Dangan Ronpa V3 (PS Vita)
Categories:
[blog]
Tags:
[video games],
[psvita],
[review]
Release date: September 2017 Time to complete: ~35 hrs
Another entry in the Visual Novel series - see my other reviews for previous games. This one is certainly divisive - the characters, story, and minigames all have their strong fans and detractors. The scenario is full of Dangan Ronpa tropes, the characters are by and large Dangan Ronpa tropes, the game feels fairly 'by-the-numbers' in general, but with a 'concept ending'. Kodaka (the writer) had a 'message' to send with this game, and it's one which fell flat with me. No, worse than that, it actually harmed the series as a whole in my eyes. I could wave away the abysmal 'Ultra Despair Girls' game as a spin-off, but this one is supposed to be a main-line entry. It doesn't quite pull a "Zero Time Dilemma" but it's close. To be fair, some fans love the ending, but not this fan.
In its favour are a few excellent characters (and the best protagonist of the series, not that that's saying all that much), some amusing dialogue and an ALMOST incredibly interesting trial which unfortunately totally backed down at the very last second. The music is of course fantastic, that goes without saying, and the graphical presentation is as good as you'd expect.
But overall I left very disappointed. I don't need some high-handed conceptual message shoved down my throat at the expense of the universe I've become invested in. Feck!