Danganronpa Decadence

Genre: Compilation / Visual Novel / Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

Danganronpa Decadence, released on Nintendo Switch in 2021, is a physical-only compilation that includes the Nintendo Switch versions of the Visual Novel and Graphic Adventure games Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, and Danganronpa V3, along with the series spin-off Party Game and Turn-Based RPG, Danganronpa S.

I have separately reviewed all of these games. Here is what I thought of each of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition	Graphic Adventure / Visual Novel	1	B
tl;dr Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a game with Visual Novel and Graphic Adventure elements where players find themselves among a group of high school students who have apparently been kidnapped and told their only way to escape is to kill each other. The game’s story and characters are mostly excellent, with lots of unexpected plot twists, and the core Visual Novel and mystery-solving gameplay is great. However, these great qualities are overloaded with lots of other odd mechanics and weird tonally-dissonant elements that, while distinct, are often to the game’s detriment. Overall I think the good still far outweighs the bad, but it all results in a package that won’t be for everyone.
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Anniversary Edition	Graphic Adventure / Visual Novel	1	C+
tl;dr Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, much like the first Danganronpa, is a game with Visual Novel and Graphic Adventure elements where players find themselves among a group of high school students who have apparently been kidnapped and told their only way to escape is to kill each other. The gameplay and overall story seem highly derivative of the first game, and the characters this time around are more poorly-written and overall pretty unlikeable. Danganronpa fans may appreciate a return trip to this bizarre franchise, but everyone else is better off sticking with the first game.
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Anniversary Edition	Graphic Adventure / Visual Novel	1	B+
tl;dr Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, much like earlier entries in the series, is a game with Visual Novel and Graphic Adventure elements where players find themselves among a group of high school students who have apparently been kidnapped and told their only way to escape is to kill each other. This is a huge improvement over the second game, with better characters, an even crazier plot, and minor gameplay improvements throughout. If you haven’t played earlier games in the series, you’ll want to at least play Danganronpa 1 first for much-needed story context here, but if you enjoyed that game, you should absolutely get this one.
Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp	Party Game / Turn-Based JRPG	1	D
tl;dr Danganronpa S is a spin-off game within the Danganronpa franchise that has the characters from throughout the series in a lighthearted romp that mixes Party Game and Turn-Based JRPG elements based on minigames from Danganronpa V3. Unfortunately, all of the gameplay elements here are poorly-designed and boring, the visuals are largely recycled, and the appeal of seeing your favorite character interact with others is ruined by a gross gacha system that’s clearly trying to push you to spend money to unlock them in the eShop. Do not waste your money on this rip-off of a game.

In short, I think the first three games in the series are interesting Visual Novel and Graphic Adventure games with an… eclectic tone that won’t appeal to everyone, but if that tone doesn’t bother you these are pretty good, although the second game is in my opinion the low point of the mainline series due to its derivative story and its cast of unlikeable characters. Then of course there’s the “bonus” game, Danganronpa S, which is a relatively low-effort cash-grab with poorly-constructed gameplay and disgusting microtransactions. Suffice it to say, the main star here is the mainline trilogy.

The mainline games here are all about a group of students starting their school year at an ultra-elite high school, only to find they have apparently been kidnapped and held prisoner, taunted by a sadistic animatronic bear named Monokuma who claims there is only one way to leave – Monokuma tells the students that any of them who kills one of their peers without getting caught by the group will be allowed to escape back to the outside world. What results is a convoluted story with tons of plot twists that has various characters brutally and graphically murdered, and the player trying to find clues to discover the identity of the killer.

In other words, picture the Ace Attorney franchise combined with a Visual Novel take on Among Us, mixed with elements of the beloved cult film Battle Royale and you have some idea of what to expect here.

So now that you’ve hopefully gotten an idea of what to expect from the games, the question that remains is what kind of value this package offers. At this time, tracking down a physical copy of the game is starting to become a tad more difficult, but those who do so are likely to be looking at spending around $60. Contrast this with $15 price tags for the first two games, $30 for Dangonronpa V3, and $20 for Danganronpa S, and technically it’ll cost you $80 to buy all of these games separately on the Nintendo Switch eShop.

That may seem like a decent deal, but remember that Danganronpa S is trash and you’re better off not getting it. Plus, the other three games here do occasionally go on sale on the eShop, and if you watch for sales, you can pretty easily get the trio for under $20. That’s a pretty insane price difference just to get a physical cartridge, so unless you’re a purist for cartridge-only gaming, I would say that makes this an absolute no-go for anyone who cares about their wallet.

Before concluding this review, I should note that while all included games are on the game cartridge (appearing as separate games on the Nintendo Switch home screen), players should still expect a hefty download to install a patch for the game. So even catridge-only purists will still have to deal with downloads and clearing space in their Nintendo Switch’s memory.

With such a huge price tag, I just can’t see any good reason to buy Danganronpa Decadence unless you are absolutely in love with this series, absolutely need to have it on Nintendo Switch, and absolutely need to have it in physical form. While the mainline trilogy is good, Danganronpa S is trash, and the $60 price tag is three times what you can get the individual games for on the eShop when they go on sale, which this physical-only game is unlikely to do. Save yourself some money, and just buy the games on the eShop. In fact, probably just buy Danganronpa 1 and 3… and maybe Danganronpa 2.

tl;dr – Danganronpa Decadence is a Compilation that includes the Graphic Adventure and Visual Novel games Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, and Danganronpa V3, along with the Party Game and Turn-Based JRPG Danganronpa S. That last one is trash, but the mainline trilogy is pretty good, albeit not something that will appeal to everyone. However, what will appeal to no one is this package’s $60 price tag, multiple times what the individual games on the eShop cost when they go on sale. Even players who only buy physical copies may want to reconsider and just get the digital versions here… and just stick with the mainline games, while you’re at it.

Grade: C-

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