Danganronpa

Overview

The Danganronpa franchise, or known by its full name Danganronpa: Academy of Hope and Highschool of Despair, is a Japanese game developed by Spike in the style of a visual novel that combines crime scene investigation, courtroom hearings, and social interactions with a variety of high school students, causing it to be compared to both Phoenix Wright and Persona while being rather different from both. Even though the series has never been developed anywhere outside of Japan, it has grown a strong cult following of fans across the world thanks to a translated screenshot let's play of the game on the website "Something Awful."

Both Danganronpa 1 and 2 have had a similar theme and setting, the only real difference being locations, the first game being set in a school and the second being set on an island resort. Each game features a group of 16 high school students, each of which is meant to be the top of their field and have been rewarded with the title of "Super Highschool Level ____" with whatever their specialty is inserted into the blank. Each character represents an extreme caricature of whatever their title is meant to be. For example the "Super Highschool Level Fighter" is a woman almost seven feet tall and covered in muscles and scars, or the "Super Highschool Level Heir" is represented by a young pompous man who looks down on everyone else. Each of these students are held captive in these locations by the villainous Monobear and may not leave whatever location they're trapped in until they can commit a "perfect murder" meaning that they must kill another student at the school, and then be found to be not guilty at the school trial that their fellow students hold.