I don't like to make spoiler reviews often because at that point I sort of think people are reading it mostly to see how someone else's opinion lines up with theirs. But this is such a hard game to talk about without The Ending in mind.

I fucking loved this game. The characters are just so charming, the mysteries exciting and fun to solve, and they... mostly tone down the worst parts of the franchise (the weird horny teens, with the caveat that Miu does exist). The new perjury system in trials is such a fun little way to reward players who want to find different paths of persuading people in the trials. I like Psyche Taxi a lot but other minigames don't pull me in much.

I understand why a lot of people don't like the ending, feeling like it devalues the fans or makes the series feel "pointless." But like... the series was never real. That's the point. The game never argues that the series doesn't matter. In fact, much of the climax revolves around grappling with the idea that these characters can matter even if they're fictional. But its also arguing that hey, fandom can get a little out of hand and sometimes stories need to end. And that's okay! I don't think its trying to be cruel about it. Its a genuine effort to give players the ability to end Danganronpa with their own hands and... I think that's a kind of offer a lot of franchises don't often give its audience.

That said, Kaede shoulda been the protagonist and putting that want in the mouth of the final boss does feel weird.

V3 isn't my favorite game, but I have been obsessed with it for the past 3 years and counting.

Here is a sad truth; I think my experience with V3 was distinctly colored by having a lot of prior knowledge about the game. Essentially, I knew the plot, I knew who lived and who died. I used to be pretty laissez faire about spoilers - before V3, I would browse for any and all information I could find with very few exceptions. My old philosophy basically boiled down to: I don't want to get invested and then regret it.

V3 made me heavily reconsider that method. Yet, if I went into V3 as blind as I go into games now, I do not think I would have enjoyed it nearly as much.

Humans are full of such idiosyncrasies. To err is to be human, as the saying goes.

I dislike a particular trope, the "rug-pull" that stories nowadays tend to rely on. Hades' initial escape and the storytelling that followed afterwards enraged me for weeks. Basically, I hate when fellow storytellers lull me into a false sense of security and tear that peace of mind away without the necessary foreshadowing. It's a cheap trick, the novel equivalent of a jump scare. Got you!

A central question arises. Does V3 make use of my hated enemy, the rug-pull, or a classic narrative device, a plethora of plot twists?

The answer really depends on the individual. Some will make the false advertising protagonist joke in jest; many are truly not kidding. I have had my fair share of people being upset about Akamatsu, I have seen likeminded diehard V3 fans detest and ignore the ending. People who swear by pre-KG personalities and characters, the very opposition of that theory.

I will say, it is exceedingly rare to find any two people within V3 fandom who think alike. There isn't a consistent understanding of... anything, really. Normally I really enjoy hearing secondhand opinion and accounts but I stray far, far away from any analysis on V3 - more often than not I walk away upset or disillusioned.

Typically, I find that a lot of people tend to miss the central thesis of V3. That being, you don't have to continue existing as the person you once were.

Does it matter if this cast were all degenerates beforehand? What if they did audition, what if they are genuine Ultimates? The characters between themselves disagree on their pasts; everyone's history is murky, unclear, but they are always and constantly given the choice to change and be different.

Not everyone chooses to go beyond their script. Kirumi, Shinguji, Iruma are basic examples - they develop very little beyond their pasts and their backstory is their motivation. Meanwhile, there is development and change to be had in characters like Gokuhara and Harukawa.

The Killing Game is everyone's tabula rasa. The characters', the audience's. Go nuts. Interpret as you see fit.

V3, I think, is a fundamentally kind game even about the most grotesque of people.

Danganronpa sucks, this is a sentiment most of my friends hold towards the series and despite my enjoyment of the second game, it’s an opinion I’ve shared on the series too. The last game that I ever thought would also hold this sentiment was Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony itself.

At its core V3 attempts, and succeeds, to make a meta-statement on the over-saturation and milking of series’, consumer entitlement and what happens when the same thing is demanded over and over again, all of this being done while the game parodies itself and Danganronpa as a whole.

