Danganronpa V3 | Featured

Awesome Friends and Annoying Villains ~ Story and Characters

Danganronpa V3 | Cast
Meet our new cast of “Ultimates”. This is probably one of the most varied yet and it’s a pretty good one.

The story of Danganronpa V3 as I mentioned follows the 16 newest students who are subjected to Monokuma’s killing game. This time though Monokuma is not alone as he has the Monokubs. While each chapter follows the same format and flow, you never quite know who is going to die or who the killer is. Danganronpa has always been very good at building a great mystery and explaining its logic. However, that’s not to say there isn’t a pattern.

If you’ve played the previous games, then you’ll probably start to notice some similarities between when certain cases and events occur. While Danganronpa 2 did something similar, it tended to zig in any way Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc zagged and played off your expectations. Danganronpa V3 meanwhile has an intentional underlying pattern. I’m fine with it this time, but the franchise really does need to shake up the elements of a case more in the future. That said, the writing on a whole is superb and just what I expect from the franchise. Which of course extends to the characters.

Danganronpa V3 | Miu Iruma
She’s also the most foul-mouthed and pervy character I think I’ve ever seen. Yes, she can even give Katsuragi of Senran Kagura a run for her money.

Since we can’t talk about everyone, I’ll just mention that I loved this cast. Everyone was well developed and you got their personalities. My favorite still remains Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, and kudos to her voice actress who nailed her perfectly. On the other side of the spectrum, however, lie the Monokubs.

Danganronpa V3 | Monokubs
Yeah, your mechs look like they’d belong in a Super Robot Wars game, but the only things you do is cause this hand of mine to become burning red, with anger!

Again, my apologies for the strong choice of wording, but I hate the Monokubs. While I wasn’t fond of Monomi and Monokuma’s comedy in Danganronpa 2, Monomi as a character had a point. The Monokubs do not have that same distinction. They exist for comedy, nothing more. Also, it’s not well-done comedy and is often used at inappropriate times. The ending of Chapter 4 is a notable example of this. What should have been a very emotional chapter ending was ruined due to their antics. I will admit that Monodam was the most interesting, being rather straightforward and somewhat developed. That said, as a whole, they distract from Monokuma.

Danganronpa V3 | Monokuma's Comedy
I really don’t know why we can’t just have Monokuma be Monokuma. We don’t need overt references and comedy. Just have the villain be the villain.

Monokuma works best alone. He’s deadly, he’s snarky and he has proven that time and time again. When you pair someone with him, it just makes the other character look silly and weak in comparison. It’s a distraction from what really should be drawing our attention. If in the future there needs to be another mascot character, then I would suggest going the Ultra Despair Girls route and giving them the spotlight. That way at least they are developed and we can focus on fearing this new villain. Otherwise, just give us Monokuma. That said, we need to touch on one more thing.

We need to talk about two twists that divided the fanbase in Japan. The Class Trial of Chapter 1 and the ending. While I will avoid spoilers, I do feel they affect the player’s enjoyment of the story in a major way. If you’d like to know what my thoughts are, then please continue reading. Otherwise please click here to go to the last page where I’ll wrap this review up.

Danganronpa V3 | Mean
Trust me, I debated even talking about these two issues. But, I think they do need to be discussed so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Why Do I Feel Betrayed? ~ Class Trial 1 & Ending

Still with me? Before we begin, you need understand that the central theme of Danganronpa V3 is “lies”. That’s not really a spoiler since the game is pretty heavyhanded in that regard. However, the development team really seemed to take this theme to heart. Let’s start with the twist during Chapter 1’s Class Trial. The twist makes sense and is set up well. From a writing standpoint, there’s nothing wrong with it and thematically it does fit the game. The problem comes from what I feel was a wasted opportunity all for the sake of the twist. It’s hard to explain why I feel that way without spoiling the twist itself, but suffice to say, this didn’t sit well with me. However, what Team Danganronpa did with it, was good and this really is a “your mileage may vary” situation. The same cannot be as easily said for the second issue, the ending.

Dangaronpa V3 | Gonta Can't Believe It.
Trust me Gonta, I’m right there with ya buddy.

To say the ending of Danganronpa V3 is divisive is an understatement. You will either understand what the writers were going for, or you will be incredibly upset. I had to go back and replay Chapter 6 a second time just to try and assess things with a clear mind. The problem really is that Team Danganronpa is so good at drawing players in and connecting with them, that it makes the ending feel like a slap in the face when it’s not meant to. I certainly understand the intent of what they were trying to do and it was a clever idea. Still, it left a bad taste in my mouth after such an amazing game and sullied the experience. I just hope that they learned how much sway over the player’s emotions they have and use it a bit more responsibly in the future. That said, let’s wrap up this epic overview and close things out.

Danganronpa V3 | Emotion
Despite my issues with the ending, there is a lot of good in Danganronpa V3. It’s just a shame that the same writers that can invoke emotion in fans didn’t consider those feelings with the ending.
Benny Carrillo
A gamer since the days of the NES, this professional otaku adores Mega Man, Super Robot Wars, Yuri, Visual Novels, the Slice of Life anime genre, and of course Hyperdimension Neptunia. His mission on oprainfall is to help deliver the news straight to you.