DANGANRONPA V3 KILLING HARMONY SERIES

It takes a while to get to the first murder, mostly because the students need time to wrap their heads around the killing game, and there's a lot of back-and-forth as they decide what to do. Like the first two games, V3 is divided into chapters, each with visual novel storytelling, first-person exploration of the school grounds, a murder investigation, and a trial.

DANGANRONPA V3 KILLING HARMONY SERIES

A surprising twist in the first case is followed by a series of rather lukewarm murders, but they're a slow setup for greater mysteries that lead to a fantastic and unpredictable ending. While the first two games are mostly light on details about the world at large, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony focuses much more heavily on the bigger-picture questions. But the mysteries extend beyond the murders to the fate of the outside world, the truth of the killing game, and whether hope can truly defeat despair. Solving each murder in Danganronpa's bizarre, darkly funny world has always been my favorite thing about the games. But, if they're caught red-handed, they'll be executed, leaving the innocent ones to survive and continue the killing game.

The game master is a sentient teddy bear named Monokuma, and he tells them that if they want to leave, they have to get away with murder. The series' main draw is its battle royale-style killing game, its participants high school students trapped in a school (or an island, in the case of Danganronpa 2) and unable to contact the outside world. When I describe Danganronpa to people, I usually start with the murder part.

Danganronpa v3 killing harmony