Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

Video Game Review

20150520172424

Spike Chunsoft’s Danganronpa franchise turned out to be a big hit for Nippon Ichi Software America, who released both Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and its sequel Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair outside of Japan in 2014 to strong acclaim. Although it took a publisher long enough to recognise the value of this murder mystery video game / visual novel franchise (With both titles having first been released on the PlayStation Portable in 2010 and 2012 respectively), the wait in my opinion was worth it. Both games offered a distinct and engaging storyline, fantastic music and intriguing gameplay – with them receiving grades of A- and A respectively on The Otaku’s Study.

Jump forward a year and NIS America have a new Danganronpa experience on offer which is considerably different from its predecessors: Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair GirlsAlthough it does not completely abandon the story-oriented approach of past games, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls replaces the ‘Class Trial’, ‘Investigation’ and ‘Social Link’ systems with action-oriented gameplay.  While this may sound like a significant shift, there are various Danganronpa-esque twists which should leave fans feeling quite at home with the new gameplay style.

Not completely knowing what to expect when first beginning my playthrough, I was pleasantly surprised to see the themes, content and depth one would expect from this franchise present in-game in a bountiful supply.

20150520173832

Storyline

Set in-between Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, this title focuses on Makoto Naegi’s younger sister Komaru and returning character Toko Fukawa. Completely unaware of “The biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history” and the incident which befell her brother, Komaru has spent more than a year trapped in a hotel room by unknown people. Although becoming content with her lifestyle, things take a sudden turn when a Monokuma unit bursts into the apartment in an attempt to kill her. At the last minute Byakuya Togami manages to rescue her, giving her an opportunity to finally escape alongside the Future Foundation… an opportunity that fails. Now trapped in Towa City (conveniently located on a man-made island) which is overrun with Monokuma, she is forced into a new form of death game as the target of five young children calling themselves the ‘Warriors of Hope’. Aided by Toko Fukawa and, on the odd occasion, her Genocide Jack personality, the duo seek a way to escape the confines of Towa City.

Retaining a focus on both character development and the ongoing struggle between hope and despair, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls features another bountiful and attention-grabbing storyline.  It provides added details to certain plot events, elements and references present in prior games; and can ultimately enrich one’s knowledge of events present in the Danganronpa chronology which were not adequately explained or left unexplored entirely. That being said, while some familiar faces do appear or are otherwise referenced, none bar Toko could be considered driving force in this new tale.

The storyline also stands out in its own right. It is easily the darkest Danganronpa title to date, with harrowing events and backstories aplenty – as the city’s youth seek to sadistically and visually destroy all adults and turn Towa City into a haven for children alone. Both Komaru and Toko receive ample character development, as their situation consistently change and they are forced to rise up to new challenges. While they could have been better developed, with development often limited to a few cut-scenes, pages of text and respective end-of-chapter battles; players are also given glimpses into the traumatic former lives of the ‘Warriors of Hope’.

20150520165152

The plot of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is enticing, and offers a strong combination of detail, quirkiness and character development. But there were a few occasions where progressing through the game wasn’t particularly easy for me. From my perspective there was an occasional pacing issue, where the storyline began to heavily dominate the gameplay. Although I wouldn’t want them to sacrifice the storyline, an extra couple more hours of gameplay-oriented content wouldn’t have gone astray – helping avoid the occasions where small sections of player-control were being broken up by longer cutscenes.

Design / Music / Voice Acting

Perhaps the most notable change in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls when compared to its predecessors is its approach to design. Previously, only core environments such as the halls of Hope’s Peak Academy or the accommodation block of Jabberwock Island have featured 3D visuals. Aside from the usual 2D character portraits, almost the entire game is presented in 3D. This design decision for the most part works well, and best complemented the choice of gameplay.

While there are some dull sections of the game such as when you are wandering down almost nondescript corridors in a sewer, most of the environment designs are aesthetically pleasing – presenting locales I at least would expect from a Danganronpa game. Character models for key characters were also well designed and animated, although non-important characters are simply presented as blue or pink silhouettes. During my playthrough, I didn’t come across any issue with slow-down or lag.

One disappointment to some may be that, while there are more “execution” animations than before, these are not anywhere close to being as over-the-top as before. On the other hand, there were some fantastic anime-style cutscenes spread throughout the chapters.

Break_v2

As with Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls features a strong soundtrack. In the mix is a compilation of new tracks, a handful of remixed songs and a few returning classics. There is pretty much a song to suit any situation players will face, although some themes were a tad overused. My personal favourite would easily have to be the retro-style “Genocide’s Fever Time’ which plays (almost) every time you take control of Genocide Jack. I found it really helped make those moments more intense and awesome.

NIS America have not included the original Japanese dub on-disc, but are purportedly making it available as free DLC at some point. That being said, the English dub is of a high standard overall, comparable to the quality of past Danganronpa releases at the very least. Characters returning from previous games all retain their original voice cast member.

