Danganronpa Decade is a collection of Caveats.
Danganronpaon Nintendo Switch should have been a certainty. The Danganronpa Decadecollection brings three visual novels from the series to Nintendo’s console. It is more user-friendly and accessible than its originals. The collection also includes Danganronpa S, Ultimate Summer Camp. has more information on this topic. Since the 2017 release of the Nintendo Switch, Danganronpa has been a dream of mine. Monokuma’s depressing, killing, game was first released on handheld. I have played the games on Vita, PlayStation 4 and on my iPhone.
Nintendo Switch felt for a long time like Danganronpa’s destiny. Even though I have played every game in Decadence, it is not the best version of games that runs on any other platform. It’s still a good version of a great series, even though it is not complete enough to be recommended as a comprehensive guide for stories of hope, despair, and all that lies in between.
Danganronpa Decade includes three original Spike Chunsoft murder mystery visual novels. Danganronpa and Danganronpa2: Goodbye Despair tell the story of Hope’s Peak Academy. The institution is home to Japan’s brightest and most talented high school students. Each student has been awarded the title “Ultimate” in their field. Hope’s Peak Academy will help each student achieve their goals. This school is a beacon of hope for students and society in general. It studies and nurtures talent to help ensure the future of civilization. It believes so strongly in its mission that many Japanese youth are enthralled by its effects—both for good and ill.
When they arrive at Hope’s Peak, the school’s promises lie to Makoto Naegi, Hajime Hinata, and others. Along with their classmates, they are locked inside the school walls and on Jabberwock Island by Monokuma. An animatronic bear, Monokuma, tells them that they must escape from the death of a classmate if they want back home. This is a mix of Ace Attorney and Saw. As students of an institution supposed to bring hope to humanity, they fall into despair and betray each other. All the while, the class trial and investigation are engaging in the case to uncover the perpetrator. Despite all the suspicion, Monokuma has, Danganronpa focuses on the silver linings found in a hopeless setting. These students are rarely selfish, willing and able to sacrifice their classmates to get their freedom. The series delights in the grey and examines how different people can experience hope and despair. The murder mystery is not always black-and-white.
Danganronpa 3: Killing Harmony is the third and final visual novel in this series. It takes place in a new continuity. Hope’s Peak Academy is not present here. The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles includes the Ultimates who were caught in Monokuma’s killing game. It is spoiler-ridden to describe V3’s departure from its predecessors. That’s why I won’t. Danganronpa, unlike the two previous games, is focused more on truth and lies or, more specifically, fiction vs. fact. Although it’s the most impressive series from a mechanical perspective, it’s also profoundly cynical in ways that Danganronpa isn’t. It takes a difficult break from the original story to talk more about how a franchise is trapped in its success and fandom that refuses to let go. It doesn’t carry the emotional weight of Danganronpa, but it is a satire that shows you the worst-case scenario of a story being extrapolated into something not quite familiar. It’s not flattering for anyone. Although it is a game that I often refer to in discussions about the videogame industry, it’s not because I feel the same emotional attachment to Hope’s Peak.
Therein lies Danganronpa DDecadence’sshortcomings. This incomplete collection ddoesn’ttell all the story. The most prominent omission is Danganronpa’s A Second Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. This puzzle-shooter spin-off was launched after Danganronpa2. This episode takes place between the two previous games and helps to pave the way towards Danganronpa3: The End of HHope’sPeak High School. This anime series concludes the story about HHope’sPeak Academy before Danganronpa moves on to something. This is part of a bigger problem Danganronpa faced when it arrived to the west. The series seems incomplete to the untrained eye. The Ultra Despair Girls omission only supports this view, as if it isn’t an essential piece of the puzzle. Decadence gave the series a unique opportunity to be presented in a way that other collections have never done. This is particularly odd, considering the main characters on the cover.
Danganronpa 3 would not have been an anime. However, its presentation is a problem Spike Chunsoft has never fixed. DDanganronpa’stitle suggests that iit’sthe next part of the story after Danganronpa2. However, this is not the case. IIt’salso not reflected in how these games are packaged. Danganronpa3 is hidden away in FFunimation’sApp and in fragmented Blu-ray collections that split the show in half.
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These problems aaren’tunique to Switch ports. But there is one thing that is certain: all three of the games have some technical issues on the console. It was quite surprising considering that each of these games ran flawlessly on the Vita years back. These games are particularly troublesome. Framerate drops were noticeable during the exploration sections across HHope’sPeak, Jabberwock Island. The most noticeable was in the large, open areas of Danganronpa2 where the game chugged continuously. This was particularly noticeable in areas I had to pass through frequently, such as the resort Hajime and his class stayed at. Although the first game had its problems, there is often less happening in that environment, so it was less common. Surprisingly, Danganronpa runs better on the Switch than the original game. Even though it experienced significant frame drops during class trial segments, where the visual effects were stepped up a bit, the game still ran smoothly. Although performance iisn’tinherently detrimental to visual novels, it has never been an issue with the series before.
