Ok so after recently completing Danganronpa V3 last night and it being the finale for the series, I kinda wanted to put my thoughts on the entire series out there. This series most certainly has its ups and downs, but the core premise of the series of mystery murders is something

that I love. I’m gonna talk about each chapter and some of my favorite characters and just thoughts about each game and the entire series as a whole. This thread is going to be INCREDIBLY long and include spoilers for the game, so if you haven’t played and don’t want to be

spoiled, I suggest not looking at this thread. So starting off with Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc, or DR1 it just really hasn’t “aged” well I guess for lack of a better term. I only played it about 4-5 months ago, and on my initial play through I definitely enjoyed it. Like I

said earlier I love the idea of murder mysteries and it’s what initially pulled me into the game when my friend described it to me. I felt satisfied when I finished it but never blown away, like I did with the other 2 and looking back now it just doesn’t compare for me. Anyways

enough with the negative and comparing it to the other 2. I think DR1 did a good enough job of hooking me into the series and universe. The prologue wasn’t anything incredibly good, but meeting all the characters with such different personalities and designs was enough for me.

Now onto chapter 1. I may be in the minority, but I do like how it pushed us to spend time with Sayaka. I did come to like her up to her death. Unfortunately, for westerners this case is extremely easy. With english as your first language, it's quite obvious that the murderer

is Leon. If you remember that the game is made in Japanese first I think it’s a easier to understand why it wasn’t obvious right away with the “11037” on the wall. Also “Junko” died which was a big WOAH to me since it seemed her death didn’t have much of a purpose at the time.

Anyways, it was cool learning the game, doing the investigation and trial and convicting Leon. The mystery was easy, but it was an introduction to the game and I enjoyed it for what it was. Being one of the few people who liked Sayaka, I also found the end of the trial to be

pretty touching. I like how Kyoko comforted Makoto despite coming off extremely cold and the final line from Makoto using Sayaka's catchphrase was nice. Overall, I enjoyed it as an intro to the series but nothing too great about Chapter 1. Rating for it is probably a 6/10.

Onto chapter 2, which might be another unpopular opinion but this is one of my favorite in the game and my 2nd fav ch 2 in the series. The Mondo-Taka dynamic was cool and funny, and Byakuya became really interesting. Im a chaos merchant and Byakuya is my fav. This is where he

starts to shine some more. After the first ch, I thought these mysteries would be quite obvious because of the first chapter so when Byakuya was leading me on to the Genocide Jack/Toko double personality being responsible for the murder I was convinced he was right. Chihiro being

a boy I was sadly spoiled on, but I still had no clue it would be Mondo. I found his backstory to actually hit my feels and after the trial I felt sad that both had actually died. Leon was kind of a scumbag so I didn't care much for him after Ch 1 but that wasn't the case here.

Overall, I really enjoyed this chapter. It was the first case where I felt the game threw me for a twist and I was surprised by the murderer. The ending also had quite a cliffhanger learning that there would be a mole in the group. This was the chapter to really hook me and I

always have sentimental feelings for the things that initially hook me into series I love. I give this chapter an 8/10. Byakuya and Mondo are some of the highlights of DR1 for me and both shined throughout this chapter. Sadly, after this I think it drops in quality quite a bit.

Chapter 3 was honestly really disappointing for me. To start with what I did like, Hina is definitely really cute and it's honestly when I started to like her. I thought alter-ego was cool and made things pretty interesting and I was curious on finding out more about the school

and world. The first picture of the kids enjoying themselves raised a lot of questions. Onto the actual investigation and murders, Taka went insane cuz of Mondo's death and betrayal which kinda hurt but was also pretty annoying. I didn't like Hifumi much either as he was annoying

so both of their deaths didn't affect me too much. There was a lot of running around, and Celeste was really suspicious. Up until this point, she was my favorite in the game so I really didn't want her to be the murderer. She became increasingly more suspicious until her being

convicted guilty. Her dream was just a dumb wanting a ton of men to worship her which made sense but didn't really make me feel for her at all. I was more sad she went out like a bum. The ending credits we see Sakura is a the traitor and sets up the next chapter quite well.

This chapter ruined my favorite character in the series at that point and was a lot of dumb running around with an easy to solve murder and dumb motivation. I give this chapter a 4/10. It starts the bad chapter 3s in all the games and is my least favorite chapter in the series.

Chapter 4 I have some mixed feelings about. We got some group drama which was honestly pretty good. Sakura was outed as the mole cause she was threatened by Monokuma and despite her going against him, it makes complete sense for Byakuya being the guy he is to not trust her.

