the deal with the pickaxe that had the name of Mondo's biker gang? Is that explained in the sequels?

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Zigzagoon posted...

Wouldn't you know it, I think Aoi is terrible.

:S

If only she had some sort of fur on her body

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There's basically no callback to the cast of DR1 in the later games. So no, nothing will be explained in the sequels, other than how Monokuma is in that game, too.

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Nanis23 posted...

1.Kyoko Kirigiri
2.Byakuya Togami
3.Aoi Asahina
.
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Who the fuck cares about the rest
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997.Yasuhiro Hagakure
998.Toko Fukawa
999.Hifumi Yamada

Add Sakura toward the top, and you got yourself a deal.

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Leonhart4 posted...

If only she had some sort of fur on her body

I'd probably like her even less!

Sure I have some bias towards animals, I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But good lord Aoi is boring as all hell.

Her confidant is literally the worst as well:

Oh im hungry *runs off*
next one
oh im hungry *runs off*
wow

Monokuma is hilarious and made me laugh so many times. Love that VA as well.

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Anagram posted...

Actually, I just realized something, what was the deal with the pickaxe that had the name of Mondo's biker gang? Is that explained in the sequels?

presumably he brought it in himself before everything went bad
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And then in trials you have her and Yasuhiro being completely fucking stupid every single time. The first half of every trial you always have to get past their utter nonsense and idiotic statements.

It'd be okay if the stupid comments and nonsense were humorous, but I don't think I laughed at anything either of them had to say, ever.

Aoi is better than Yasuhiro for at least being a little bit more normal.

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Also, for what its worth. I wasnt even sure if Id like Monokuma at all going in. His design really isnt to usual ermine tastes. Very quickly won over from the personality and voice though.

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Meh, Monokuma's "humor" is the definition of "try hard"

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I really don't like Monokuma's dub voice. It's grating, and not in an endearing way. It's honestly difficult for me to understand how someone could be a big 'fan' of Monokuma considering that and the character itself being a non-entity or a mastermind front in every game.

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Well its difficult for me to understand people being a fan of Omg Im hungry every 10 seconds followed by idiotic statements during trials, yet here we are.

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Zigzagoon posted...

Well its difficult for me to understand people being a fan of Omg Im hungry every 10 seconds followed by idiotic statements during trials, yet here we are.

I'm sure they could start making Monokuma complain about being hungry

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Chihiro

Everyone else in various places

Yasuhiro

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Aoi's the worst character in DR1, yeah. She's just so boring.

I don't think Monokuma's super great, though I do like Junko a lot, haha. Monokuma's humor is pretty hit or miss. It's nice when it actually does work.
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Mondo is the actual worst character though

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Monokuma sucks, but Junko is legit probably the worst character Ive ever seen in anything ever

Hina is far and away the most fun and adorable character in DR1. She's great BECAUSE she's normal. She has her quirks, but they could've easily turned her into a one-note caricature. Really, that's what's enjoyable about DR1's cast compared to DR2 and even DR3 sometimes. The characters feel like real people for the most part, and they're not (well, not MOST of them) defined by their super high school level talent.

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Leonhart4 posted...

Mondo is the actual worst character though

His motive is the worst

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Chihiro > Sakura > some other people

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Nanis23 posted...

His motive is the worst

His execution was also such an utter letdown after how brutally dark Leon's was.

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I think every execution in the series is a letdown after Leon's.

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1-2 is very bad, yes.

Everything mentioned prior, plus you've got worst character in the franchise Byakuya almost getting everyone killed for fun. Arguably worse than the murderers.

Also if we're talking the best super normal girl character, I would take DR2's over Aoi any day of the week.

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Okay, characters and case rankings. I completed most of the characters' supports, except for Aoi, Sakura, and Yasuhiro.

Cases:
1-5/1-6 > 1-3 > 1-1 > 1-4 > 1-2

I put 1-4 low because it's blatantly obvious from the start that Sakura killed herself. 1-2 is annoying because Byakya wastes everyone's time for no reason. I felt it was sort of impossible to separate 1-5 and 1-6. It's funny how the entire game has only two premeditated murders in it, both of which are part of 1-3.

