Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

okay super weird game with kotoko. very gross. quite a bit of unneeded fanservice. but whats new with danganronpa? it's a fun game overall. very different from the rest of the danganronpa games. minus the weird moments, really fun. i recommend playing at least once, especially because it's important to the lore. but lore you can easily look up so :shrug:. play at your own risk

chapter 3 making me reconsider this game lowk

bery goood..
monokuma best main character

Its quite good, albeit do not go into it expecting the normal Danganronpa experience

The artstyle gives me goosebumps each time I play this game. It is still a breath of air to play a dangaronpa game in a rpg style with a open world and some bosses (without the trials). Also, Komaru best girl. That's all bye.

yuri will rule the world

not worth your time

Ball Monokuma is peak but actually what the hell was that bdsm tickle torture mini-game in chapter 3

Whenever Byakuya and Nagito come on screen, so do I.

this game ACTUALLY sucks

Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Mh-mm-mh, Mh-mm-mh, Mh-mm-mh
Mh-mm-mh, Mh-mm-mh, Mh-mm-mh, mm-mh
Hey, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh
Ooh, ooh, baby

Well that was wild.

Pros:

- Great Characters
- Crazy story
- Great Music
- Builds a bigger picture of the Danganronpa universe

Cons:

- Chapter 3 Discusses CSA (I can't say what that is here) and it is not done in a sensitive way, very gross, very disturbing, please take this into account before playing
- Sexualises minors a lot and it's so unnecessary
- Gameplay kinda not great

My rating (7.5/10)

If your a Danganronpa fan it's worth playing imo, despite its obvious flaws, but definitely not on the level of the Danganronpa visual novels.

boring + women bad

⠀

good

So... Ultra Despair girls seems to get a lot of shit from people I have noticed. Despite that, the steam reviews are mostly positive. Personally, I enjoyed it. After coming from Trigger Happy Havoc, this was the next game I played. I have to say, it was a fun ride and just added more depth to the series' world building.

The TPS gameplay is fun but it's a little janky at times. some people have reported the aiming being a little slow.. I thought it was passable...then again, I have a gaming mouse with a DPI button to raise the movement speed making it a bit easier. Honestly, I found the camera following Komaru way more awkward. Something about it just feels....off.... I can't place my finger on it.

It definitely feels like some aspect of the game were rushed. I will admit, the Easy mode in the game is WAAAY too easy. almost every boss can be beaten by turning into Genocide Jack on Easy. I haven't experimented much with the higher difficulties but I would imagine it's obviously much harder to get away with this since the batteries for Jack recharge much slower on higher difficulties.

Speaking of Jack, in one of my playthroughs, I did encounter a gamebreaking softlock while escorting Nagisa to the secret exit from town. There is a section where a bunch of monokuma ambush you and come out busses. the area has lots of ball monokuma and shield monokuma. It's possible for the waves of these Monokuma to get stuck on an infinite loop. Doesn't happen a whole lot thankfully, but worth noting. Just reload from your last check point and try again.

As for the story itself... I have to say, compared to THH which is pretty dark on its own, some of the dark side of this story is...well...pretty messed up by comparison. The Trauma the kids (whom are the main villains) all went through has some pretty fucked up circumstances. Particularly Masaru Daimon who has child abuse trauma from a drunk father and Kotoko Utsugi who has literal trauma of being raped by network executives and directories due to her mother whoring her and herself out to them. I mean... it's some pretty dark shit. *spoiler*Monaca did get abused by her brother and father but she faked being wheel chair bound but Monaca is the main villain and she's actually pretty batshit insane, not even caring what happens to the other kids who are helping her with her plans and only cares about becoming Junko's successor.*spoiler* It also goes a bit deeper into some of the events with Junko before the Tragedy but only as far as these five kids go.

