Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

This was the quickest 35 hours of my life. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair takes what made the original great and runs circles around it while screaming at the top of its lungs. The story is pure excitement from start to finish. Every character is unique and interesting, with some being exceptionally well developed. Fuyuhiko and Nagito are two of the most well written characters I've seen in a video game. Goodbye Despair revels in its sheer insanity and shock value. It knows how to surprise you. The trial sequences are far more fleshed out and fun than in the original, with the mysteries feeling overwhelmingly convoluted at the start, making you feel compelled to continue playing to discover the truth. I was thinking about the ending for a week after beating the game, and it's really stuck with me. This is a truly special game that no visual novel fan (or just anyone who enjoys Japanese games) should miss.

While I think the first game's atmosphere was better, I do have to say this one is pretty great as well. But less deadly because of what we learn at the end of our classmates but sadly... not Chiaki. The "twist" of the game (while it's fairly obvious to guess) is rather intriguing when you learn the exact details of it, and I absolutely love the "Beautiful Ruin" track and it's other variations. I liked how the ending left the fates of certain members of the cast ambiguous too.

The English dub in particular was awesome, and definitely more consistent than DR1's was. Bryce Papenbrook sounded so intriguing and hot as Nagito, (who's an awesome, morally gray version of Makoto's "Hope" character IMO) Julie Ann Taylor was pretty fun as Ibuki, and Derek Stephen Prince NAILED Fuyuhiko. Natalie Hoover made Sonia sound like an amazing role model, Chiaki's VA made the ultimate gamer sound like such a gentle soul, and I could go on but yeah.

Danganronpa ships are the best ships! Hands down!!! I actually recommend Goodbye Despair more than Trigger Happy Havoc. I think this is probably Top 10 best games for me.

I love how the ending is portrayed, that if you're overwhelmed that the only two choices you can make include a bad future, you can create your own future, and refuse to let anyone control your future, it's comes much more extreme, intense, and overwhelming in Killing Harmony.

This site's official review and rating for this game are entirely accurate. To say that both positive messages and role models "were not present" is a complete lie. To feel that, the reviewer must not have paid any attention to the dialogue. One of the characters you meet early on has dedicated himself to protecting his classmates. One character sacrifices himself, twice, for the good of others. And the entire main cast falls into despair, then manages to break themselves free and atone for what they have done, through sheer hope.