User Reviews

With an ungodly amount of content, Danganronpa v3 actually, and amazingly, once again improves upon the series formulaic "Killing Game" and extra modes. By adding new mechanics and improving old ones in Class Trials, vast improvements to freedom of movement, some really unique plot twists and turns, an entirely new cast of characters, more fun minigames in the story, and even MORE extra modes (including an RPG mode with characters from previous entries in the franchise that could almost be its own game), Danganronpa v3: Killing Harmony is simultaneously a love letter and a brow beating to the fans, revealing in their despair while simultaneously mocking them for their thirst for more bloodshed.

I was upset at the first trial...because some of your opponents were right (espically Ryoma), and yet you fight back with lies; without knowing it from the start, after many characters were acuused, something abominable happened to Kaede! The Mastermind & Monokuma killed her, because she was innocent! For a reality show that kills off innocent people!

Damn you, Tsumugi! I can't stop crying for hours over the last trial. The thought of fiction being slavery, doing nothing to change the world, (it's not slavery and fiction does change the world in real life). I was literally wailing, drowning in a sea of sadness, in DESPAIR! A despair so horrible that you'd feel as if you wanted to die, no matter how strong willed you are!

While it was likely meant to be a masterfully crafted send off to the series, I can't help but suspect there's more Danganronpa down the road for developer Spike Chunsoft. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair saw them truly finding their footing in the universe. Danganronpa v3 saw them perfect their craft.

"If lies can change the world just as well as the truth can, then lies are just another way of telling the truth."

I'm crying my eyes out over this. As someone who strives to become an author one day, this really inspires me. Any form of fiction has the power to change and shape who we become.

Pretty good. Maybe not as good as the first or second game, but it's still an enjoyable experience.

The Danganronpa series has left an enormous impact in my life due to a lot of reasons. The third installment being my favorite. Whereas the first game had a rather one dimensional theme of "good vs. evil" under the guise of "hope vs. despair", the second had a much better theme that was related to time, "past, present, and future". Here, we're given "truth vs. lies", which is incredibly flexible with what it presents to its audience. I'll get back to this later.

One of the first things I believe most people who've played the previous games will notice when they look at this game, is that it looks far prettier than all the other installments. Makes sense, considering this isn't a mediocre PSP port like the other ones. The graphics and textures look great, with even the students' lockers being perfectly readable, the windows containing pleasant volumetric lighting shining through, the environments looking more vibrant than ever with many more objects, and the nonstop debates displaying fancy effects when some characters talk. The school looking simultaneously beautiful and unsettling at night as the haunting "Darkness Time" plays.

Speaking of which, the soundtrack of this entry reigns supreme over the others. Masafumi Takada really outdid himself. While "Beautiful Death" is in my mind the theme of the Hope's Peak Academy saga, "Beautiful Lie" couldn't fit Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles saga better. A truly outstanding track that won me over instantaneously as I played the demo. "Heartless Journey" is one of the most poignant pieces of music I've ever heard in a videogame. There's something very eerie and dark about the buzzing frequencies, mixed with the lugubrious acoustic notes at just the perfect time, creating a small wall of sound that's unlike anything I've ever heard. It's not profoundly layered, there aren't a lot of instruments, but it manages to pull all my heartstrings through its simple sounds. To address the sound in general, the sound effects are memorable as expected, and the voice acting is amazing in both languages.

The user interface has improved immensely, with the presents screen actually being completely convenient this time around. Showcasing many at a time, with their numbers at the bottom left, and even indicating the player whether they should hold onto them for secret events with the sentence "something good might happen if you keep it" at the end of their descriptions. Report cards look clean and straightforward, with the characters' iconic artworks on the right. You can customize your e-handbook/monopad with 38 different themes now, too. The map immediately shows which locations the player can fast travel to at the top, and where each character is currently at, and the MonoMono Machine is also faster than ever.

In regards to the characters, this cast is my favorite. It's the one Danganronpa game I truly wish there was some kind of alternate timeline to play where we get to see the other half of the cast survive or live longer and develop. That's not to say I wasn't happy with what I got, I am. It's simply that all the characters are so interesting and possess strong personalities that I can't help but wonder how they'd act under certain situations they were unfortunately unable to survive long enough to experience. All the free time events were very entertaining to me and totally worth completing, making me like and understand every character more, and while the game doesn't offer that many in the main story (making it difficult to complete characters before a murder happens), this time it's very easy to exploit the system and continue doing free time events by saving once the first set of the chapter is over, loading the save, and selecting to start that particular chapter from free time events. This allowed myself and friends of mine to attach ourselves to certain characters more before the killings started, making their deaths even more impactful than they normally would be.

Furthermore, when it comes to its features, this game objectively slays the previous ones. There's so much that's been crammed into this that it's astounding to me. The ultimate fanservice crossover mode called "Ultimate Talent Development Plan", a board game where you get to play as any character of your choice from all the games (except Ultra Despair Girls) and interact with other characters is fantastic. "Love Across the Universe" is massive improvement over the monotonously grindy "School/Island Mode" from DR1 and DR2, making getting character endings and trip tickets intuitive and fun. There's also the mode that's directly connected to "UTDP" called "Monokuma's Test", a surprisingly fun dungeon crawler where you play as the characters you've leveled up in the board game. Of course, I can't forget to mention the super amusing and intriguing "Love Suite" scenes, where the protagonist gets to act out a random character's fantasy. One of my favorite things they've ever added to the series that I very much wish was present in the other games, with some hilarious, fully voiced lines.

