Danga Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc!

[Aeroblast]

I'm probably going to pick this up and play it over the spring break, along with couple other games on my backlog already.

 

[Morkula]

I had never heard of this game until I heard Patrick talking about it on Giant Bomb last week, but it sounds...really weird and interesting. Drew some Ace Attorney comparisons, which piqued my interest a bit (even though I only played one game in that series). I may have to pick it up at some point since my Vita really needs some love.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Drew some Ace Attorney comparisons, which piqued my interest a bit (even though I only played one game in that series).

Well... Dangan is pretty much Ace Attorney meeting Zero Escape so the comparisons are right on track =D

 

[Morkula]

Well... Dangan is pretty much Ace Attorney meeting Zero Escape so the comparisons are right on track =D

I never played 999 or Zero Escape, so I really have nothing to go on there. They're games that I've wanted to try, but never got around to it and then they got fairly hard to find. I'm not too big on the visual novel style games, but this looks quirky enough (maybe even too much so, haha) that I want to give it a try at some point.

 

[Aeroblast]

I think $40 is simply too much, and that's what's been holding me off from getting this game now, so I'm holding out for some sort of a sale or a price drop in the near future (maybe couple months will do it?). Contrary to what I have said earlier I probably won't play it during the spring break, nonetheless I'm looking forward to the experience, even though I've been spoiled a bit here and there.

 

[Scandalice]

I really want to get a Vita and this game some time, since I really enjoyed the anime for this. Hopefully I can get them once the Vita's price goes down and/or more games I want come out~

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

I never played 999 or Zero Escape, so I really have nothing to go on there. They're games that I've wanted to try, but never got around to it and then they got fairly hard to find. I'm not too big on the visual novel style games, but this looks quirky enough (maybe even too much so, haha) that I want to give it a try at some point.

Then you should totally play them ;) Dangan is also VN-style game by the way ;)
You can just emulate 999 and buy VLR (we need all the money fans they can give so producers can do 3rd game =D) =D
I must confess that I bought Vita for Virtue's Last Reward :) Not for Persona 4 Golden, not for anything else, simply for Virtue's Last Reward =)

 

[Aeroblast]

Then you should totally play them ;) Dangan is also VN-style game by the way ;)
You can just emulate 999 and buy VLR (we need all the money fans they can give so producers can do 3rd game =D) =D
I must confess that I bought Vita for Virtue's Last Reward :) Not for Persona 4 Golden, not for anything else, simply for Virtue's Last Reward =)

Isn't Virtue's Last Reward available for 3DS as well?

 

[Spinosaurus]

Isn't Virtue's Last Reward available for 3DS as well?

Yeah, and it would have been the better choice considering it's significantly cheaper, doesn't have overpriced memory cards and just has a better library as a whole.

 

[DavidtheDeadPhilosopher]

Is this game worth getting a Vita for, I've been on the fence getting one for awhile. I'm very intrigued by this game.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Isn't Virtue's Last Reward available for 3DS as well?

Yep. But since we are on Danganronpa's thread which is Vita game, I was referring to Vita version.
But yea, if you have 3DS, VLR can be bought for 3DS as well.

 

[Spinosaurus]

Got the game. Let's see how it fares against Ace Attorney and Zero Escape.


Also this is my first actual physical Vita game purchase since Ryaman Origins on 2012. lol

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Got the game. Let's see how it fares against Ace Attorney and Zero Escape.


Also this is my first actual physical Vita game purchase since Ryaman Origins on 2012. lol

In my opinion (from the PSP version), it's inferior to Zero Escape and I can't compare it to Ace.
But as I said, it's pretty much child of those two =)

 

[Spinosaurus]

In the middle of chapter 3, impressions so far...

Honestly my feelings are very mixed in this one, mostly on the negative side because chapter 2 was really, really stupid especially after how promising chapter 1 was. There's literally nothing remotely similar to 999 (Have not played Virtue's Last Reward yet) so I don't see any Zero Escape resemblance, but what I can compare it to is Ace Attorney. I can safely say Ace Attorney is much better on the gameplay side.

Class trial is really dumb. I set the logic to mean, but all that does is give you more truth bullets when it's obvious which one of them is actually related to the topic at hand. I set the action to medium and I'm honestly thinking of setting it to gentle because they keep adding more and more convoluted stuff on top, which doesn't even make it any more difficult at all. It's literally a waste of time playing these mini games, and every little thing they keep adding is an annoyance. Not hard, but annoying. Things get complicated rather quickly for absolutely no reason whatsoever. The case practically plays itself anyway. In Ace Attorney, the challenge is to actually solve the case your own, where you present evidence at the right statement in the right time, which actually takes a bit of thinking.

In terms of the plot and such one thing the game does better than Ace Attorney is that it actually tenses the player up and immerses them into the mystery. However, this is all in naught when the mysteries revealed actually end up completely obvious and underwhelming. Chapter 2 had too many bait and switch that I called before they happened.