Even if it's just a standard Third person shooter game... there are some mild horror elements. Mostly, it's atmospheric.... Except for Junk Monokuma.... KILL IT! KILL IT! THAT THING IS FUCKING NIGHTMARE FUEL! WTF WERE YOU THINKING SPIKE CHUNSOFT? You see this thing, and it will truly make you un easy. I am not joking. Junk Monokuma is by far one of the creepiest enemies in the game. Not only that, it's also absurdly durable and can survive being shot SEVERAL times, even in its weak spot!

Due to the 30 dollar price tag, which Spike Chunsoft refuses to lower for whatever reason, I can't recommend getting this game at full price. Unfortunately, other than the PS Vita, this game has yet to be released on other platforms. Hell, even the switch compilation, Danganronpa Decadance omits this title despite being a 10th anniversary release. Despite this, it has Komaru with her hacking gun on the US cover. (since it's her official art) The only reason she is on there is because of Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp, which is also in said compiliation.

If you plan on getting this game, wait for it to go on sale for 20 bucks or less. Its price is also reduced in the bundles above if you can't wait for a sale for whatever reason.

Before I start this review about the "Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls" we need to understand beforehand a few things about this title. I must clarify that this specific title it's a "Spin-Of", the events happening in this game do not take place in the original universe of the first two Danganronpa titles, so to speak. Therefore, you don't need to play this game to follow the main story. You could play "Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc" then move to "Danganronpa 2 Goodbye Despair" and, finally, play "Danganronpa V3 Killing Harmony". (Of course you should watch the anime between those games to understand in depth more details of the story).
Quick summary about what I just said: You can choose not to play this game of the Danganronpa series. You won't miss anything since this is a Spin-Of.

Now that I've already staten that, we could move to the review itself about this title. This is the first game of the series that introduces a 3D style for the gameplay and the cinematics. There's an 2D anime style being introduced for the first time as well, altough that is just for a few cinematics. Just for set an example, it's the same mix of animation styles that we can see in the game "Catherine Classic", the one made and released by Sega in 2012.
The events of this game take place in "Towa City". A little city in Japan, where a massive riot took place. This riot was guided by a group of children who hold a grudge against adults and seek for revenge no matter what it takes. The goal behind those riots and the hunting of the adults, is the creation of a "paradise" without any "demons", that's how the children refers to the adults.
We'll play as Komaru Naegi (Makoto's sister). With the help of Toko (The same character from the first game) we'll have to stop those children from achieving that goal. Pretty simple plot, to be honest.

The weakest point of this title, at least for me, is the plot and the main story. It feels like an excuse for just adding another game in the Danganronpa franchise. Don't get me wrong, it is not that I did not like the main story or the plot. I just found it weird, that's all.
The strongest point of this title is the psychology of the characters, specifically the psychology of the children that caused the riots. We will know eventually the reason why those kids wanted that revenge from the adults in the first place and that thing, to me, is the strongest point of this game. I'm referring to the trauma caused by the adults to those children. That's the reason behind the children's behaviour. It's very well made and it's totally plausible.

Now, after that quick description of the game, I'll move to the end of this review. I liked this game, don't get me wrong. It's fun and it allow us to keep exploring the world of Danganronpa. However, I do not recommend it that much. I would recommend this game only to the people who wants to experience all the Danganronpa content available. Even if that content isn't canon. I would recommend this one to the people who read Danganronpa's mangas that are not canon, for example. I would not recommend this one to the people who play this series in a casual way or just want to explore the main story line and nothing else.

one of the biggest most painful gaming experiences ive ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

I really didn't like this game for... multiple reasons.
The game started off pretty strong. It looked like it was going to be sort of a survival horror type of game. The different bullets you get to use and the different kinds of Monokumas you get to fight was a fun little idea. Komaru as a character seemed pretty cool and a fun blank slate character.

That all changed as soon as they introduced the kids and Toko. I personally don't like Toko as a character. I didn't like her all that much in the original Danganronpa game, but I think she deserved her place there, as she serves her purpose as the stereotypical "yandere" character. Her presence in this game feels really forced just because she's really popular with... certain fans... and her personality just doesn't fit well with Komaru's in my opinion. It's not until the very end where she isn't totally horrible to Komaru, and even then I think it was just okay. They also try to shoehorn in random characters that somewhat relate to the original Danganronpa characters, which could've been cool but it really just serves no purpose in the plot at all. That of course is just my personal opinion and I know some people would disagree with all of that.

