Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Game Review)

(Again I am posting this so late, way after I intially started this blog post. Apologies)

Hello! This is my first game review so I'm excited about this post! For those of you who haven't seen my PS VITA unboxing video you can check it out here! Yes, I bought a PS VITA on the final day of 2015 and it was one of the best decisions ever. Before you read the review I reccoment watching this video!

Cool! Now that you've watched the video let's begin! I first got introduced to 'Danganronpa' in 2013 when I was 16 years old and in year 12 at high school. I had a PSP already and so I played the first game (Danganrompa: Trigger Happy Havoc) on my PSP and from the moment I started the game I knew it was going to be awesome and IT WAS. I became totally obsessed, I fell in love with the huge variety of characters in particular Togami Byakuya and Fukawa Tōko. Here they are as they appear in the game

So if it weren't obvious, Togami is the tall and handsome one on the left and Fukawa is the shy girl on the right.

I cannot express how much I love these two characters - and especially when they interact it's just even better. This isn't a spoiler because it becomes common knowledge prety early in the game/anime - Fukawa has a MASSIVE crush on Togami. I don't think you can even call it a crush anymore it's more like she is deeply and genuinly inlove with Togami. Togami doesn't return her feelings and rather uses her for his own benefit but despite Togami's rather cold attitude it does get hint that there might be something there on his part.

After finishing the game myself I made my brother play it too and he loved it as well! In fact there is a funny story about that. My brother Dafa was on the final trial and I was staying the night at a friends when he was up to chapter 6 so I wasn't with him. I saw him the next day and he said to me he finished the game. I was so shocked because I wasn't aware he was already at the final trial. Dafa looked a bit nervous and I asked him what's going on, because we talked about how awesome the game was and stuff but he wasn't looking very good and I asked him what was wrong. Dafa said "Maha I have a confession, I didn't sleeep at all last night because I was playing danganronpa" - Never have I been more proud of my brother in my life - Dafa expected me to be mad at him for pulling an alnighter but no I cracked up laughing because that is just so epic! That's how good of a game Danganronpa is!!

ANYWAYS .... back to Danganronpa 2 ~

One of the first things that stiked me about the second game is how different the characters are in this one compared to the first.

Below is the first image that you see when entering 'the doors' - you see everyone for the first time.

I was nervous about what kind of characters were going to be in this game since the first game was full of such unique and lovable characters that I wasn't sure how the second game would come up with new characters who were just as interestng. But somehow they succeded really really well! I did learn not to get too attatched to anyone because all the deaths from the first game came as such a shock to me and I was determined not to be moved like that in the second game!

At first everyone seems EXTREMELY eccentric as in you can't relate to them because they're just super weird and over the top but after the first chapter and when you spend 'free time' with them I began to learn more about their lives before the Island and what makes them tick.

Here is a picture of the characters in SDR2 with their 'ultimate' title.

Some characters I liked intially but after learning more about them those feelings of affection went sour. FAST. That's the thing with Danganronpa - IT'S SO DAMN UNPREDICTABLE AND IT'S FANTASTIC! You have no idea what kind of curve ball the game is going to throw at you and this one is a million times more challenging and tricky than the first one. The plot is extremely in-depth and more complex than the first and it all starts with that damn Island. Jabberwock Island. Also there are a lot of new in-game features that contrast from the first - there is A LOT more to do and think about this time around and it really will ruin your life. It's all you will think about. You will spend all your non-playing time thinking and trying to figure out 'who dunnit' and what may come up next.

I didn't really have any 'favourite' characters or characters I totally fell for like in the first game but the one's who did attract my attention includes Sōda Kazuichi (especially when it came to his insane and rather uneven love triangle with Sonia and Gundham (not a spoiler this becomes clear very early on in the game) and of course the Kirigiri of this game Nanami Chiaki.

Murder, mystery, mayhem, conspiracy and plently of fanservice and dirty jokes to serve everyones taste. These characters were certainly carrying around a higher hormone level than the lot from the first game. THE AMMOUNT OF SEXUAL REFERENCES AND DIRTY JOKES WERE OFF THE CHARTS. So great though really, it was just a bit unexpected! I guess everyone becomes a but horny and lonely on an Island huh?

SPOILERS AFTER THE WARNING PIC!

IF YOU WANT TO SKIP SPOILERS SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE THE FILM STRIP READ ON AFTER THE FILM STRIP FOR SPOILER FREE ZONE!

So the game starts off with our students in a classroom only to have the secret be exposed that there is in fact no classroom at all, they weren't even at Hope's Peak Academy. THEY ARE ON A DAN ISLAND WITH A BEACH AND ERRYTHANG!

It starts off with 'Magical Girl Miracle☆Usami' meeting and greeting the students explaining that this is a 'super fun school trip' or something along those lines.

So much so that before you know it everyone is in school swim gear and kicking it at the beach.

Check out them beach bodies.

And soon after everything was going oh so well Monokuma shows up and fucks shit up big time. As expect right?