I like the sacrificial role Sakura played in thinking that she had to take one for the team, and it definitely made sense with Hina being so close to her how upset she would be with everyone else. I think the reasons for this death and the suicide with all the group drama were

done quite well but I think that the answer was quite obvious despite Hina's attempts to throw us off. Idk if they expected us not to think of suicide for this one or what but it was pretty easy to figure out. Sakuras sacrifice was good tho. Also Mukuro Ikusaba, the 16th student.

Overall, ima give the ch a 7.5. It did most things well, but I think the class trial, which is normally the fun part, was pretty annoying because the mystery was extremely obvious. Out of all the ch 4s its definitely my least favorite but 4 starts the transition into the end game

Ch5 starts to get into the climax of each of the games, and is when the game REALLY starts to get interesting. You start off with an extremely confusing scene of Makoto being sick and possibly seeing things. The masked figure showing up in Makotos room in the same way that Kyoko

did was really chilling. The whole chapter in general was a wild ride. From Kyoko disappearing the throughout the entire ch until the trial, and the final floor opening up with even going into Monokumas room and the dead body of the 16th student. So much went on and the trial

was so really a ride. You don't think Kyoko would do something like that, but its either you or her. Choosing her gives you the only "bad ending" in the series which is pretty cool and actually what I did first and its a pretty disturbing ending tbh. Anyways, it was an intense

chapter that left so many questions and set up well for the finale. The alter ego save was whatever I guess but I obviously didn't believe Makoto was going to die. As a whole the chapter didn't really explain much and set up for the finale but it was really entertaining. 8.5/10.

The big finale chapter 6. IIRC its definitely the longest investigation and trial in the game up to this point. The investigation was nice, you explore a lot of things and get a lot of questions. The Kyoko development with her father and opening up was nice. The twist about

actually wanting to come to the school was interesting. The trial was great. It was a memory wipe type thing which people might not be a fan of, but I was fine with it. The twists were crazy, Junko was hilarious and amazing and the tragedy was interesting. I think the themes of

hope and despair were done just fine and really no complaints. It was just a solid trial and a solid end to the first game in the series. I enjoyed what I played and the cliffhanger had me wanting to play the next game immediately. I dont think this game stood out much in terms

of writing with the mysteries or characters. Junko was great, but Makoto was a pretty average MC but he did do the theme of hope pretty well. Kyoko was okay as well and I found Byakuya entertaining but I don't think he's outstanding. The rest aren't even worth mentioning tbh.

In the end, Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc did good hooking me into the game but after playing through it really doesn't stand up to the other 2 imo. I don't feel strongly towards this game really at all compared to the other 2. My final score for the game is a 7/10.

Tbh, not extremely happy with how I expressed my thoughts on the first game but thats to be expected considering its been months since I played and idc for it too much. I think I'll do much better when talking about DR2 and V3 so I guess its best to get DR1 out of the way first.

Just realizing I forgot to give a score for the final trial, I'd give it a 9/10.

Continuing onto talk about Danganronpa 2. I really love this game and I binged it extremely fast especially with all the dialogue and it being a VN. Just about everything in this game is a step up from DR1. Starting off with the prologue, it just immediately hooks you. Not just

off of the new atmosphere, but already raises so many questions. Who is Monomi? Why is Byakuya here? Why is he fat? Why does he not remember anything? Who is this dude that sounds exactly like Makoto is also the Ultimate Lucky Student and name is an anagram for Makoto's?

Not to mention Nagito's design is amazing, but there's already so much mystery around him. You get to know the whole vibrant cast in the first chapter and they're so much more enjoyable than the first. The island is a great change in scenery from the first game its refreshing.

I think something the prologue did really well was handling Hajime. We know theres something wrong and this cheery setup is a fake, because we played DR1 and we know this will be a killing game. Everyone else besides us, or Hajime, just refuses to believe this isn's suspicious.

Eventually, Hajime finally gives in to the thought that maybe it's not that bad, but ofc Monokuma shows up to ruin it right then. The killing game is introduced and started. With previous knowledge of the first game, I think the prologue does a much better job of hooking you in

with questions and interesting characters. Now ch 1 was a fun one. It's pretty easy to hold my attention for at the very least the first chapter. Fat Byakuya and Nagito, the 2 characters I was most interested in, stay pretty relevant this ch. Byakuya was extremely protective up

until his death. It was tough seeing him go first and sucked because I already liked him and I was extremely interested on how he had gotten back into this situation. Nagito was our partner for the investigation and I really thought he was going to play the Kyoko role in helping.

I could not have been more wrong. This mf is insane and I love it. This twist was crazy and his laugh performance by both the English and Japanese VA are amazing. Byakuya was a chaotic person, but he was sane. Nagito was someone who was extremely dangerous to the group and

was just extremely interesting. Anyways, besides Nagito Teru being the murderer wasn't a big surprise but I did feel for him cuz he really wasn't a bad kid. Also his execution was pretty brutal and had quite a wholesome backstory. This first trial made me instantly love Nagito

and made me extremely excited for what was yet to come throughout the rest of the game. Strong hook, way better than the first game for sure. Nagito was a big part of my enjoyment in this ch and would continue to be throughout the rest of the game, but this first ch I give a 9/10

After a solid start, I was hyped for chapter 2 and it honestly didn't disappoint. Fuyuhiko was pretty enjoyable for me off the rip so I was excited to see more of him. He was another potential dangerous factor alongside Nagito and I was really invested in what he would do. This

ch also introduced some nice mystery by showing Hopes Peak out in the middle of no where. Akane and Nekomaru was a nice dynamic to introduce and Nagito playing everyone on strings despite being locked up was so cool. The game was interesting and I liked it as a motive.

I honestly couldn't figure out how it was significant at first but the way it played in was quite interesting imo. I had no clue that those were actually any of the characters on the island. Anyways leading up to the murder as a player I figured it was coming but I like the

fact of some of them trying to get along with the others. Also these swimsuits. Anyways I was kinda sad that Mahiru was the victim. She stood out because of the fact she was so normal compared to the rest of the group but I liked her personality and her normalness ig. Once again

I was pretty stumped on who it would be, and how it was actually carried out. They did good with the amount of people seeing the body mattering and Nagito being locked up and showing up out of no where like this was just hilarious. Finally figuring out why the game mattered was a

good "Oh shit" moment realizing I should've caught that. In any case the trial itself isn't crazy until the very end, and it was quite confusing when it reached there. The motive made sense for Fuyuhiko but Peko being this justice hero was a big wtf for me until I realized it was

an act. Learning about Peko and Fuyuhiko's relationship as she was basically his partner growing up in the Yakuza was a good shocking twist to me and the ending of the trial with her being executed was honestly really painful after Fuyuhiko opening up about her and wanting her

to just be herself. I was honestly extremely sad and the way he tried to get in the way of the execution just to save her really had me hurt. Loved these 2 characters and the ending definitely left me heartbroken, if only they were able to better express themselves.

Overall this chapter was really solid imo, and was the first case of really good development for a side character in the game and the series. Fuyuhiko will forever be goated for me and this trial was a real heartbreaker. DR2 starts off really strong for me with another 9/10 ch.

Chapter 3. Infamous chapter 3 for me. The first and only time I think DR2 misses. I really dont wanna talk much about it because I really dont care for it but here we go. One of the few positive things of this chapter which is actually great is the Fuyuhiko development. This man

who was a dick to everyone swearing he'd kill someone and get out, comes around and apologizes for his behavior. Peko's death obviously had a big effect on him and he became more upfront with his feelings and stopped being so cold and distant putting up a facade. Fuyuhiko is

just really good. I like the Akane-Nekomaru dynamic but fuck I hated this n it just made me annoyed at Akane. Ibuki is great and I loved the fact she tried to cheer everyone up w her concert. The disease was kinda whatever but once again this murder was pretty painfully obvious.

It was clearly Mikan and she was just kinda annoying. I did like how they referenced her "lover" and I did pick up on the fact that it was likely Junko so that was cool. Also the Mechamaru stuff was meh but I liked how it played out later so I'll let it pass.

Gonna give this chapter a 5/10. Not as bad as DR1 ch3 cuz I really don't have any good to say about that but at least Fuyuhiko had some amazing development at the start of the ch. Rest was just painfully mid. Danganronpa chapter 3s just really not it imo.

Now we're really getting into the good stuff. This chapter immediately starts off with a cool change in atmosphere. A theme park. Just going around searching was fun but man I wasn't ready for what was going to happen. The fun house was a great setup for murder. Starving them

is a perfect motive having them locked in this funhouse. It was life or death and seeing them struggle through the starvation and trying to avoid killing anyone actually kinda hurt. The setup of the funhouse and how it would play in later was already really interesting. The fact

that Mechamaru went out was kinda whatever. Was expected but the investigation just launched it into a whole other level. Playing as Nagito was fucking insane and doing the escape room was so much fun. Nagito's 180 attitude towards the students was very interesting not knowing

why and it set that up perfectly for the next chapter. Anyways I didn't really know it was Gundham so the mystery was pretty good and the mystery of the funhouse itself was p good. Gundham had started to annoy me but his sacrifice was quite touching to help everyone survive.

