Danganronpa 1-2 Reload

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 144 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 120 out of 144
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 144
  3. Negative: 18 out of 144
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  1. wesker2012
    Dec 1, 2018
    8
    An addicting murder mystery plot that is hard to stop playing. The game is well made and offers unique gameplay that I haven't seen before. Everything works well. There's a lot of writing and sometimes it can drag on and on, but its okay, since sometimes it helps to add depth to the characters and the overall game is enjoyable. Enjoyed my time with this game. Good twists and turns andAn addicting murder mystery plot that is hard to stop playing. The game is well made and offers unique gameplay that I haven't seen before. Everything works well. There's a lot of writing and sometimes it can drag on and on, but its okay, since sometimes it helps to add depth to the characters and the overall game is enjoyable. Enjoyed my time with this game. Good twists and turns and reminded me of the zero escape games.… Expand
  2. gamerz4life
    Sep 13, 2020
    8
    I came across these games from my love of the Ace Attorney series, more court case/investigation type games? Sign me up! They call these visual novels, and you will be doing a lot of reading, only the court case itself is voice-acted, but for the most part you’ll become quite engrossed in the mystery of the school and what’s happening with the students to really notice. This is called 1.2I came across these games from my love of the Ace Attorney series, more court case/investigation type games? Sign me up! They call these visual novels, and you will be doing a lot of reading, only the court case itself is voice-acted, but for the most part you’ll become quite engrossed in the mystery of the school and what’s happening with the students to really notice. This is called 1.2 Reload because you get both Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (D1) and Danganronpa 2: Good-bye Despair (D2) so I’ll be reviewing both games.

    D1’s story and mystery is very well done, you won’t be able to guess who is going to die and right off the bat you can’t guess who killed them. The investigation is fun and informative and you’ll find yourself trying to piece together the puzzle before getting into the trial itself. The trials are fun and keep you on your toes with different stages and events that take place before you can conclusively decide who the murderer is. All the time you’re wondering why you’re trapped in Hope’s Peak and who is behind Monokuma and the Killing Game. To say too much would spoil the game as the gameplay is the story, but D1 is truly worth playing.

    Onto D2, oh my word, the whole first half of the game is nothing like the 1st game. You think it is because it’s laid out in a similar fashion and the Killing Game begins again but boy will you be mistaken. The majority of the students are thoroughly unlikable and are not worthy of being called ‘Ultimates’. Their talents are some of the dumbest things to be the greatest at, a school would not be recruiting for these things, also some of the students don’t even care about their talent or actually do anything with them.

    Then the killings begin and you start to notice a pattern that this game is mirroring the 1st, as though it was quite lazily thrown together. Not only that but the game starts breaking the 4th wall and alerting you to the fact that it is very much like D1 and gets very on-the-nose, the writers telling you that they recognize and readily acknowledge what they’re doing. Apparently this was supposed to be an in-game plot point but trust me; you’ll be judging the writing hard on this.

    For the trials themselves, they’ve changed the difficulty and mini-games but for the worse. Some of the conclusions you’re supposed to come to are completely bonkers and you’ll never come to the answers on your own. You’ll either restart that part numerous times as you try every angle or you’ll get so frustrated that you’ll google the answer to find you weren’t alone in this nonsense. I started trying to think of the dumbest answers in many instances and still couldn’t figure it out. Then Logic Dive happened, a new mini-game, think of bootleg SSX with questions. It’s a visual novel that suddenly throws a sports-game in that requires a lot of dexterity. This is the part where I wanted to throw the controller through the TV. You’ll start off having trouble staying on the path and you’ll never have a chance to get better at it b/c each one gets a difficulty spike that’s hard to explain. Hangman’s Gambit is back but not the way you remember. Letters are just thrown at you left and right, nothing like D1. And no, this version is not fun. You’ll end up taking the health hit as letters explode everywhere because it’s impossible to manage them all plus get the letters you need.

