Back in February, a somewhat obscure text adventure game about a group of high school students who were forced to kill each other in exchange for their freedom ended up becoming one of the biggest surprises of the year so far. So much so in fact, that we raved about it in our review, to the point where I’d still call it one of the year’s best games even months later. One of the biggest strengths of the original Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, was its creative take on the visual novel, implementing elements of action games, rail shooters, and dating simulations to become one of the finest titles in its genre.
With that said, the obvious follow up question is; “What’s next?” How can a sequel to a text adventure, by which is fairly limited in what how much it can innovate, manage to feel like an improvement only seven months later? And yet, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair does just that, finding a way to succeed in nearly every area while finding multiple ways to stay fresh. And in case you were wondering, this version is every bit as dark and twisted as you would expect from the series.
Monokuma is back, and is as big of a troll as you’d expect.
This time around, players find themselves in the unfortunate position of controlling Hajime Hinata, one of a group of 16 students from the prestigious Hope’s Peak Academy. Despite not being able to remember his talent, Hajime and his classmates are each considered “Ultimate” students, who are at the top of their respective fields. Whether it’s the “Ultimate Cook”, the “Ultimate Princess”, or the “Ultimate Yakuza”, each student serves as a beacon of hope for the future of the world. Only, things aren’t as they seem. After being seemingly abducted and held on Jabberwock Island in the guise of a school trip by their teacher, a talking stuffed rabbit who goes by Usami, it isn’t long before the trip gets out of hand. While the goal of the vacation is to build up their friendships and spread hope, it isn’t long before Monokuma, the antagonist of the original, commandeers the island and changes the rules to his liking. Now, there’s only one way off the island; kill one of your classmates, and get away with it.
In its opening moments, Jabberwock Island feels instantly familiar to anyone who explored Hope’s Peak Academy in the original. The majority of the game play is split up into two sections, which are Daily Life and Deadly Life. In Daily Life, Hajime traverses the islands in both the first person perspective of the first game in more enclosed spaces, or a new 2D side scrolling perspective when moving between the larger areas. These sections mostly consist of interacting with the characters to move the story forward, or participating in Free Time events, which allow Hajime to get to know his classmates better in exchange for Hope Fragments. With a little talking and a lot of bribery, fully exploring each character uncovers special abilities, while granting the means to buy extra ones by purchasing them with the fragments.
Solving crimes is rewarding as always.
But the island can’t stay tranquil forever, which is where the Deadly Life sections take center stage. When a murder is committed, the cast goes into full investigation mode, using the on screen cursor to uncover evidence, (called Truth Bullets), to figure out what went down and who committed the crime. Once everything possible is uncovered, a Class Trial is initiated, where the surviving students participate in a Nonstop Debate. Like in the original, the characters discuss the case while the player has a small selection of evidence to choose from. Various key phrases are highlighted, which may contradict a piece of evidence you hold. After sifting through the distractions caused by White Noise that look to block your shot, Hajime must take aim and shoot through these contradictions using the right line of logic. Solving the mysteries end up feeling far more rewarding this time around, since they come off as more complex with less hand holding. With this sometimes backfires since the linear nature of the game can make it hard to guess which piece of evidence to use and when, even if you have the right idea, especially when the answers can be really farfetched at times.
In between the debates, new mechanics have been added while old ones have been changed, but not all of them for the better. For example, the standard debate leaves room to agree with blue statements, (which was only featured in the post game in the first title), showing that you don’t always have to be argumentative to be successful. Another original mechanic that changed in the sequel is the Bullet Time Battle, which has been replaced with Panic Talk Action. The rhythm themed button tap mini game now asks us to hold and release the X button to the beat of the music, with the length of time the button is held deciding how many statements are shot down, or how many bullets are reloaded. While an interesting change, it feels like one that wasn’t necessary, filing itself in the category of innovating for the sake of it. Still, these sections are still fun to play, which is the end goal regardless.
Yet, we can’t talk about needlessly changed mechanics without discussing the new take on Hangman’s Gambit. The first game had us selecting letters off of the screen to spell out words that would reveal the next clue. Now, we have combine at least two of the same letter before we can add them to our board in order, which admittedly has a fun, fast paced shooter game feel to it. While the concept sounds harmless at first, there are times where the right set of letters takes forever to crop up, or in later stages, where so many letters spawn at once that you take unfair amounts of damage. I’m sure some of you might be ready to fire off about how I shouldn’t fault the game for sucking at it, but it’s definitely not my fault when opposite letters spawn on top of each other, resulting in instant damage before they’re fully on screen. If the third game can bring back the old way of doing things, that would be great.
Hangman after those funny cigarettes.
Even if Hangman’s Gambit is worse for wear this time around, I’ll gladly take the trade off when you consider how much Closing Arguments have been improved. My biggest complaint about the game play in the first game was how these comic book panels that piece together the crime were far too vague, forcing you to guess on the sequence of events based on small pictures with very little context. Now, not only does highlighting the blank spaces and the options at your disposal provide text clues saying what they mean, but each option is provided in increments instead of being distributed all at once. This results in losing the overwhelming feeling of having too many options while giving players a more balanced shot at choosing the right options.
