Danganronpa is one of these newer visual novel games that have exploded in popularity. I have seen pictures of Monokuma (the series’ main villain) all over and Loot Anime even gave out a the same tie one fo the characters wear in the game. Of course, being a cat with high curiosity, I decided to test fate and get the first game, Trigger Happy Havoc, from Gamefly and give it a shot. There’s plenty to like and plenty to hate.
First, the good stuff. The plot and background are amazing. A bunch of teenagers who are “the ultimate” in a certain field is sent to this prestigious school because of their talents. In reality, this school is actually a prison set up by a bear named Monokuma who tells them that they are here forever and the only way to leave is to kill one student and not get caught.
That right there is intriguing. There is so much that can be done with that idea. There are some points where we do see some good stuff come out of it. The characters, for the most part, are interesting. The best of the lot are Sakura, Aoi, Kyoko and Hiro. There was a lot of thought put into these characters that you care a lot about what happens to them.
Sadly, the other characters aren’t as interesting. The majority are killed off before they get any kind of development whatsoever. The absolute worst is Byakuya. I don’t care what kind of half-assed development he got; I just wanted to see that stuck up, egotistical little shit get killed in the most horrible way possible.
Visually, the game looks unique. Each character has a unique, memorable look to them, even Monokuma who’s just a black and white teddy bear. Sadly, the school itself looks generic. Nothing about it stands out which is sad because you will be doing a lot of exploring around. You will forget where everything is because these locations don’t stand out at all.
This is also the game’s biggest weakness: the gameplay blows, especially the trail portions. There are three parts to the game. The first is exploration where you have free time to talk with any character to gain new abilities and SP. You can even give them gifts to increase your relationship with them. If you’ve played any dating sim, you know how this goes. The second part is investigating each murder where you’re being led by the nose to each location to find clues (or “truth bullets” as the game calls them.” Finally, there’s the trial. This part is just one gimmicky mini-game after another. All of them suck. Why is there a rhythm game in a trial? Hell, once you get a certain skill this rhythm game becomes a no-brainer.
The worst part is the twist at the end that explains why they’re trapped in the school. I don’t care what anybody says, I did the Nostalgia Critic’s “this is stupid” bit when I saw that. It’s not just normal stupid, it’s so stupid for words that I just stopped caring about the story after that. I just wanted the game to end. Now.
While the story and setting are great, the ending ruins it. Not to mention the horrendous gameplay isn’t worth your time. Just watch the anime, you’ll get the same experience without the gameplay.
Categories: Video Games
Tags: Danganronpa, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Review, visual novels
Sanrock Reviews 