ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM 05-21-2021
Been sitting on this one for a bit, and it was always bound to be an interesting experience. If I hadn't been playing the whole series for the first time with my roommates, I'm not sure if I would've ever even gotten to playing this entry, but here we are.
That isn't to say I didn't end up liking the original Danganronpa in the end: Despite my feelings on it as a whole, it was still a series of interestingly written murder mysteries to unravel with fun characters. It feels almost difficult to dislike that inherently. Regardless, Trigger Happy Havoc did still make me feel plenty of sour feelings toward it. Be it a combination of the perverse edge to its writing, how insensitively it treated a lot of subjects it recklessly tackled (including just death in general), and a lot of minor annoyances gameplay-wise piling up. Yet the more I mull it over, after having thought about and rummaged on both games, I can't help but prefer that first game over Danganronpa 2, despite both games essentially sharing the same issues listed. Its as if playing second game and seeing all of my issues weren't just remaining, but even further emphasized, made me realize just how much there was I liked in the first game that's now nowhere to be seen. Again though, I'd still say I enjoyed the second entry on some level, because interestingly written murder mysteries with wacky characters are just hard not to enjoy, but...it began to feel misguided, in a sense. It was as if the goal with this sequel was to simply make MORE intricate mysteries with MORE wacky characters, without properly considering how that direction could hurt other aspects of the game and the experience as a whole.
What this new direction mainly results in is the loss of Trigger Happy Havocs more..."grounded" atmosphere. Sure, its characters were all still degrees of eccentric, yet it all felt somewhat rooted in reason: I could, both in the moment and retrospectively understand why a character was presented the way they were. Sakura, for instance, isn't just comically ripped for the sake of providing a comedic visual; she looks that way as part of her character, having felt the need to excessively train in order to prove to an old-fashioned family's values wrong. Or Celestia, who hated the reality she was born into that she became obsessed with changing it through any means necessary, resulting in her fabricating an eccentric persona for herself and becoming rich through gambling, resorting to any means needed to discard of her old self. You compare those kinds of established characters to someone like Hiyoko from Danganronpa 2, who's...a child who's crass and needlessly cruel to others, because that's unexpected and random. And while the second game certainly has its highs in the cast such as Ibuki, Fuyuhiko and Sonia, the overall theme carries through subtly even with them. For as annoying as a character like Hifumi may have been in the first game, and for how exaggerated his appearance is, he's althesame a very human character, someone who could very well exist in the real world - which was always part of Danganronpa's appeal to me. Doesn't help that over half of the sequel's cast wound up either being uninteresting, one-note or just annoying, with a lot of them seeming as if they were created just to drive home cool murder mystery ideas (Nekomaru, Peko, Mahiru). And sure, the murders they were made to fit into are fun to dissect, but as characters themselves, interacting?
"More human" is the best way I could describe the aspects where I prefer the first game in general. For as played out as the seven deadly sins are, the motives in Trigger Happy Havoc were all clear, understandable - again, human. One character wants money. Another is insecure and rash, acting recklessly in the moment. Just about all the murders in the second game either feel like "solutions" to issues that could've been solved without murder, or involve flat-out insane people (or both at once), neither of which end up feeling satisfying to solve and mostly just feel like a half-baked attempt at stringing a theme together with a weaker cast.
Naturally this extends to the overarching story itself. The supernatural elements in the story, which were my least favorite part of the first game's narrative as well, are cranked up to a higher degree in the sequel. Even then, executions and an AI aside, most things in the first game felt as if it "could happen". In the sequel, Komaeda alone is pretty much superhuman, effectively breaking the notion that the "Ultimates" are just experts in their field and not just borderline superpowers. The issue extends beyond just feeling less grounded: when you start introducing such loosely defined superhuman powers into the story's main cast, it feels like anything is possible for them. If Komaeda has the luck to have anything go his way, at all times, why would things at any point in the story go against him?
There's a lot of ambition in Danganronpa 2 to be sure: To make a bigger, grander and more wild game than before. You absolutely won't be bored playing it to be sure, helped along by the gameplay additions and tweaks from the first game. In terms of the trials, its a real mixed bag. Logic Dive is a fun addition, Hangman is better conceptually but levels are ruined by the terrible reticle speed, Panic Talk just flat out is worse, but Rebuttal Showdown is both pretty good and an inspired concept, UI issues aside. Overall my UI issues with the Nonstop Debates on the whole remain, I don't think being unable to see what Truth Bullets you have equipped without covering up the entire screen in real-time with the bullet menu is a fun "challenge" (especially now that your bullet count is doubled by default). Something that lays out the bullets horizontally at the bottom of the screen, akin to a news broadcast, would've let you still see your bullets without obscuring your vision. That or just, yknow, have the Pause menu's evidence list show which in the list are currently being used, instead of forcing you to cross reference two seperate menues of the same items? :/
I dunno. I have a lot of thoughts on both of these games but I think its pretty clear that their style, and the further direction of this sequel, are just not for me. I'm glad I've gotten to play them but I don't think dwelling on them further will do me much good. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is, just like its predecessor, a game about unravelling murder mysteries, and that in of itself is still fun. I just kind of wish they went about it differently this time.
[Playtime: ???]