What V3 shows us is what happens when new danganronpa games, animes, mangas, spin-offs, adaptations are demanded, we get left with a cruel cycle of a cruel game that lacks any sort of originality or creativity. The V3 in the games title actually standing for 53, is an incredibly blunt jab at the milking of the series by the point of this games release, while the repetition of certain aspects in the murders of the game, as they parallel murders from the previous games, is a great point about the lack of creativity that comes from something being milked. Towards the ending, Tsumigi/Junko 53 constantly refers to herself and her plan as a perfect copy, this being another point about the lack of originality in such a worn out series, you could even read her cosplays of previous characters during this point of the game as commentary on the fanservice usually expected towards the end of a Danganronpa game. The game refers to Junko showing up and the hope and despair themes as an expected constant of the franchise, something that cannot change because what people want more then anything is the same thing over and over, and that line of thinking is something the game heavily discourages.

On a textual level, the main theme of V3 is Lies and Truths but towards the end of the game it almost awkwardly shifts to returning to the series’ staple themes of hope and despair, this shift is a great drilling in of those points the game is making about creativity and such, Danganronpa must be about hope and despair so the game goes back to being about hope despair before the protagonists reject Danganronpa and it’s main themes to forge their own path away from killing games.

One of the main messages of the game is that fiction can change the world, and it’s the main theme which I think is what lends the ending an optimistic tone rather than the cynicism you’d expect from the a game that appears to have a lot of self loathing towards itself and the series as a whole. This message is quite pertinent and strong, a reminder that even if the game was just a fiction in its own universe it can still hold weight but constantly demanding more of the same thing, the same killing games over and over is bad and that Danganronpa is something oversaturated that needs to end.

While I do enjoy the majority of the cast, along with most of the chapters and trials, it is one of the main ways that the game satirises the series. Something that I think ties into this idea, while also tying into the themes of Danganronpa as a piece of fiction, is how one note some of the characters feel. Tsumigi believes fictional characters to be unimportant nothingness so her character, as someone vapid and unimportant until the final few minutes, reflects this. Kaede after receiving her ultimate talent has about 70% of her character become piano references. This like of thinking could be applied to most characters, and while most of them (Miu, Maki and Kokichi being the ones that spoke to me the most) have pretty good arcs and inner conflicts, I think they are unequivocally ‘Danganronpa’ in a way to satirise the series’ reliance on tropes and to be an introspective mocking of its own writing.

The overall murders and mysteries in V3 I found pretty compelling but with the way they repeat aspects from previous games while also paralleling them, it again relates to that idea of unoriginality in an oversaturated series while also poking fun at that other games in the series for relying so heavy on a formulaic structure.

My biggest criticism with V3 is that I feel it doesn’t go far enough with its satirising of Danganronpa. I definitely think it parodies the series in a lot of ways but I’m still left feeling like it could’ve been more extreme with mocking the worst tropes of the series, this definitely would’ve helped the twist land with a much better execution too.

The one undeniably great thing about V3 is it’s soundtrack. Just like it’s predecessors, Masafumi Takada created a masterpiece of a video game ost with a variety of amazing tracks all perfectly suiting the scenes they accompany, it also flawlessly reuses tracks from previous games. The highlight of Danganronpa gameplay are the trials and they wouldn’t be nearly as amazing without the brilliant songs that are used throughout the sequences, the same could be said for how much songs like Beautiful Lie bring to the atmosphere while exploring the setting. Killing Game Completion Ceremony is the soundtracks greatest song, it carries a sense of somber melancholy littered with slight hope which perfectly captures the essence of the ending, it is the perfect musical accompaniment for the end of Danganronpa.

What V3 provides is the perfect ending for a series as flawed and ridiculed as Danganronpa, a stark and bold comment on over saturation of art and the perversion of a series’ original purpose, while also providing some good characters who tie back into the theme of fiction. It is certainly not perfect, and it isn’t the best execution of such a shocking twist but for what it says about itself, it’s franchise and fiction as a whole, it’s something I can’t help but love. It’s a simple game but even then I feel like I haven’t touched on many of the aspects I adore from it, simply a flawed but brilliant work of fiction.

A school made just for us.

This game left me feeling so conflicted after I first finished it years ago. When I was younger, I spent much of my time longing for some sort of fantastical adventure, an escape. I was lonely and sickly, so I threw myself into every book or video game wholeheartedly, eagerly imagining what it would be like to be in the protagonist's shoes, to live in a world different from my own. Daydreaming about something more exciting than the mundanities of my day to day life– To me, fiction was, in many ways, more real than the world around me. So, when I first reached the revelations at the end of this game, it felt like a mirror was being held up to me, it made me uncomfortable and hurt. Like a lot of people, I felt as if I was being attacked for daring to care. Well, I definitely don't feel that way anymore. My opinion on Danganronpa V3’s finale has (obviously, with my 5-star rating) done a complete 180. Upon replay, I’ve realized how well-structured and thoughtful this game is, and it’s become a personal favorite.

