Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc caught everyone by surprise when it debuted a few years ago. Everything seemed stacked against it: A graphical adventure, heavy on puzzle elements, with a trippy Japanese pop art visual style, on PlayStation Vita — itself a port of a Japan-only PSP game. That's basically a perfect storm of obscurity and failure.
And yet, somehow, it did remarkably well — well enough to inspire a sequel (Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair) and a spin-off (Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls). The first two games clocked in with six-figure sales in North America alone, on Vita, and those sales grew modestly once the two adventures made the leap to Steam earlier this year. Unsurprisingly, a second sequel (New Danganronpa V3, not to be mistaken for the anime continuation of the storyline, Danganronpa 3) will appear in Japan early next year and presumably sometime shortly after in the U.S.
Unlike the first three games, however, V3 will not be portable-exclusive at launch: In Japan, at least, it will debut simultaneously on Vita and PlayStation 4. This, perhaps, seems inevitable as PS4 ascends to dominance in all regions and the Vita quietly withers into the sunset of its unjust existence... but given the scarcity of this sort of game on consoles, not necessarily an unwelcome turn of events.
To prepare unsuspecting handheld-haters for the glory of the series (and to catch them up on the increasingly baroque plotline), Spike Chunsoft will be adapting the first two entries in the series to PlayStation 4, and NIS American will be publishing them in the U.S. in January. NIS's press release makes no mention of new content or material for the PS4 reissues, which means loyal Vita fanatics probably won't be missing anything (besides 1080p resolution) by passing on the new version; however, console fans who wouldn't be caught dead with a portable game or playing on PC (surely there are a few out there), should definitely have a look when Danganronpa 1•2 Reload lands on PS4 in the new year.
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Until the final arc of the anime airs I'm done with this franchise. It's too hard on my heart after some of the deaths the last season. I don't think I can take much more.
Playing through D2: Goodbye Despair at the moment, for the first time. About 5 hours in, and I feel the experience so far has been excellent. Well worth anyone's time. In a lot of ways, it feels antithetical to many other visual novels: It's extremely energetic and feels quite a deal more dynamic than the genre would suggest.
I'll just say that when Danganronpa was released previously on the PC, there was no insinuation back then that the PC version was meant for people prejudiced against other platforms.
I will always remember Danganronpa as a Vita series, and it did become a sales hit already on the Vita. It was not unavoidably necessary to release it on other platforms, as it sold so well on the Vita. However, the other versions may of course bring in some additional profits for Spike Chunsoft.
"Prejudiced against PCs and portables?" "REAL console?" Geez J.P., you have a bad day, man?
I've got no vendetta against PCs or handhelds. Hell, if it wasn't for the ludicrously expensive memory cards, I'd buy a Vita in a second. Danganronpa may not be the kinda game I'm into, but I'm still grateful to have any new rereleases or remasters I can get on PS4.
@SuperShinobi@MetManMas Mmmm... I have the impression that Jeremy is just being cheeky with the headline (that or he is just bitter that the Vita never got the respect and attention it deserved).
@docexe Might've gotten a little more respect if it had more onboard memory or the memory cards weren't so pricey. $100+ for a 64GB card to have adequate digital game storage space is ludicrous when you can get an SD card of the same size for about 1/5th of that.
NIS' efforts brought the entire Danganronpa series to the USA in just one year—spoiling anyone who's a fan of mystery, mayhem, and text-heavy adventure games.
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I will always remember Danganronpa as a Vita series, and it did become a sales hit already on the Vita. It was not unavoidably necessary to release it on other platforms, as it sold so well on the Vita. However, the other versions may of course bring in some additional profits for Spike Chunsoft.
I've got no vendetta against PCs or handhelds. Hell, if it wasn't for the ludicrously expensive memory cards, I'd buy a Vita in a second. Danganronpa may not be the kinda game I'm into, but I'm still grateful to have any new rereleases or remasters I can get on PS4.
Am also scared #3 will be PS4 only in the west.