Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

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♥	This article is dedicated to Nobuyo Ōyama (October 15, 1933-September 29, 2024), may she rest in peace

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is a visual novel adventure game developed by Spike Chunsoft. It is the second game in the Danganronpa franchise, following 2010's Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. It was first released in Japan for the PlayStation Portable in July 2012, with a port released for the PlayStation Vita in Japan in October 2013, and worldwide by NIS America in September 2014. A port for personal computers was also released in April 2016, as well as a bundle containing the first Danganronpa for the PlayStation 4 in March 2017, called Danganronpa 1-2 Reload, and it was also released as part of Danganronpa Decadence for the Nintendo Switch on December 3rd, 2021.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

Despair so nice they caused it twice.

Protagonist(s):	Hajime Hinata
Genre(s):	Visual Novel
Platform(s):	PlayStation Portable Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 PlayStation Vita Nintendo Switch
Release Date:	PlayStation Portable JP: July 26, 2012 PlayStation Vita JP: October 10, 2013 NA: September 2, 2014 EU: September 5, 2014 AU: September 11, 2014 PlayStation 4 NA: March 14, 2017 EU: March 17, 2017 JP: May 18, 2017 Mircosoft Windows April 18, 2016 iOS/Android Worldwide August 20, 2020 Decadence JP: November 4, 2021 NA: December 3, 2021
Developer(s):	Spike Chunsoft
Publisher(s):	Spike Chunsoft (JP) NIS America (WW)
Series:	Danganronpa
Predecessor:	Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (by release date) Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (chronologically)
Successor:	Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (by release date)

Plot

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair takes place shortly after the events of Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. The game is from Hajime Hinata's point of view as he starts his first year at Hope's Peak Academy. As he walks into the school building, he is overcome with fatigue; when he recovers, he finds himself in front of a door. He has a strong urge to open it, and once he does, he finds himself in a classroom full of his new classmates. They suddenly find themselves locked in the classroom, and a pink bunny, Usami, appears before them, claiming herself to be the class teacher. The classroom around them soon falls away to reveal a paradise-like island. Usami tells them that they are on a school trip and that they are to befriend each other to gain Hope Fragments and make their hope grow. Just as they get used to the peaceful island life, Monokuma appears and takes control of the island, announcing that the students must participate in a life of mutual killing if they wish to escape.