Gameplay wise, within the class trials, the controls are responsive, and this entry fixes a good amount of the problems the first two games had while introducing awesome new minigames. Absorbing bullets is thankfully gone, and albeit I still loathe "Hangman's Gambit", it's at its best here (it was too easy in the first game and downright annoying in the second one). "Debate Scrum" is my favorite of the new minigames that were introduced, even though I wish it happened more frequently. "Mind Mine" is nice, as is "Psyche Taxi", although "Logic Dive" from DR2 was much more dynamic and fun. "Argument Armament" is stylish and excellent. The V-spots are a fine addition to those who enjoy an extra challenge during nonstop debates. I'd argue that the most important mechanic they've added however is "Lying", occasionally giving the player more than one way to solve a debate and changing some of the dialogue for a little bit.

Now, coming back to the subject of the games' themes, I must talk about how each one closes its gates, without spoiling much, the ending of Trigger Happy Havoc left me slightly dissatisfied with its cliffhanger, Goodbye Despair's ending on the other hand was superb and triumphant. Killing Harmony's ending however, was a rollercoaster of emotions that left me in deep thought. The topic in question being the power of fiction and its impact on the world, I don't believe I've ever seen a game address it like this, it was a powerful and moving experience.

For me, fiction can absolutely change the world and be the "truth". Fiction allows us to experience events outside our own lives and to become immersed in other people's point of view. It teaches empathy and broadens our minds. I will always firmly believe it's not weird at all to fall in love with fictional characters. I think it makes us human. It's frequently based on real emotions and real experiences, and I think that's good characterization. I often watch, play, and read stuff to understand other people's lives, the difference is that fiction has a cushion of safety around it. One that makes it easier to process. Pills that are easier to swallow. I'd write more, but Steam won't let me, lol. Thank you Spike Chunsoft and Kazutaka Kodaka for this wonderful journey.

I love the little purple gremlin he is my favorite character of all time.

Great game! Don't get attached to any of the characters though! I have learned through my mistakes. But just because you get attached to the characters, doesn't mean they'll ALL perish.

Like with other Danganronpa games, this is violent, but of course the blood is pink so it doesn't seem gory and wrong. But one bad part in this game is someone was murdered because they fell victim to a wrongful conviction and we didn't knew that from the beginning until the end(unless we spoil for ourselves). For all those people worrying about sex in this game, there is none, but people might think there is some innuendo because of a scene where a horny overly brash inventor, fixes one of the students, who is a robot, while they are awake, which could be taken the wrong way by parents, but it isn't as inappropriate as people think. It's still a great game and a great series!

While I think the two main game's atmospheres was better, I do have to say this one is pretty awesome as well. But the despair the characters experience at the final part of the game was and felt realistic. because of what we learn near the end of the game and franchise itself. The "twist" of the game is rather deranged and twisted when you learn the details of it. SO many theories on what this game and characters REALLY are, and I absolutely love the "Beautiful Lie" track and it's other variations. I liked how the ending left the fates of the three survivors to enter our world to have a new fresh start on their new lives. They ALL deserved better except for the one that used their for their twisted pleasure. The Monokubs deserve better parents, because Monokuma is a HORRIBLE PARENT by the time Chapter 4 nearly ended. Because of what happened to Monophanie and Monotaro......😨that was a true Nightamre fuel.....😨

The English dub in particular was awesome, and definitely more consistent than DR1's was. And way MORE intense than DR2. Grant George received a lot of appreciation for sounding intriguing, calm, realistically emotional, and VERY serious as Shuichi, (his more notable role than Leon Kuwata) Angie's VA was pretty fun and cheery as the Ultimate Artist and Natalie Hoover NAILED Monophanie with a surprisingly high pitched, cute, sexy, titillating, and a VERY SQUEAKY voice almost like a mouse😘 That really fits the pink monokub's personality 😘. Monokuma's VA also sounded noticeable different as Monosuke when he's not voicing with that Mickey-like range, Erica Mendez gave Maki a very cold tone like made her a more like-able dynamic character since Chapter 3, I could go on but yeah.

This game has really complicated and a twisted way to end a franchise from fiction itself.

In the other Killing Games you are just playing the game all during the tragedy, But in this game you will find the ways. You reject both hope AND despair, But... It's boring without despair. What can hope be if it's without feeling the sadness of losing your loved ones? Those two emotions make a person real. So...what they're saying is... if both of them demand more deaths and tragedy without end. You reject hope AND despair? The things that make us emotional and sympathetic?! If you have to reject both ope and despair, then.... all I can say is.... create your own hopes and despair! Like create your own future, like from Goodbye Despair's ending! this game is a roller-coaster of emotions. You WILL literally cry or smile at this!

This game is not worth if for those if you're gonna love the bitchy characters who hate others.

WHY DID GONTA AND RYOMA DIE THEY WERE BEST BOISSS but the game itself is pretty good I loved Ryoma And Gonta and they both died. Ryoma deserved to live to find out the nasty fabricated truth of his "suicidal" past, and Gonta doesn't deserve to die either! Not even Monophanie & Monotaro! They deserved a better parent than Monokuma!