After much patience, NIS America and Spike Chunsoft Co. have brought to fans a whole new installment in the Danganronpa series with Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.

In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, many new features now join the familiar gameplay of the Danganronpa series that we all love. First off, we get a new protagonist, Kaede Akamatsu. If you have played the demo of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, Makoto Naegi and Hajime Hinata have passed on the torch of “protagonist” to Kaede and refer to her as such. Like her senpai, Kaede is a hopeful student who wants to work with her fellow students to get out of the killing game. Along with the new cast, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony also includes a new set of kuma antagonists known as Monokubs, who are Monokuma’s children. Adorable, right? Well, these Monokubs are about to take on Monokuma’s job and supervise the killing game that is about to begin!

Here, we will get to use every skill in our arsenal to seek the truth. In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, you’ll have to debate, use those truth bullets, cut through arguments, and lie to protect those dear to you. Oh yes, you will be committing “perjury” (although technically, you don’t swear an oath to uphold the truth). You will need to keep your wits about you as you have to decide what you should contest, agree with, or lie to get the result you want. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony requires you to manipulate the courtroom to get your classmates to the right judgements or else it’ll be your lives at stake.

Hang tight as there are new minigames included in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. And, probably due to consumer demand, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is voiced in English AND Japanese! Yes, finally, fans can choose to use the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is one title made with the fans in mind.

An unfortunate new cast of 16 students have been kidnapped and pitted against each other in a killing game designed by the infamous Monokuma, a deceitfully cruel being in the body of a stuffed, animatronic bear. Monokuma will force these 16 students to kill each other and face trial and punishment all for the sake of his own amusement. Why are these students forced to play this game? What new friendships will be born and who will betray the other? You can only find out in the newest installment of Danganronpa!

When you first start playing Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, it opens up with an opening summary with clips from the previous 3 games AND the latest 2 anime seasons. See your favorite characters from all of the previous series flash across the scene as they lead to this latest installment. If that’s not one of the best ways to start off Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, we don’t know what is.

Then you actually get to start playing. If you played the Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony demo that has been available in the PSN store, you will be able to upload your save file and unlock a few special items, but this is not necessary for you to start playing. Pick the language of your preference and then, it’s game on.

Now, it’s time for the real meat of our Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Review! Start off the game by selecting your difficulty level, which is separated into 3 different levels: kind, normal, and mean. The difficulty of logic and action can be changed separately, so that can make someone’s gameplay easier if they don’t like a particular element of the game like the action items. If you ever wish to change your difficulty level, you can do so before any trial!

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is a first person, mystery game that feels and looks very much like previous Danganronpa games in the past. The graphics don’t change and the score has stayed consistent with the past 2 trial based Danganronpa games, which makes us feel confident of the title itself. Unlike other game series which change gameplay and graphics, we love how similar each game feels and while it may be similar to games in the past, that doesn’t mean you will tire of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.

As the main character, it is your job to do much of the investigating before a trial and pound sense into the people around you. As the main character, you are extremely optimistic about escaping this killing prison that Monokuma and his Monokubs have imprisoned you in. One fun feature in the game is a side scrolling mini game that reminds us of the original Super Mario game. While we won’t delve too far into this mini game as it would spoil bits of the story, it’s a rather funny and nostalgic addition that will just make you laugh.

However, it’s the courtroom that has all of the new features worth noting. The one thing that really caught our attention in the new gameplay additions from the description alone has to be the lie feature. In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, when applicable, you will have to lie using the opposite of all of the evidence you have in your disposal in order to protect someone or a truth. The better you are at it, the more believable the lie will be to those around you. Then there’s the new Scrum Debate, where the group is split 50-50 (more or less) and you will have to match subjects people are arguing about in each group to have them argue against each other. It’s not as tricky as it sounds, but it’s a pretty fun new feature.

Then we have old gameplay features that were brought back in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. First up, they brought back the idea of cutting down arguments in the Rebuttal Showdown from Danganronpa 2. Not much has changed about this element in particular, but it keeps the trials interesting and adds a bit of a challenge as you try to cut down people’s statements while also trying to find the right argument to cut down the opponent’s statement with to ensure you get your facts across. Hangman’s Gambit V3 is an updated version of Hangman’s Gambit from the past titles, but oh wait, it’s not as annoying as it is in Danganronpa 2. While it doesn’t feel wholly necessary, it’s not as difficult in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony and doesn’t damper the feel of the game the way it did in the past games. It’s merely a brief mini game that breaks up the arguing aspect of the trial and can be somewhat enjoyable or mind numbing depending on your taste.

If you played the demo, then you’ve seen that the makers of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony have brought in a “new” feature called Psyche Taxi. We say “new” because it’s more like an updated version of Danganronpa 2’s Logic Dive except with eye burning color and even more redundancy than the first, which we didn’t think was actually possible. Along with that feature, they added a feature that was lost in Danganronpa 2, the rhythm game. Originally in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, the rhythm game was supposed to subdue irate people who refused to listen to arguments. In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, the idea is similar although the execution is a little shaky. The original version used a catchy dubstep like tune that paired well with characters’ irate arguments and shouts. So far, the rhythm game in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is less than catchy and off beat, which makes it difficult to bother playing this mini game in time with the music. It was actually very irritating as far as we’ve experienced, but the actual gameplay elements haven’t changed much. You press the buttons as they fill up as if you were playing DDR or a different rhythm game.

As you finish a trial, new rooms will be unlocked in creative and interesting ways. Research labs for the Ultimates will unlock and more and more mysteries will be unraveled...Or will they? What’s amazing is that with more rooms and locations unlocked, you will be given new mini games to play at your leisure. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is filled with so many mini games that there is just so much to do on top of the character interactions, should you choose to partake.

What really shines in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is the plot first and foremost. While we won’t go into the gory details, the plot has to be one of our favorites in the entire series, and that includes the anime. This game really pulls you in and surprises you right off the bat. We’re riveted and are dying to find out more about the plot. From the first part of the story alone, we can tell you that the developers and writers put a lot of thought into Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. The mystery is heavy and we are not sure where to even begin. You’ll just have to play to find out.

Overall, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is a game for its fans what with the homage to previous characters in the demo to the intriguing story that you can tell is unfolding beneath the layers of the first part of the game alone. The game developers added some new features and tweaked some old to ensure that Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony doesn’t appear to be a stale rehashing of the same old game. The plot for Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is probably one of the best so far and the mystery really draws you in. While we’re not exactly big fans of certain features, we look forward to finishing off the game.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony has been a much anticipated game for years and fans are more than delighted to finally see what happens next in the series. Do you think you know what will happen next? Who do you think will be the first to succumb to despair? And what of Junko Enoshima and Monokuma’s plans? You will just have to play to find out more.