Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

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Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Wp3145053-danganronpa-trigger-happy-havoc.jpg
Pull the trigger!
Protagonist(s): Makoto Naegi
Genre(s): Visual Novel
Adventure
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows
macOS
Linux
PlayStation 4
PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Vita
Android
iOS
Nintendo Switch
Xbox One
Release: PlayStation Portable
JP: November 25, 2010
Android, iOS
JP: August 20, 2012
Anniversary Edition
WW: May 21, 2020
PlayStation Vita
JP: October 10, 2013
NA: February 11, 2014
PAL: February 14, 2014
Windows, macOS & Linux
WW February 18, 2016
1・2 Reload
NA: March 14, 2017
EU: March 17, 2017
JP: May 18, 2017
Trilogy
NA: March 26, 2019
EU: March 29, 2019
Decadence
JP: November 4, 2021
NA: December 3, 2021
Xbox One
WW: January 18, 2022
Developer(s): Spike
Abstraction Games (PC)
Publisher(s): Spike (2012)
Spike Chunsoft (post-2012)
NIS America (NA & EU)
Country: Japan
Series: Danganronpa
Successor: Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (by release date)
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (chronologically)

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a visual novel adventure game developed and published by Spike as the first game in the Danganronpa series. The game was originally released in Japan for the PlayStation Portable in November 2010 and was later ported to Android and iOS in August 2012. Danganronpa was localized and published in English regions by NIS America in February 2014, and for PC, Mac, and Linux in February 2016. It was also released as part of Danganronpa Decadence for the Nintendo Switch on December 3, 2021, as well for the franchise's 10th Anniversary release for the Xbox One on January 18, 2022.

Plot

Hope's Peak Academy is home to Japan's best and brightest high school students — the beacons of hope for the future. But that hope suddenly dies when Makoto Naegi and his classmates find themselves imprisoned in the school, cut off from the outside world, and subject to the whims of a strange, murderous little bear named Monokuma. He pits the students against each other, promising freedom to anyone who can murder a fellow classmate and get away with it. It's up to you to find out who Monokuma really is, and why you've been taken from the world you once knew. But be careful what you wish for — sometimes there's nothing more deadly than the truth...