What I think most people with NOT disagree with me on is the way this game handles topics of child abuse/sexual assault, and this is ultimately what put the nail in the coffin in the game for me. There is a specific child (and this is clearly a child and not a teenager like Komaru) is clearly shown and depicted as being sexually abused by her parents. This character in particular though, is oversexualized for no reason, talking about sex and showing her underwear, and even has a scene where she molests the main character and says that is isn't illegal because it's a kid doing it. Right after that, you fight her and slowly rip off her clothes. I don't think it's necessarily bad to touch on a topic like sexual abuse in video games, but it needs to be handled right. It just felt in poor taste taking a character that was sexually abused and sexualizing them even more. There are other examples separate from this character, like showing two kids making out and one character who says he's into "younger girls, as young as possible."

On top of all this stuff, the writing is just really, really... cringy and bad. The only redeeming quality of this game was a few interesting gameplay mechanics and that wasn't enough to save this game for me. I don't recommend this game to anyone interested in the Danganronpa series. Just play the original, 2, and v3, and skip this one altogether.

The only minor this game doesn't sexualize is the sweet minor key on the surprisingly bangin' soundtrack.

if only every danganronpa game had a "motivation machine" mini game...

what was spike THINKING?

KOTOKO UTSUGI IS THE BEST WOH NO DEBATE

I have no recollection of playing this game how do I have playtime in it but I don't own it wtf

Dont bother unless youre super into danganronpa anyways it has some weird moments with the young girl as per usual with this series

who knew that a child (kotoko) could be semi horny

KOMARUN BEST!!!!!!

nagisa shingetsu. peak fiction. peak fictional character. looks like a cat-boy femboy. peak.

i love toko

nah this aint it

They got danganronpa in this game

What I liked

-Bold departure from series. A third person shooter in 3D environment, spinoff to the visual novels?? Absolutely love the idea! And it goes well!
-Animation, the cardboard execution Danganronpa known for, and anime cutscenes is top notch, absolute GOD tier
-Interesting synopsis and creativity. Two badass high school girls fight robot bears with megaphone, in an apocalypse essentially made to wipe out adults by literal children
-Returning and consistent cast and voice actors as well as consistent personalities. It is so good to see them again one more time.
-Chemistry between Komaru and Toko and character developments
-Mesmerizing sounds and UI, cuteness icons of Toko and Kumaru
-Handcrafted, extremely fun and addicting gameplay loop. There are endless ways to beat a level and enemies. There are multiple riddles and puzles to solve and my favorite: Monoku-Man.
-Megaphone functions. This completely changes the game for me. There are total 8 functions of the megaphone and you need to think and strategize on where and when and who to use them on environments.
-Good dialogues
-Memorable levels, god-tier level designs
-Fitting theme and conclusion to the original Danganronpa cast
-Plenty of enemies varities and functions

What I didn't like

-Sometimes the 3D animation cutscenes can be rough sometimes. The first 15 minutes of the game you're greeted into the TV after escaping the apartment where you see kids play around with a corpse, it looks so unconvincing and janky and look so plastic, this is the kind of thing you'd see in the early days of Source Filmmaker. This cutscene should never made into the game because it's the first impression and supposed to introduce you to the main cast of villians in the game. This also applies to Byakuya's first appearance in the game.
-Some notable bugs and gameplay flaws. Anywhere when you're barely close to the wall not even half meter, you get stuck unless you move back. Aiming with the megaphone alot of the times aims at the wrong direction from where Kumaro is facing. The gun aim movement is painfully slow. The camera isn't very consistent.
-Alot of the characters either didn't need to be here, or just as pointless

Overall I enjoyed playing this game!

