Alright, let’s get this over with so I don’t have to spend any more time on this than I already have. This game sucks, but let's take a look at why:
First, let’s take a look at that long list of positives -
• UI is genuinely cute and looks very nice on the PS Vita
• Touko and Komaru are two female protagonists that have some fun banter and cute moments
• The final boss is fun in that you have to use all the moves you’ve learned and put yourself to the test in a satisfying way
Now let’s have a gander at those negatives:
• The camera sucked and made some bosses incredibly difficult
• The game is not so much action-adventure as it is my absolute least favorite formula of just run from point A to point B to see more cutscenes
• Touko is way too overpowered, making the game mind-numbingly boring, but as a game made for fans of the series’ visual novels and not so much action, I guess I can understand the lack of difficulty
• I was excited for the music as I loved it in the original Danganronpa, only for it to feel like they reused the same 3 songs over and over again here
• Bosses loudly repeat the same 2 lines over and over again, to the point I had to mute my Vita giving me a disadvantage on hearing non-verbal noise cues
•Has this kids vs adults theme, but oddly continuously calls Komaru and Toko adults even though they’re both underage and wear school uniforms to boot! It could have been a cool dilemma of adults vs kids and the teenage protagonists have this dilemma of figuring out in the chaos where they fit when they can socially fit both (and have a cool ‘growing up is scary, but it’s something we all go through’ lesson like in Persona 2), but no, they just straight assume they’re both adults with no further explanation, I’m guessing so the panty shots are more accepted. (Blah, turns out my memory is worse than I thought. Thank you to HaloBlues for the correction!)
• There’s just an open pedophile in the game that leads the adult group with no repercussions, in fact our protagonists even compliment him on it, when one of the little girl’s reasoning for killing adults was being sexually assaulted by them creating the most fucked-up messaging in a game I’ve ever played
• The girl who was sexually assaulted in turn tries to assault the protagonist with a… groping machine. Whole thing is played off for laughs, with additional panty shots of the literal elementary school aged girl during it. Touko then makes mentions of the little girl “taking your virginity” throughout the rest of the game
• The whole game is just shocking to be shocking with little thought put into what makes something funny or interesting, such as having to save on a children’s training potty, listening to a kid ramble on about ripping out and eating adult guts, and having to watch the children french-kiss each other
• Touko continuously brings up to Komaru that she thinks she has a sexual relationship with her own brother, which Komaru just giggles and waves off
• You get to watch the same scene of Togami getting whipped like 7 times, which wasn't even funny the first time they showed it, but my God, they’re gonna keep showing you it until you think it’s funny!!
• The ending sequence on whether or not you should break the controller was complete ass as the characters repeat the same lines of dialogue over and over to you. I immediately broke the controller and saw that was the wrong answer, so the constant moral dilemma of if I should break it or not was instantly gone, and actually very annoying as the next 15 minutes had me continuously choose on breaking the controller or not (it was 8 times, I counted) when I already knew the “right answer” was to not break it
There’s so much more I could go into, but I’ve wasted enough energy on this game. Similar to past Danganronpa games, Ultra Despair Girls tries to handle morals and messages way too advanced for its own good, instead creating something incredibly offensive and downright awful to watch. After finishing the game, I plan on selling it, as I have no reason to ever want to play it again, and the person who gifted it to me is no longer in my life.
I recommend Persona 2: Eternal Punishment if you want a story about the difficulties of growing up, and I recommend the Resident Evil series if you like the idea of hiding from and shooting enemies that are chasing after you.
1/5
First, let’s take a look at that long list of positives -
• UI is genuinely cute and looks very nice on the PS Vita
• Touko and Komaru are two female protagonists that have some fun banter and cute moments
• The final boss is fun in that you have to use all the moves you’ve learned and put yourself to the test in a satisfying way
Now let’s have a gander at those negatives:
• The camera sucked and made some bosses incredibly difficult
• The game is not so much action-adventure as it is my absolute least favorite formula of just run from point A to point B to see more cutscenes
• Touko is way too overpowered, making the game mind-numbingly boring, but as a game made for fans of the series’ visual novels and not so much action, I guess I can understand the lack of difficulty
• I was excited for the music as I loved it in the original Danganronpa, only for it to feel like they reused the same 3 songs over and over again here
• Bosses loudly repeat the same 2 lines over and over again, to the point I had to mute my Vita giving me a disadvantage on hearing non-verbal noise cues
•
• There’s just an open pedophile in the game that leads the adult group with no repercussions, in fact our protagonists even compliment him on it, when one of the little girl’s reasoning for killing adults was being sexually assaulted by them creating the most fucked-up messaging in a game I’ve ever played
• The girl who was sexually assaulted in turn tries to assault the protagonist with a… groping machine. Whole thing is played off for laughs, with additional panty shots of the literal elementary school aged girl during it. Touko then makes mentions of the little girl “taking your virginity” throughout the rest of the game
• The whole game is just shocking to be shocking with little thought put into what makes something funny or interesting, such as having to save on a children’s training potty, listening to a kid ramble on about ripping out and eating adult guts, and having to watch the children french-kiss each other
• Touko continuously brings up to Komaru that she thinks she has a sexual relationship with her own brother, which Komaru just giggles and waves off
• You get to watch the same scene of Togami getting whipped like 7 times, which wasn't even funny the first time they showed it, but my God, they’re gonna keep showing you it until you think it’s funny!!