V3 is a gentle, poignant, and layered game, both in terms of its actual moment-to-moment story and what it is trying to say with its metanarrative. Firstly, this is the best Danganronpa game in terms of the actual meat of the product. The character writing is a notable step up from previous games, with every character being likable and fleshed out in their own right. Even larger-than-life characters such as Miu contain a depth that others of the same ilk from previous games, such as Hifumi, never had. V3’s main cast are easily some of the best characters of the franchise– Shuichi, Kaede, Maki, Kaito, and Kokichi are great, and the emotional core of the “training trio” is felt throughout the game, making the later chapters especially powerful. The cast deals with the loss of their friends in a deeper way as well, and their lingering grief makes V3 haunting even before the final truth comes out.

The class trials are great as well, with only Chapter 3’s being somewhat messy. They're all more complex than in previous games, and despite the longer length of the trials, they don’t drag to me. Each trial also ties in to the overarching themes of truth and lies, what is real and what is not. While it may seem obvious that a mystery game’s cases will deal with, well, the truth, I think V3 explores this in interesting ways. Of course, there's the obvious addition of lie bullets, allowing Shuichi to commit perjury when he needs to move the trial along, but it goes beyond that. Chapter 1 is a good example of this, with Kaede’s unreliable narration masking the fact that she had carried out the murder, with her true goal being to expose the mastermind. Oftentimes, the motives themselves tie directly into the theme of subjective truth. Kirumi is willing to sacrifice the few for the many, and to her, the truth is that this must be done to save her country, though she had been a loyal friend just days before. Gonta weighs the soul-crushing “truth” of the outside world with the already bleak environment his friends are in, and decides they’d be better off dead than pursuing the truth. On top of this, the mechanics of the trial are improved as well, with the minigames actually being consistently fun (a miracle). The new nonstop debates, Mind Mine, Psyche Taxi, and even Hangman’s Gambit are a vast improvement on previous games. Like, I love Hajime, but snowboarding in his mindscape is torture; meanwhile, Psyche Taxi is a blast.

As usual, Masafumi Takada does a phenomenal job with the soundtrack (I think V3 is his finest work with the series for sure). I really don’t think the game has a single bad track. Each song suits the atmosphere perfectly– “Nightmare in the Locker” and “Rise of the Ultimates” creates dread at eerie moments, “Heaven of Almost Hell” builds melancholy gorgeously, “Darkness Time” is the essence of night’s mystery. “Beautiful Lie” is a beautiful lie, with its nostalgic melody harkening back to school days that never were. It’s great.

It’s hard to talk about my favorite parts of V3 without discussing the ending and its implications. I used to think it came out of nowhere, but I can’t believe I ever used to think that because there’s literally heaps of foreshadowing towards it, and everything comes together wonderfully. Truth versus lies, reality versus fiction… The whole game, these concepts loom over the player. Kaede, knowing she is probably marching towards her execution, tells Shuichi to always pursue the truth. Kokichi, the embodiment of a lie, misleads the group incessantly. He wants to convince everyone, perhaps even himself, that he loves the killing game, but he wants to end it more than anyone. Kaito, trapped and gravely ill but wanting to make amends with his closest friend, believes Shuichi is capable of reaching something beyond the truth.

But what lies beyond the truth? For a while, Shuichi is convinced it is hope, a theme incredibly interwoven with the previous entries. However, what’s beyond the “truth” is something deeply horrifying. Fabricated lives. To be the victim of decisions made by the you that you no longer are. The you that, in your mind, you never were. Nothing about you is real, your existence is the ultimate lie. The person you viewed as a trusted friend now speaks to you coldly, regarding you as her creation. Narratively, I think this reveal is so chilling. A beautiful tragedy. The way it wraps up its exploration of truth and lies is incredibly touching. After all, if everything you know is a lie, isn’t that your truth? Yes, to the onlookers, your life may be fiction, but it is the truth to you. As Shuichi said, our pain is real. The group rejecting both hope and despair, refusing to participate in Tsumugi’s game, not giving the audience what they want, ending Danganronpa with their own hands… it’s insanely powerful. Going off script, defying the author one final time, is the ultimate liberation.

