Alright, thanks. Will look into DR2 soonish, if it improves on some aspects.
Two last questions:
Zero Escape is incredible. At least the first two. The third is a trainwreck and despite obsessing over the first two games for three years, the third game killed the series for me. If you don’t mind that it will have a lackluster ending, the series is one of the best VN series out there. Virtue’s Last Reward (ZE2) is still my favorite VN after The House In Fata Morgana.
As for DR, the only substantial extra material I can think of is DR Zero, a light novel. You can find translations online. I’d say you’re better off reading it after DR2, though.
I second Zero Escape. I am currently playing through Virtue’s Last Reward (the second game in the series), so I can’t comment on how the trilogy ends. But 999 and VLR are very much worth it, at least.
As for Danganronpa, I’m a massive fan. DR2 is an improvement on DR1 in almost every possible way, and I hold it in the highest regard as a mystery VN. The mysteries are much, much harder and more appealing, and I’d even go as far to call Case 5 of the game my favorite fictitious murder case of all time, in any medium.
As for extra material, as mentioned above, Danganronpa 0 is a light novel prequel to DR1. If you are interested in the history of Hope’s Peak Academy and want some expanded lore, then I recommend it. We also get further details on how the mastermind of DR1 pulled off their killing game.
All other side material should be looked into after DR2. Though, if you enjoy DR2 and the world in general, then Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is a must-play after that. And after that once again, the Danganronpa 3 anime gives closure on the entire story. I wouldn’t call it a spin-off, rather an essential part of the story. Regardless of the actual quality of the anime, it IS the end of the Hope’s Peak saga. It’s not completely atrocious (at least not to me) but it doesn’t really match up to the quality of the games either.
As for DR0, it was released before DR2, and was meant to be a prequel to the first game while setting up important things in the second game. DR Kirigiri is very good, I’ve heard, same with DR Togami, though I don’t know how far the translations are for both games, but they give characterization to those named characters.
Another Episode gives Toko and Hagakure (at least in the little novel unlocked after you beat the game for Hagakure) some needed characterization, but it’s highly recommended you play it after DR2.
There’s the Killer Killer Dr Gaiden novels, which feature characters from the DR3 anime and go into another story entirely I’m not sure of (though the thing about cloning is cool).
Once you beat DR2, you can unlock a novel of sorta called DR IF, which is a What If for the first game and is the closest thing to a look at the personality of a spoiler character from the first game (apart from appearances in DR0 and the DR3 anime).
As for DRV3, I have literally no clue as to how stuff goes down besides who died (not because I’m avoiding spoilers, but because the game’s story sounds Pandora Hearts levels of confusing), but I heard it’s getting an English translation soon, and has been met with mixed results.
There’s also manga based on the games, some from POVs of different characters in the games.
Quite frankly, I’m disappointed by the lack of character figures (besides the little coin ones) for the series besides the most popular characters. There aren’t even any Figmas. What if I want Naegi to knock Komaeda the heck out?
Has anyone been able to try the VR demo they released for Danganronpa? It is EXTREMELY tech demo-y, but some of it was pretty cool. It is a snippet from a case in the first game, just the courtroom section. The characters arguments still manifest as floating words, but they added an element where the other charters start grabbing each others arguments and breaking them. It was a nice touch, especially since you have control of the camera. They finished it with the punishment section, which you experience as if you are the one being killed.
It was pretty cool, and I would be happy to try a full Danganronpa game like this - even a remake, with some polish it would be extremely fun.
Whoa, that sounds pretty cool. Didn’t realize that was out yet!
Oh, didn’t notice we had a board for this.
Before I found out about Ryukishi07’s works, I was a member of the Something Awful forums ages ago (I haven’t been there in a couple years and can’t even remember what nickname I used back then) when the fan translation of Danganronpa started being put up there. I was hooked pretty much immediately. When it finally got an official English translation, it was basically the sole reason I bought a Vita.
I think Danganronpa was also the catalyst for me finding out about Higurashi. I asked a friend a couple years back for some recommendations on murder mystery anime/manga/VNs after finishing Ultra Despair Girls, and they directed me towards Higurashi, now my all-time favourite piece of media.
In terms of my favourite characters, Gundham has got to be on top. Komaru, Hajime, and Sakura are also close contenders.
V3 preorders are up on Steam. HOOOOOOOOOOOO BOY.
