Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

Resident Evil if it was good.

i freking love this game its so awesome its my favorite danganronpa game

la komaru está bien pendeja jaja no mames

I've been putting off reviewing this game since I always knew that this review would be lengthy and cumbersome to make, I am finally going to make it, though.

I find ultra despair girls to be the strange black sheep of the dangranronpa series, it certainly feels like it is trying to be so many things at once that it doesn't really know what it wants to be as a a game. This leads to alll the aspects of the game being underdeveloped and/or with unexplored potential.

THE GAMEPLAY
The gameplay feels slow, repetitive and clunky. The control of komaru is as barebones as it can get, the mechanics introduced in this game such as the gun modifiers feel more like an afterthought than anything else. Though the different ammo types the gun can use shake up things a little.

THE CHARATCERS
This is actually my main problem with the game, the characters are few and far between. There's Komaru and Toko which I consider to be the best protagonists out of all danganronpa games. Moreover, the strongest aspect of this game is the moments and dynamic between these two. However, the supportive characters are just NOT it.

They feel more like plot devices whose only purose is to contribute to the development of Komaru and Toko as characters and their arcs. For instance, a game such as persona 4 manages to make pretty much every character feel like an actual, fully realized person instead of characters that have no development or message to give to the player.

THE FANSERVICE
This is another huge problem the game has, it is WAY, WAY overly sexualizated at basically every chance it gets to. Some may enjoy it but I did not. For instance, Komaru in the GJack fight, where GJack essentially tores her clothes appart with her sicssors were completely unnecessary and contribute literally absolutely nothing to the story. Yeah go and tell me "B-but it was necessary to see Komaru's underwear in that scene, Im telling you, NECESSARY!!"

There's also the togami scenes with Toko's fantasies, where she shows her love for him. For me these cutscenes feel cringeworthy and do not engage me at all, they are probably made for comic relief but for me they are hard to watch and instead of engaging me in the game they make me question what my life has become to end up playing this game.

Finally there's everything that Kotoko does in this game that is worth metioning, because ALL of it is fanservice. She captures Komaru and puts her in a machine that essentially gropes her body parts in a sexual manner. This scene literally serves NO purpose AT ALL. Not for the plot, Not for comic relief, Not for the development of the characters. Nothing, it's just random fanservice for the sake of satisfying the anime coomers that this game wants to appeal so bad to, driving all other kinds of people away from it.

CONCLUSION
Overall while I've been expressing my distate for this game, I genereally have a mixed opinion on it, I do think it's the worst game in the series and not worth the price it's selled for. Moreover, the characters that arent Komaru and Toko are underdeveloped in the game and sometimes needlessly and randomly sexualized which ruins any chance of engagment this game could give me. If you finally add the clunky to control gameplay, this game is just the definition of a 6/10 in my opinion.

I really wanted to like this game because it's the one where Komaru is but I can't get myself to, it's oversaturation of fanservice and lack of development of characters and gameplay make the game feel strange.

I don't understand why a game about the tradegy of THH was made this way out of all possible ones but it is absolutely a underexplored idea with lots of potential, that thanks to UDG, will probably remain that way for the rest of the series lifespan.

6/10

OH NO HE REALLY DID LIKE THEM AS YOUNG AS POSSIBLE

Nah but really this game ain't too bad for a game that originated on the Playstation Vita. I could've really done without chapter 3 tho

I was expecting to get into a mediocre arcade game with light DR themes but by the end I realised how invested I was. Komaru and Toko were honestly cute and seeing their friendship evolve through the game left me with a warm heart by the end. They have the kind of friendship hopefully everyone could have in their life. The gameplay is arcade-y as I expected but keeps on adding fun mechanics so it doesn't get too stale.

Nagito also makes an appearance which took this game from a 9/10 to a 90/10.

