REVIEW

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls Review

by Rob Pritchard, September 1st, 2015

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world where adults are no longer in charge, you will sympathise with the plight of the antagonists in the latest game of the Danganronpa series. Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is defined as a pre-sequel, taking place after the events of Trigger Happy Havoc but before the events of Goodbye Despair. Unlike the innocent dreams that we would likely envision, the misguided utopia that has been created is not for the light minded folk, or for the faint of stomach.

After being held captive for nearly two years, Komaru Naegi, sister of Trigger Happy Havoc’s protagonist Makoto, is rescued by the Future Foundation. This group are trying to restore peace to the world after ‘the biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history’ took place. Although she is split up from her rescuer Byakuya Togami, she eventually teams up with Toko Fukawa and her split personality Genocide Jack/Jill to find a way out of the desolate ruin of Towa City. Their journey would be simple, were it not for a multitude of Monokumas running wild, and a group of anarchic kids named The Warriors of Hope.

The main story of Ultra Despair Girls is divided into multiple chapters. Within each, your goal is travel across the city to your destination, defeating the many breeds of Monokuma that you encounter and finding the hidden treasures that have been stashed in unusual places. Instead of fighting just the standard design of Monokuma, you can fight a Siren type, which lures nearly robot bears to your location, the Bomber type throws various assorted explosives and the Beast type will viciously attack you at any chance it will get. Each of the enemy types is a breath of fresh air to the proceedings, making you change your tactics according to ensure their defeat.

That logo looks strangely familiar.

Thankfully, both Komaru and Toko have their own unique weapons to ensure their survival. Komaru is given a megaphone style weapon known as a Hacking Gun, which fires computer codes known as Truth Bullets. Sharing its name from the pieces of evidence used in the two Danganronpa titles, there are multiple different kinds of Truth Bullet. These range from a simple projectile weapon, to a psychokinetic wave of energy and a program that makes enemies dance. Some Truth Bullets such as Move and Detect can be used outside of battle, allowing for some brain bending puzzles in combination with the fighting and evasion.

If you want to be closer to the action, Toko can forcibly summon her scissor wielding alter ego Genocide Jack at will for close range weapon combat, provided that she has enough power to keep her under control. Thankfully, you can regenerate this by collecting batteries from enemies or vending machines. The two differing play styles of Komaru and Genocide Jack offer their own unique challenges, especially with the Hacking Gun’s Truth Bullet system and the multiple combo attacks performed by Toko’s alter ego. At the end of each chapter, you will encounter a boss robot controlled by one of the five leaders of the Warriors of Hope. These enemies require fast reflexes, as well as using both Komaru and Toko’s weapons in combination to ensure a victory.

Each enemy defeated will allow Komaru to gain experience, as well as earning Monocoins to buy new Skills and increase the fighting capabilities of Genocide Jack. The skill system enhances your characters in the same way that Makoto and Hajime were given additional abilities during the class trials in the previous Danganronpa titles. In Ultra Despair Girls, the skills on offer increase your health meter, or afflict enemies with a status condition such as a paralysis if you perform a certain action.

A common trend in the Danganronpa series are the pop culture references and usage of pixelated gaming graphics in certain sections. These have returned in Another Episode, and in certain sections of the game world, you can use an Arcade Machine to activate the Monoku-Man mini game. The aim of this is to complete a challenge with a set objective, usually destroying all the Monokumas in an area at the same time. Certain challenges will limit you on which Truth Bullets you can use, and with the overhead display you can summon at the press of a button, offers a unique tactical twist to the run and gun slash weapon combat gameplay. Each Monoku-man you complete will help to improve your grade at the end of the chapter, and the victory screen at the end is well worth your time and effort.

Although Monokumas can be very dangerous, they almost look adorable when dancing.

Graphically speaking, Ultra Despair Girls uses the same anime style cut outs that have become well known in the series, but for the environment and characters, they use three dimensional models which share the same edges as their flat equivalents. For the pre-rendered cut scenes, they use a combination of 2D and 3D, which play when the action shifts to a more dramatic tone. Each style works well, and makes Ultra Despair Girls feel more unique as a result.

Fans of the original two games soundtrack need not fear, as Ultra Despair Girl’s accompaniments are just as vibrant and well composed as before. A few old tunes are thrown into the mix, such as the infamous Danganronpa intro, but for the most part, each tune feels fresh and appropriate. The quality of the voice acting is on par with the previous games, but unlike Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair, it is not possible to access the original Japanese dub in this release. While this does not impair the quality of the game, it might discourage fans from buying the game if they are not fond the translated dialogue.

Overall, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is an excellent diversion from the visual novel antics of the previous two instalments. From many standpoints, Ultra Despair Girls is the strongest entry in the series so far, offering an addictive storyline in combination with strong likeable characters, multiple styles of gameplay and an upbeat soundtrack that will leave you wanting more after the final credits have rolled.