Gameplay

As already mentioned above, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls trades in the text-oriented class trial system and replaces it with a third-person action-adventure system. For most of the game, players will take control of Komaru Naegi, who is left taking down any Monokuma or other mechanic enemy in her way with a hacking gun she obtained from Byakuya. This gun is equipped with “truth bullets”, which can be used to hijack enemies and machines in a number of different ways. Initially she begins with two types of bullets – “Break” (which serves as the main “attack” bullet) and “Move” (which can move objects or activate technology). As you progress through the game, additional bullets are unlocked including dance (self-explanatory) and paralyse (which can freeze and damage enemies in an area of effect) for a total of eight.

Dance_v2

Aside from the ones which don’t directly affect enemies, each bullet type has a limited number of shots associated with it. Given that many of the enemies can be taken down relatively easy by hitting them in a weak spot or after a few hits, a greater challenge I found (especially in the higher difficulty settings) was to ensure Komaru didn’t run out of a particular type of bullets. There were multiple occasions where I found myself unable to defeat an enemy because my bullet supplies had run out, leaving little option other than resetting the level or running in hope of finding a means to restock. The bullets themselves cannot be bought, but are instead obtained individually in limited quantities through both Monocoin Machines spread throughout each area and defeating Monokuma. Essentially, playing with Komaru equates to a fairly simple third-person shooter game, albeit one where your gun’s bullets have very diverse properties associated with them.

As aiming isn’t particularly fast with Komaru, there are occasions when she will become inundated with enemies and has a very real risk of being defeated by one of the more powerful Monokuma that begin popping up as you progress through each chapter. Following on from the events of Trigger Happy Havoc, Toko now has a means of controlling the appearance of Genocide Jack through the use of a stun gun. By collecting batteries, you can use the triangle button to summon Genocide Jack and attack enemies directly using her scissors. Her play style is comparable to button mashing, but also has access to a number of special moves (with some creative paper cut-out animations) that can deal heavy damage against one or multiple enemies. It is easy to go a whole chapter without using her, but it is a good option to use for when you are in a bind. Alternatively, using her is a very simple way of completing almost every boss battle.

While previous Danganronpa titles have only featured the one Monokuma unit, Komaru and Toko will come across a number of different types with distinct attack patterns. Several of these exist to justify the use of additional bullet types aside from break, and can lead to some pretty interesting strategies.

Knowing how to handle different Monokuma types is vital when it comes to the arcade challenges which pop up several times in each chapter. Each challenge or puzzle, signified by the presence of an arcade machine, requiring the player to complete a task (often something along the lines of defeat all enemies in one explosion) using a specific set of bullet types. Although these challenges begin quite easy, the difficulty rises fairly quickly – requiring careful thinking and timing to complete. Of course, it is possible to just plough your way through them with Genocide Jack, but this impacts your end-of-chapter score. In terms of gameplay, these challenges were what I looked forward to the most.

Burn_v2

There are three different ways to upgrade your characters in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. The first two are possible through the stores which often pop up once or twice every chapter, and use Monocoins which are obtained through defeating Monokuma’s. To improve the efficiency or bullet count for a particular bullet type, players are required to purchase different words which can be attached to them. Up to two words can be associated with each type of bullet, and certain combinations give boosted effects. It is also possible to directly improve Genocide Jack by exchanging coins for stat and ability boosts. Finally, by straying from the often linear path, it is possible to find skill books when traversing Towa City and other locales. These books can then be used (provided you have enough skill points from levelling up) for other perks. The skill and levelling systems are overall pretty rudimentary, but work well enough.

Even if you don’t obtain a skill book, there is often other bits of readable material around the city – some of which sparks a debate with “Ultimate Writing Prodigy” Toko Fukawa and any guest characters you may have joining you.

With the genre change, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls does not include as many extra goodies once completing the game. Aside from the usual option of purchasing (with in-game monocoins) the ability to view CG artwork, music and cutscenes; all that is on offer is the “spinoff-spinoff novel” Ultra Despair Hagakure. Presented in a similar format to Danganronpa If: The Button of Hope and the Tragic Warriors of Despair, this novel tells the tale of Hope’s Peak Academy survivor Yasuhiro Hagakure and a newly introduced character. This fairly extensive tale was an interesting read, even though it does not feature voice acting or character portraits.

[section label=”Final Words” anchor=”Final Words”]

Final Words on Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

Exploring new territory in terms of gameplay while not straying too far from its roots, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls proved to be an overall enjoyable and satisfying spin-off title. It features a strong storyline which is darker than its predecessors, a new visual style that features the Danganronpa flair and approachable third-person action gameplay. However, the balance between gameplay and storyline did hinder my experience a little bit, and I wouldn’t have objected to more of an opportunity to enjoy what proved to be a competently designed action-oriented battle system.

A review copy of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls was provided by NIS America for the purpose of this review. Playtesting was conducted on a PlayStation TV unit, and some aspects of this review could possibly change on the PlayStation Vita.

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

Articles

- Advertisment -