VisualNovel Danganronpa finally grew the beard
I don't care what anyone says, this is for me, the best game in the franchise.
It fixes almost all of the problems I've had with this franchise since the beginning, all of the characters feel fleshed out (at least for the short time they're alive), the corny theme of hope is gone, replaced with the much more interesting theme of lies and metafiction, and the minigames are actually not terrible for once.
The biggest problem of this game is that it suffers from the lack of new ideas, there are a lot of moments that are very similar to previous installments, so if you just finished Danganronpa 2, wait some time before playing this or you might feel franchise fatigue.
And about the ending, while it still suffers from the same mistakes from the previous games (being unnecessarily long and Anvilicious), It's still a lot better because the message is much more deep than "Hope good". I can understand why some people hate it, but at least hate it for the right reasons (the game isn't criticizing you for enjoining the franchise); it could also be said that this ending completely goes against the themes of the franchise, but since I HATE the corny themes of hope vs despair, for me this is actually a good thing.
So, well done Kodaka, you finally made a Danganronpa game that has more positives than negatives.
VisualNovel A (Mostly)Positive and Spoiler-Free Review
There's quite a bit of controversy over New Danganronpa V3 for various reasons, particularly the ending. I can understand and even agree with some of those complaints, but in the end, I enjoyed the game.
The story, despite having a set of 16 talented students and Monokuma, doesn't take place in Hope's Peak or any related location. Instead, it's in a new setting with a similar name, and while there are connections to the previous games, they can't be fully explained in a brief or spoiler-free manner. Still, the mainstays of the series- students working together to find a way to escape where they're trapped, and solve the mystery when one of their own is murdered.
The characters are a mixed lot, as always. Almost inevitably, some will get on your nerves at times, particularly those with the more annoying running gags, and you'll probably end up hating at least a few for one reason or another. That said, they do tend to have a surprising amount of depth if you do their Free Time Events, thereby getting to know them, so you should find a few that are likable and sympathetic.
The class trials are the best part of the game, and contain several notable improvements. While Hangman's Gambit can be a bit tedious, at least you don't have to worry about taking damage while looking for the letters you need. Debate Scrum is quite entertaining, since it requires quick thinking to counter arguments as they come. The ability to lie is also a welcome improvement, as not only does it often serve a useful purpose, you can also use lies instead of truth bullets if you think outside the box at certain points, thereby giving you alternative solutions to problems.
Of course, I have two major complaints about the game. The first is the first chapter's culprit, which, while surprising, feels like they were trying too hard to outdo previous twists, and is ultimately detrimental to the story. The second is the ending. I won't go so far as to call it insulting, but unlike the other games' endings, it doesn't do the job of answering all the questions that were raised throughout the game very well. Explaining my opinions on these points in the review would take up too much space(even without a word count limit) and involve spoilers, but I can elaborate in the comments section if necessary.
Those flaws aren't necessarily deal-breakers, though, but fans should be willing to approach them with an open mind- I might not like them, but I can accept them. If you can do that and enjoyed the previous games, I would recommend that you also play V3.
VisualNovel Pretty darn good
Compared to the other games in the series, Danganronpa V3 easily has the best presentation and gameplay in the series - the introduction of Lie Bullets was cool, mid-trial minigames like Rebuttal Showdown were improved and new ones like the Scrum Debate and Psyche Taxi were introduced. The difficulty's at a good point as well - harder than the first game, easier than the second. It strikes a nice balance between them. That's all good.
But it also has one of the weaker casts. Compared to DR 2, which I think has the most well-rounded cast in the series, this one wasn't bad, but I couldn't latch onto them as hard as I could in the second game. That's not to say I didn't like them, far from it - Kaito is great, and I like pretty much everyone else outside of a couple outliers. But I ultimately never ended up caring about these folks in quite the same way that I did the characters from the second game. I'll say Shuichi is quite good as well, though, his development is good and believable even if it's been done before. This is also completely ignoring the Monokubs and that's on purpose, I didn't necessarily hate them but they ultimately don't add much of anything to the plot and I wouldn't mind if they weren't in it. The ultimate main villain also didn't end up being particularly interesting, or at least not as bombastically entertaining as DR 1's Junko.
The infamous final plot twist is something that pissed me off when I first read it, but I think that's mostly because I was overthinking it at the time. Once I had finished the final trial and had time to properly go back over everything in my head, I decided it was pretty good, and the idea of your characters having to come to terms with the fact that they'd been completely fabricated and nothing about them was real was super interesting, as was the way that you had to stop participating in the trial minigames by the end. Again, I don't think the game is as good as DR 2 in terms of story, but it's far from bad (and the writing never stoops to the level of DR 2's chapter 3).
The side modes are good too, although they're obviously not the main focus. I personally didn't mind the resource-gathering modes that the first two games had, but doing away with that in favor of focusing entirely on the character interaction was probably a good move. The Ultimate Talent Development Plan is fun as well, moreso to see the characters interact than anything else, and the Despair Dungeon... well, I haven't gotten through more than a few floors of it just yet, but I like dungeon-crawling RP Gs in general, so I'll probably end up enjoying this too.
Overall, the best parts of V3 are the gameplay and presentation. Because of the side modes, there's more to do in this game than any of the others, so if that's your cup of tea, go for it. But compared to the last few games, the story and characters are also weaker, and ultimately, that is one of the main reasons people play Danganronpa in the first place.
The game definitely has its merits, however, and if you liked the first two games, I'd recommend this one as well.