Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

Editor's Notes

Digital Vita version reviewed. This review limits spoilers to the Prologue section of the game; however, some plot points from preceding game, 'Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc' are touched on.

Introduction

Early in 2014, Vita fans were treated to the unusual game called 'Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havok.' 'Danganronpa' (check out that review here) took a healthy dose of text heavy visual novel elements, and a smattering of frantic gameplay to engage players in its bizarre plot. Spike Chunsoft's sequel 'Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair' hopes to draw fans of the original title in again, with a new setting and new characters to explore and learn about. This is a series that has taken its time in coming west, but not that's here, is it enough to promise a unique experience?

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

In 'Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair', you play as one Hajime Hinata, a boy that is excited to begin his life at the prestigious Hope's Peak Academy, a school where the Ultimates of various fields are gathered to become the future of the world. However, things immediately go astray as he blacks out and eventually makes his way to an unusual door. As it turns out, Hajime and fifteen other students have been taken to a remote tropical island by Usami, a rabbit-like creature that asserts itself as the students' teacher. USami explains that the students are on a field trip to foster trust and hope amongst one another… of course, once Monokuma appears, the tropical trip turns from one of hope to one of despair, where the students have to kill one another in order to escape their island prison and return home.

'Goodbye Despair' is split into three distinct sections that reoccur in an almost regular sequence. During the Daily Life phase, life on the island is more or less peaceful. During this time you'll be able to explore the islands that make up the students' temporary home freely, as well as spend your Free Time talking with the various other Ultimates on the island. Hanging out with other students will have you learn more about them, as well as obtain Hope Fragments that you can use to obtain skills, which are used in another portion of the game.

Free Time is probably one of the more interesting parts of 'Goodbye Despair', as you come to learn that many of the students on the island are deeper than they initially seem. While a cursory look makes it seem apparent that these characters are all examples of various stereotypical tropes, spending time with them tends to reveal quite the opposite, and it's rewarding on both a gameplay and plot level to spend the time to interact with them.

Eventually, Daily Life will give away to Deadly Life, once a student is unfortunately murdered. During Deadly Life, you have to investigate the crime scene and other areas of the island, trying to unravel the mystery and identify the murderer. These parts are relatively straightforward, as they only involve pointing out areas of interest and talking to the other students about the case at hand. The evidence you obtain will become Truth Bullets, the ammo needed to succeed at the final phase of each sequence of the game, the Class Trial.

In the Class Trial, you have to use the evidence/truth bullets you've gathered, the skills you've bought with Hope Fragments, and your head in order to find the killer. If you don't, everyone but the murderer will be punished (killed), and the killer alone will be able to graduate and leave the island. If the students successfully deduce the killer, only the killer will be punished, and the others can continue living their life on the island.

Class Trials are the most gameplay-packed sections of 'Goodbye Despair', as it mostly sheds its visual novel trappings for more action oriented sequences. While there is still plenty of text during the Trials, you also engage in a number of mini-games as Hajime works towards each murder's truth. For example, you can shoot through others arguments or agree to them with a well-aimed Truth Bullet, or line letters up to spell an important clue to the case. In a new mini-game called Logic Dive, you can even control Hajime in a psychedelic environment as he hurdles through questions to lead to a new line of reasoning.

For those that have already played 'Trigger Happy Havoc' (which is recommended for plot reasons), 'Goodbye Despair' will not bring too much new to the table in terms of gameplay mechanics. However, what was there was already is quite good, and it feels as though small tweaks have overall made the sequel a tighter package. It's a lot easier to move around the island in 'Goodbye Despair' than it was the school in the original title, and the narrative feels a bit more focused, trimming some of the excess that was prone to 'Trigger Happy Havoc.'