So Togami says that he is going to throw a party to have everyone in the same place, this sets up the first chapter and the motive. Teruteru aka that disgusting messed up pervert chef cooks up a storm and killed Togami with Komaeda's help but because Teruteru was the one to actually commit the murder he is the one who gets executed.

Kazuichi trying to get his 'ins' with Sonia. Emphasis on 'trying'.

And so the kilings begin and I saw the first death coming, it was set up to be that way anyway. I knew right from the beginning that the Togami we saw in this game couldn't (HE JUST COULDN'T BE) be the same Togami from the first game.

I loved Teruteru's execution, I thought it was nuts and totally hilarious. He totally deserved that brutal execution. Teruteru was the worst, absolutely disgusting.

The next chapter is one of my favourites for sure. I mean come on, it's the 'beach' episode.

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Chiaki is so cute. Most of the girls were very cute exceot for Hiyoko, damn bratty bitch!

The second trail was a shocker for me, I really didn't see it taking the direction it did.

It was a rather sad execution. I liked Peko at first from how she looked but the more I learnt the more I didn't really like.

However I loved the big reveal from Fuyuhiko about how they were chilhood friends and basically grew up together and that he had been deeply inlove with her all this time.

This was really interesting and really brought out Fuyuhiko's true colours really well because after this chapter he became one of the coolest and interesting characters. At first I really resented him but after learning about his story, you really feel for him.

And damn son I thought we were gonna have a 'Romeo + Juliet' type situation. The way Fuyuhiko ran towards Peko in utter desperation to save the woman he has loved for all these years and then to be in her embrace just as she is killed. I thought they were going to die together from the looks of that embrace. The whole 'I can't live without her, if you die I die' type situation but as you can see from that pic above he somehow survived that brutal ribbon slicing katana fest.

The next chapter made me sad, really sad. I wasn't mad just dissapointed. Mikan, Mikan, oh Mikan. I liked her, I felt for her. If I were a straight guy I would have fallen for her because she is obviously beautiful but also because she is set up to be the 'girl who needs protection' type but oh boy was a dissapointed when her true colours came out. I really wanted to like her even after she revealed her true colours but nope, she is just plain mad and ugly. I felt somewhat betrayed haha - I know that makes no sense but oh I had so much faith in her. This must be what those die hard AKB fans feel like when they see their favourite member doing something against their idea of them.

Another thing that really stood out for me was how intense the new islands are. In the first game every time you completed a chapter, the next floor up would be open for you to explore - Hope's Peak Academy therefore had 6 floors. In SDR2 there are 6 islands and each one was pretty insane. This one in particular in chapter 4 was a mind fuck.

In the style of a theme park - the fourth island was so insane. Strawberry House vs Grape House - if you have played the game you know exactly what I am taking about. I swear a game has never made me think so hard in my life - this chapter was so mentally challenging. Even now I am still confused about the building strcture and the way the building works. I am not smart enough lol. I'm just so impressed with the level of complexity and intelligence this game has, it really is on a different level compared to the first game.

Chapter 5 was a real shocker again. Komaeda's death was really really shocking. At this point in the game I was just so confused but good confused as in I really had no idea how everything had happened and where the game was going. So unpredictable.

Chapter 5 and 6 were epic. I can't believe where the game went and this pic below was just so damn satifying - seeing these guys join forces to accept the truth. Just epic.

Oh and how can I forget to mention the epic 'main cast' and their epic arrival.

I mean damn son, check out Togami wearing a rare and killer smile. My heart melts!

This was probably one of the coolest things that happened in chapter 6 (and there was A LOT of cool things)

I cannot wait to see how the third game is going to measure up against this one because this was seriously so damn epic I am still trying to process everything that happened. This one really is more tactical and challenging than the first in every good way possible.

I absolutely loved Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. This is by far one of the greatest sequals ever made in any entertainment medium. Unpredidictable, funny, witty, clever, challenging and so many interesting and complex characters that you can't help but become attatched to.

I rate this game a 9/10 - of course there is always room for improvement. Some of the chapters were very long especially the trials where it can get extremely repitive and too much information to process made it tiring but other than that I don't really have any complaints to this near-perfect game.

Danganronpa is a must play for anyone who owns a PS Vita. I cannot wait to see how the next installment which has the very interesting title of "New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shingakki" which I think translates to "New Danganronpa V3: Everyone's Next School Level Of Killing Game"

I am very excited for the third game and I am also going to start playing Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls which I have on my PS Vita already.

Right I better end the post here, this post took far too long to complete, it has litereally been weeks.

I am going to try get better at finishing and posting a blog post on the same day that I start it. It's just that for some reason my laptop is kind of slow on Wix and finding/uploading picures takes time becaue of the weird lag. When I am on the Uni computers though it's super fast and I prefer the dektop computers way more than a laptop. Laptops are just far more convenient for students. What I am I even on about now Laptops Vs PCs? This was supposed to be a game review damnit! It's really late I should get to bed. Okay I hope you enjoyed that review and I will be sure to get better at posting on the day I start a blog post! Bye bye / night night!!

#danganronpa #gamereview