    Overall, D2 is all over the place and a real disappointment until Chapter 6. This chapter is wow, I can see where all their writing talents went, it’s like they started with this part and then realized they needed to slap on the rest of the game afterwards. The reveal is remarkably good and incredibly engrossing, keeping you wanting to learn more about how these kids ended up the way they did. It’s in this chapter that the story connects with D1 and you finally learn what the ‘biggest, most awful event in the history of the world’ is that was left hanging and incredibly vague in D1.

    A downside to the games is that much of your talking with the other students won’t happen until after the game is done in their School/Island Mode. This talking helps deepen their characters and add to their backstory, it also can add to why they’re taking the action that they are which is why it’s a shame that you won’t learn half of it until you finish the game. The 1st game allows you to talk with everybody a lot more often than the 2nd game does, so you don’t feel as much disconnection with the characters. In D2, you find yourself disliking most of the other characters because they come off as very annoying and whiny. You find out in Island Mode that a couple of them still are but the others are more interesting when they tell you their stories.

    The music is great and re-listening to it will take you right to the instances when you heard it.

    D1 rating: 9/10, D2 rating: 5/10    … Expand
  3. Chickenph
    Oct 2, 2017
    10
    Two extremely well-written visual novels that are filled with twists and intrigue. I’m not much of a visual novel fan, but once these games really get going...it’s hard not to get hooked hard. I’m really glad I bought this.
  4. MiracSpectac
    Dec 17, 2017
    10
    Having never played Danganronpa before, this collection was mind-blowing for me. I found myself completely engulfed in the two games for about a week and couldn't seem to pull myself away. The games are a story of great intrigue and mystery, the likes of which I haven't experienced in similar investigation-style games. It's an absolute gem of a series, and I often recommend it to everyone I can.
  5. GamingTreeHouse
    Mar 30, 2017
    8
    Danganronpa 1-2 Reload is a port of two amazing visual novel games that engulf you into an engaging story with deep character development that will keep you guessing at every murder or revelation that takes place. The only issues that I encountered with both Danganronpa games in this collection is that there were some minor control issues that I encountered as well as blurred cinematicDanganronpa 1-2 Reload is a port of two amazing visual novel games that engulf you into an engaging story with deep character development that will keep you guessing at every murder or revelation that takes place. The only issues that I encountered with both Danganronpa games in this collection is that there were some minor control issues that I encountered as well as blurred cinematic scenes which could be because both of these were prior PlayStation Vita titles. Overall, I enjoyed my massive amount of time with this title and I would recommend for fans of visual novel games or any anime fan to not miss this title if you never played the original versions of these games.

    Continue reading more at our website Gaming Tree House.    … Expand
  6. Letiste-Gaming
    Mar 23, 2017
    10
    Aunque la labor del port en sí sea algo chapucera (o simplemente, realizada sin mucho esfuerzo), ambos títulos gozan de tal calidad en todos y cada uno de sus apartados que sencillamente es imposible lastrar sus virtudes.

    Un cast de personajes memorable, un guión excelente (de locura si, pero excelente), situaciones de infarto, un apartado audiovisual único, pero sobretodo, el mayor    Aunque la labor del port en sí sea algo chapucera (o simplemente, realizada sin mucho esfuerzo), ambos títulos gozan de tal calidad en todos y cada uno de sus apartados que sencillamente es imposible lastrar sus virtudes.

    Un cast de personajes memorable, un guión excelente (de locura si, pero excelente), situaciones de infarto, un apartado audiovisual único, pero sobretodo, el mayor merito de ambos títulos es que no solo están escritos con inteligencia, sino que demandan inteligencia al jugador/a, colocándolos en un escalón al que solo unos pocos han conseguido llegar.

    Te gusten o no las novelas visuales, tienes una cita obligatoria con Danganronpa 1.2 Reload. Y aquí tienes la excusa ideal para iniciarte en la saga y comprobar por ti mismo porque tiene tantos fans alrededor del mundo.    … Expand
  7. JakeMcaulay
    Jan 19, 2018
    8
    these two games are great i'm not usually one for visual novel games but this one is just so damn well written you can't help but love it i mean it's basically anime cluedo so you can't go wrong check out my full video review of this game on my youtube channel which is just my name jake mcaulay nothing fancy
  8. tomvs123
    Jun 12, 2019
    4
    My numerical rating is for Dangonronpa 1; I couldn't finish the 2nd one.