Why It's Full of Hope

  1. The story is well-written, intriguing, and gripping. Given how the entire plot of the game revolves around the students murdering each other and the rest of the cast having to solve the mystery of who was responsible for the crime, it gives the story incredibly high stakes given how anyone (no matter how much of an impact they play in the story of the game or how major their roles as character are in it) can die at any moment.
  2. A whole new section of the school opens up after each trial is over. This gives you a new supply of rooms to discover and mysteries to stumble upon, made all the better by Danganronpa’s intuitive quick travel system that rarely forces you to walk around the school on foot (though you can, if you want, in first-person view).
  3. The voice acting (both in English and Japanese) is phenomenal. Shout-out to Miyuki Sawashiro/Amanda Celine Miller as Toko Fukawa/Genocide Jack, Akira Ishida/Jason Wishnov as Byakuya Togami, Kazuya Nakai/Keith Silverstein as Mondo Owada, Kujira/Jessica Gee-George as Sakura Ogami, and Yoko Hikasa/Erika Harlacher as Kyoko Kirigiri.
  4. It has an incredible soundtrack. Many of these come from the executions (Punishment Rocket, Thousand Knocks, Motorcycle Death Cage, etc.), but they are still more tracks for the game that perfectly fit the mood of the scenes that they're present in (e.g.,Desire for Execution, Buzzkill, Climax Reasoning, Discussion -HEAT UP-, Climax Return).
  5. Compared to the other installments in the series (sans Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School), this one actually feels as if you're really closed off from the outside world thanks to the setting having no windows, no real kind of freedom, and almost always having a sense of dread and horror thanks to the claustrophobic feel of the place, which drastically increases the tension and danger of the environment the game takes place in.
  6. What's special about the Trials is that there’s no prosecution and no defense. Everyone has their suspicions, but these trials are really massive blame games that slowly whittle down to a few culprits. A trend that would continue throughout the Danganronpa series.
  7. Speaking of the Trials, they're fully voiced, and that’s actually quite enjoyable as the game is brilliant in the trials, and the fact that they're voiced means you don’t get taken out of the experience by being forced to read exposition. And the voice acting itself is brilliant.
  8. The game is emphasized on character development, and specifically on talking to various characters, learning more about them, and at times befriending them, leaving you attached to them and making the deaths all the more impactful.
  9. Like its two successors, it has a cast filled with strong, highly developed, and complex characters. They all very different, colorful, and have a talent that helps distinguish one from another.
    • Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation, is the lead singer of an incredibly popular idol group who's willing to do not-so pretty things to achieve her dream (as demonstrated early on in the game).
    • Leon Kuwata, the Ultimate Baseball Player, is the boisterous star player of Japan's champion high-school baseball team who, oddly enough, doesn't care much for baseball.
    • Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer, is a shy but smart crossdresser who's secretly developing his own A.I. programs.
    • Mondo Owada, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, foul-mouthed and doesn't take orders well, but would never hit a girl or break his promises.
    • Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Moral Compass, is an enthusiastically straight-laced student who is a stickler for rules.
    • Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator is an otaku artist whose work sells in the tens of thousands and has an interest in 2-D women.
    • Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler, is a soft-spoken but cunning femme fatale renowned for her exemplary luck in games of chance.
    • Sakura Ogami, the Ultimate Martial Artist, is a strong and fearsome but gentle student who's occasionally mistaken for a male due to her appearance and voice.
    • Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant, is laid-back and dimwitted student and a big name in Japan's fortune-telling community.
    • Aoi Asahina, the Ultimate Swimming Pro, is a bubbly, air-headed student who excels in athletic sports, especially swimming, and has a love of donuts.
    • Toko Fukawa, the Ultimate Writing Prodigy, is a nervous and aggressive girl who suffers from low self-esteem and has an obsessive crush on Byakuya.
      • Toko's split personality, Genocider Syo/Genocide Jack/Jill, is an absolutely insane murderous fiend who steals the show every time she's onscreen with her hammy, over-the-top acting.
    • Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Prodigy, is an arrogant and haughty student who's the successor of a highly successful family corporation.
    • Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate ??? (Detective), is an aloof and enigmatic girl who is at first hostile towards Makoto but warms up to him as the game goes on as she teaches him how to solve the murders.
    • Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate (Un)Lucky Student (Ultimate Hope), the protagonist, is a boy who describes himself as "an ordinary high school boy", but is also very caring, merciful, and compassionate.
