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| Cheers, Thrills, and Kills! |
Over the course of Danganronpa, you play the role of Makota Naegi, an average student who has been accepted to Hope's Peak Academy, an elite school where only the best students are admitted by invitation. However, unlike his peers, he is the Ultimate "Lucky" student which means... he got in through a random lottery.
After the first few minutes of the game, things take a drastically darker turn as the students are imprisoned at the school under the rule of the bear-like headmaster Monokuma.
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| Black and White, Yin and Yang, Good and Evil |
I love Monokuma. For this game, he is the perfect villain and the role that he plays in the game is tantamount to that feeling. He encompasses both the light and dark trying to lead you to do evil, yet always playing by the rules that were set. Often in the game, Monokuma would dangle the answers you have been looking for in front of the player without giving away too much. Then he would leave you thinking if he is showing you this to actually help, or to lead you astray.
Once meeting Monokuma, he lets you and the rest of your classmates know that they are now imprisoned for the rest of their lives, unless they're willing to "graduate". That is, you are able to leave the school if you can kill another student without being caught. Of course, all of the students say that they would not consider it. However, when some pressure is applied in the right area, even the mighty can fall and do the unthinkable. But before any of that happens, the game encourages you to get to know your new friends through its mechanics.
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| So many new friends... but can I trust them? |
I love the tension created by having the player foster relationships with people in order to gain skills, the abilities that you are able to use later on in the game. All of the characters that I interacted with are incredibly interesting and each has their own charm. However your time is limited, so you have to choose who you spend time with wisely and by imposing that time limit, it makes those choices really matter.
After a murder takes place the game shifts from an interactive visual novel to a Phoenix-Wright style investigation simulation. Playing the detective is highly enjoyable along with finding clues that become your weapons to solve the case later on.
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| If you're a fan of adventure games, this is right up your alley |
Once Monokuma decides you've had enough time to solve the case, the game changes into "Class Trial" mode. In the trial, the player will debate the other students over the circumstances of the murder that takes place through a variety of minigames. Because, if the students can't figure out who the "blackened" is (the one who killed a fellow student), then the "blackened" goes free and the rest are killed.
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| Finding the truth is always more exciting with a timer and shooting |
I love the way the designers made me tense up and sit up straight during the trials. It really feels as if you really were fighting for your life and it puts you on edge. As the game goes on, the game progressively adds new gameplay elements to subsequent trials. This keeps the tension growing and prevents things from growing stale.
Once a trial is completed, Monokuma will let you know if you got the answer right. If you were able to deduce the "blackened" correctly, the killer themselves will get "punished" aka killed. While incredibly twisted, each punishment was quite fitting for each of the characters.
In addition, I also love the use of the game's style and the conflicting nature it has over the dark material. Using bright pink blood and child-like art for each of the cutscenes always made me feel uncomfortable in exactly the right way.
I never wanted to put the game down, and when I wasn't playing it, I was still thinking about it. Albert Einstein famously once said, "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." To me, Danganronpa is a very pretty girl.
<3 John P. Doran, Technical Game Designer | Software Engineer | Author