Why It's Also Full of Hope

While the actual gameplay is very similar to the first game's (which isn't a bad thing at all), graphics, cutscenes, and voice clips are all arguably an improvement over the original's.
Incredible Japanese and English voice acting. Shout-out to Megumi Ogata/Bryce Papenbrook as Nagito Komaeda, Daisuke Kishio/Derek Stephen Price as Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, Kotono Mitsuishi/Janice Kawaye as Peko Pekoyama, Tomokazu Sugita/Chris Tergliafera as Gundham Tanaka, and Ami Koshimizu/Julie Ann Taylor as Ibuki Mioda.
Monokuma, the psychotic, yet hilarious mechanical bear, returns to host the Killing Game. He's just as deliciously evil, hammy, and downright insane as he was in the previous game.
- This game also introduces Usami (later Monomi), a rabbit magical girl who serves as the lead teacher of the school trip. After being assaulted by Monokuma, Usami's appearance is forcibly changed to resemble him. And unlike Monokuma, she has a polite and good-hearted personality, always trying to help the students whenever she can.
The characters are all developed, complex, unique, and interesting. So much so that they could each have an entire story completely dedicated to them.
- Byakuya Togami (Ultimate Imposter), is a student without a home, relatives, gender, or even a name who could only live by assuming the guise of another person.
- Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Chef, is a master of culinary arts with an equally vast passion for romance, often trying to flirt with female students.
- Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer, is a strict, no-nonsense girl, particularly towards the males (but only because she wants to see them become good, hard-working people, unlike her lazy father who she was constantly left home alone with her childhood).
- Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordsman, is Fuyuhiko's stoic bodyguard willing to do anything to protect him.
- Ibuki Mioda, the Ultimate Musician, is an upbeat rockstar who loves to have fun and originally came from an all-girls school.
- Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer, is a cute but spiteful and bratty bully who gained massive popularity for her youthful appearance but still has a genuine friendship with Mahiru.
- Mikan Tsumiki, the Ultimate Nurse, is a shy victim of bullying (particularly from Hiyoko here) with a desire to have others depend on her, which is what led her to become a nurse in the first place.
- Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager, is a hot-blooded and passionate student who's still incredibly caring and protective of those he takes under his wing, especially Akane who he regularly spars and trains with.
- Gundham Tanaka, the Ultimate Breeder, is an anti-social man (the only person he's truly capable of opening up to being Sonia) with an evil overlord persona and a strong love for animals of any sort.
- Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student, is an intelligent and mysterious man who believes all of life's despair, no matter how tragic, is ultimately good things because they are just "stepping stones" to a happy, hopeful ending, and is shown many times to have a psychotic streak.
- Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer, is a laid-back, sleepy girl who was revealed near the end of the game to be AI sent to protect the students (who are the Remnants of Despair after their brainwashing by Junko was reverted) in the Neo World Program.
- Kazuichi Souda, the Ultimate Mechanic, is a cowardly boy with a tendency to overreact and an obsessive crush on Sonia.
- Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess, is a graceful and polite girl from the small European country of Novoselic.
- Akane Owari, the Ultimate Gymnast, is a dim-witted but friendly athlete with gluttonous tendencies.
- Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, the Ultimate Yakuza, is wary and hot-tempered but still secretly a good-hearted successor to the largest Yakuza family in Japan.
- Hajime Hinata, the Ultimate ??? (Ultimate Hope; as Izuru), the protagonist of the game, is a boy who forgot his talent, only for it to later be revealed he never had one, leading to him becoming a subject for the "Izuru Kamukura Project" before the events of the game due to his desperation for a talent.
Speaking of the characters, they all manage to get you attached to them, leaving an actual impact on the player after their deaths.
The trials are longer and have much more twists and turns, making them less predictable than in the previous game. They add much more to the story being built as the game goes along and the cases themselves are much more creative.
The narrative is strong enough to have the player genuinely stunned by the character's revelation, and enthralled by every surprising turn taken by the story.
The story's considered to be much better than the first game. It's a much more serious and dark tale that doesn't hold back on any of the series thriller/horror aspects, especially during the final trial where it's revealed that the entire cast (sans Chiaki and Monomi) were the Remnants of the Despair, the personal lackeys of Junko Enoshima who were responsible for The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. And that the Killing Game itself was a result of Izuru Kamukura inserting AI Junko into the Neo World Program, which Makoto Naegi from the previous game intended to use to undo Junko's brainwashing effects on them.
The executions, while being no short of gruesome and disturbing demises for the cast, are even more creative than the previous game. From Teruteru being covered in egg and bread crumbs and dropped into a volcano which ends up deep-frying him alive, to Mikan blasting off into space on an enormous arm-shaped rocket after having the hospital room she lying in a bed injected by Monokuma wielding a gigantic syringe, to Chiaki and Monomi being shot by a tank in a reference to Space Invaders, chased Pac-Man (1980)-style with multiple other Monomis being trampled in the process, before being crushed by giant Tetris blocks, they went all out to make the executions as intricate and well-fitting for their culprits as possible.
Hilarious and memorable quotes such as:
- "What happened during the blackout? Hmmm... Hmmmmmmm... Ah! If you cross your eyes like this, it gives you double-vision!"
- "Shitting my pants would totally shame me as a MAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!"
- "Again with the supermarket... That place is a hot spot for criminal goods."
- "An illicit relationship? What are you, forty?"
- "Even if the turbid box does not exist... You could travel through multiple planes... Provided you use a spacious wormhole... However how frail, frail, I say! Your decayed illusion... Shall I feed you to the progeny of vile deities!?"
- "Then ladies first...now then, kittens, choose which house you would like!"
- "Now that those two are here...do you still think we're splendid?"
- "Welcome to the world of girl love! It's slippery when wet!"
- "With legs like those, I could prolly do the splits real easy."
Chapter 3 introduces the concept of the despair disease. An illness that alters the personality traits of those it infects (in this case, Ibuki, Akane, Nagito, and Mikan) to make them act the opposite of how they generally do. And while this doesn't play a big part in the actual story of the game and isn't exactly used to its full potential (see BQ# 2), it was still an interesting concept and it's also shown to have the ability to undo the effects of the Neo World Program on the characters and cause them to regain their memories of being Ultimate Despairs (as shown with Mikan).
Like in the previous game, the Free Time Events help the player get more information on the characters, primary a look into their backstories, and therefore help understand why they think the way they think and act the way they act. The Island Mode endings often have characters coming to terms with their problems, especially when they weren't able to do so before they died. This includes Byakuya admitting to being the Ultimate Impostor and Peko deciding to help Fuyuhiko reach his goals as an equal, rather than a tool, and it's all extremely sweet and touching.
- Akane tells Hajime he helped her to realize that people need to connect to have the hope that makes them human.
- Byakuya confesses that he's the Ultimate Imposter but Hajime says he wants to understand him better and he doesn't have to disappear.
- The Imposter thanks him for making his existence absolute.
- Chiaki says she wants to learn different things from Hajime.
- Fuyuhiko says he's not going to run from anything anymore and that he and Hajime are together.
- Gundham calls Hajime his slave/manservant/sacrifice/housekeeper/friend.
- Hiyoko tells Hajime he reminds her of her dad and that she won't cry anymore so that she can protect him and Hajime.
- Ibuki considers that Hajime may be her destined one and if that's true, she'll never have to feel despair around people.
- Kazuichi says he never thought about the future and felt excited about it before he met Hajime and that Hajime will ride in everything he makes.
- Mahiru thanks Hajime for finding her and that she likes him.
- Mikan asks Hajime to stay with her forever after he promises to marry her.
- Nagito says that Hajime taught him hope inside from the very beginning and asks Hajime to be his friend.
- Nekomaru says that Hajime is someone he can invest all of his passion into.
- Peko thanks Hajime for being her first friend and says she'll rely on him.
- Sonia says she can't give up Hajime when she returns to her kingdom, calling him her hero, saying she believes in him and that he's more important to her than anything else.
- Teruteru says he wants Hajime to meet his mother and experience eating at the Hanamura Diner.
Speaking of heartwarming moments, the game has plenty of them despite its status as a horror game. Like the very inspirational and touching speech, Monomi gave the remaining students before her and Chiaki's execution; "There’s no need to be a hero. You don't have to force yourself just to make people acknowledge you. When you do that, you end up blaming yourself, blaming other people...and feeling jealous of everyone... But still...it doesn't have to be like that. Even if people don't acknowledge you, you just have to be someone that you can be proud of! Cuz...you yourself are your biggest supporter! If you can learn to love yourself... That love will continue to support you for the rest of your life."

