Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is a direct sequel to Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc which was released earlier in the year. It's a good thing that this second game was released so soon afterwards because the cliffhanger from the first game is painful and you just have to find out what is going to happen next. This sequel is similar to the first game in many many ways, first of all, it was originally released for the PSP (Japan only though) and ported to Vita, obviously with a resolution boost and some added touchscreen controls which you probably won't use since it's just so much faster and easier to use the physical buttons.
Next, the game mechanics are the same, this is a visual novel about sixteen students (yes, sixteen this time around) who are trapped and must murder someone else in order to escape. Let's dive deeper into the plot, for players who have already played Danganronpa (and let's face it, not many people would play this sequel without playing the first), you must run the risk of feeling bored by some very similar events playing out. Then again, the in-jokes are also plentiful and increases the enjoyment.
Sixteen students of Hope's Peak Academy, a high school where only the "Ultimates" can attend, these Ultimates are the very best in their fields; they are trapped on an island during a "school field trip". Here, what starts out as an innocent "live the rest of your life in here" peace turns into a killing game where if you want to escape, then you must kill a fellow classmate... and get away with it. It feels as if Danganronpa 2 lives in the shadows of its predecessor, it tries really hard to mimic what happens in the first game then throws out a big surprise to try and pull the rug from under your feet.
These surprises include things such as all students have lost their high school memories, the constant reminder of the biggest tragedy in human history and extreme similarities in terms of plot twists and character personalities compared to the cast of the first game. It tries hard but in the end, it feels really forced and you roll your eyes when it yet again does the same trick on you.
This time around, a lot more of the characters are unlikable, at least at first. You get an Ultimate Dancer who's foul mouthed and foul natured; an Ultimate Yakuza who just doesn't care about anyone and acts tough; and an Ultimate Breeder who's out of his mind and speaks gibberish. You will end up hoping these characters kick the bucket quickly because they can be so unbearable. The cast isn't very memorable; they're too strange in a bad way.
The amount of suggestive dialogue and innuendoes goes through the roof; it's very surprising that it dialed up this aspect of the game so much. It's okay if it is present from time to time but the constant suggestive nature of the dialogue can make for some awkward and cliche moments. With that said, the story is still addictive even though it retreads way too much of the same plot points. From time to time, there are some gems such as the motive for the very first murder being so sad, so realistic and will definitely tug your heartstrings. Unfortunately, then it falls flat in the second murder where it's forced, cliched and very wooden.
Since the game takes place on an island, the backdrop and settings are much bigger but it also takes away the seriousness and tense atmosphere of the original. It constantly teases you with cryptic hints of eventual revelation of all the mysteries it had presented so far. The scenario presented in Chapter 4 was different and it spiced up the predictable story at that point. However, the standout has to be Chapter 5. The craziness of a certain character and the way the trial brought that character's motive to life was fantastic. It contained an elaborate plan that shows the twisted nature of some of the characters' personalities.
There are six chapters plus a prologue and epilogue like the original game. Chapter 6 is where the big showdown happens as everything is cleared up. It has some huge twists, presenting on after another to the point where all your assumptions were thrown out the window. While we still haven't got an exact description of what the The Tragedy was, it answered all the important questions that were left mysteries in the first game. It cleared up any doubts and in that aspect, Danganronpa 2 provided some satisfactory answers. It doesn't answer everything so hopefully we will get more Danganronpa goodness (apart from the third person spin off Another Episode).
For anyone who's played Danganronpa, the gameplay and sequence will be instantly familiar. However, it changes things a little bit such that you will take a short while to grasp the controls. It has the same structure in which you start off living the normal life (spend time with friends, explore the island etc), a murder happens and you must investigate and obtain all the "truth bullets" (i.e. clues) before a class trial happens to find out the culprit.
Spike Chunsoft chose to include some improvements to gameplay, we see new minigames as well as returning ones with improved mechanics. The first new minigame is the Logic Dive. You control the main character in a snowboarding game, dodging obstacles and jumping over gaps while answering multiple choice questions to lead you to an answer. It's the most action oriented minigame in Danganronpa and is quite fun. However, the horrible jumps which make it easier to fall off the platform and start from afar again ruins it in the later class trials as the course gets much more difficult.