Spoiler:

Genocide Jack had a split personality...WAIT, just a few seconds Toko did something like that too. I actually dismissed that because of how obvious it was, thinking "no way, they just literally showed us that. Must be someone else." Either way I had a feeling Genocide Jack wasn't responsible whoever they are because the method of killing was different from in the case files and that there is no way that even a killer who is famous for repeating the same killing process would do it in this situation because it'd end up being a matter of finding out who is Genocide Jack to conclude the case. Obviously the game repeats what I thought 30 minutes later, but the catch here was...oh boy, Toko went from one annoying trope to ANOTHER annoying trope. She goes from the worst character to still being the worst character.
I saw the switch to blaming Byakuya a mile away, since if Genocide Jack didn't do it, then the only one who did do it would be someone who KNEW about Genocide Jack. But something doesn't add up, if Byakuya did do it he wouldn't cooperate and tell you that he knew everything about Genocide Jack. Admittedly I didn't figure out his reasoning for changing the crime scene, I thought someone else knew. The archive was available so surely...NOPE, Byakuya did it to test you. How convenient. What the ♥♥♥♥, writers?
Honestly the case ended up being about genocide jack and byakuya which were already stupid to begin with. The murder itself? Completely basic stuff. Honestly forgot about it in the middle of it. Oh yeah the motive was really stupid. The strong was jealous of the weak because the weak was actually the strong one so they killed them out of frustration? So the motive didn't even have anything to do with Mondo's secret being exposed? He supposedly killed Chihiro unwillingly, after all.

Overall it's unfair to judge the game entirely over one chapter, and honestly I'm judging that one case itself mostly instead of the game. Chapter 3 is starting out promising so I got hope because there are still a lot of things to like about the game. After all, the only Ace Attorney with a strong first two cases was Ace Attorney 3, though I can't think of ONE Ace Attorney with a stupid case 2 like that.

EDIT: Oh man I sound very negative. I'm actually liking the game, but the writing is REALLY iffy.
So I'll just say that the voice acting is top notch.

 

[Nah]

Despite your issues with the game, I'm glad you seem to like it to some extent. I have to agree that Chapter 2 was kind of a weak chapter. But it gets better as you go on, imo.

Funny thing about Chapter 2 was that I did not figure out anything until the characters did, or all of like 5 seconds before they did. Except for

Spoiler:

Chihiro actually being a guy

. That I picked up on early enough. Chapter 3 I found easier to figure out who the killer was; it seemed pretty obvious to me (I hadn't figured out all the details ahead of time, but I figured out more than I ever really had in Dangan Ronpa, I think). We'll see what you think.

Also, do have any favorite characters at the moment?

 

[Spinosaurus]

Yeah chapter 3 is murder mystery the way I like it so far. I have two suspects in regards to this case right now, but I only just found the murder.
Just in case I'll announce my two suspects.

Spoiler:

It's either Celeste or Kyoko.
Celeste "mysteriously" captured the photo and was attacked by the supposed perpetrator, when Hifumi didn't mention seeing her at all. I PROBABLY missed him mention he did though, but that's not my only reason.
She lured everyone everywhere. Claiming she saw a shadow and the perpetrator in the hallway when they weren't there. Also she lead everyone away from Hifumi, although I could be mistaken on that one, I actually wasn't paying attention during the nursery. And the state she was found in and her attitude so far is suspicious.
Kyoko. They probably don't want us to think she's involved but she's also another potential suspect. Although my eyes are on Celeste, I can't rule Kyoko out just yet.
I can't figure out the method of the murder or the disappearance of the corpse, but I need evidence.

When I started the game it was Kiyotaka but he's a huge wasted potential. He's one of these characters, like Toko and Hifumi, where their shtick was basically their whole character. He's not bad as Toko but he wasn't well developed at all.

Sakura and Aoi are my favorite as of now, these two surprised me. Celeste was a surprise as well and I like her...so far.

EDIT: A certain suspect just got more suspicious, the game won't fool me.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

I agree about chapter 2 being pretty bad.

Spoiler:

Because Chihiro is best girl, even though he's a trap

But I would say it was because writers had to announce many new mechanics... well... it had to happen.
On the other hand, chapter 2 was probably the only one when I did not know the suspect beforehand. So I must give a thumbs up for that.

 

[Spinosaurus]

There was absolutely no hint on who chapter 2's primary suspect was except for ONE particular small detail.

Spoiler:

When Mondo called Chihiro a dude.

I picked that up at first but eventually forgot about it when the case ended up being about Genocide Jack and less about the murder itself.

I pretty much figured everything out about chapter 3 when the investigation started, and the trial pretty much went on the way I exactly suspected. I figured the murder pretty quickly after seeing some evidence because honestly, this kind of case is actually quite common in murder mysteries. That said I did like it, it had a certain twist to it even if that ended up entirely irrelevant.

That said after the trial ended I got something I did not expect. At all.

 

[Nah]

That said after the trial ended I got something I did not expect. At all.

What was this thing you got?

 

[Spinosaurus]

Spoiler:

Sakura being the spy

Also holy ♥♥♥♥ I feel like Byakuya in this. Chapter 4 spoilers.

Spoiler:

I suspected it was suicide at first and that Asahina was gonna murder someone in frustration afterwards, but when the class trial announcement come on I thought yeah, Sakura got murdered. I thought only murder warranted a class trial, but I suppose suicide is considered murder of oneself lol.

After the announcement anyway I immediately suspected Asahina, since I immediately knew poison was involved and she could have been the only one who did it and her strange behavior was an indicator. This is what I was talking about when I said I feel like Byakuya, we figured out the previous murders easily, but this one we got to the same wrong conclusion lol. Although unlike Byakuya I knew it was suicide the moment Asahina tried to convince everyone it was her.
Have to say though, I was hoping to solve a locked room mystery. Disappointed it wasn't one to begin with, but oh well.

R.I.P Sakura. Still the best god damn character.