Danganronpa 1-2 Reload (PlayStation 4) Review

Right off the bat, it's worth noting what's new here to help justify second or even triple dipping on these games for those who have previously purchased them on PS Vita and/or PC. Sadly, nothing. This is just a bundle of the two games with the same Trophies, the same assets, and nothing extra on top. It's a disappointing turn of events, but frankly, the games are good enough to justify a purchase for the hardcore fans regardless, as a refresher of the series before Danganronpa V3.

The lack of any new content is indeed disappointing. The designs of the characters and the world are great, but it would have been nice to see some scaled-up HD sprites here. Similarly, the limited amount of voiced dialogue remains - in dual audio, with quality performances on both sides - yet it would have been nice to see the remaster bringing the cast back to fully voice the story to give it a little extra content over the previous releases...

Okay, so for the new players! The story of Danganronpa is often referred to as Battle Royale meets Ace Attorney. Events are set within Hope's Peak Academy, the most prestigious school in the world, where the "Ultimate" students are gathered to develop their skills, before then graduating into positions of power to lead the world forward. There is the Ultimate Fashionista, Ultimate Baseball Star, Ultimate Gambler, and more, in the current class that the main protagonist finds himself part of. That protagonist is Makoto Naegi, a young man with seemingly no obvious talent to elevate him to the same level as his classmates. A country-wide lottery took place to find the Ultimate Lucky Student, and Makoto happened to be chosen - but becoming part of this class was anything but lucky.

Upon arriving at the school, Makoto loses consciousness, and when he awakens he finds the school has been cut off from the outside world, the doors locked, huge metal plates nailed over every window, and numerous parts of the school sealed off. A strange robotic teddy bear named Monokuma soon has the students engaged in a deadly game. The only way to "graduate" and escape this prison is to kill a fellow student and get away with it, or accept this new life and live within the school. Makoto has to try and survive, solve plenty of murders, and figure out the truth of his situation to escape. Of course, giving away anything about the sequel would ruin story developments of the first game, but suffice to say, a whole new class is put in a similar killing game situation, except with a tropical twist (and includes the best character in the series in Chiaki!).

While these are visual novel games, there are some more interactive aspects than most; it's not just making branching dialogue choices here. During each chapter there is a day-to-day sim where the school can be explored and the daily life of the students plays out. In this time, bonds can be built up with other classmates to learn their back-stories and friendships developed. Soon enough, though, these quiet days become frantic investigations after a grisly murder, combing through the environments for clues, and speaking with the other characters to try and identify the culprit.

Upon the completion of these investigations a trial takes place - and here's where the Ace Attorney stuff comes in. The trials have a handful of different gameplay aspects to master. The most common of these is listening to opposing comments and catching other characters' mistakes or lies by shooting "Truth Bullets" (clues and discoveries found during the investigation) at inaccurate statements as they sail across the screen. There are various other mini-games making up the trial, too, all of which combine to make a truly fun and unique addition to the visual novel base.

As enjoyable as the gameplay is, it's the story and the characters that make this something truly special. The story is truly engrossing and each chapter is filled with memorable moments, whether they be funny, emotional, depraved, or a glorious combination of all of the above. Then there is the cast of each game. Packed with totally out there characters, each unique and memorable in both design and personality, there are so many fantastic personalities in both games, and it's easy to grow attached to each of them.

It's this attachment that adds a whole new weight to the gut punch that happens when one of them is inevitably slaughtered, or discovering the true motivations of a killer, or even watching their punishment time. It builds a real tension as new chapters open on the happy day-to-day life of the students trying to live out their lives in peace, while constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, knowing at any moment a sudden disaster could strike in horrific and shocking scenes, removing another favourite character from the game and turning another friend into a killer.