Very conflicted on certain aspects on this game, I overall enjoy the game, just I think it has some of Kodaka's best and worst aspects on display.
This will be light on spoilers as possible but still, warning In case you care for plot points and characters being named.
To start with positives:
I really like the overarching mystery of the game, the "Secret of Kanai Ward" is another grand twist he loves doing with any game he makes, and I think aside from V3, this is the most it's ever landed well for me.
The major antagonist of this game is my favourite he's written, Kodaka has perfected a certain genre of character, and this was another great execution.
The supporting cast is generally quite fun, a lot of the main detective group grew on me throughout the game and I am looking forward to most of their DLC episodes to spend more time with them. Viva and Hallara are particularly my standouts.
Cases 2 and 4 are particularly strongly written murder mystery cases, how their crimes was thought out and executed was really impressive thought out.
Yuma and Shinigami are a fun duo to follow, I like their chemistry and how they interact through most the game.
The art direction and world design is really inspired, the neo-noir aesthetics are wonderfully executed. Rui Komatsuzaki did really great with their signature style of art and how its adapted to 3D is generally quite good.
The great soundtrack by Masafumi Takada. The music in this game goes for a different vibe from Danganronpa and it's full of bangers.
This game has a lot of neat references to other murder mysteries and feels like a love letter to shin honkaku murder mystery, some are more subtle than others but I can tell this was a product of love for the genre.
The English voice acting is consistently excellent, I don't have any performance that never feels like they're not trying.
For my negatives:
The mystery labyrinth feels fundamentally flawed from a narrative and gameplay standpoint. A lot of ideas and mechanics get added to be dropped or never mentioned again, the most annoying being found in the prologue, but that'd be delving into spoilers for that case. The rules to the labyrinth aren't very consistent and feels "Random for the sake of it".
A lot of gameplay segments aren't as fun as most of the mini games from Danganronpa. The most fun is the Argument Death battle and those are just Nonstop Debates with a lot less going on mechanically and logically. This game felt generally easier than every Danganronpa game in terms of mystery solving and playing. Failing never feels like it's a actual tangible possibility. Also for the love of god Kodaka please let go of "Hang Man Gambit" brother that just isn't ever going to be fun.
The side stories are mostly bad, when I saw they had a different writer for them, it made a lot of sense. They are really shallow at the best of times and actively irritating at worst. Ideas will just be introduced to never be brought up again and it feels like "We have Yakuza Substories at home". There are 3 I do enjoy but that’s 1/4 of them being good.
Case 3 is a low point in terms of the game because it feels like half assed filler, nothing introduced in the case ever really becomes important and the mystery itself falls apart as soon as one detail is introduced. It's the only case I'd consider "bad".
I hate Desuko, Desuko is the worst genre of guy Kodaka keeps insisting on writing. The creepy, pervy, wants to shag all women type who is just gross. It doesn't help he is not just implied to be, but is just a pedo. Please stop writing this kind of character Kodaka.
This game has technical errors constantly, thankfully nothing game breaking, but for a game designed for only one console it doesn't feel optimised for it. Pop in is a constant issue with the environment, audio has weird leaps in being louder than was probably intended, anytime the camera would switch perspective it would cut everything to black for a brief moment. It's nothing that is detrimental but can feel really cheap.
This is a good game, I enjoy it for what It is, but it's not close to the best Kodaka can do as a writer. DR2 and V3 are still much better experiences in my opinion, but I hope he sticks with this world and characters. He has something special and I pray he does more with it.
This will be light on spoilers as possible but still, warning In case you care for plot points and characters being named.
To start with positives:
I really like the overarching mystery of the game, the "Secret of Kanai Ward" is another grand twist he loves doing with any game he makes, and I think aside from V3, this is the most it's ever landed well for me.
The major antagonist of this game is my favourite he's written, Kodaka has perfected a certain genre of character, and this was another great execution.
The supporting cast is generally quite fun, a lot of the main detective group grew on me throughout the game and I am looking forward to most of their DLC episodes to spend more time with them. Viva and Hallara are particularly my standouts.
Cases 2 and 4 are particularly strongly written murder mystery cases, how their crimes was thought out and executed was really impressive thought out.
Yuma and Shinigami are a fun duo to follow, I like their chemistry and how they interact through most the game.
The art direction and world design is really inspired, the neo-noir aesthetics are wonderfully executed. Rui Komatsuzaki did really great with their signature style of art and how its adapted to 3D is generally quite good.
The great soundtrack by Masafumi Takada. The music in this game goes for a different vibe from Danganronpa and it's full of bangers.
This game has a lot of neat references to other murder mysteries and feels like a love letter to shin honkaku murder mystery, some are more subtle than others but I can tell this was a product of love for the genre.
The English voice acting is consistently excellent, I don't have any performance that never feels like they're not trying.
For my negatives:
The mystery labyrinth feels fundamentally flawed from a narrative and gameplay standpoint. A lot of ideas and mechanics get added to be dropped or never mentioned again, the most annoying being found in the prologue, but that'd be delving into spoilers for that case. The rules to the labyrinth aren't very consistent and feels "Random for the sake of it".
A lot of gameplay segments aren't as fun as most of the mini games from Danganronpa. The most fun is the Argument Death battle and those are just Nonstop Debates with a lot less going on mechanically and logically. This game felt generally easier than every Danganronpa game in terms of mystery solving and playing. Failing never feels like it's a actual tangible possibility. Also for the love of god Kodaka please let go of "Hang Man Gambit" brother that just isn't ever going to be fun.
The side stories are mostly bad, when I saw they had a different writer for them, it made a lot of sense. They are really shallow at the best of times and actively irritating at worst. Ideas will just be introduced to never be brought up again and it feels like "We have Yakuza Substories at home". There are 3 I do enjoy but that’s 1/4 of them being good.
Case 3 is a low point in terms of the game because it feels like half assed filler, nothing introduced in the case ever really becomes important and the mystery itself falls apart as soon as one detail is introduced. It's the only case I'd consider "bad".
I hate Desuko, Desuko is the worst genre of guy Kodaka keeps insisting on writing. The creepy, pervy, wants to shag all women type who is just gross. It doesn't help he is not just implied to be, but is just a pedo. Please stop writing this kind of character Kodaka.
This game has technical errors constantly, thankfully nothing game breaking, but for a game designed for only one console it doesn't feel optimised for it. Pop in is a constant issue with the environment, audio has weird leaps in being louder than was probably intended, anytime the camera would switch perspective it would cut everything to black for a brief moment. It's nothing that is detrimental but can feel really cheap.
This is a good game, I enjoy it for what It is, but it's not close to the best Kodaka can do as a writer. DR2 and V3 are still much better experiences in my opinion, but I hope he sticks with this world and characters. He has something special and I pray he does more with it.