Recent reviews by Horse Power

Played with the Director's Cut patch.

Extremely disturbing and horrifying throughout the entire VN. Not a single time while reading this was I ever bored. The use of unsettling music, backgrounds, and dialogue makes you constantly stare at the screen the entire time. It has tons of memorable moments and unique characters that make actions that question human morality. Using the Director's Cut patch in my personal opinion is optional as the cut content is mostly uncensored eroge scenes that don't add a whole lot to the story; however it is personally up to the player if they can handle its content.

It's also written by Urobuchi Gen who worked on Madoka Magica so this VN is automatically based.

I love my girls being schizo.

Danganronpa V3 improves on ALMOST every aspect from the previous Danganronpa games. The game is visually stunning, the music is amazing, and the atmosphere as a whole is very well done. Even all of the returning mini games in the class trials are heavily improved upon.

Thematically speaking, it is technically the strongest game in the series and focuses completely on the theme of lies. This is utilized extremely well throughout the game, even in a couple of cases which aren't particularly strong. Despite an excellent cast of characters and amazing cases, I consider this game to be a tad weaker than Danganronpa 2. The first Danganronpa game has the best atmosphere, Danganronpa 2 has the best cast of characters and story, and Danganronpa V3 has the best theme and music.

The first few trials of V3 are a bit underwhelming (except the 1st trial) which did affect my enjoyment of the game but cases 4 and onward greatly exceeded my expectations. Cases 4 and 5 are arguably some of the best cases in the series along with the final case being fairly strong as well. Although admittedly the final case does drag on for too long and lacks the emotional appeal of the second games final chapter. There is TONS of talk about the ending of the game being incredibly disliked (and divisive) among fans of the series and it's incredibly obvious why that is the case once you play it, and I honestly do not blame people with this opinion. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of times where I got emotional in plenty of parts throughout this game, but I feel the 2nd game was much stronger on this aspect.

Free Time is basically the same as in Danganronpa 2 but getting presents for the characters you wish to hang out with are a bit of a hassle because of the removal of the vending machine in the 2nd game. Pretty lame but not a huge problem when you're in the middle part of the game since you get tons of coins from Class Trials. Fast traveling is much better in this game and they pretty much brought back the Danganronpa 1 version of this.

As said before, all of the minigames in the Class Trials are objectively better than the previous games. Nonstop Debate has a new Lie bullet feature which is really nice and offers backroute options to make the trials go faster. Hangman's Gambit is actually GOOD this time (SHOCKING) and not actual bullcrap from the 2nd game. Instead of letters clashing into each other and taking damage from the 2nd game (which was incredibly stupid) they will simply bounce off. Only time you take damage in this now is by selecting the incorrect letter. Argument Armament was a bit underwhelming at first because I don't play Rhythm games but came to enjoy it a lot more in the later parts of the game. Psyche Taxi is basically Logic Dive from the 2nd game and you drive in a Taxi (even if it doesn't look like one) picking words/phrases to spell out a question. Once you collect all of the letters needed for the question, you then have a limited time to answer it. Picking up the woman with correct answer will make you advance onto the next question. This new mechanic along with the graphical look of the mini game makes it better than Logic Dive for me. Rebuttal Showdown functions the same but you use the mouse instead of arrow keys in the 2nd game, massive improvement. Mind Mine is a new minigame and my least favorite out of the them all. You have to clear away colored blocks from the screen to reveal the correct answer to a question. By selecting two or more blocks, you erase them all in one fell swoop. Selecting only one block that have no ADJACENT blocks next to it will cause incur a time penalty. Erasing blocks also changes the color of the blocks adjacent to the ones you erased. An interesting concept of a minigame but ultimately uninteresting to me personally. Mass Panic Debate is also new and has you find inconsistencies in students' statements as they all shout over each other. While similar to Nonstop Debate, characters are speaking all at once and the screen will become cluttered making it very difficult at times to find inconsistencies. Very cool minigame throughout, although the 6th trials one is sort of unfair.

Debate Scrum is my favorite minigame out of the bunch and this occurs when the trial is split between two opinions and cannot reach a consensus. Characters on both sides will make remarks and it's up to you to identify the key subject of that remark and match it similar to a remark on YOUR side. Once they're all matched, you will enter a stage where you'll have to repeatedly press a button to push the argument to their side. This minigame is my favorite because it involves multiple characters rather than some isolated minigame. The combination of the music (which is incredible) and the way the MC calls out each persons name along with the remark is simply awesome.

Once again, the art style is fantastic and the addition of even more bonus scenes is cool as well. Despite not being super emotionally impactful to me like the 2nd game, it's overall theme makes up for it. Most of the the games twist are mindblowing and are honestly on par, if not better, than the previous games. Most of the characters are fantastic (except Tsumugi and Korekiyo who are super boring) too.

Danganronpa V3 was a wild ride and the franchise as a whole was simply fantastic.

Goodbye, Danganronpa

hey lois remember that time I got Waifu2x'd in Persona 3 Portable?

Kawakami my beloved.

Probably the best depiction of time travel I've ever read in fiction. The amount of research that went into this is insane. Definitely one of the best visual novels I've ever read. All characters are memorable and the story is a masterpiece with plenty of twists here and there. 10/10.

Huge ramp-up in difficulty after playing Persona 3-5 first. Great experience nonetheless besides some few repetitive dungeons, the strange decision in keeping the compressed music, and the torturous Puzzle Boy game.

Definitely worth getting this game WHEN it's on SALE. $50 for even a remaster of a 2003 game is pretty ridiculous. Not worth getting the $70 version unless you really want the grind dungeons and the BGM pack.