This chapter was great after the lackluster previous one and gets another 9/10 from me. Left me really curious to what Nagito saw and what changed his mind and had me really anticipating what he was gonna do in the next chapter.

Ch5 oh boy. One of my favorites in the series and easily one of the reasons Nagito is one of my favorites. This ch does so much and Ima just start right away talking about it. The new island was really weird and kinda eerie. It's sky was dark and the aesthetic was just off.

Automatically starting off the ch w an uneasy feeling and it only gets worse. The places at this island are kinda weird but thats enuf. Nagito has been insane this whole game but bro was another breed this chapter. Threatening to blow up the entire island made so much tension

and the entire chapter even before the investigation or trial I was on the edge of my seat. Nagito was showing out this chapter leading us on a wild goose chase to try to prevent the island from blowing up. After finally getting to the murder, I was just in shock. I had no clue

that Nagito was going to die and who tf actually killed him. As the investigation went on I started to believe he had killed himself but I really had no clue how he pulled this off or why. The trial starts out slow as your figuring out how he killed himself and with what but

theres clearly more too it. This man is actually insane to go this far just for his ideals. Ill talk about him more when I go over my favorite characters but for now ill just say that he went out like a champ. Torturing himself and dying to try to take out the others by giving

them an impossible murder to solve was fucking insane. He used his ultimate ability being lucky to hoping that the traitor would kill him with poison gas but setting it up to look like a different scene was just mind blowing. Realizing that right before the characters had made

me flip out and then we had to find out who was the traitor and believe in Nagito's luck that the traitor was actually the one that threw the poison gas to kill him. I had caught on to who it might be earlier but my friend Jared misdirected me and made me think otherwise so

thank him for that but fuck. It hurt. I loved Chiaki and her being so close to Hajime just made him depressed and really where his character starts to grow on me. Just cannot stress enough how much it hurt. Also the end of the ch is fucking insane and so confusing I had no clue

what was happening. This chapter is amazing and such a thrilling one. Nagito and Chiaki, my 2 favorite characters from the second game went out and it really broke me. My 2nd fav chapter in the entire series and is a solid 10/10 from me.

Time for the finale, first off the ending of chapter 5 had already had me asking so many questions. That continues with the "chapter 0" they show was so confusing and a big wtf. Loved seeing Nagito again but I had no clue wtf was the purpose of it and wtf he was even goin on ab

I recognized the hand as Junko's and was even MORE confused. Whole ch is a mind fuck for a lot of it. The investigation is just getting a lot of clues to lead into the finale. Makoto coming into play and the neo world program was done so well. Junko coming to life inside of this

world and became a virus bringing about the killing game was a nice twist. The big part though, is the Remnants of Despair. People who were corrupted by Junko and had basically gone insane. All of the cast being these people whos past selves had been put into this world to try to

solve their mental problems until they were fixed. The possibility of their friends coming back to life or dying, them coming back to life being in despair or not. Such cruel decisions for the cast to make, especially Hajime. Hajime originally being talentless, turning out

to be an artificially made mf w every talent imaginable but being corrupted. Its either Junko gets her way and can corrupt their friends but bringing them back to life and them becoming sane again, or they deny her and leave it to chance. Hajime's struggle throughout this final

trial was so heartbreaking and really raised his character. This meeting was so good w Chiaki giving him motivation. A big theme coming in with forging your own future and I just love these 2 and how Hajime progresses. Talking everyone into denying Junko and taking their own path

was amazing. All these characters I'd grown to love deciding to overcome everything was just really great. Loved this cast significantly more than the first and seeing them live on happily was just a happy feeling. Overall this game is a huge step up from the previous in so many

ways. The theme felt less corny, the mc was a huge step up, the other main characters w Nagito and Chiaki I loved significantly more than the previous, and even the side characters had really good development. The mysteries were infinitely more interesting and tougher to decipher

Final chapter of DR2 is another one of my favorites, and I give it 10/10 as well. This game as a whole had so many highs with only one dip in the middle, great and entertaining characters w good murder mysteries and a nice message. Danganronpa 2 gets a 10/10 from me, love it.