Danganronpa Game Series is a famous adventure mystery series published by Spike Chunsoft. So far, there are 4 games released in this series, three main titles and one spin-off, each being unique in its own way. Many fans have different opinions on which of the Danganronpa games is the best. This post will try ranking the various games of the franchise from the worst to the best to help newbies to the franchise decide which game to play first.
The Best Danganronpa Games mostly revolve around Hope’s Peak Academy, an elite high school. The three main title games Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (2010), Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (2012), and Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017) all follow similar premises. The spinoff Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls deals with events that occur between the first two games.
Best Danganronpa Games Ranked
The Danganronpa Games are ranked from worst to best games based on the opinions of the majority of the Danganronpa franchise fans.
4. Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
The Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is a spin-off that deals with the events that happen between the games Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (2010) and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (2012). The gameplay of this game is very different compared to the three main titles. This is because Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is mainly a third-person shooter game and not a complete visual novel.
Plot
As mentioned earlier, the story of this spin-off starts after the first game with Komaru Naegi as the protagonist who is the younger sibling of Makoto Naegi, the protagonist of the first game.
Komaru Naegi spent her last year locked in an apartment complex in Towa City and thus is unaware of everything that is going on in the Danganronpa world.
The events of the story start when she gets attacked by the Monokuma robots. She flees to protect herself from the robots and along the way she meets Toko Fukawa, one of the characters present in the first game.
She asks Komaru to escape using a helicopter but it gets ambushed soon after she takes it. This makes her crash and finally meet up with the main antagonist present in the game. They then force her to play a game in which she is hunted down by a different group and this is where the third-person shooting aspect of the game actually starts.
Gameplay
As mentioned earlier, Danganronpa’s Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is primarily a third-person shooter and all the characters are 3D models, unlike the other visual novel games. So the game is of the shooter adventure genre.
There are different ammo types to help you pass through different levels and beat enemies. There sure are certain visual novel elements as well in the Best Danganronpa Game with tonnes of dialogues and puzzles for you to solve.
Why Other Games Are Better
The opinion of most fans who consider this game the worst is that they don’t enjoy its story. They found most characters in the game annoying unlike the characters in other Danganropa games. The game also had some inappropriate jokes that fans say were totally unnecessary.
Many fans of the franchise did not particularly enjoy that Danganronpa’s Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls was primarily a third-person shooter. It also looked bad, especially on PS4 and the gameplay and shooting aspects of the game are termed boring by most fans.
3. Danganronpa 1: Trigger Happy Havoc
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (2010) is the first game that was launched marking the beginning of the franchise. The game even though is provided with the third position in the list, is not in any way a bad game but it is just that the other two are a bit better as they were released in later years with better graphics.
This original Best Danganronpa Game played the most important role in achieving the huge fan following the Danganronpa franchise has now.
Plot
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc created the premise for all the Best Danganronpa Games. The story takes place at Hope’s Peak Academy, an elite school that only admits ultimate high schoolers who are prodigies in various fields.
One student that got admitted to the Academy is Makoto Naegi, the protagonist of this original game. He, however, is an average student that actually got selection through a raffle becoming the ultimate lucky student to enter Hope’s Peak Academy.
On reaching the Academy, something strange happens to Makoto Naegi. He gets knocked out and wakes up in a classroom. A puzzled protagonist then roams around the school only to notice other ultimate students roaming around as clueless as he was.
Soon they all heard an announcement via intercom asking them all to go to the gymnasium. On getting there, they see a strange-looking black and white bear that introduces itself as Monokuma, the Principal of Hope Peak’s Academy.
Monokuma is a sadistic evil-looking remote-controlled bear who is one of the primary antagonists of the series. It tells the 14 ultimates that they will be imprisoned in the academy for the rest of their lives and the only way to be released is by murdering another student and avoiding being released as the culprit.
If the murderer is identified by the other students he/she will face violent execution. And if the rest of the students identified the wrong murderer all of them will be executed except for the actual murderer who will be allowed to graduate.
The plot progression of the game is something that is admired by all the fans with surprising elements and a great climax. The writing of the story, the characters, etc. are all very well done and there is so much praise given for the story of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc by everyone who has played this game.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is the standard visual novel style that is followed by all three main titles of Danganronpa games. The game follows an adventure genre involving searching for clues, investigating, etc.
