Do you like homicidal robotic teddy bears? Do you like high schoolers trapped in a high school and the only way they can get out is by killing each other? If so, then this masterpiece is the right game for you!
Mixing cute colours, great music that suits the scene with a robotic teddy bear struck with a never-ending lust for blood – while still remaining lovable – would normally never even be a thing. However, Spike Chunsoft, the creators of the game, have managed to achieve this in such a way that has never been seen in the video game industry. This game will leave you speechless with its originality and humour!
Sure, the game is 8 years old, but even recently new installments were made, most recent being Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. The game has become such a success that there is even a japanese anime inspired by it.
The main theme of the game is mostly contrasting ideas, the most prominent throughout the series being hope and despair. At Hope’s Peak Academy, only the best of the best are chosen to go, and these people are called ‘Ultimate’ students, because they are the best at what they do. This includes the Ultimate Affluent Prodigy, Ultimate Swimmer, Ultimate Writing Prodigy and more. However, once a year, a student is chosen at random to be the Ultimate Lucky Student, and in this case, the chosen student is a chap called Makoto Naegi.
As soon as he enters the school, he passes out, and then finds himself in a random classroom. It turns out that all the Ultimate students have been isolated from the rest of the world in this school and they have two choices:
- To adapt to the new lifestyle they have been presented with.
- Kill each other and get away with it to become the ‘blackened’ and ‘graduate’ from the school.
Now, keep in mind, the school does have everything you need to live a luxurious life. However, everything gets dark very fast.
A class trial is held every time someone is killed. However, the way these are presented visually is truly astonishing. Things like the Hangman’s Gambit, Bullet Time Battle and Non-Stop Debates will be sure to keep you interested.
All in all, this is an exceptional game, however, being a visual novel, it isn’t graphically amazing (except the executions!).
8.5/10 Great Game
By Olivier Obielak