Characters:
Kyoko > Aoi > Byakuya > Sakura > "Junko" > Junko > Toko > Celeste > Taka > Mondo > Yasuhiro > Alter Ego > Sayaka > Chihiro > Leon > Hifumi

It's weird. I wouldn't say I particularly loved any of the characters? Like, I don't especially like Aoi or Byakuya, but they ended up in my top five, as did "Junko," who's there mainly just because she has the best facial expressions in the game. Even Kyoko, who's my #1, I wouldn't call a great character. It's a testament to how blah some of these characters are that Byakuya "Frame Toko for Murder for Literally No Reason" Togami gets into the top three. I don't know, I guess if you really like goth lolis, I can imagine Celeste being higher.

I really like the idea of Junko's despair ideal, but Junko herself was strongest when she had the bored expression on. I would have liked her more if she'd always been in like 'bored, barely attentive' mode instead of switching between her wacky personalities the way she did. When she introduced herself with the British queen persona, I thought I was going to hate her.

I can't really justify having Aoi high and Yasuhiro low, given that they're both just sort of normal. I guess I was just disappointed in Yasuhiro. I recognized Aoi as being genuine early on, but I was convinced the whole game that Yasuhiro was going to be the mastermind or the spy, and when he turned out to be exactly what he seemed to be, I don't know, it was just kind of boring. By the way, Yasuhiro was my only misfire on guessing the mysteries, I got basically everything else right.

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It also sounds like D2 and D3 being better than D1 is a common opinion, so I will be continuing to play through the series. Are the spinoffs important?

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

1-2 is very bad, yes.

Everything mentioned prior, plus you've got worst character in the franchise Byakuya almost getting everyone killed for fun. Arguably worse than the murderers.

Also if we're talking the best super normal girl character, I would take DR2's over Aoi any day of the week.

Oh hell no. At least Hina works as a normal girl because the cast is largely normal overall. DR2 is just 15 interesting people and then the one boring one.

Also, 1-2 is one of the five best chapters in the franchise. Lotta good character development.

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Anagram posted...

Are the spinoffs important?

No. I like some stuff in Ultra Despair Girls, but would not call it a good game, and certainly not important. If you were a bug Toko fan then maybe. The lead pairing is great but everything that's not just then being characters....eh. Plus even if you did play it, it's absolutely not meant until after 2.

Can also skip DR3, which is an anime (the 3rd game is DRV3). Again, some cool stuff there, but I think it does more damage than good.

Basically, the games themselves are completely self contained. If you want to get into the Danganronpa universe as a while there's plenty as well as some good novels, but you don't need anything but the 3 mainline games in terms of actually playing the games themselves.

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Anagram posted...

It also sounds like D2 and D3 being better than D1 is a common opinion, so I will be continuing to play through the series. Are the spinoffs important?

What spinoffs
You only have one spinoff game (Ultra Despair Girls) which most people tend to say it's bad (I say it's mediocre and playable)
And the anime which is called Danganronpa 3 (NOT V3. V3 is the third game) which also people say it's bad. But I liked it a lot
Both are canon. They are not super important to experience, but they are canon nonetheless

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Inviso posted...

Also, 1-2 is one of the five best chapters in the franchise. Lotta good character development.

Ewwwwwwww

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Looking at Wikipedia, there are three spinoff games, plus the anime. I can just ignore all of those unless I'm a big Toko fan, then?

I'll probably start D2 sometime this week. I occasionally do this where I just blow through long games in a few days. I've been doing it more during covid because I have nothing else of value to do. B8's favorite games have been directing me a little in this, obviously, which is why I chose Danganronpa.

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Anagram posted...

Looking at Wikipedia, there are three spinoff games, plus the anime.

Nobody, ever, unless very rare situations, call mobile games "spinoff games"
They are their own category
And the VR game is just the first game but in VR IIRC

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is danganronpa really one of B8's favorite games

i always feel like danganronpa is the "well I guess" of the anime mystery games

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SSBM_Guy posted...

is danganronpa really one of B8's favorite games

i always feel like danganronpa is the "well I guess" of the anime mystery games

I wouldn't call it a favorite but it's a series that elicits a lot of discussion, whether you love it or hate it.

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Nanis23 posted...

Nobody, ever, unless very rare situations, call mobile games "spinoff games"
They are their own category
And the VR game is just the first game but in VR IIRC

Oh, I didn't realize they were mobile games. Good, then.

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So, uh, are my character and case rankings normal, or what?

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Anagram posted...

So, uh, are my character and case rankings normal, or what?