Closing Arguments went from the biggest flaw of the original to the most improved feature in the 2nd.
No longer acting as passive observers to your crazy arguments, classmates can now refute your statements as well, triggering a Rebuttal Showdown. When someone dares question your sound logic, things quickly turn from a shootout to a sword fight, allowing players to slice through their words using the touch screen or control pad in order to stay in favor. Once the key word comes up, cutting through it with the right Truth Bullet will put them in their place.
Fighting for supremacy in a clash of words.
In one of the stranger additions to trials, the Logic Drive starts a snowboarding mini game that gives Hajime the means to connect logic strings together by sliding down the right paths. Yep, I just said there’s a snowboarding mini game in a text adventure. Surprisingly, the controls, physics and challenge is fairly strong, making them enjoyable to play. I’m sure I’m not the only one opposed to seeing this idea fleshed out more fully, because I would actively look forward to playing these sections as they came.
Logic snowboarding is the next big sport!
The best part, is on top of all these changes and improvements, the biggest draw of the game has stayed the same, which is its brutal cutscenes, dark sense of humor, and undeniable charm, all wrapped up in a somewhat innocent presentation. Both the old and new songs bring the emotions the game is trying to draw out of us to life, while the 2D cardboard cutouts and pink blood amplify the ironic cuteness of a death game arranged by a sadistic teddy bear. Movies have a change in animation, providing some moments that are made of pure nightmare fuel, although these scenes are overall weaker than the first game.
This is furthered by the feeling that the new characters just aren’t as good as the ones in the first game. While the innocent charm of Sonia Nevermind, the strong impression Nagito Komaeda leaves, or Teruteru, a special kind of pervert character who’s nose will bleed for literally anyone, will stick with you, other characters like Nekomaru Nidai, Gundham Tanaka, Mikan Tsumiki and Kazuichi Soda range from annoying, to grating, often coming off as caricatures rather than people you’re supposed to get attached to. Not that the game doesn’t have a knack for tugging on the heart strings, making my jaw drop many times over, but while the cast of the first game was definitely eccentric, they all had a level of humanity that this cast mostly lacks. Not to mention that the game expects us to suspend our disbelief to absurd levels at some points, but these moments are eventually explained in a satisfying way, saving the story from a bit of ridicule.
Characters like Mikan bog down the narrative, making it hard to care about them.
After about 30 hours or so passes and the main game is completed, Danganronpa 2 still has so much to offer. Like the first game and its School Mode, Island Mode lets Hajime focus on building friendships, both by using the 100+ presents that can be purchased with unlockable Monocoins to round up any remaining Hope Fragments, or using Trip Tickets to go on dates with them for expanded endings. In between all the lovey dovey stuff, a mining mini game asks the team to build certain items in exchange for more Trip Tickets, all while managing each person’s HP, the island’s cleanliness, and the amount of each item needed for a successful build.
In addition, the game does a complete 180, unlocking Usami’s very own mini game which pits her against the evil beasts that inhabit the island. Playing somewhat like an action platformer, Usami can jump on enemies, circle around them to create magical attacks, or unlock stronger equipment which allows her to progress through six short, yet entertaining stages, which include multiple difficulty levels to keep things interesting.
The crazy part? Between hundreds of unlockable gallery items, hidden Monokuma plush dolls scattered throughout the island, (which replace the magical coins that pop out of the environment), a virtual pet simulator that houses over half a dozen pets based on how many steps Hajime takes and a freaking in game novel, and Danganronpa 2 comes close to almost having too much content. This isn’t even all of the new content and improvements the game provides, but for the sake of not wanting to make this a novel of my own, we’ll spare the details on everything included, and leave some surprises for the game. Can we have too much of a good thing? Apparently not!
So after thinking that it would be near impossible to further the visual novel genre more than the first Danganronpa did, Goodbye Despair does so, and then some. While it doesn’t surpass its prequel in every aspect, it knocks most of what it tries to do out of the park. With a wide variety of game play mechanics, constant experimentation, (with mixed results), tons of distractions to give your sleuthing brain a break, and more unlockables than you’ll ever need, and you end up with a game that is a near perfect representation of what thinking outside the box can result in. What we’re left with is a sequel that takes risks instead of resting on the laurels of its successful predecessor, and is better off for it, making Danganronpa 2 one of the best games in its genre… And by extension, a strong candidate for one of the year’s best games. What’s more hopeful than that?
tl;dr
+ A return to form for the Hope’s Peak student body, providing deeper mysteries and more of a focus on exploration with its sick sense of innocent, self aware humor intact.
+ Features like in game digital pets, full fledged side games and new core mechanics, (like snowboarding logic), are bold inclusions that pay off in big ways.
+ Storytelling and cutscenes that will stick with you long after you’ve put the game down.
+ An insane amount of unlockables that will keep completionists playing for hours.
– Deeper mysteries result in moments where illustrating your point is hard to do, resulting in having to guess which similar piece of evidence is the right one.
– Certain story moments are too far fetched, which is made worse by a third of the cast ranging from annoying to insufferable.
– Not all changes were for the better, with a frustrating new take on Hangman’s Gambit.
Final Score: 4.5/5