    • Even the game's main villain, Junko Enoshima (or the Ultimate Despair/Fashionista/Analyst) is an absolutely phenomenal villain. Due to her hammy and over-the-top acting and truly psychotic obsession with despair making her an entertaining yet threatening antagonist. Her motive for being a despair-obsessed lunatic is also rather interesting. As while she's generally known as the Ultimate Fashionista, her true talent is being an analyst. And because of her ability to analyze things so well, she grew to see everything as predictable and boring. She also grew to despise her talent as well (in a similar vain as Leon and Yuto Kamishiro, but in a much more intense way). And due to seeing despair as the only exciting thing in life due to it's unpredictability (especially when compared to hope), and being born into a society that idolized hope and talent, she decided to dedicate her life to dying the world with despair. However, she was sadly flanderized in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School into a one-dimensional villain who's lost all of her humor, intimidating presence, and complex personality.
  10. The game includes Free Time Events (or Dangan Academy), which allow the player to spend time with the other characters and gain information on their backstories, and therefor makes it eaier to understand why these people think the way they think and act the way they act. The endings for these (and the gameplay progress as well for those who not only did not make it at the end) are also incredibly heartwarming.
    • Aoi says she wants to go out on a date with Makoto, who assures her that she doesn't have to change anything about herself.
    • Byakuya asks Makoto to be his secretary to help him understand 'ordinary people'.
    • Celestia promotes Makoto to B-Rank, calling him her knight while saying that she's certain with him by her side, she can make her dream come true.
    • Chihiro tells Makoto the truth about his identity and Makoto says how much he respects his strength and courage and how he's overcome his weakness.
    • Hifumi asks Makoto to be his assistant and his friend.
    • Mukuro tells Makoto he makes her feel real and Makoto promises to help her find a new dream.
    • Kiyotaka plans to become a politician to change the country and asks Makoto to do so as well.
    • Kyoko asks Makoto to put his trust in her and he says he looks forward to helping her find what she lost.
    • Leon says he's going to both sing and play baseball and that he was able to figure out that approach because Makoto was there to listen to him.
    • Mondo promises to build Makoto a house when he becomes a carpenter.
    • Sakura tells Makoto he taught her the importance of withstanding the difficulty of living inside the school.
    • Sayaka calling it a miracle that she and Makoto are together and that she had faith because he'd never give up.
    • Toko says she can't have her delusions anymore because Makoto genuinely wanted to be with her and asks him to be with her and he promises to stay with her.
    • Yasuhiro says he wants Makoto to stick around, saying Makoto takes him as he is.
  11. Makoto undergoes a very strong character arc during the game, going from a self proclaimed "average high school student" to the Ultimate Hope. During first Class Trial, Kyoko, sees something in Makoto that no one else saw; a leader. Someone who could free the other students from the Killing Game, and she labeled him as, the Ultimate Hope. Makoto, on the other hand, didn't see himself didn't see himself as a leader at the time. But throughout the game, as more and more people die, and as Makoto continuously tells himself that no one was going to kill each other anymore, he's forced to confront the fact that he didn't know what his classmates were truly capable of. And that he could never be certain of what they would do during the Killing Game. As the students continue to die, one by one, Kyoko becomes a mentor to Makoto, teaching him how to solve each murder case by himself. And by the end, he becomes a leader figure to the rest of the survivors, over a long, long course of events. With him learning more and more about becoming the Ultimate Hope over the course of each murder and Class Trial. And now, he, and the rest of the survivors, stand up to Junko, and put an end to the Killing Game. Makoto didn't just become a true leader overnight. It took time for him to accept his role as the Ultimate Hope and lead the students into shutting the game down and defeating Junko.
    • His character arc also extends to Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, where he is thrust into a leadership position during the Final Killing Game, and has people looking up to him for guidance and seeing him as a savior. Makoto, despite bringing an end to Junko Enoshima and freeing his peers from the Killing Game, still didn't see himself as much of a leader, let alone the Ultimate Hope. But is eventually able to accept his position and escape the Killing Game along with Aoi, Ryota Mitarai, and Kyosuke Munakata.

Bad Qualities

  1. The graphics, while intricate, look somewhat aged by today's standards.
  2. Certain things simply don't respond to camera rotation as well as they could, something the later games improve on.
  3. Many of the major aspects in this installment (the trials, executions, free time events, characters, etc.) are also arguably not as good as they are in the later games.

Reception

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc has received favorable reviews in Japanese game media and was awarded a pre-release rating of 36/40 by Famitsu. The English localization of the game has earned a Metacritic review aggregate score of 80 for the PS Vita release and a score of 82 for the PC port, indicating generally favorable reviews.

The English adaptation won several awards, including Game Informer's "Best Vita Exclusive of 2014" and "Best Adventure of 2014", RPGFan's "Best Story of 2014" and "Best Graphic Adventure of 2014", Hardcore Gamer's "Best New Character of 2014" (Monokuma) and the Metro's #14 in their "Top 20 Games of 2014".

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