Such masterpiece spin-off to masterpiece franchise

I like em younger.. as young as possible..

the yuri is insane

Probably the worst game I've ever played.

If you like Danganronpa, then still avoid this. It is not worth it and has a strange fascination with sexualizing a young girl within this game.

Right so I bought this game because i wanted to see the spin-off of the original series. this game talks about child abuse and other topics so maybe if you are not comfy with that you should hold off. I liked the puzzles tho i sucked at them. but if you are fine with all that and the general look, the game was generally good.

trying to get all achievements in this game is painful i gave up lol. otherwise i love it playing with genocide jack is the best part

best part was toko having her sapphic awakening on screen

actually goated

I will go on record stating that while I'm still debating on whether this is the worst game I've ever played, I'm confident in saying that Chapter 3 is the worst individual part of anything I've ever experienced in a video game, and it's not even fucking close.

Not like the other Danganrona games i know. But still creepy, fun and intresting.

killer7 if it was good

i wish i could change the controls of the game..

Why

I really enjoyed the puzzle solving and gameplay, but the camera is really bad in some cases, while some of the power ups are just straight up useless (autolock). The story is pretty good, but I just overall couldn't stand most of the little kid characters. The two main leads of this game are great though. Unfortunately, this is overall the weakest of the franchise in my opinion. 7/10

I played Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc, Goodbye Despair and V3 in roughly 2021/2022. I loved the games story, music and art but I avoided this game for the longest time. I went into it knowing it’s reputation and reviews but curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to play the game for a sense of achievement.

As much as I’d love to focus on the positives first, I believe it is best to talk about the biggest issue with this game and why I don’t think you should buy/support this game because I went into it not knowing any of this, only that the gameplay is frustrating and the plot is boring.

The story itself can be extremely messed up. There are mentions of very sensitive subjects and is absolutely not for the faint hearted not just that but some scenes could sometimes just be so weird and uncomfortable to watch. I would definitely check the trigger warnings before considering to purchase or watch as it can be very triggering or disturbing with fan service of children, SA, abuse and more. Playing this game was honestly sickening at times especially near the end. I don’t know who approved the story but I definitely think it was extremely messed up and could have definitely gone in a different direction. It was unnecessary and disgusting. It also just felt so degrading to take these characters and put them under such a light. I honestly didn’t mind the game until it got to the first mentions of these topics and after that it became extremely painful to continue.

There are also issues within the gameplay itself. While this third person shooter was something refreshing it definitely was not the cleanest in terms of looks, controls as well as mechanics and the gameplay got extremely repetitive to the point of frustration. Even though Danganronpa has a formula this one also has one that is beyond frustrating and the 3D was very jarring, the models at times often looked extremely goofy at times which can take you out of what little immersion there is.

Now for some of the positives. I think this game did well world building. Without saying too much there are some ties to pre-existing characters in this game and you get to know tiny bits of their life outside of the first killing game but not much information by any means. This game answered some questions about how some events occurred but also leaves you curious about some things at the end. The character art was a big upgrade and it was nice to see characters new and old. Masafumi Takada always does and amazing job with the soundtrack so absolutely cannot complain. I was also super happy to see that there was a lot more voice acting in this game as well as animated moments. There were moments of this game that truly captured my attention including the final chapter and the epilogue which I genuinely really liked. Especially the final animated scenes!

Despite the cons, I achieved what I set out to do. I wanted to play this game to learn its story and to finally say that I have completed every Danganronpa game (aside from Ultimate Summer Camp) and am now considering all my life choices that have lead up to this point. If you are considering buying this I would ultimately suggest watching someone else play it or watching a video essay on it UNLESS you are really certain that you want to complete it on your own merit because I think I fell into a bit of despair at times playing this game from how soul draining it was.

You will hear a little girl talk about "kiddie porn" within the first 15 minutes of the game
This game is fun, but the writers had to have been in a particularly pedophilic mood

bad because its danganronpa but good because it has toko fukawa and komaru naegi in the game