I feel like 1-4 is generally well liked even if the solution is telegraphed, but other than that, pretty normal. Kyoko as the best character is pretty normal, too.

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I like how you Anagram'd your character ranking and forgot to include the main character
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DR1 character opinions are all over the place, I can't even tell you what the mainstream opinion is. I guess Hina and Kyoko tends to be liked, Hiro and Hifumi tends to not.

I'm personally a Hiro fan. All of his predictions come true! But I have no character loyalty to him whatsoever.

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th3l3fty posted...

I like how you Anagram'd your character ranking and forgot to include the main character

This says more about Makoto than Anagram...!

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Anagram posted...

So, uh, are my character and case rankings normal, or what?

Fairly! The wildcard DR1 characters are Byakuya and Toko, who can often end up anywhere on a list. There's a small number of people who tank Junko near the bottom, but they are in a very small minority.

DR2 and V3 have MUCH more sporadic and varied character rankings. The personalities tend to get much more out there and either incredibly attractive or extremely off-putting depending on your tastes.

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th3l3fty posted...

I like how you Anagram'd your character ranking and forgot to include the main character

I actually excluded Makoto on purpose for being the generic anime protagonist guy.

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1-4 is not only the best case in the game, but the best case in the franchise. This is where Hina shines as a character, and Sakura gets to be the tragic hero. This is the turning point of the game as well. Right when it seemed the tension was too high, Sakura kills herself to unite the group against a common enemy going into the endgame.
1-2 is a great character study into the minds of Mondo, Taka, Chihiro, Byakuya, and Toko. Given how 1-3 devolves into nonsense, 1-2 shines that much brighter.
1-6 is a solid ending. It adds some twists and turns, and it handles the series as realistically as possible.
1-1 is a good intro. It focuses on establishing Makoto by giving him a relationship with Sayaka, only to establish the stakes by having her die early on. The only flaw is how obvious the killer is (and how underdeveloped Leon is, because the first chapter is all about Sayaka as the killer, whereas he just killed on the spur of the moment.)
1-5 is fine on paper, but it doesn't feel like a real and complete chapter. It's pretty much all set-up for 1-6.
1-0 is a pretty generic prologue, which is to be expected, given that DR1 is the most grounded and realistic of the trilogy.
1-3 is the worst chapter in the franchise. It's complete nonsense and goes against the tone of the entire game. The only good aspect is allowing Celestia to go psychotic and play a central role in the plot.

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Man I don't know how people toss Yasuhiro at the bottom. He was absolutely my favorite from the first game.

The only ones I didn't really like from the first game were Mondo and Yamada. Yamada is just a fucking creepy weirdo and I don't know how anyone could like him. Mondo was just not very interesting.

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My problem with Hiro is that he's SUPER bland. Like, everything from his design to his talent are tailored to make him appear quirky and unique, but then he largely has no plot relevance whatsoever. If you look at the survivors, you have Makoto the protagonist, Byakuya the rival, Kyoko the aide/confidante, Toko the serial killer (who has relevance by sharing a unique relationship with Byakuya), and Hina, who has that close bond with Sakura for most of the game. Hiro is largely disconnected from the rest of the cast and it shows.

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Anagram posted...

So, uh, are my character and case rankings normal, or what?

You put Byakuya in the top three so you're good in my book! Really though it's pretty standard except for Byakuya and Toko, who people vary wildly on. You're also on point at least IMO about DR1 not really having any "great" characters. The sequels are both lightyears ahead in that regard.

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I like Hiro 30% of the time.
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See, I never found him super bland. I thought he was hilarious and had tons of quirky stuff. ALSO, here's something cool.

Spoilers for the first game!
Hiro makes a prediction that nobody will kill anyone else, and then from that point on there's not a single murder in the rest of the game. 30% of the time, he's right ALL THE TIME.

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BK_Sheikah00 posted...

I think every execution in the series is a letdown after Leon's.

This was skipped over but I actually agree with this. Danganronpa's executions tend to be way too fantastical and weird and it can undercut a lot of the emotional impact. Leon's remains one of the best in the series due to how - despite it still being over-the-top - it felt more real. An exception to this is the execution in Danganronpa V3 Case 1.

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Xiahou Shake posted...

Really though it's pretty standard except for Byakuya and Toko, who people vary wildly on.

Do people actually vary on Toko? I thought she was pretty universally disliked, especially if you count her separately from GJ.
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