[PSVITA] - Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Review

PSVITA is in its last breath. We can all feel it due to lack of games announced. But this month, Vita was showered with great titles announced way back. Ys VIII was also released this month after years of waiting and so is Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. My wife and I are Danganronpa Fans but for V3 she got too excited and read the spoilers from the Japanese release but still watches me while I play lol. The experience is way better than reading some spoilers. Thats what separate visual novels from Anime and Books. It gives you an experience that no book reading and Anime watching can give. 

Danganronpa games is about a group of high school students that were kidnapped and trapped in a weird school setting and were forced to participate in a killing game. All resources were available for them unlimited supply of food, entertainment, as in all the things you'd need to live. But what these students want were way more  than material things; they want freedom and to be able to unite with the people they love. In order to get out, a student must kill another student and get away with it. There will be a class trial everytime a student gets killed and its up to the students to identify the correct killer. If the wrong student gets picked, they all die and the blackend(The killer) will be freed. What's the purpose of the mastermind? What's the purpose of this place? Why do they have to kill each other in order to be free?

This game is one of the best games I've played for the Vita. I have played all the games including Danganronpa 1.2 and I must say all these games were crafted almost perfectly. Danganronpa 1 and 2 were first released in PSP. I suggest you play those games if you've not played them before. The good thing is that, you don't need to play those games in order for you to understand Danganronpa V3 as Monokuma the mascot bear is the only character that's returning from 1 and 2 or is it? :P

V3 characters were cool and interesting. I am already warning you not to get attached too much the characters as you never know when your favorite character will die. There's a high chance that even the stupidest character survives till the end haha. You can never predict the killer in Danganronpa games. The murder were all crafted intelligently. The killers were all difficult to catch and the only time that you'd get a hint who the killer is, is during the class trial itself.

This is one of the biggest Danganronpa Academy yet. You navigate the Academy in a 1st person view. Though the environments were 3ds, characters were all in 2D and like papers dolls that standing lifeless across different corners of the map. I wish that since is the 3rd version though, it should be in 3D since they have achieved that before in Ultra Despair Girls. You'll get dizzy navigating the academy sometimes. There's a quick travel that will be unlocked in the future though so travelling from floors to floors will be a breeze.

The voice quality is not as good as 1 and 2 but there's a High Quality patch that can be downloaded in PSN Store to improve voice for the Vita version as well as the ability to change voice to Japanese. The bread and butter for me of this game is the voice. Specially during the trial where in the debate gets entertaining hearing the coolest to the stupidest comments from your classmates. For me the voice actors were great for all Danganronpa games. Famous anime voice actors voiced the Danganronpa Students so expect voice acting quality here.

The main event of the game are the class trials. So after gathering evidences(where in you don't even get a clue who the killer is lol) you'll be debating who the killer is. Floating text will fly around and you shoot the inconsistencies and lies from the statements of the possible killer. New to the game is that you'd need to lie this time in order to pin down the culprit. Which is a bit of a challenge when to use but that just gives more excitement to the game and a satisfying victory once you identify the killer.

There were stuff to do when a trial has not yet occurred. During free time you can visit the casino to play games and win coins that can be exchanged for gifts that can be given to your classmates. You grow you relationship with them and the reward are special skill that you can use during class trials. You would also be rewarded with the background story of the character if you give them the correct gifts. There're more surprises after finishing the game. so be sure to check bonuses which a lot of fans will be very happy. :) 

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is a real gem. This just shows that you wouldn't need great graphics to tell a magnificent story. Danganronpa is like the Game of Thrones of videogames. Team Danganronpa has done a tremendous job with the killing game being unpredictable to the very end. It still  entertains you and yet kills you. The kind of experience that no Anime or books can give you and that only video games can. A chilling yet satisfying experience that will be remembered in videogame history for years to come.

Pros:

Great cast of Characters 

Superb Story 

Amazing Soundtrack 

Exciting and unique gameplay

Ending bonus will delight hardcore fans

Cons: 

New mechanics doesn't add much to the experience

Overall: 4.5/5

4.5 out of 5 stars Reviewer:JM Nuqui - November 5, 2017