#danganlike ahoy

[hopeymchope]

Danganlike, Ahoy: 'Inescapable' begins

I know it's been out for three months, but I only started playing "Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue" just last night.

Most critics weren't very kind to this Danganlike upon its release; there were a lot of complaints of it being boring. But after a couple of hours with it, my initial impression is VERY positive. Before I get into that, though, let me give a detailed run-down of the basic setup.

A group of 11 Europeans (including our POV character, a Brit named Harrison) are abducted and taken to a tropical island loaded with cameras. There, a pair of "producers" broadcast to their phones to inform the group that they're now part of a reality show called "Inescapable."

Their situation is thus:

They are now part of a limited-broadcast reality show called "Inescapable."

They must live on this island together for the next six months.

There one rule: They cannot interfere with the cameras and broadcast equipment.

Other than that? No other rules or limitations apply, and no law enforcement will ever punish them for any action they take. They may manipulate, assault, or even kill without fear of repercussions.

The phones they are each provided can communicate with one other or the two producers, but that's it. Any other calls are blocked.

The production team will airdop necessary tools for survival (food, fresh water, etc.) regularly provided that the participants leave the broadcast equipment alone and keep the show "entertaining" for the audience.

Failure to be "entertaining" or otherwise non-comply will cause the producers to intervene in ways that make their lives more "interesting." Maybe they'll withhhold supplies to cause starvation/dehydration. Maybe they'll reveal private details about the participants that will generate conflict among them.

Similarly, those who make the show more "entertaining" will receive rewards. These can be new sources of entertainment for them, luxury goods, and who-knows-what else.

Everyone still alive/present by the end of the six months will receive 500,000 Euros. (For most of the cast, this is a princely sum. But for a few, it's a mere pittance.)

The two producers are available to the cast via their phones for any suggestions/requests, but said producers prioritize entertainment value above all other considerations. Requests for information on loved ones, jobs, or possessions left behind are ignored; they are only given the vague promise/warning that "No one will be coming to rescue you."

Admittedly, this setup does not inherently promise murder and betrayal the way that something that Danganronpa, Yurukill, Your Turn to Die, or Virtue's Last Reward all did. Instead, there's a pervasive unease around every action your character or the other characters take. If you see someone on the phone, are they bartering with the producers in a way that will harm your or someone else? If someone is wittholding basic info about themselves, why would they feel the need to do so — are they potentially dangerous for the sake of "entertainment"? If you see two characters whispering, are they conspiring? Even if you try to have a whispered conversation in the middle of the jungle, are you truly alone?

Most of the gameplay is essentially structured like Danganronpa's "Free Time Events." On most days, you get a morning, afternoon, and evening. You look at the map of the island and can see who is hanging out where; from there, you choose where to visit and who to talk to. These conversations each last one of those time periods, can reveal more about the characters in question, and can also include dialogue choices that will affect your "route" through the game. But even the decision of who you choose to talk with affects the route... and once that time period is up, there's no guarantee you can see the other conversations that you skipped out on at a later time.

Any given playthrough can wind up on one of four "routes" to a unique ending based on the conversation choices you make, the people you choose to speak with, and some other actions. For example: There are some side games in an Arcade setting that you can spend time playing. It's also possible to earn "points" with the producers based on your choices that you can use to unlock "gossip" or "dirt" about any character you choose, with each character having multiple items in both categories. Whether you choose to purchase any such items and which ones you get also affect your ultimate route. In fact, based on what I'm seeing online? The number of simple actions that can affect what path your character is leaning towards reminds me more of a Silent Hill game than a standard visual novel! We're seriously talking shit like "Spend X amount of time looking at Y in inventory" can have an impact.

Sadly, there's no easy signposting for how you wind up on a given route or what you'd need to do to get a different one. I'd really prefer they had a flowchart like a Zero Escape game, but this is instead more like a SciAdv visual novel where unlocking a different outcome is going to be dependent on either (A) blindly trying different approaches as you go or (B) consulting an Internet walkthrough.

Either way, the stress of daily decision-making and the quirkiness of the characters/their dialogue has me hooked RN. We'll see if it can carry me satisfactorily across the finish line.

[hopeymchope]

Hey peeps? Try this Demo some time if you haven't.

I think "Yurukill" is definitely one of the better and more unique "Danganlikes" (as I've come to call them) in recent years. The shoot-'em-up element can be toned down to a very low difficulty if that aspect bugs you, and most of the game is definitely focused on the visual novel/puzzle elements.

I just think not enough people have tried this one yet. But with a Free Demo out there, there's little reason to not at least give it a chance.

Publisher IzanagiGames and developer G.rev will release a demo for escape adventure and bullet hell shoot ’em up game Yurukill: The Calumniation Games for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch on April 28 in Japan, the companies announced.

The demo will allow users to play the entire first chapter of the game. Save data from the demo can be transferred to the full game when it launches.

IzanagiGames will also host a “Demo Play Report” live stream featuring Yurukill: The Calumniation Games official ambassador Moe Iori on April 22 at 20:00 JST. You will be able to watch it on YouTube and Niconico.

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is due out for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch on May 25 in Japan, July 5 in North America, and July 8 in Europe. A PC (Steam) version is also planned.

