Gaming Narrative

We went over the dating sim/visual novel subsection of games in class, and it got me thinking about a game that reads so well as a narrative that it has been fan-translated and is available to read online like a comic. This game is called Danganronpa and it also has a sequel, Super Danganronpa 2, that is currently in the process of being translated as well.

Danganronpa is a Japanese murder-mystery game that plays like a blend of the movie Battle Royale and the Phoenix Wright series. The plot revolves around fifteen high school students that are each exemplary at one particular talent. Because of this talent, they have been selected to go to Hope's Peak High School. The school has no entrance exam; recruiters go out and find these kids themselves. However, once Naegi, the main character, has made it inside, he blacks out and wakes up in a classroom with his fellow students. Shortly afterward, they discover they have been locked in, and that, if they want to escape, they must kill another classmate. However, if someone is killed, the school hosts a trial, and if the culprit is correctly identified, he/she will be punished (killed). If they aren't identified, everyone except the culprit will be punished, and the culprit is free to leave.

Danganronpa shares characteristics with dating sims, in that the player can make a choice to go and speak to another character, and the dialogue shows up on the bottom of the screen with a sprite. However, none of the characters in Danganronpa are persuadable love interests. There are hints at romance, but none that matter much to the main plot. The player also does not have the option of choosing what the main character says. There is, essentially, only one ending to Danganronpa. It is possible to get a "bad ending", but the game doesn't end if this is reached. It instead resets back to the point where you made the crucial decision, and you can fix what you did wrong.

The gameplay in this is mainly found during the trial segments. There, you can use "evidence bullets" to literally shoot down what the other classmates have said, or support them. This is the most interactive part of the entire game, because usually you are walking around the school, talking to other characters, or investigating murders, all of which have approximately the same feel to them.

What I enjoy about Danganronpa is that they made me care about the 15 characters in the game. Battle Royale had a more difficult task at hand, making me care about around 40 students, and because of this I feel like Danganronpa was the more successful of the two at grabbing my interest. The interactive aspect of an actual game doesn't hurt much, either.