It may be divided into two parts, one being the general exploration side that lets you walk around, explore and investigate the Academy. Once you complete the investigation of a murder comes the class trial side of the game. This is the part where you interrogate all suspects and try and decide who killed the victim.
During the class trial phase of the game, there are several mini-games like Hangaman’s Gambit that help you have fun and enjoy the game. You will also be able to interact with other characters and give them gifts too in this phase.
Why Other Games Are Better
As mentioned earlier, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc may be in the third position here but it is a close third. The only factor that made it get the third position is because it is a little weaker on the graphics side compared to the other two main titles only because it was released way before the other two.
2. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
The second position is backed by the final instalment of the Danganronpa franchise, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017). This game is one of the Best Danganronpa Game and was released to serve as an evolution of the first two main titles of the franchise with certain differences in the overall aesthetics in the art direction of the game and a bit of difference in the approach of the game.
Plot
The plot of the final instalment of the Danganronpa franchise, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017) is similar to that of the first two games. The protagonist ends up in Hope’s Peak Academy only to know you can only leave the place by murdering fellow ultimates and getting away with it.
The protagonist of this game is Kaede Akamatsu who got kidnapped by a strange group of people and ends up waking up in a locker of a classroom and was found by another person, Shuichi Saihara who was similarly abducted. You also get to play as her in this game.
They are not very sure of how they got there and on getting out of that classroom, they are chased by a menacing machine into the gymnasium and it is upon reaching there that they learn about the killing game conducted by the evil Monokuma and his Monokubs.
Fans generally agree upon how they very much enjoy the story of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017). Like all of the three main titles, the writing of this game is also exceptional with great characters, great plot twists and a great story arc.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017) is definitely the most refined of the three main title games. The gameplay does not feel as clunky as the other games mostly because it was primarily developed for PS4. The graphics of the game being the latest release in the series is better compared to the other two instalments.
Other than that, the gameplay is similar to the Danganronpa 1 and 2 with both the investigation phase and class trial phase. The class trial part of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017) may be the hardest compared to the class trials in the other two games. The cases presented are also more complex compared to the other two games.
Why Other Games Are Better
The main reason why Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017 acquired only second position considering it has a great plot and gameplay is that many fans of the franchise didn’t find the ending of the game up to the mark. And most fans would just say that overall they find Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (2012) a much better enjoyable and interesting game compared to this last instalment in the franchise.
1. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
The first position in this list of Danganronpa Games Ranked is backed by the second instalment in the franchise, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (2012). The game was released two years after the first game of the franchise gained immense success. Many fans of the Danganronpa series have voted Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (2012) as their favourite game of the franchise which is why the game has acquired its position in this list.
Plot
In the game, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (2012) we play as the Amnesiac boy, Hajime Hinata who possesses a great admiration of Hope Peak’s Academy and who gets selected as one of the ultimates for the year.
Once he entered the academy, his memories blacked out and the only way forward is through a weird door. On opening the door he sees the other ultimates that were selected all in a place that looks like a classroom in a school.
However, it is later revealed by a rabbit, Monomi, that greets them that they are actually on a tropical island and that they are present there to collect hope shards. Suddenly, the antagonist, Monokuma reveals himself and explains his wicked killing game to them.
Gameplay
The Gameplay of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is the same as the other two main titles with both the investigation phase and class trial phase. Some of the class trials, however, went over an hour which may be a lot for some players but they were all very interesting. The graphics of the game is also mostly similar to Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, the first game.
Why This Is The Best Game
The most important reason that landed Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair the Best Danganronpa Games because of its great story which is slightly better than the third which is better than the first.
The story of the game is much bigger and grander than the initial simple premise of the game and also compared to the stories of the other two games. The game throws at us gamers several unpredictable twists with impeccable writing.
The story of the game can be said as one of the best stories ever told in a video game. The progression of the story and the setup were all very well-planned and written. Furthermore, this Danhganronpa game has the best characters with better talents and better behaviours compared to all others in the other games of the franchise.
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