3.5/5 ★ – Jumpmanryan's review of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.

6.5 out of 10! **SPOILERS** Danganronpa V3 immediately felt a little strange when compared to the first two games. The vibe was just different. They added Monokubs and Monokuma just didn’t sound or feel the same as the previous entries. This isn’t to say that Danganronpa V3 isn’t still a funny game. It is. But it just feels like different humor than the first two games. The characters in Danganronpa V3 are solid overall. Some duds here and there, but Kokichi is fantastic. Kokichi may be the greatest character in the series as far as I’m concerned. But the way these characters reach their resolutions just... rarely felt right, well-deserved, or even sensical. Let’s start with my least favorite character Tsumugi. She’s the big bad in this game. She’s the mastermind hidden within your group of students. Unfortunately, there is no build up for her character throughout the entire game. Each chapter I kept questioning why she was even still alive. She rarely ever spoke or meant anything to any of the story until the final class trial. It’s a shame, because the previous Danganronpa games tended to have satisfying reveals in their final chapters. But in Danganronpa V3, Tsumugi’s reveal felt so flat because she was so pointless throughout the entire game until this point. I needed some kind of character moment with her in order to care or understand more why she was the mastermind, but there wasn’t anything. And Tsumugi isn’t the only disappointing thing in the last chapter. The entire ending to the game is terrible. They practically erase everything you did in this game AND THE PREVIOUS 2 GAMES by essentially saying none of it was real. Everything was fictional as the game breaks the fourth wall and explains how Danganronpa is nothing but entertainment for the audience. No real deaths, no real memories, no real friendships, absolutely nothing that happens in the games actually happens. This “twist” really pissed me off. It’s essentially the same as watching an incredible television show only for the finale to reveal it was all just a dream. By the time I’d reached the final class trial, I’d come to terms with V3 being a good game, but lesser than the first two Danganronpa titles. But then V3 tries to crumble at the end AND bring it’s predecessors with it. And then there’s Keebo. I absolutely hated that Keebo was just a robot doing what the audience wanted. Nothing hinted towards this. There was no development towards this reveal at any moment other than him mentioning his “inner voice” every now and then. And I also find it hard to believe that the audience would’ve wanted Keebo to join Angie’s cult in the third chapter. Another issue I have with V3 is the timing of certain events and the way characters exited the story. Like I mentioned before, Kokichi is quite easily my favorite character in the series. But the way he goes out is odd to me. He’s shown throughout the trials and investigations to be an incredibly manipulative and intelligent guy. So I truly don’t understand why he believed his plan of dying was going to work in the end. The case wasn’t difficult to solve. And I just always felt that Kokichi was smarter than that. And to not get to see his true character before he died really sucked as well. It would’ve been a really cool story moment. This Danganronpa entry’s story just fell apart at the end. And before that, it’s story was fine but still wasn’t meeting the standards set by the first two games in the series. But worst of all, V3’s ending even taints the first two games. They made an ending so bad that it makes the previous games worse. So, this forces me to make V3 nonexistent in my headcanon. With all of my complaints over the story and character moments, Danganronpa V3 is still a decent game. It holds all of the same addictive and fun gameplay that the series is known for. The cases, while a little too easy this time around, are still very thought provoking and entertaining. The writing is still funny. But there are just too many other things that drastically weigh down this entry in the series. Especially that ending. Oof. Side note: WHERE THE HELL IS MONOMI/USAMI?? She’s the star of the second game and she’s just nonexistent in V3? How do you make that mistake?