This game was purchased solely for the purpose of writing this review.

What comes to mind when you hear the name Danganronpa? Is it the cute psychotic bear? Is it the insane yet entertaining executions? Is it the absolute bonkers of a messed up premise? Is it the well-designed and attractive characters? The cringe fanbase? Heck, even staple characters such as Junko Enoshima, Nagito Komaeda, and Kokichi Ouma come to mind for many. Danganronpa is a game with countless points of attraction that brings people to the game, appealing to a large mass of players. Not only is it widely loved, but the story, art, animation, characters, and sound are all some of the best I've ever seen in any media, with the emotions I've felt throughout this franchise unlike any other. This is the strange but endearing world of Danganronpa.

At first, the sound of a killing game is messed up and dark. However, Danganronpa, while obviously portraying it in a dark light, has a somewhat upbeat atmosphere. The environment is pleasant yet uncomfortable, populous yet lonely, and spacious yet claustrophobic. The premise is genuinely some of the most unique things you'd see out there; you kill someone and you leave, but if you get caught then you get executed. There are so many potentials and pathways possible, and Danganronpa makes full use of these and doesn't disappoint in the slightest.

The story is genius and brilliant; it never felt too fast or slow and everything fit into place. There is so much foreshadowing from the VERY START, and the amount of plot twists per chapter building up to something bigger is insane. Chapter 6 was one of the most jaw dropping experiences I've ever had in a media. Although leaving a lot of room for continuity and expanding the world which we see in SDR2 and UDG, it wraps up the story in a nice bow and leaves things satisfying and conclusive; you could play this standalone if you wanted to without touching the sequels, although I don't recommend this. The little unsettling hints and build ups always keep you on your toes and the plot twists aren't just for shock value; they serve a purpose and are important to the plot and the characters and are the best type of plot twists: the ones that make you say "why didn't I think of that earlier?". The game is divided into 6 different chapters plus the prologue, each chapter having a murder, a trial, and execution, plus some storyline in between, exploring and trying to figure out the secret behind the school. Every chapter unlocks more things and more areas so things never get old and even though you go through a trial 6 times, it never gets old and each trial brings something new and memorable. Even after beating the game, you have different stories and minigames to play, having so much content packed in here.

The atmosphere is another part I wanted to discuss; it was perfect. Like said before, it was the perfect amount of unsettling; not too much that I was scared and couldn't trust anyone, but not too relaxed that I'm not on edge at all. When I did feel like things were getting a little too "happy" or "comfortable", boom, someone's dead, someone's executed and I'm traumatised for life, more on this later. Everything, from the artstyle of the characters, the layout and details of the school, the little details and easter eggs, and obviously the cutscenes of the dead people perfectly add to the atmosphere of the game, making it unsettling yet endearing at the same time. The atmosphere is one of the main selling points of the game; unsettling enough so you know something's wrong, but comfortable enough for you to not expect bad things.

The art and music are incredible; character designs are ICONIC, Junko was one of the most cosplayed characters in existence. It's insane how 15(6) different students with different interests and abilities all have iconic and creative designs that can tell so much about them at one look. By looking at, let's say Kyoko, you can see she's off-standish and distant, and maybe hiding a side to her. Kiyotaka looks like an uptight and law-abiding citizen. And these are just from looking at their sprites, you don't need a word of dialogue to know what they're like. The CGs are clean and effective, the backgrounds are very well put together and detailed, I have zero complaints. The music is amazing and memorable, Box 15 is one of my favourite video game soundtracks ever. Oh my goodness, did I mention the execution music?! A highlight is the third chapter, the violins and the buildup blew me away. The game is perfect in this department, I would change nothing.

Finally, the characters. The selling point of Danganronpa. Look, I have played all of the games, the spinoff games, watched the anime, read some of the novels, etc. but no character has come close to Kyoko yet (except maybe Chiaki). I could write a whole paragraph on how Kyoko is the best thing ever but all I need to say is, every character is well written. They have goals, aspirations, flaws, strengths, development, backstories, all of that. Each character is so interestingly thought out and unique, I fell in love with them. Makoto is a very strong protagonist and tackling the role of the Ultimate Luck is very interesting too. My only complaints would be the use of the characters of Kiyotaka and Hifumi, they had a lot more potential and I was interested to learn more about them. Either way, I love every character in their own way and they're what brings popularity to the series; the characters all have diverse and colourful personalities that make it hard to hate any of them.

Danganronpa won't inspire you to go do something, it won't change your life to let you be a better person, but it will give hours of entertainment, thrill, and interest. It is not a simple game, it is a whole experience. I genuinely don't believe any game can come close to the hours of investment and emotion I had from this series, and I hope it stays that way because this series holds a very special place in my heart. I mean, the game has a large cult following for a reason. The question I have had heard many times though, is how does the plot of a killing game not get old after a few chapters, let alone 3 whole games? The simple answer is, well, that's for you to find out.

Thank you for reading.

The Danganronpa series has definitely become one of the more infamous weeb-friendly video games of all time. Some people even call it "visual novel-ish," but I will vehemently disagree with that. There’s too much gameplay and moving around for it to be a proper visual novel.

That said, Danganronpa took the weeb fandom by storm, even when it was just a fan translation—and for good reason. While the whole "people trapped in an enclosed space, potentially having to kill each other to escape" premise isn’t too unique, the quirky Japanese high school characters, courtesy of writer Kodaka, made it stand out.

Every main character having an "Ultimate" ability (or "super high school level" in the original Japanese) gives them a distinct flair that makes them memorable and ties into the murder mystery aspect—figuring out who the culprit is in each case and, more importantly, who the mastermind is behind trapping all these high school students in a school.

Compared to the rest of the series, the first Danganronpa game is relatively simple. The very first case, for example, more or less gives you the answer straight up once you find the first victim. Apparently, this is less obvious in the original Japanese, mostly if you're a Japanese-native who may not know much of the English language.

Even so, the murder mysteries are a mix of straightforward and challenging, depending on how much of a mystery game or story veteran you are. Personally, I found every case—besides the first and third—pretty tough to solve. Figuring out the details through the investigations and nonstop debates during the class trials was decently challenging and kept me engaged.

If there’s one thing the Danganronpa series lives and dies by, it’s the character cast. The characters in the first game are fine overall. They still have their quirky gimmicks, but they’re more down-to-earth compared to the over-the-top personalities in the sequels. In a way, the simplicity works in their favor. Characters like Makoto Naegi, the ultimate "Normal" protagonist, get more room to shine, especially later on in the story. My personal favorite was Kyoko Kirigiri, the main female lead—clearly familiar with mysteries and murder, with some solid character development throughout the story.

Overall, Danganronpa 1 is a solid introduction to the series. Sure, there are minor issues—like the cast being hit-or-miss for some people, certain mysteries being too easy, and a bit of first-game clunkiness—but it’s a memorable and fun murder mystery experience.

剧情还行，不是那种流水账，就是这男主真的有的那啥，又是圣母而且跟狗一样卑微，真tm憋屈，日常也有点无聊，如果可以接受以上可以入。