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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  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. 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
  9. ToadieTo
    Dec 30, 2018
    8
    2 really good stories with amazing characters. This is everything a visual novel should be.
  10. 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
  11. Rhythm_guy
    Aug 21, 2021
    10
    Great game aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa lookin vee thus game iiiiiiuuuuiiiii
  12. 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
  13. Tiziown
    May 22, 2021
    10
    2 amazing novels about murder, mystery and despair, very funny and catchy games.
  14. 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.
  15. 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
  16. 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

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »