Danganronpa is a popular series that follows high school students in a killing game. The game mechanics are actually a lot like Ace Attorney, in that you argue with your fellow classmates in a chaotic court trial about who is the killer. The game is intense, mixing black comedy with mystery and drama.
The main story was told in the original Danganronpa and the 2nd one along with an anime series conclusion. However, one more main series game was made. That was Danganronpa V3, and it became a very controversial title among the loyal fan-base due to its crazy twist ending. Twists were not unusual, but this game went full meta.
With the fanbase divided, here are five points of the game being one of the best and five for it ruining the series.
10 (Ruined) The Twist Villain
To start with, the villain was a twist and it was one of the remaining high school students: Tsugumi. However, she was quite different from the villain from the other two games: Junko. No fans like her. In fact, she was voted least popular out of the whole games' cast by fans. That is a big deal for a villain to be that unpopular.
Her main personality trait is that she is a Danganronpa fangirl, which can be considered a really bad take since the people playing the game are also fans. In a way, she delivered the entire twist ending that divided fans in the first place. Despite having that impact, she is not as memorable as the other characters.
9 (Better) The Music
The music in the previous games were amazing, and V3 delivered it bigger and better than ever. It was all made by the talented Masafumi Takada, the same man who worked on the music in previous games. To some fans though, V3 had the best music of all. It ranged from emotional, upbeat, and scary.
Also, the use of Claire De Lune by Claude Debussy was tear-jerking. In the instances it was used, it was not just music, but a callback to Kaede's character. It was a clever use of the already emotional classical piece.
8 (Ruined) Kaede's Death
The first and the last class trials are among the hardest for fans to swallow in V3. Fans were led to believe they would play as the first female main character of the main series, Kaede. However, that was ripped away from fans in the first trial as she is found guilty and killed off.
For fans, especially the female fans, this was a horrible twist. You play a less interesting protagonist and Kaede was fridged for his man-pain. Many fans would have preferred if Shuichi and Kaede switched roles.
7 (Better) Interesting Characters
Besides Tsugumi, the cast of characters in V3 was incredibly rich. It introduced some of the most loved characters in the series such as Kiibo, Kokichi, Maki, and Kaito. The bond between Maki, Kaito, and Shuichi is written with a lot detail than the friends in previous games as well.
While the previous games had incredibly unlikable characters like Hifumi and Teruteru, this title did not really have such a character. For the most part, this was an easy cast to cheer for.
6 (Ruined) Defiled The Previous Games
A big twist reveal is that Danganronpa is fiction in V3, and the killing game of V3 is created for Danganronpa fans. So its not in the same world as the other two games, but in a world more similar to our own where they created a sort of reality TV show that is Danganronpa.
To many fans, this framed the previous games in a poor light. Instead of expanding upon the lore, story, and characters, V3 shrunk it down to a fictional core with fans that like to watch others suffer. At worst, fans have considered this to defile the legacy of the franchise.
5 (Better) New Ways To Debate
The new debates and mini-games were cleverly done. Debate scrums divided the courtroom into teams. That is awesome because it expands upon the characters and where they stand in a very simple mechanic. Once you have the killer cornered, you also have a one on one debate with them and they get a cool supervillain-like design during the mini-game.
Not only that, but you can lie to bring out the truth in this game. No more Mr. Nice guy.
4 (Ruined) The Twist Ending Lost A Ton Of Loyal Fans
Even if you disagree with V3's negative points, the fandom has already spoken. After beating the game, a ton of fans have written their thoughts online and most of them are negative. In fact, the backlash was extreme on places like Reddit and Youtube. However, some have mentioned that they have accepted the twists more with time.
If a new game every does come, it is likely that those who were disappointed by V3 will not pick it up.
3 (Better) It Definitely Keeps You Guessing
Good murder mysteries keep you guessing, and V3 does a grand job at its unpredictability. The ending is certainly not one a fan can just guess, and that goes for most of the trials as well. There are a lot of discoveries to be made and plenty of room for fans to think but a conclusion is hard to get to the earlier in a case you are in. It is awesome to see the truth slowly reveal itself with each clue.
2 (Ruined) Being Left Up To Interpretation
To this day, fans still do not know how much of the ending was true or not. There are theories that Tsugumi could have lied about Danganronpa not being real and that the game is actually set in the same world as the previous two games. However, it is likely that fans will never get answers.
Games being left to interpretation can be great, however the fact that this game left the players with few answers made them come to a lot of negative conclusions. Whatever interpretation the creator wanted, it is lost in the game and can only be seen in interviewers.
1 (Better) The Artwork
As with the other games, the character designs, the locations, and the sprites are well-done. Since it is the latest of the series, the quality of the art has only gotten better. It is also pretty cool to compare the character designs when they have Ultimate memories to when they look like ordinary high school students at the beginning.