Hopeless Qualities

In several instances, line breaks were misplaced, leading to text rolling off the screen and requiring the logs to be opened to read all of the dialogue.
A few cases of wasted potential.
- The motive of Chapter Three is a disease that causes people to have altered personality traits. This could have led to several interesting character interactions or creative symptoms that inflict karmic retribution on each character based on their mean-spirited or selfish qualities. Instead, only four people catch the disease and only two people's symptoms have any hand in the story at all.
- Chapter 4 has the entire theme park. It has a lot of interesting attractions and a bunch of creative locations that would have been awesome to see a murder take place in. But instead, once you go into the Monokuma Express, you're taken to the Funhouse. While the Funhouse did make for one of the most complex and tragic chapters in the series, the theme park could've achieved the same result if they expanded on it a bit more.
An image or location with text written in English when you first see it might be shown in a flashback later with Japanese text instead, which can confuse.
Hajime and Chiaki's chemistry can feel underdeveloped and forced due to neither of them showing any romantic interest in each other at any point in the game except when the latter is revealed to be the traitor and about to be executed.

Reception

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair debuted higher than its predecessor and received "generally favorable" reviews, selling a total of 69,000 copies during its first week on sale in Japan and was the fifth best-selling game of the week. Famitsu gave the game a score of 37/40, based on four scores of 10, 9, 9, and 9, and was voted the best game of 2012 by its readers, with an average reader rating of 9.79 out of 10.

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