Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
Overview -
Last year, visual novel fans and Vita owners got a double dose of the awesome series, 'Danganronpa.' They were well received, with many fans of the genre greatly enjoying the various twists and turns the story takes, while genre newcomers were thankful for gameplay elements that made the 'Danganronpa' games more than simply clicking through text.
This year, we're treated to another 'Danganronpa' title, but this one takes a different route gameplay wise than the previous two. Being a third person shooter that takes place between the first and second games, 'Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls' might be a departure in gameplay, but it's the closest that players have to another installment in the dark series.
Video Review
Although 'Ultra Despair Girls' doesn't exactly follow the mainline Danganronpa titles with its cardboard cutout art style, the game looks quite good in its own right. This title isn't afraid to change styles on the fly, using 3D most of the time (and during some cutscenes), 2D portraits during most cutscenes, and occasionally using animated scenes. Almost all of it looks quite good on the Vita, with the exception of the mouths of the 3D models during close-ups.
The landscape itself looks great too, with outlandish set pieces that really accentuate how absurd the entire game really is. Bright colors litter the landscape, as even the greyest of areas are covered with brightly colored bodies and rivers of hot pink blood. It's macabre in the oddest sense, with the visuals taking away much of the edge of the utter carnage happening around Towa City.
Audio Review
The voice acting for 'Ultra Despair Girls' is top-notch, and keeps up the series' pedigree of overall great voice acting. The leads, Komaru and Toko, really shine here, and the Lil' Ultimates also were cast really well for their roles. I still believe Byakuya's voice is lacking, but at this point his voice is a staple within all the 'Danganronpa' games, so it's likely that a new voice actor is going to come in. Also, it is worth noting that while only English voice options are available from the game initially, a free DLC pack can be downloaded to obtain Japanese voice tracks. I personally was unable to test the Japanese voices for this review.
The music is also quite good. Most of the tracks actually remix the main theme for 'Ultra Despair Girls', or even reuse tracks from the previous games. Either way is welcome. I will note, however, that during my playthrough I ran across a few odd audio glitches—a couple of times during battle the background music would cut out, and one particular time a siren from a Monokuma continued to go off after I had killed him, and wouldn't stop until I moved into a new area. None of these glitches are game-breaking in the least, but they can be distracting.
Final Thoughts
Following the pedigree of the first two titles, 'Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls' could be seen as a bit disappointing. It's markedly shorter than the mainline titles, and the story it tells, while good, is simply not as great as the first two 'Danganronpa' titles. While it's not the Game of the Year material of its series' herald, there is plenty to be enjoyed in 'Ultra Despair Girls' to be worth a purchase for any fan of the series.
