Danganronpa 2 verdict! (SPOILERS!)

Geddit? Verdict? Like a trail?..

Anyway, I finished Danganronpa 2: Sons of Liberty yesterday and fancied seeing everyone's opinions on the trials and the game in general (judging by the other thread, at least some people are playing it!). Plus I just wanted to put my own opinion into words...

Where to start? The ending gets pretty trippy (not that the whole game isn't pretty off the wall). I was expecting something fairly left field (probably should've seen it coming earlier than when stuff started glitching) after the ending of the first game, but couldn't have guessed it would end with the whole virused VR exercise and a trail with a giant mobile phone... I did kinda feel it devalued what had come before a little, I realize they justified it like a matrix setup, where you die in the game, your body also dies. But even so, it felt like it had a little less impact this way? I dunno, difficult to explain.

Characters all seemed adequately oddball, no real complaints. the chef guy was a little much, but they killed him off early. I could've also done without the Mikan fan-service stuff, even if they did manage to justify it by putting it in the trials, and some of Akane's conversations were just weird... I did get some cheap laughs out of Akane's front tail obsession, and Nekomaru's constant shit talk though.

Trials were a lot longer and more complex this time around too, which was great, since they're easily my favorite part, the ability to agree with people was also a great addition. I'd be quite happy if they released more of these with just a setup/whodunnit/weird cast, rather than trying to tie more stuff into the overarching story. (Also, after playing through everything, I agree, the trial mini-games are still shit... The cutting thing wasn't so bad though).

Trial 1 was a great re-intro to everything.

I loved the crappy game within a game motive for trial 2. There was a weird logic jump in this one though I felt, it's the only thing that REALLY caught me out in the game, my brain just couldn't connect the swimsuit/gravel as a weapon, it just didn't make any sense to me... So I ended up burning a re-try here.

I wasn't totally sold on trial 3, having the game flip everyone's personalities was kind of a cool idea, but at the same time I felt a little cheated that a number of peoples motivations could change at the drop of a hat. It had me a little worried that they'd pull it again, and if they did, why should I bother trying to understand any of the characters if they could be totally different people in the next trial. If they'd done it on a smaller scale perhaps? I really liked how they handled it in the first game with Toko.

4 was a great throwback to the sealed off rooms in the 1st game. And the escape room just made me remember how much I want another Zero Escape game...

5 was a lot of fun to figure out too.

Unsure if you can really call 6 a trial? It felt like more of a test really, which it was I guess, by that point it was all a bit weird. They were just spoon feeding me evidence, which I had no idea how to fit together since the world was crashing down by that point, whereas with the murders I felt like I could speculate a bit more. Still, it was fun to see some of the characters from the first game thrown back in.

In all, I liked it a lot. Unsure if there are plans for another? There was some talk about a game in the same universe, but it didn't look to be the same trial based antics I enjoy so much.

I'll add stuff if I think of anything else. Now to try the mini-games!

Edit: I can't spell...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got caught up in that. I think the only reason I was able to eventually work that out is because I remember seeing that same type of murder weapon setup from an old episode of Detective Conan.

For as goofy as the ending was in 2, it felt more earned than the ending in 1.

The cast wasn't as endearing to me as the one in the first game, but overall, I liked it better.

For as much as the game spells everything out, I was kind of expecting them to spell out the significance of the motivations in trials 2 and 3 in relation to the larger plot. But I was kind of relieved that they didn't. It was fun to puzzle out later. Especially for trial 2 when you realize that when his sister was murdered, Fuyuhiko probably didn't care at all.

Case 5 really blew me away. Favorite in the series.

Was so great to see a few faces from the first game back in chapter 6.

I liked the way they changed up the twist for the second game. In Danganronpa 1 the characters were all kind of jerks, killing people for their own selfish reasons. The twist being they were all friends and were tricked into being terrible people. While in DR2 I felt most of the killers were portrayed as more sympathetic with the twist being they were tricked into forgetting what terrible people they were.

I agree, but remember that in 2, the killers are perfectly willing to let everyone else die by not just admitting to their crime right away. So they aren't entirely sympathetic, save maybe for in case 5.

@hollitz said:

Yeah, I was a little confused for what they were going for in Gundam's case too. Hajime kept going on about how he sacrificed himself so they didn't starve to death, but if he was going for that, why didn't he straight up admit it? (Suppose it wouldn't be much of a game if he did...).

The other thing that kinda bugged me was the rules state a trial is held after the body announcement stuff. In the 3rd case where Hajime discovers the bodies alone, could he not just tell everyone to stay the hell away, so if no one else sees the bodies, there's no trial, since there's no announcement? I dunno, again, maybe I'm over thinking it...

Don't you remember Gundham's entire speech before his execution? His conviction was to not give up on living. If he were to out himself as the murderer, that would be a contradiction to his values.

I'm not sure why he would want to avoid a trial like that. It sucks, but it's probably worth doing more than there possibly being a murderer among them.

@fluxwavez said:

Sorry, explained it poorly, I totally get why Gundham didn't out himself, was just irked by the way Hajime interpreted it, since I'm playing from his point of view. (I could be remembering it wrongly though!)

Yeah, Hajime wanted to make it this altruistic thing, but it wasn't. However, Gundham was going to die either way--either by starving or by being found out. The path he chose was kind of a win-win because if he'd gotten away with it, he wins, and if he doesn't he saves everyone. His choice of victim is pretty interesting too. I wonder if perhaps he didn't see Mechamaru as a perversion of life--considering his status as the ultimate breeder. Interesting stuff to think about.

It's also interesting to think about what this game has to say about redemption. All of the characters--free of Junko and without any memory of her--mostly get along just fine. Add her/Monokuma into the mix and some revert, but some stay steadfast. Add their memories into the mix and they still stand resolute against her.

Kind of makes you wonder if it wasn't their environment that made them turn to Junko in the first place.

All I really want to say is that holy shit, Nagito was a great character. I thought the cast was much weaker than the one in Dsnganronpa 1, but he's one of my favorites in the series now.

I just beat the game today, and I liked the ending a lot more this time around. I didn't really care for the whole 'we're in a computer simualation twist', but figuring out what actually happened to you and who you all are, and realizing that by ending the simulation, you'd all essentially be killing yourselves was a great dilemma for the main characters to face this time around. I loved the appearance of the main characters from the first game at the last trial, it was nice to see them again - though I wish the other three survivors of the first game also appeared. Like the first game though, I really wish there was more of an epilogue, though at least this time around we do learn about what is going to happen to everyone, as opposed to the much more ambiguous ending of the first game.

Chiaki's death was also the biggest bummer ever. When I realized that she was the 'traitor' among the group, I just sat there feeling so fucking down. She was by far the best character, and her death definitely hit me the hardest. Speaking of characters, I gotta say that never before have I wanted to reach into a game to strangle a character so badly - I both hated and loved Nagito, he was such an interesting character, especially when you switched perspectives in the fourth case, that was really unexpected, but a nice change of pace.

Overall, it was a fun game.