Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls Reviews
A weak entry in the Danganronpa series. While the gameplay is a divergence from the franchise, a weak story and repetitive gameplay left me wondering why I played it. Maybe one to skip.
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is a great addition to an already strong franchise with a fan base that is eager for more. Even though this is a port from the PlayStation Vita, it's still worth picking up if you skipped over it the first time. If you already own it, you're better off waiting for Danganronpa V3 when it arrives later this year, as nothing new has been added to the game. Either way, this is a must-own for fans of the franchise, and is a strong addition to anyone's library looking for a fun exploration and shooting game with an insane story and fantastic cast of characters. Just do yourself a favor and play at least the original game first. You'll have a much better appreciation for it if you do!
There comes a point in one's life where they simply have to accept the facts. Danganronpa is a prime example of this as it continues to raise the bar on each subsequent entry. Thinking that the first title had set the bar for insanity, craziness and the darkness that mankind is capable of, it wasn't long before the second game released and passed it and Another Episode that dark trend. Having only recently played the first two entries through the PS4 release of Reload:1 and Reload:2, I wasn't sure how these tales could get any darker.
If you’ve already played the game when it released on the Vita, it’s hard to call this spiffed-up console port a must-buy. Apart from the visual bells and whistles, there simply isn’t a whole lot of new stuff going on here. However, if you missed out on the adventure the first time around, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is an excellent addition to the PlayStation 4 library that no fan of the series should be without.
All in all, even though it might certainly not be a perfect or good “game”, it´s still a damn great Danganronpa experience, fitting for every fan of the series and basically essential at this point. Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls might be a spin-off to the main series but in the end, it suffers from the same problems.
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is a game I would recommend to only fans of the franchise, especially those that missed the 2015 PlayStation Vita version. This port is almost done at the bare minimum, with a partial upgrade of graphical elements, and a gameplay that doesn't work well on controller, but still is a decent story, if you have the patience to read through it.
A game about second chances and about growing up. A game that instills values and that there is always another way even when you are faced with a difficult choice. I recommend this game to those of you that find story is a great deal of importance but will also welcome a nice and challenging game.
The Danganronpa series may have seemed a bit daunting in the past due to its RPG gameplay, but now Spike Chunsoft has created a solid gateway game with Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. Featuring various bullet types from those that cause enemies to dance or those that knock them back, there is plenty of fun to be had here in this often very creepy game.
This game has been made for fans new and old, meaning whether you've played the previous titles or not, you can dive straight in here. Sure, you won’t know who each and every character is, but you'll still be able to enjoy the story. If you're apprehensive, it’s time to push those fears aside, this is a must-own title!
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is not a bad title and you will definitely enjoy it. Unfortunately, a few flaws like weak negative characters, bosses built on the same principle or unnecessarily frequent challenges will spoil the experience a bit. Despite this, the gameplay is fun and the story engrosses you to the point where you'll simply take on the role of Komar and fight for your life tooth and nail. However, to avoid getting completely lost in the lore, we recommend playing the first episode first or at least watching the anime, which will illuminate the full beginnings that are referenced a lot here.
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Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultimate Despair Girls hits all the right notes for a spinoff, retaining the spirit of its source material while still trying something new. It might not be the most challenging game around, but those looking for a bit more despair in their life have come to the right place.
Like it or not, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is an essential part of the series canon, despite the vastly different take on the previous visual novel format. Whilst far from perfect gameplay-wise, and dragging on too much for its own good, many of the positive attributes Danganronpa is known for successfully transfer across to this entry, filling in the gaps left between the previous two releases. It is the plot that carries Ultra Despair Girls along, but had it not been for the entries before it, this may not have been received as favourably. Either way, this is still a must-play for Danganronpa fans.
Following the pedigree of the first two titles, 'Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls' could be seen as a bit disappointing. It's markedly shorter than the mainline titles, and the story it tells, while good, is simply not as great as the first two 'Danganronpa' titles. While it's not the Game of the Year material of its series' herald, there is plenty to be enjoyed in 'Ultra Despair Girls' to be worth a purchase for any fan of the series.
The icing on the cake is the game’s splendid audiovisual design. Taking advantage of the Vita’s more capable hardware, Ultra Despair Girls brings Towa City and its inhabitants to life with more detailed environments and character models, all while retaining Spike Chunsoft’s trademark art style. The game also brings back remixed versions of the classic audio tracks from previous Danganronpa titles. Despite not sounding all that different from their original iterations, they’re a treat to listen to and go a long way towards setting the right mood for Ultra Despair Girls’ comic and tense moments.
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is oddly named and really, the game lives up to that tone: Odd. But that’s part of the charm and appeal and fans of past entries will quickly embrace this style. What’s questionable is whether or not they’ll embrace the new third-person action gameplay, which is a dramatic departure from the courtroom scenarios seen before.
Overall Daganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is a lot of fun. It looks and plays so much better on the PS4 than it does on PS Vita, and it felt as if the shooting mechanics have been improved over the original Vita release. If you're a fan of the Danganronpa series, then I highly recommend you get this one right now. Sure, it's set in a different genre, but the many nods to the first two games in the series as well as the expansion on the Danganronpa universe's lore make this an entry worthy of the Danganronpa name.
Ultra Despair Girls might be an outlier, and even a game that only the most hardcore Danganronpa fans will ever truly appreciate, but underneath that hood, it's a smart one, and has a wicked sense of humour to boot. [OpenCritic note: Matt Sainsbury separately reviewed the PS4 (4 stars) and Vita (4.5 stars) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls jumps oddly between different genres, which fits in an otherwise enjoyable story. A vast majority involves simply clicking through the story, which per the series in general is largely pretty good. The convoluted plot, and heavy 'anime moments' make it tough to recommend to non-fans of previous releases, but those who enjoy the first or second title will have a great time here as most of the feel still remains, despite the very odd genre change.
Ultra Despair Girls' loop of exploring dungeon-like areas, mowing down waves of Monokuma bots, and switching between the ranged combat of Komaru and melee barrages of Genocide Jack… means you've got a third person shooter unlike any other.