Danganronpa

### Platform

PlayStation Portable, Android, iOS, PlayStation Vita, Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4

### Genre

Adventure, visual novel, shooter, murder mystery

***Danganronpa*** (Japanese: ダンガンロンパ) is a video game franchise created and developed by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike) for the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android and home computers. The series consists of three main titles, *Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc*, *Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair*, *Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony*, and a third person shooter spin-off, *Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls*. Multiple smartphone titles.

## Premise

The series revolves around the elite high school, Hope's Peak Academy (希望ヶ峰学園, *Kibōgamine Gakuen*, lit. Kibogamine Academy), which, every year, selects "Ultimate" students (超高校級, *chō-kōkō-kyū*, lit. Super High School Level) talented high school students who are in the top of their field, along with one "Ultimate Lucky Student" who is chosen by lottery.

In *Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc*, Makoto Naegi, an average student selected to join Hope's Peak Academy, arrives at the school only to lose consciousness and later find himself trapped inside the school, along with fourteen other students. There, a sadistic remote-controlled bear by the name of Monokuma announces that the students will be forced to live in the school forever, offering only one way to graduate: murder another student and get away with it. When a crime scene is discovered, a "class trial" (学級裁判, *gakkyū saiban*) is held, in which the remaining students must discuss amongst themselves who the murderer is. If they can successfully figure out who murdered the victim, the culprit alone will be executed. However, if they guess incorrectly, the culprit will be able to leave the school and everyone else will be executed.

The sequel, *Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair*, has a similar premise, this time taking place on a tropical island known as Jabberwock (ジャバウォック島, *Jabawokku-tō*). Hajime Hinata, a student who has no memory of his Ultimate talent, along with fifteen other students, are taken there by a rabbit named Usami, who states it to be a field trip to help the classmates make friends with each other. However, Monokuma interferes yet again, turning it into yet another killing game.

*Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls*, which takes place between the events of the first two games, follows Makoto's younger sister, Komaru Naegi, accompanied by Toko Fukawa, as both of them trek through a city ruled by Monokuma's influence, fighting against a group of murderous children calling themselves the Warriors of Hope.

The anime series, *Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School*, serves as both a prologue and an epilogue to the Hope's Peak Academy storyline featured in the above games. The series is split into two arcs: *Despair Side*, which is a prequel to Trigger Happy Havoc, and *Future Side*, which is a sequel to Goodbye Despair. In *Despair Side*, Hope's Peak alumna Chisa Yukizome accepts a position as a homeroom teacher at her alma mater in order to keep an eye on suspicious activities undertaken by the school. In *Future Side*, Makoto, along with survivors of the first killing game and members of the Future Foundation, are forced into another killing game against each other.

*Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony* features a new storyline and features two protagonists, Kaede Akamatsu and Shuichi Saihara. They become trapped in the "Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles" and forced to participate in a killing game by Monokuma and his "Monokubs". This sequel is only loosely related to the Hope's Peak Academy storyline, as it happens in the future.

## Gameplay

Gameplay in the main *Danganronpa* games is split into three main sections: Daily Life, Deadly Life, and Class Trial. Daily follows a standard visual novel style as players explore the school grounds, converse with characters and move the story forward. During designated 'Free Time' sections, players can choose to interact with a character of their choice, learning more about them and earning new skills that can help them in the Class Trial. Deadly life is the post-murder investigation part of the story, in which you have to search around certain rooms and gather clues for the Class Trial. The Class Trial is the main gameplay mode of the series, in which students discuss amongst themselves who the culprit is. This involves various different types of mini-games, the most common of which is the Nonstop Debate. Here, characters will automatically discuss the case, and it is up to the player to spot contradictions in their statements and shoot them using "Truth Bullets" containing the corresponding evidence. Other gameplay types include shooting letters to spell out a clue, using rhythmic button presses to argue against a specific character, and constructing a comic strip depicting the events of a murder.