    Compared to the first two Zero Escape games, Danganronpa isn't nearly as intelligent, mature, or believable. But at least it's not absolute trash (like the 3rd Zero Escape game). The setting is a school where students are trapped and they must kill someone, without getting caught, to escape. You'll spend most of    My numerical rating is for Dangonronpa 1; I couldn't finish the 2nd one.

    Compared to the first two Zero Escape games, Danganronpa isn't nearly as intelligent, mature, or believable. But at least it's not absolute trash (like the 3rd Zero Escape game).

    The setting is a school where students are trapped and they must kill someone, without getting caught, to escape. You'll spend most of your time investigating murder scenes and then determining who the murder is.

    The character interactions, mysteries surrounding the school, and murder investigations kept me interested. The character writing is relatively good when a character isn't doing something that involves the main plot. But when the plot demands it, the characters become uncharacteristic or outright stupid.

    As for the school's mystery, much of it becomes obvious due to various hints given by the antagonist, but the last few bits aren't made clear until the end. The final secrets aren't very profound or thought-provoking, but they were interesting enough.

    Investigating murders is good. Finding a clue and having the other characters have no idea what it meant while I was able to deduce exactly what it meant felt good. It's too bad that investigations are basically on rails: you're not able to proceed until you gather every clue, which made investigations seem fake and manufactured.

    The worst part of the game is the class trials. After all evidence is gathered, you go into a courtroom setting and argue about the evidence in a very tedious and repetitive way until you get to the conclusion. There's many issues with this. There's only one conclusion to reach, so you can't misinterpret the evidence except when built into the plot. Difficulty isn't based around logic, but shooting, rhythm, and spelling minigames. And when you have the option to make a choice, such as bringing forth evidence to disprove an argument, it requires reading comprehension more than reasoning; you must simply remember the details of a piece of evidence that you previously about. I felt like I was in elementary school again.

    Failure isn't possible. If you fail in a shooting minigame or choose the wrong option too much, you're automatically chosen as the culprit, even if most characters suspect someone else, and that section of the trial restarts immediately.

    For the few times I failed at making a choice, it was because I didn't provide the evidence in the right order. Unfortunately, the trials like to beat to death insignificant pieces of evidence before they move on to important evidence, which normally overrides the prior evidence. So even though you know exactly who the murderer is, and know which pieces of evidence proves it, you must first wait until everyone makes incorrect conclusions about each piece of insignificant evidence.

    After the group comes to a conclusion, you must irritatingly do it all over again in storyboard format. You must match up somewhat-vague pictures without descriptions to a storyboard so that the protagonist can restate the events for awesome's sake. Or maybe to remind everyone of what you talked about for the last hour, since the game seems to want people to improve their reading comprehension.

    So it's an okay game, but the main gameplay mechanic, the trial system, isn't interesting to an intelligent adult or anyone else who already has good reading comprehension. It it weren't for the murdering, it would be a great learning tool for elementary or middle schools.

    I then played the post-game mode, which is essentially a mobile game where you collect materials and build robots. You can also go on trips with the characters during your free time, but your relationships with them don't progress beyond becoming friends. There were no rewards that I could see and the gameplay was incredibly monotonous, so I quit after a few hours.

    And then I moved on to Dangonronpa 2. I was expecting improvements in the characters and plot, but I was wrong. Dangonronpa 2 gets even more unrealistic/unbelievable and the characters are dumber. After completing the first trial, which is so long it needs an intermission, I couldn't take it any more and quit. The first murder motive was simply stupid, dumber than any from Danganronpa 1. There was no intelligence behind most people's arguments, and all the characters treated this more like a game than real life (when compared to the first game). Also, the minigame variety and difficulty is ramped up, so if you were annoyed by the first game's mini games, you'll be twice as annoyed by these. All of the clues and choices are also much more vague this time around. So I ended up having to deduce which options the creators expected me to choose rather than the ones that made sense.