[Keyword: Misguided]
Been sitting on this one for a bit, and it was always bound to be an interesting experience. If I hadn't been playing the whole series for the first time with my roommates, I'm not sure if I would've ever even gotten to playing this entry, but here we are.
That isn't to say I didn't end up liking the original Danganronpa in the end: Despite my feelings on it as a whole, it was still a series of interestingly written murder mysteries to unravel with fun characters. It feels almost difficult to dislike that inherently. Regardless, Trigger Happy Havoc did still make me feel plenty of sour feelings toward it. Be it a combination of the perverse edge to its writing, how insensitively it treated a lot of subjects it recklessly tackled (including just death in general), and a lot of minor annoyances gameplay-wise piling up. Yet the more I mull it over, after having thought about and rummaged on both games, I can't help but prefer that first game over Danganronpa 2, despite both games essentially sharing the same issues listed. Its as if playing second game and seeing all of my issues weren't just remaining, but even further emphasized, made me realize just how much there was I liked in the first game that's now nowhere to be seen. Again though, I'd still say I enjoyed the second entry on some level, because interestingly written murder mysteries with wacky characters are just hard not to enjoy, but...it began to feel misguided, in a sense. It was as if the goal with this sequel was to simply make MORE intricate mysteries with MORE wacky characters, without properly considering how that direction could hurt other aspects of the game and the experience as a whole.
What this new direction mainly results in is the loss of Trigger Happy Havocs more..."grounded" atmosphere. Sure, its characters were all still degrees of eccentric, yet it all felt somewhat rooted in reason: I could, both in the moment and retrospectively understand why a character was presented the way they were. Sakura, for instance, isn't just comically ripped for the sake of providing a comedic visual; she looks that way as part of her character, having felt the need to excessively train in order to prove to an old-fashioned family's values wrong. Or Celestia, who hated the reality she was born into that she became obsessed with changing it through any means necessary, resulting in her fabricating an eccentric persona for herself and becoming rich through gambling, resorting to any means needed to discard of her old self. You compare those kinds of established characters to someone like Hiyoko from Danganronpa 2, who's...a child who's crass and needlessly cruel to others, because that's unexpected and random. And while the second game certainly has its highs in the cast such as Ibuki, Fuyuhiko and Sonia, the overall theme carries through subtly even with them. For as annoying as a character like Hifumi may have been in the first game, and for how exaggerated his appearance is, he's althesame a very human character, someone who could very well exist in the real world - which was always part of Danganronpa's appeal to me. Doesn't help that over half of the sequel's cast wound up either being uninteresting, one-note or just annoying, with a lot of them seeming as if they were created just to drive home cool murder mystery ideas (Nekomaru, Peko, Mahiru). And sure, the murders they were made to fit into are fun to dissect, but as characters themselves, interacting?
"More human" is the best way I could describe the aspects where I prefer the first game in general. For as played out as the seven deadly sins are, the motives in Trigger Happy Havoc were all clear, understandable - again, human. One character wants money. Another is insecure and rash, acting recklessly in the moment. Just about all the murders in the second game either feel like "solutions" to issues that could've been solved without murder, or involve flat-out insane people (or both at once), neither of which end up feeling satisfying to solve and mostly just feel like a half-baked attempt at stringing a theme together with a weaker cast.
Naturally this extends to the overarching story itself. The supernatural elements in the story, which were my least favorite part of the first game's narrative as well, are cranked up to a higher degree in the sequel. Even then, executions and an AI aside, most things in the first game felt as if it "could happen". In the sequel, Komaeda alone is pretty much superhuman, effectively breaking the notion that the "Ultimates" are just experts in their field and not just borderline superpowers. The issue extends beyond just feeling less grounded: when you start introducing such loosely defined superhuman powers into the story's main cast, it feels like anything is possible for them. If Komaeda has the luck to have anything go his way, at all times, why would things at any point in the story go against him?
There's a lot of ambition in Danganronpa 2 to be sure: To make a bigger, grander and more wild game than before. You absolutely won't be bored playing it to be sure, helped along by the gameplay additions and tweaks from the first game. In terms of the trials, its a real mixed bag. Logic Dive is a fun addition, Hangman is better conceptually but levels are ruined by the terrible reticle speed, Panic Talk just flat out is worse, but Rebuttal Showdown is both pretty good and an inspired concept, UI issues aside. Overall my UI issues with the Nonstop Debates on the whole remain, I don't think being unable to see what Truth Bullets you have equipped without covering up the entire screen in real-time with the bullet menu is a fun "challenge" (especially now that your bullet count is doubled by default). Something that lays out the bullets horizontally at the bottom of the screen, akin to a news broadcast, would've let you still see your bullets without obscuring your vision. That or just, yknow, have the Pause menu's evidence list show which in the list are currently being used, instead of forcing you to cross reference two seperate menues of the same items? :/
I dunno. I have a lot of thoughts on both of these games but I think its pretty clear that their style, and the further direction of this sequel, are just not for me. I'm glad I've gotten to play them but I don't think dwelling on them further will do me much good. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is, just like its predecessor, a game about unravelling murder mysteries, and that in of itself is still fun. I just kind of wish they went about it differently this time.
[Playtime: ???]
[Keyword: Misguided]
LordDarias
11 months ago