Danganronpa 2 is, at the same time, a very safe, and a very innovative sequel; it fixes some of the problems of the original, but sadly not all of them (some problems have actually been worsened).
For one, while the killing game is the same, it now takes place in an island; a very bold move that kinda falls flat, as having the characters not being constantly reminded that they’re in a killing game ruins the beautiful nightmarish atmosphere of the previous game.
One improvement however is the characters, some of them are just still anime stereotypes, but overall, the characters are more interesting, and feel like actual characters instead of just caricatures; and while the previous game felt like only some of the characters had hidden depths, now it feels like most of them do (some more than others obviously).
The biggest mistakes of this game however (carried over from the previous game, no less) are the gameplay and overall plot; the minigames feel like wasted potential at best and completely infuriating at worst; and the overall plot is a mixed bag: for one, the trials are much better, the mysteries are still rather easy to solve, but at least I didn’t completely predict them before the trials started; the same corny theme of “hope” is still present, and while mostly played straight, its at least somewhat played with and deconstructed thanks to a specific character, and the ending its still the worst part of the entire game, not getting into details because of spoilers, but to leave it vague, its convoluted, poorly foreshadowed, and solved with a Deus ex Machina, (at least it ends on a somewhat good note).
Overall, its hard to say which is the better game, since the positives and negatives of both games balance each other out, but if you liked the previous game (and are capable of accepting its flaws), you’ll probably enjoy this too.
VisualNovel More of the same wacky murderous antics.
Danganronpa 2 is, at the same time, a very safe, and a very innovative sequel; it fixes some of the problems of the original, but sadly not all of them (some problems have actually been worsened).
For one, while the killing game is the same, it now takes place in an island; a very bold move that kinda falls flat, as having the characters not being constantly reminded that they’re in a killing game ruins the beautiful nightmarish atmosphere of the previous game. One improvement however is the characters, some of them are just still anime stereotypes, but overall, the characters are more interesting, and feel like actual characters instead of just caricatures; and while the previous game felt like only some of the characters had hidden depths, now it feels like most of them do (some more than others obviously).
The biggest mistakes of this game however (carried over from the previous game, no less) are the gameplay and overall plot; the minigames feel like wasted potential at best and completely infuriating at worst; and the overall plot is a mixed bag: for one, the trials are much better, the mysteries are still rather easy to solve, but at least I didn’t completely predict them before the trials started; the same corny theme of “hope” is still present, and while mostly played straight, its at least somewhat played with and deconstructed thanks to a specific character, and the ending its still the worst part of the entire game, not getting into details because of spoilers, but to leave it vague, its convoluted, poorly foreshadowed, and solved with a Deus ex Machina, (at least it ends on a somewhat good note).
Overall, its hard to say which is the better game, since the positives and negatives of both games balance each other out, but if you liked the previous game (and are capable of accepting its flaws), you’ll probably enjoy this too.