You can pre-load the game, and preordering nets you a small sample of the OST (through the first week of launch). Pretty sure it launches on the 26th everywhere, so it’ll release earlier on PC than consoles in the EU (where PS4/Vita versions will be released on the 29th.)
Really looking forward to playing it. Nothing else in the franchise really compares to the visual novels as far as I’m concerned, so getting to play the third installment in only a couple of days is really exciting. Too bad I’m pretty busy with university stuff right now. Oh well, I’ll surely find enough time to properly enjoy the game, even if I can’t do a chapter in a day.
As a side note regarding the whole series, I think Danganronpa presents a rather nice foil to Ace Attorney where the mysteries are concerned. The cases in Ace Attorney pretty much always present new information and twists during the trials themselves, so solving them before the trial is more or less impossible - you can make educated guesses, but you usually don’t know how exactly the trial will turn out. Danganronpa, on the other hand, far more often presents almost all of the relevant information before the trial begins, and while there’s often some aspect of the case that can’t be reasoned beforehand, with careful analysis of the evidence before the trial you can form a pretty solid theory on what exactly happened.
I like spending time figuring things out in advance in Ace Attorney, but it feels less rewarding because of the frequent curveballs the game likes to throw your way during the trial proper (“oh, btw, that autopsy report is outdated, here’s the actual autopsy report~”). When it comes to Danganronpa, I really enjoy taking my time and trying to think of a strong theory before going to the trial. Even if it turns out I was entirely correct about everything (which is rare) and there are no surprises waiting for me, I don’t get bored during the trials because it’s just so satisfying to find out I was right. That, and the character interactions during the trials are just entertaining to watch.
So, yeah. Really looking forward to getting my hands on V3. 26th can’t come too soon.
Time to bring up video and website blockers. At least this time I lasted until starting preloading before getting spoiled (played the other games with full spoilers).
Yes the thumbnail’s a spoiler.
Watch out guys.
edit: Twitter friend says it could’ve been far worse
Played the demo on PS4 yesterday because someone told me there’s a special bonus carryover, so hit up the demo on whatever platform you plan to play DRv3 on.
Now to wait until the 29th zzzzzzzzzz
One review apparently spoils the first victim so be careful guys
Yeah I got spoiled on a curator review. For like a split second during a class trial a portrait of a dead student was visible.
Silver lining is that I don’t know whether that person was executed or murdered 
V3’s first trial…
HOLY HELL.
I’ll start this soon. Pretty hyped.
The first trial was quite something indeed.
Case 1 spoilers: I like how the two people I would’ve considered the absolute least likely people to die turned out to be the victim and the killer. Rantaro was so obviously important that I didn’t really even consider the possibility of him being the first victim, and I certainly didn’t see a protagonist switcheroo coming. I went into the trial convinced that Shuichi was the killer - the time of death and other circumstances had cut my suspect list down to Shuichi or suicide by Rantaro, and when I noticed that the hidden door photos had camera flash on, I figured it is extremely unlikely Rantaro just decided to randomly screw with the cameras that way before killing himself.
I did make note of how Kaede had an equal opportunity for committing the crime, because I figured someone was going to accuse Kaede and I’d have to present an argument for why she isn’t the killer, but I couldn’t think of any. If I had thought of it in more detail, I might have realized that I could construct a more plausible culprit theory with Kaede than with Shuichi, but… well, she was the protagonist and all that, so I kinda overlooked that possibility.
I really liked the first case, it had such a strong emotional conclusion that if playing through that first chapter can’t sell someone on Danganronpa, probably nothing will. I’m really excited to see if the rest of the game holds to the same standard of quality as the opening case.
Also, when Shuichi was revealed to be the true protagonist, I burst out laughing when I realized what must be under his hat. That meta-gag alone made my day.
OH GOD THE HAT
WHY DO YOU KILL ME LIKE THIS?
And I’m the opposite of you. At least Rantarou I immediately called as first victim due to Kodaka’s tendency of killing off the important seeming person first.
For killer, I went with suspecting Shuichi though. It is rather hard to doubt the protagonist. Unfortunately I was spoiled on her dying, but luckily I suspected it would not happen until much later, making the reveal still decently effective, heh. I do know people who suspected her as well though. They mostly worked with the fact that not once in the case, Kaede actually wonders who did it in her internal thoughts, instead mostly being worried about “how things ended up like this”.
All these spoiler tags are getting me hype
Finished V3.
Best thing Kodaka has ever written by far. As in, that one case in DR2 almost pales in comparison to this level far.
Man I really want to discuss it with people.