Highly recommend getting the free Chronicle pack before starting a new game for the extra content, even though it should've been included in the base game. It is only worth getting the Maniax Pack if you're a huge fan of the Devil May Cry series.

A ballsy change from its traditional VN format from the first two games. The FPS aspect is very fun and despite some puzzles being way too easy, it's well worth the experience. Cutscenes are well animated and the 3D models aren't half-bad. The game gives us more lore for Tokos character and even Makotos sister, Komaru. This game pretty much made me love Tokos character and I consider her to currently be one of my favorite characters in the series. Well done Spike.

Only real problems are some characters are flat and bland, one example being Jataro who is annoying and unfunny in my opinion. The motivations of the kids are also pretty questionable. The game also likes to put very unnecessary sexualized dialogue/gameplay for no particular reason other than just to be wacky and creepy at some moments. People that know about the Chapter 3 mini-game definitely know what I'm talking about.

Other than that, this is definitely a great game for Danganronpa fans that want to know more about the lore in the series. Fantastic game for Toko fans too.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (aka Super Dangan Ronpa 2) is what the first Danganronpa game should've been.

SDR2 improves upon almost every aspect of the original game by having a far more likable and strong cast of characters, extremely well written cases (minus Chapter 3), and a very ambitious story. The characters in this game have actual depth (not TeruTeru) unlike some of the characters from the first game. Characters such as Chiaki, Fuyuhiko, Gundham, and Hinata have excellent arcs and in my opinion are the strongest characters in the game. Seeing the characters in this game kill each other actually hurts a lot this time and you can see them become friends had they not been in a killing game. Death has an actual impact. This game also knows to not take itself seriously at many parts of the story and it actually works. The satire is top notch and actually hilarious.

For the gameplay, Free Time is much better as all characters have the same length of report cards instead of having mixed ones from the original game. You still have to give everyone a present if you want to level them up but it's not a problem since Mineral Water exists. The changes to traveling around the game are 50/50 as you cannot teleport to areas during certain parts of the game. The new Pets feature is neat but I found them meaningless and uninteresting. Leveling up pets also takes way too much time and it's honestly not worth maxing all types of them. Yes, I know you can do this in Island Mode but after playing the original games School Mode, it's definitely not worth my time. Even though the first game didn't have a good fast travel system, I honestly prefer the map traversal in that game than running from left to right.

Class Trial also has plenty of changes. The addition of "agree spots" in Nonstop Debate is awesome and is a great addition to the trials main minigame. "Improved" Hangman's Gambit is sort of an improvement over the original game but it is certainly not. This mini game in certain trials is super unfair (looking at you 5th trial) as tons of letters will appear on screen at once and even move insanely fast giving you barely any time to react. There are also times where different letters will instantly be destroyed as soon as they appear on screen (yeah definitely IMPROVED). Panic Talk Action is basically the original games Bullet Time Battle but has you damage an opponents shields instead and you have to form a rebuttal to shoot down the opponents argument. This is cool but the positioning of the buttons are near the bottom of the screen and are now 3D making it harder to time you button presses. It also could just be me but it felt like my inputs were being delayed when playing this minigame. Rebuttal Showdown is a really neat concept but using your blade diagonally is pretty clunky and the games tutorial on this minigame isn't clear on how damaging statements works. This is probably the only minigame where using a controller is recommended over KMB. Logic Dive is awesome and was probably my favorite minigame out of the bunch. Really can't point out any flaw with it.

Just like the first game, the art style is once again impressive and so are the animated CGs. The addition of bonus scenes are a cool touch as well, adding more depth to certain characters. While the games atmosphere isn't on par with the first game, the games soundtrack fits well with the games setting. The games twists are still a tad predictable at times but actually mindblowing this time during the games climax. Despite characters such as Teruteru and Akane (probably controversial) being weak, the cast is super strong and it is actually depressing when some of these characters are killed off.

SDR2 is the one of the best games I've picked up in a while and I am excited to try out Ultra Despair Girls next.

A very mixed bag but still ultimately a solid game. The first few chapters may throw a few people off, but the later chapters make up for it. The class trial is easily the best part of the game and be challenging during some moments which makes for splendid gameplay. However, the Closing Argument of the class trial is SUPER flawed as it becomes an absolute chore to figure out where the circles go in the respective places. Both the panels and circles provide barely any info in some trials making this part confusing. Final Strike can also hurt players eyes during the later chapters as the white dots can move pretty fast.

Free Time is also a mixed bag as all characters have different lengths of report cards, making some take a while to do over others; but this isn't sooo much of a problem in the games secret mode. You also HAVE to give them a present if you even want to max out their report card.

The secret mode is a neat concept but poorly executed and results in it being very boring but this mode is the only chance to max out all reports cards for every character. It is also pretty strange that you have to spend coins in order to unlock Extras (CGs, music tracks, artwork, etc.), forcing you to replay Class Trials several times making this a slow process for anyone wanting to achieve 100%.

As I said earlier, the first 3 chapters (personally) are dull and uninteresting, which can make some drop the game entirely. A specific character that I won't mention is completely ruined for the most outrageous motivation in their case. Most of the characters that die in the first few chapters are boring and lack any depth, but I will admit that the culprits executions are very well done. However, the game takes a HUGE leap from dullness and goes into astounding territory at around the second half of the game. Despite some being a tad predictable, the twists are much better and the motivations make a lot more sense. The atmosphere gets a lot more intense and almost all characters are given great amounts of depth during this part of the game.

Other than that, the art style is spectacular and the soundtrack fits the games atmosphere. The game obviously leaves on a cliffhanger and am intrigued on what V2 brings me. I would ultimately give this review a MIXED rating but there isn't an option for that and I believe the second half of the game plus the other pros makes up for it not giving me a negative review.