If Spike Chunsoft weren't cowards they would make Tokomaru canon

NOV 29 2024

the very beginning has an unacceptable bug in which half of the screen has a black cover that is obviously meant to be a black fade for cutscenes and gameplay - but its not designed correctly to always work - i dont want to put in even a minute of effort to fix something that should be correct out of the box- as someone very enthusiastic about this series it killed my interest in seeing this one - i can accept that its not the highest budget game but those visual glitches negate the other qualities like the great voice acting and the other games dont have glaring issues like this

its hideous to look at as a result

bad

good but full of fan service

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

--

A strange but welcome deviation from the other titles. If you're expecting the typical murder mystery aspects of the series, maybe pass on this one because that's all but nonexistent in this game. This game is essentially a 3rd person shooter combined with puzzle elements and hack/slash gameplay. You play as Komaru Naegi, Sister of Makoto Naegi, who wields a very odd "hacking gun" that has the ability to wirelessly hack electronics by pointing and shooting at them, specifically Monokuma bots, but a few other things as well.

As you progress through the game, you unlock new abilities for the gun. some are used for offensive measures, while others are used for puzzle solving. Speaking of which, a very large portion of the main gameplay involves solving puzzles. Typically there are 2 types of puzzles, One of which are Arcade Rooms. These rooms are isolated areas where you have to complete a specific task in order to progress. usually, the goal is using your gun to manipulate enemies in a way which will allow you to kill them in one shot. The other kind are presented to you by a member of the "Warriors of hope". These are more "riddle" based. the kid will give you some kind of riddle or hint, and you gotta use that to solve the puzzle.

The combat is fairly simplistic. typically you'll be using the "Break" bullet on enemies. Most of the other bullets are used for specific circumstances. aside from that, you can also swap to your partner Toko (or I guess technically it's Genocide Jack), who can hack and slash enemies and destroy them with ease. She can only be used for a short time though, so you'll probably find yourself using her mostly during a pinch. There isn't really much to say about her gameplay. it's pretty barebones button smashing. no crazy combos or anything like that either.

While the Gameplay might deviate from the traditional DGR style, the writing and plot are pretty faithful. Although, this is probably the wackiest in the series. Basically a group of children who call themselves the "Warriors of Hope" have gained control of an army of Monokuma's, and are using them to murder adults... And that's pretty much all I can say without getting into spoiler territory. in typical DGR fashion, the writing is mixed with the same bizarre twisty emotional perverse cringe you'd come to expect. Although, I'd say it's cranked to 11 this time. I could casually recommend the other games to friends, but this game, unless those friends are already fans, I probably would not, and that's largely because some of the themes in this game are a bit "questionable" to put it lightly... A lot of characters in this game are (at least perceived to be) children. (one of them explicitly claims they are 18 which is why I say "perceived") but there are a few things said and done that would make most people a bit uncomfortable. Nothing visual. It's mostly in dialog.

To sum it up, if you're a fan of the series, and you've played every other game but still want more, this is a very good addition assuming you're ok with FPS type gameplay. it's also much shorter and easier to digest than the main games.

If you like the Danganronpa franchise you will love this game. The ending is nice and convoluted like its supposed to be :)

this is the worst game ive ever played, im so sorry this is your main game komaru naegi we'll get you outta here

This game sucks at absolutely everything it does... plot, dialog, game play, pacing, characters.... every possible aspect there is a solid 0/10. But no... 0/10 would actually be a pretty high rating for this piece of garbage. Developers really went out of their way to fill players with disgust to their "game".

Let's say you somehow managed to play through the first 3 chapters. Somehow you endured unbearably bad combat, unbearably annoying "puzzles" (there are 5 completely out of place and immersion breaking arcade puzzles per level!), unbearably cringe cut-scenes, unbearably bad visuals and unbearably nonsensical storytelling. At that point you might probably think that we are at rock bottom already and it can not get any worse, right? Well.. it is VERY VERY wrong! How about a MINOR MOLESTATION MINI GAME and a tutorial section suggesting players to jerk off to it?.... immediately followed by a boss fight where MC is stripped to her underwear? And right after that followed by one of the characters coming out as a pedo? And it is not even the end of it...

By the way, the game also treats player as mentally challenged person who is incapable of using minimap (by introducing UFOs).... but that is understandable since considering all things I mentioned above it seems to be the target audience.

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.