10 LOVED: The Brilliant Character Designs
It would be impossible to talk about Danganronpa’s achievements without mentioning its amazing host of characters and their striking designs. The artistic brilliance on display and their end results are a treat to witness every single time.
This, coupled with the fleshed-out nature of each student’s personality, leads to every character feeling extremely fleshed out. The sheer number of cosplays associated with this franchise should make it perfectly clear as to how amazing the character designs are in these games.
9 DIDN’T LOVE: The Unnecessary Fanservice
While Danganronpa’s characters are pretty interesting, their design can sometimes be quite detrimental. This mainly affects some of the female characters in these games, which is quite saddening given that these students are pretty solid otherwise.
Unfortunately, the game has a habit of unnecessarily sexualizing its female characters, barring some exceptions like Kyoko. It’s not all that big a deal but does get somewhat grating at times.
8 LOVED: The Amazing Music
Danganronpa’s music deserves a mention of its own because of just how alive everything feels with it. From the sporadic carefree segments of the game, all the way to the eye-catching class trails, each part of Dangaronpa feels incredible due to its music.
It helps that the music elicits the mood of each scene with pinpoint precision. In fact, the quality of these tracks can be so incredible that they end up elevating certain scenes in the game on their own!
7 DIDN’T LOVE: The Phoned-In Motivations Of The Main Villain
Junko Enoshima is definitely one of the best characters in Danganronpa by a country mile. She takes center stage every single time she appears on the screen and ends up being one of the best parts of the overall experience.
That being said, her infectious personality doesn’t hide the fact that her motivations are just bizarre and phoned-in. The idea of a villain being psychotic just for the sake of it might be an intriguing concept, but it has been used simply way too many times for it to feel all that compelling in modern days.
6 LOVED: The Mind-Bending Nature Of The Cases
Danganronpa’s cases are easily some of the most engrossing parts of the overall experience. These class trials feature a combination of strong voice acting, great music, and engaging minigames to keep players occupied till the very end.
However, it’s the story woven in every class trial that is undoubtedly their biggest highlight. Unraveling these mysteries is a blast and makes for one of the best and most memorable moments in each game.
5 DIDN’T LOVE: The Nonsensical Leaps In Logic Taken At Times
The class trials feature enough plot twists to keep most people second-guessing their own theories until the very end. However, there are times when these cases take such a massive jump in logic that it can be hard to believe.
This can be a problem in a series like Danganronpa, which needs airtight cases and believable logic. At times, this is present in some cases in the game, forcing players to really suspend their sense of disbelief.
4 LOVED: The Variety In The Minigames
A big part of what makes class trials so engaging is the minigames that are present in each section. It’s the sheer over-the-top nature of some of these games that make them so memorable. The best part is that they keep class trials fresh, which is important since they go on for quite some time. While some minigames are slightly frustrating, the majority of these side games get the job done.
3 DIDN’T LOVE: The Poor Ending Of The Franchise
While Dangaronpa is a pretty great experience from a narrative point of view, things take a turn for the bizarre in the third game. The final plot twist makes the entire franchise redundant, given the fact that these killing games are just serialized for the pleasure of twisted viewers all over the world.
It’s a mind-boggling twist that has clearly ended the run of Danganronpa for good. After all, Spike Chunsoft has already revealed that they’re working on a completely different murder-mystery game, which is probably an indication of the fact that the franchise is done and dusted.
2 LOVED: The Fleshed-Out Nature Of Danganronpa’s Lore And World
The first game does a great job of hiding the mystery of the game’s world. Finding out that the characters are living in a post-apocalyptic society where despair runs rampant is a brilliant twist that made each entry in the series all the more engaging.
It helps that the lore in these games is also pretty great. Couple this with a stellar anime adaptation and people will be more than happy with the new world that they have immersed themselves in.
1 DIDN’T LOVE: The Predatory Nature Of Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp
Danganronpa Decadence comes with another game mode of its own called Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp. It allows players to try out an RPG board game where they unlock characters and fight through several battles as well.
While this mode could’ve been fun, it features the bane of every player’s existence — microtransactions. This, coupled with the gacha-style gameplay, makes Ultimate Summer Camp a boring board game that had a ton of potential.
Danganronpa Decadence was released on December 3, 2021 and is currently available on Switch.