    I feel a bit deceived that this was advertised as an intelligent well-told story. It's simply not, unless you're moved by elementary-school writing. Don't waste your time unless you're okay with works aimed at kids.    … Expand
  9. DrFriendless
    Dec 26, 2018
    1
    Why is this a game? If I want a manga I'll read a manga. There's no interactivity in this game. The sounds are horrendously bad - just random squawking. There's nothing to do.
  10. Red-Eyes
    Apr 26, 2021
    7
    During my everlasting research about mystery murder games, Danganronpa was a name that I always stumbled across. I finally decided to try it after seeing a massive discount on a Playstation Sale and the game positively surprised me

    The game is a visual novel with a pre-determined path as the player passively watches the story unfolds, doesn’t seem very exciting in the surface but the    During my everlasting research about mystery murder games, Danganronpa was a name that I always stumbled across. I finally decided to try it after seeing a massive discount on a Playstation Sale and the game positively surprised me

    The game is a visual novel with a pre-determined path as the player passively watches the story unfolds, doesn’t seem very exciting in the surface but the narrative is so freaking good that gets you hooked from the very start.

    A little rundown of the story: fifteen students find themselves captive in an school building until Monokuma, a mysterious talking plush bear – you heard it right, shows up and explains that the students must murder each other without getting discovered in order to be allowed to return to the outside world. So every chapter deals with a murder, the subsequent investigation and the class trial. Besides each murder stories that is also the mystery behind Monokuma, the school and the outside world in a compelling and addicting narrative that only Japanese storytelling could provide us.

    The game works on an anime style with still images and dialogue boxes as the storytelling media (as I said it is a visual novel). During the period known as “Free Time” the player is given freedom to interact with one of the characters and learn more about them; basically you walk toward someone and press X to engage conversation. Here is the weakest part about the game: the Free Time should be more developed and at least give us more exciting things to do. Don’t get me wrong the conversations are entertaining and have that typical distinctive anime style with a bunch of humor thrown in between but ultimately they are meaningless to how the plot unfolds.

    The true highlight of Danganronpa is the Class Trials, where you gather the clues from the investigation and discuss with your classmates whodunit. The best and most utilized mechanic is the Non-Stop Debate: as the dialogue unravels you have to pinpoint the contradiction/lie in someone’s speech and use either a clue you gathered from the investigation or something a character said as the correct counter-argument; the difficulty range from easy to straight up guessing as some contradictions are a tiny detail that you pay no mind. The class trials have other mechanics like the Hangman’s Gambit (basically a hangman minigame… this sucks), the Bullet-Time Battle (a rhythm frantic battle where you must press the correct button at precise times to win) and, another one of my favorites, the Closing Argument where you revisits everything that happened during the crime using the correct panels to describe the murders.
    A warning: Class Trial are long as f*ck. They take at least one hour and a half, you can save anytime you want but I like to do the trials in one sitting.

    There is a break between the investigation and the beginning of the trial. After you get the final clue the game sends you to a corridor, opening the door ahead triggers the trial, what I like to do here is to revisit every clue and see what I can make of the crime (how it happened, my main suspect and whatnot) before having the game unfolding it in the Class Trial itself. And don’t be fooled with the cases, although the first one murderer is really obvious and retarded the subsequent cases are absolutely nothing like it and leave you completely in the dark. I would say that from the third case onwards I had little to no idea of what happened.

    And the writing of the cases is the best thing about Danganronpa, as they are surprising and really clever. The game is all about the narrative honestly so if you happen to hear a spoiler your experience is basically ruined.

    The second game works just like the first but in a different setting and with a different cast. If one thing, the cases of the second installment have slightly better writing although the overall main mystery of the first one was better. Class Trials are much better though as they add more mechanics and improve old ones: for the Non-Stop Debate you can also consent (instead of just counter-argument) and the Hangman’s Gambit turns into an awesome minigame now.