• The ending sequence on whether or not you should break the controller was complete ass as the characters repeat the same lines of dialogue over and over to you. I immediately broke the controller and saw that was the wrong answer, so the constant moral dilemma of if I should break it or not was instantly gone, and actually very annoying as the next 15 minutes had me continuously choose on breaking the controller or not (it was 8 times, I counted) when I already knew the “right answer” was to not break it
There’s so much more I could go into, but I’ve wasted enough energy on this game. Similar to past Danganronpa games, Ultra Despair Girls tries to handle morals and messages way too advanced for its own good, instead creating something incredibly offensive and downright awful to watch. After finishing the game, I plan on selling it, as I have no reason to ever want to play it again, and the person who gifted it to me is no longer in my life.
I recommend Persona 2: Eternal Punishment if you want a story about the difficulties of growing up, and I recommend the Resident Evil series if you like the idea of hiding from and shooting enemies that are chasing after you.
1/5
7 Comments
Good review!!! Sorry you had to play it
I do cautiously remember this game fondly, or at least remember enjoying it a good bit when I played it at release but its actually kind of crazy how all the gross shit I strongly remembered being in it weren't even the ones you brought up/posted about on twitter. I've had it in my mind to go and replay/reexperience ALL the DR content I consumed when I was unfortunately obsessed with it, and I don't wanna say I'm excited to replay this one but its probably the one I'm most curious about revisiting as an adult and not a DR obsessed middle schooler.
OOC, what difficulty did ya play on? I had played on the highest difficulty and don't remember it ever being too easy or hard, although I might've just also been a kid that sucked.
OOC, what difficulty did ya play on? I had played on the highest difficulty and don't remember it ever being too easy or hard, although I might've just also been a kid that sucked.
I used to be a HUGE danganronpa person its embarrassing don’t worry xD lemme know what you think on the games in your replay, that sounds fun! @silvernevermind I remember DR1 the most fondly, but I know most people like SDR2 the most. I played on normal mode, but found it felt like easy. Not the biggest complaint, but felt worth mentioning.
"Has this kids vs adults theme, but oddly continuously calls Komaru and Toko adults even though they’re both underage and wear school uniforms to boot! It could have been a cool dilemma of adults vs kids and the teenage protagonists have this dilemma of figuring out in the chaos where they fit when they can socially fit both (and have a cool ‘growing up is scary, but it’s something we all go through’ lesson like in Persona 2), but no, they just straight assume they’re both adults with no further explanation, I’m guessing so the panty shots are more accepted"
I'm not really enjoying this game so far (currently playing through it with my fiance at their request), but to be fair and with the benefit of it being fresh in my mind, this is addressed. There's a whole section of the game about the kids trying to determine if they should count as children or adults, and they're put into the 'adult' category by the kids when Komaru says "But you're just little kids" to them, which showed them a separation. I can't quite remember what the phrase one of the kids used was, something like Almost-Demon or Not-Quite-Demon, but they use it to refer to Komaru and Toko and say they're disappointed they chose to side with the adults because they thought them being that meant they might still be on the kids' side. Other adults through the game also constantly get scared that Komaru/Toko are on the kids' side and ask them if they're children or adults.
I'm not really enjoying this game so far (currently playing through it with my fiance at their request), but to be fair and with the benefit of it being fresh in my mind, this is addressed. There's a whole section of the game about the kids trying to determine if they should count as children or adults, and they're put into the 'adult' category by the kids when Komaru says "But you're just little kids" to them, which showed them a separation. I can't quite remember what the phrase one of the kids used was, something like Almost-Demon or Not-Quite-Demon, but they use it to refer to Komaru and Toko and say they're disappointed they chose to side with the adults because they thought them being that meant they might still be on the kids' side. Other adults through the game also constantly get scared that Komaru/Toko are on the kids' side and ask them if they're children or adults.
Thanks for the correction
01156
10 months ago