Danganronpa 2 Review

Danganronpa 2 review:

 First, a little bit of history: Some time this year I discovered a game called Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc. Needless to say, I loved it, and it had me hooked completely. So, when I leaned there was a second game coming out, I was excited.

Danganronpa 2 is a weird sequel. Instead of continuing the first game and its characters, it instead opts to be about a totally different group of people. As a huge fan of the first game, I was a little disappointed. Little did I realize that this game is basically better in every way.

Before I begin heaping praise however, first come the complaints. For starters, I found myself totally unable to get used to the setting. Having a mystery in a creepy school like the first game made sense. This game is set on a tropical island. And while that helps the crimes to be varied, THE SETTING MAKES NO SENSE. To call these islands "strange" would be an understatement. The setting is so weird, I could never really get immersed for very long. If you are thinking that I am taking things out of proportions, I really wish I could show you exactly how weird the island gets, but alas, spoilers. My other complaint would be the exploration, once you have a far larger setting, you get: empty space! Yay? Yep, now to go between areas, you get to walk in a straight line straight of Mario, except with no enemy's or ANYTHING OF INTEREST. If you were like me and never really resorted to fast travel in the first game, you will here.

Moving on, my only other complaint would be the tie-in to the old game, as in, THERE HARDLY ISN'T ANY. Sorry for the mild spoilers, but for fans of the first game, this is not going to satisfy you very much.

Now for the good stuff. The game in every other aspect is, compared to the first a far better game. For those unaware, Danganronpa is mystery Visual novel, and the game revolves around looking for clues and talking to people. The most important part of these games is the characters and the mysteries, and they are far better here. The mysteries are also significantly harder than before. For these reasons I recommend playing the first game before this one, as honestly, your view of the first one will be far worsened by playing this game first. It's that much better. The game also plays a lot with you preconceptions if you have played the first game, and actually is in very few ways a retread in terms of plot.

The Trial aspect of the game is also greatly improved. Returning fans will love it, but newer fans will have to get used to it quite a bit, as it is way harder than the first game. If you really want to play this game first for whatever reason, you should set it to easy.

In conclusion, fans of mystery games should try out Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc, and then, if you liked that, go and play this game. I doubt you will be disappointed.