The next new minigame is the Rebuttal Showdown, which you "slash" through arguments by pressing the directional buttons. The annoying thing in this minigame is that it's easy to slice through a crucial argument and picking the right truth bullet to counter that statement isn't immediately obvious, especially when you get damaged from not slicing away the arguments in time. This time pressure makes picking and thinking about which statements to use to counter much harder. The third new minigame is Spot Selection which is basically them giving you a picture and you selecting the place of interest.
"Improvements" to the already solid gameplay in Class Trials include harder to eliminate distractions (taking three taps instead of only one). Hangman's Gambit received a complete revamp which makes it more interesting to play but in later chapters, much messier and harder to keep track of. The tempo game also had a change in the way you time your button presses, but I feel that it's not as fun. If you had trouble in the first Danganronpa with deciding which piece of evidence to use to counter an argument, you'll have even more trouble in Danganronpa 2.
The logic used in class trials are even harder to deduce in advance. Once you end up selecting the correct one and the character elaborates on why it was chosen, you understand why it was the right answer but it doesn't mean you'll know to use that initially. To make it even harder, you can not only counter someone's argument, you can also agree with them too. In every Class Trial, there will be WTF points in that characters suddenly get angry for no reason other than to activate a minigame. It's out of character and doesn't make sense.
Outside of the Class Trials, there's also this pointless metagame which involves raising a Pet. How to level it up and get it metamorphosis? By walking... a lot. It doesn't add much to the gameplay. Exploring the island is similar to exploring the School, you can walk around to get to the next destination, thanks to the Island theme. Locations are much more varied but lack the trapped despairing feel of the original. Loading times are short but you have to wait until everything loads before you can click anything which seems just one second longer than you would expect.
Danganronpa 2 is a text heavy game. It has a fantastic translation but you will notice a fair few typos, which is slightly disappointing. It reuses music from the first game; it's not a bad thing since the familiar (and great) tunes make Danganronpa 2 feel very much a part of the story that started out in the first game. Most of the graphics are 2D artworks which are beautifully drawn. Where it drops down in graphic quality in the 3D-rendered cutscenes of the executions, it can appear grainy and blurry.
Just like the first game, there are additional modes which extend the life of the game (and provide more bang for buck). The first is the Island Mode, which is the School Mode from Trigger Happy Havoc but reskinned to the island theme. It's quite disappointing in that it plays exactly the same way, they didn't bother changing up the gameplay. However, the material collecting gameplay is still quite addicting. You can also use this mode to understand the characters more, learning their backstory. Furthermore, there's a minigame that is unlocked once you've finished the game, called Magical Girl Miracle Monomi, which contains six stages. You control Monomi to draw circles around enemies to defeat them. It's not too bad and can be fun. You can easily finish all stages within 30 minutes.
Finally, there is a short story called Danganronpa IF, which is an alternate retelling of the same game in which no one dies and everyone survives. It is actually pretty interesting and engrosses you. The music played in the background while you're reading it really adds to the atmosphere. It also reference and plays a lot from actual events in Danganronpa and Danganronpa 2. The events that happen and since you see into the thoughts of characters, it builds upon the Danganronpa universe and allows you to understand the first game's characters a lot more.
Danganronpa 2's Trophies are slightly harder but only because it involves a lot more grinding now. You have to level up your pets, your character, find collectibles scattered in the story mode, play Island Mode multiple times and grinding out equipment in the Monomi minigame. This grinding will start to make you annoyed with the game. Overall, Danganronpa 2 is a fantastic game which has a great story and help presents some satisfactory answers left in the cliffhanger of the first game. It's not as original though with heaps of cliched moments, uninteresting and at times, annoying characters. Personally, I rank Trigger Happy Havoc to be the better game purely because the story was much more addictive, nature and less extravagant. However, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair succeeds on many levels and is a must play.
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