    Danganronpa really surprised me with its amazing narrative. I’m a 100% gameplay guy but even then this story based game managed to captivate me. It’s basically an interactive book where you press X to pass text boxes and while I do think that is a lot of room for improvement (mostly the Free Time sections) I assure you the story is so much f*cking better than any American triple A game could ever dream of.    … Expand
  11. Melopahn
    Jul 18, 2023
    0
    The game is trash as is anyone who thinks it deserves better than 1/10. Anyone who likes this game should come with a warning that they are absolutely not fit for society. People should have something to signal that they are a danganronpa fan so humanity knows to give them a wide berth and avoid any contact with them.
  12. Kai82
    Oct 23, 2022
    10
    A compilation of the best games in the franchise. I prefer this over the trilogy as Danganropa 3 final twist ruins the game(s) for me. Both games are visual novel videogames which are in detail a mixture of detective game aka murder mystery investigation and daily school life. Its strength are the well written story and characters atop the interesting cases that are intense. Some describeA compilation of the best games in the franchise. I prefer this over the trilogy as Danganropa 3 final twist ruins the game(s) for me. Both games are visual novel videogames which are in detail a mixture of detective game aka murder mystery investigation and daily school life. Its strength are the well written story and characters atop the interesting cases that are intense. Some describe this as mixture of “Ace Attorney” and “Zero Escape”. Those are set in or around the in universe famous Hopes Peak Academy school. It is the most prestige school that exists and studying there grants you great recognition and opens all doors. However they do not take anyone and the only way to get invited is to have an ultimate talent and get scouted. Be it sports, science, writing or something else you need to be a prodigy. There a very few ways to get around this like being the one Ultimate Lucky student which is randomly chosen out of normal students. In both games a group of students are trapped in a real nightmare. The headmaster in form of a seemingly robotic bear Monokuma explains to them that they are trapped and the only way to escape is killing a fellow student. But this is not battle royal as you have to get away with the murder undetected and there are rules that are enforced. After a dead body is found all students investigate the crime scene and after some time passes there is a class trial where the evidence is analysed and the culprit is decided by mayor vote. If they get the right person the culprit is executed. If the majority is wrong everyone except the culprit is executed. This is the setting of the games. Everyone is caught between hope and despair while you do not know who you can trust. The story has great twists and uses the characters excellent. Everyone is unique has their own motivations and values. I could understand everyone and they avoided the traps of making anyone one dimensional. Also the voice actors are great and near perfectly chosen. The gameplay is like I said a visual novel and less a true videogame. You have murder investigations and daily life parts. For the cases you collect evidence called truth bullets you use in class trials to fire at arguments (Visual system for discussions), present them and have some mini games. Those trials are intense and a highlight as the truth comes out slowly. Also Monokuma is a sadist that enjoys making your life more miserable. Maybe you will find out the truth behind everything. The second game improves the formula. The graphics are dividing. I find them nice but they are a bit 2,5 dimensional and look like the scenery books for children that unfold by opening it. Acoustically the games are excellent with voice actors and soundtrack alike. Overall I think this is the best compilation for the franchise and earned a 10/10.… Expand
  13. ToadieTo
    Dec 30, 2018
    8
    2 really good stories with amazing characters. This is everything a visual novel should be.
  14. giannis2001
    Jul 29, 2023
    9
    1) Danganronpa 1: Trigger Happy Havoc

    Truly a great game. The idea of a "battle royal with an impostor" - themed visual novel felt really interesting, and combined with the murder mystery aspect which I find very interesting, I was eager to play this game at some point and I definitely has great time with it. The pace is great for what it shows, and it unravels with great thrill and    1) Danganronpa 1: Trigger Happy Havoc

    Truly a great game. The idea of a "battle royal with an impostor" - themed visual novel felt really interesting, and combined with the murder mystery aspect which I find very interesting, I was eager to play this game at some point and I definitely has great time with it. The pace is great for what it shows, and it unravels with great thrill and mystery. You'll want to keep playing so you can see what will happen next. It keeps this thrill up until the end.