While I think V3 contains a lot of commentary on fan culture, I often see people claim that this game "hates" the previous entries and the series’ fans. No, I don't buy it. I think V3 fundamentally understands why fiction speaks to us, why we love it so much, why it's so powerful. Because of this, I think it cares deeply for the prior entries, which is why it needs to bring the series to an end. It's both a love letter to the series and a final goodbye– A way to end a series you put your heart into before it becomes meaningless muck, regurgitated over and over again like so many fictional endeavors eventually become (I mean, think of every TV show that drags itself out for years on end; you can feel the passion leaving as it drudges on). V3 doesn't want to suffer that fate.

I find it so fitting, then, that Shuichi tells Tsumugi once she’s lost that she never appreciated them or the power of fiction. Despite being the “author”, she had forgotten what makes fiction so capable of drawing in passion, so impactful. By ending it the way it does, it rejects "hope or despair" just as much as the characters themselves. It's choosing its own fate, ending on its own terms. So what if the characters and prior games were fictional? Fiction is beautiful. Fiction is compelling, thoughtful, capable of moving and inspiring, capable of changing your own perception of the world. And in its own way, fiction is truth. Does it matter whether Tsumugi was lying or telling the truth? The truth is up to you. It’s so heartbreaking to see, for example, Shuichi’s audition tape, but, well… so what? That Shuichi doesn’t define the Shuichi by the end of the game. Sometimes you must say goodbye, no matter how big or small: whether it be farewell to a fictional franchise that you love, farewell to the you you once were, farewell to everything you once knew as concrete truth. There’s beauty to be found even in the most twisted of scenarios– Maki, Shuichi, and Himiko preparing to step out of the dome, uncertain, but ready to mix their truth with the truth that lies beyond, the real and the fiction, is so perfect. I love this game so much. I don’t know what else to say. I could talk about it for hours, and there’s so much to read into and analyze. V3 is an unsolvable catbox of a mystery where truth and lies blend into one, and what truly matters is the emotion it brings forth. It’s, in of itself, another beautiful lie.

Getting this out of the way, my computer was fucking DYING while I was playing this. Dropping frames in cutscenes resulting in the audio finishing sometimes a full 30 seconds before the animation. I haven't researched it but I'm also gonna blame inputs taking forever to register as also my computer's fault. Same with arrow keys double pressing sometimes. Maybe some of those are present in the PC port, but I don't care enough to research that. Point is, I will look past all the trouble I had that could affect gameplay so I won't judge off of that. But, I will criticize the way controls are handled in this port. Why is controller input default on a PC game? Supposedly there was something in the launcher that should have prompted for me to fix this, but A) I didn't see anything and B) I shouldn't have to. A game on steam should be able to detect that there isn't a fucking controller connected. So I had to research what fucking button prompts corresponded to the PC in each mini game. Could I have fixed this? Probably. But again, I shouldn't have to.

Story wise, it's great. The main story overarching mystery I usually have a problem with felt much less present than in previous games until late game. The trials themselves were all good at least I'd say. I think the bait and switch with Kaede is really interesting, same as some things that happen in the final trial. I like how the story is presented overall, like in the final trial. I think they make some interesting and maybe even risky decisions that go well too. It technically deviated from problems I had with previous game's endings in certain ways that while I still didn't love, were definitely better. As someone who greatly dislikes 4th wall stories, this one was fine. I tried really hard to take it seriously but hearing "everybody loves Danganronpa" for a couple hours felt like I had a bag of sand hanging on my back. But I can look past it cause some ways they used that aspect were kinda cool and I really liked the character moments that took place within it.

Character wise, a mile better than DR2 and half a mile better than DR1. That may not seem like it's saying much, but there was only one character I'd call annoying and she died right before she got overbearing. And the two characters I felt really didn't add much for 80% of the game came in in the end and did some good stuff, so I guess that's cool. I like Shuichi a lot as an MC, I think he's handled and presented interestingly. Kaito and Maki are also great main characters. Their dynamics with each other and Shuichi were great. Other characters like Korekiyo, Tenko and Gonta were great too. Kokichi, that's an interesting one. I'd say I like him a lot more than Nagito, even when ignoring the voice actor and Twitter mutual biases I have against each character. I can't fully explain it right now, but idk. I think he's just handled a lot better and his involvement with the story felt more interesting than Nagito's.

Overall this was a great time and good note to end the series on. I can't say Te Amo Danganronpa or anything. But Danganronpa, you were kinda cool.