    The case trials, as well as the invastigations before them, are also very fun to play although there are some predictable parts that you can foreshow beforehand in my opinion.

    I also didn't enjoy some of those mini games the game wants you to do in trials. I would prefer a more Visual Novel approach at this aspect.

    I also loved the characters' personalities and interactions between them. They are very funny sometimes.

    2)Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

    A truly great sequel, like the predecessor. I liked the cast more on the first game in general (Nagito is my favorite character though) but I liked the story a bit more on the 2nd one. This time the location is very different but the concept remains the same with more mysteries to solve and twists to be surprised from (and my personal favorite case in the series up to this point, Case 5) . Both games are truly great and highly recommended.    … Expand
  15. Rhythm_guy
    Aug 21, 2021
    10
    Great game aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa lookin vee thus game iiiiiiuuuuiiiii
  16. Theox59
    Nov 16, 2020
    10
    Very good game at very good Price i love it so much it's my favorite game so m'y marks IS good
  17. Tiziown
    May 22, 2021
    10
    2 amazing novels about murder, mystery and despair, very funny and catchy games.
  18. VioIrdsGX
    Dec 30, 2022
    10
    This is the first time I've played the Danganronpa series. At first, it didn't attract my attention to play it, but seeing it closely, I begin to understand what it's about, the game system reminds me of the Ace Attorney series about trials, but This time it is about a violent trial, what I liked the most about it are the executions of the characters, totally brigid, recommendable.
  19. Jdotdeedot
    Jul 4, 2022
    9
    Two of VN masterpieces into one solid reload. Danganronpa doesn't have the best writing and can have problematic things about it, but for me that doesn't take away how stupidly fun these two VNs are. I did say the writing of these games aren't the absolute best but dr1 probably has one of the best plot twists I've seen in gaming. There are some slight issues with the overall port of theseTwo of VN masterpieces into one solid reload. Danganronpa doesn't have the best writing and can have problematic things about it, but for me that doesn't take away how stupidly fun these two VNs are. I did say the writing of these games aren't the absolute best but dr1 probably has one of the best plot twists I've seen in gaming. There are some slight issues with the overall port of these games but nothing game breaking. If you want a stupid fun mystery VN game I highly recommend this reload.… Expand
  20. nanansgxz2
    Jan 18, 2023
    10
    对于任何伟大的视觉小说来说，帽子很重要，因为它有很好的写作，弹丸论破游戏轮流搞笑、反思、激烈和欢乐，角色都是独特而有趣的，曲折往往令人吃惊。视觉小说没有比这些更好的了。

Awards & Rankings

40
#40 Best PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. GameCritics
    May 3, 2017
    80
    The Danganronpa series is concerned with the ongoing battle between the power of hope and the power of despair, and while these games are overlong and peppered with some less-than-stellar moments, the excellent plots give the player a sense of hope for the future of dynamic narrative in videogames. This is some of the best, most suspenseful, storytelling that I’ve ever seen attempted in the medium. While there’s no new content and the graphics remain unchanged from the Vita versions, 1.2 Reload is a great jumping-on point for fans of visual novels who’ve never experienced the series before.
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  2. DarkStation
    May 1, 2017
    90
    Danganronpa 1-2 Reload takes two fantastic point-and-click visual novels and ties them up in one discounted package. Between both games and some surprisingly fun post-game alternative modes, Reload offers over 60 hours of content. If you’ve already played through these games, the only incentives to double-dipping are if you want both games in the same package and the ability to play it on your PS4. If you haven’t experienced the series, then this game is the best way to get your fix of high school murder mysteries, trigger-happy courtroom action, and psycho bears. Oh my!
    Read full review
  3. GameGrin
    Apr 24, 2017
    80
    Although the first title grabbed my attention more than the second, Danganronpa 1.2 Reload are a pair of games that engulf you quite effectively into their worlds. These two titles come highly recommended.
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