[hopeymchope]

DanganLike, Ahoy: 'Inescapable' is a rollercoaster of highs and lows

I've previously laid out what "Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue" is about and how its gameplay works, so I'm not going to reiterate that here. Right now, I'm going to focus on explaining what's great about it... and sadly, why it ultimately disappointed me.

You might say that Inescapable left me a bit 'upsetty spaghetti.'

It's blatantly obvious how much time and effort were put into this game... not only because the art is gorgeous and there's clearly a lot of love poured into the dialogue, but mostly because each of the game's four "routes" contains so much unique material. You spend the first half of your playthrough making the decisions that wind up deciding what the second half will be, meaning that the entire second half — 50% of a given playthrough's runtime! — can be completely different on four different runs. Although plenty of visual novels have alternate routes/endings, few I've encountered do it to this extent. And even when they do contain such extensive differences between routes, they don't usually do this MANY routes; consider 'Steins;Gate 0', which has only two major routes once it breaks off.

Literally the first line of the entire game is a reference to another piece of media. It will not be the last. And I say that with affection! I found these references fun.

In essence, the devs at Dreamloop games have scripted, directed VAs, and made distinct CGs for 2.5 complete runs of a a story that tkes roughly 12 hours on the first pass, giving you well over 30 hours of playtime... provided you want all that. Some of the routes even have unique gameplay mechanics JUST for them!!

Searching 3D environments where our characters stand as 2D cutouts... seems familiar.

Dreamloop's European team wear their affection for Danganronpa on their sleeve, too. Early on, the characters participate in a pretend murder-mystery where they are challenged to find "the Blackened." When/if blood is spilled, it's usually bright pink. Someone breaks into Monokuma's signature laugh at one point... these devs are people of refined tastes. :)

One of many overt references to the devs' love for DR.

And oh god, that voice acting. Most major scenes are fully voiced in English, but of the four routes in the game — Greed, Lust, Suspicion, and Trust — it's the Suspicion route that really shows how excellent their VAs can be. They will break your fucking heart in that storyline. Highest possible kudos for those performances.

But let's dip deeper into those four routes, because their presence is both a big brag point (tons of content!) and also the game's biggest downfall. The main problems with them are twofold:

If you're going to have four different second-halves of your game, they ALL need to align with that first half. But because the game uses such arbitrary reasons for why it slots you into one of its four routes (I'll circle back to that), the player character — Harrison — can suddenly come off as being WILDLY different after doing very fucking little to justify it. Two of the routes just... don't feel like you're playing the same character any more after the transition into the back half; Harrison goes from being well-meaning but nervous and full of self-doubt to suddenly being defined and dominated by some new trait that has NEVER existed before then.

But there's an even bigger issue with the four routes. See, most visual novels with multiple endings/routes keep the characters consistent across all the story branches; it's only your choices that change what storyline you wind up on. Even in Danganronpa, when you play any bonus modes or side games (Island Mode, UTDP, Danganronpa S), the characters remain inherently the same people. 'Inescapable' doesn't adhere to this logic, though; the personalities, behavior, and background motivations of the characters are completely different on different routes. And I don't just mean "In one route they are mean and in another they are nice." I mean they are so FUNDAMENTALLY different that you just have to accept that this person containing the same name, VA, and sprites is a completely different character. If the same person opens up/reveals more of themselves to you (i.e., Harrison) on two different routes, then one route could have that person reveal their fears, insecurities, and innate kindness... while the other route reveals them to be a sociopathic, Machiavellian figure (sorry for the bad rap, Nic). If you a character see fall from grace into becoming basically a Nazi on one route, another route might show you that same character as someone who holds onto their best ideals even in the face of brutal hardship. It's hard to even explain how INCREDIBLY different these characters are between routes. In one route, a quiet character is just a shy sweetheart waiting to be brought into the light... in another, they're a complete sociopath who tortures with detached curiosity. These people are ALL-FUCKING-OVER the place!

Mia is Harrison's closest confidant and ally throughout the first half of the game. And the sprite shown here is giving major Chiaki vibes.

I can truly say that I've never seen another visual novel take that approach before... and this break from the norm only helps to make it clear WHY we established that norm. It's hard to embrace and love a character who winds up an important, trustworthy ally on one route when you've already seen the same person be your most aggressive, duplicitious nemesis on another route. It serves as a powerful deterrant to establishing much emotional attachment to these people. Everybody I loved in the first half of the game eventually became people I no longer cared about, because the routes make it clear that they can each suddenly become ANY type of character at ANY time the writers demand it.

There's some commentary on modern politics as well as representation of gay, non-binary and asexual people in here. But is it still desirable representation if those characters only reveal their sexual preferences on ONE story route — and worse, they're evil on some other route???

As long as we're talking about routes, though, let's break them all down in regards to how you reach them. (Yup, this is the time for that circle-back I promised y'all earlier.) The game does NOT provide any hints or insight into how you get onto the routes, but people who've brute-forced the game and looked into the files have figured out quite a bit. And boy, these triggers are... some bullshit.

You get Greed by winning competitions or playing built-in mini-games. I wound up on this route during my first playthrough SOLELY because the game includes a daily (in-game daily, that is — and a 'day' in the game is usually around seven minutes) Wordle mini-game, and I played it regularly. I also played the three Arcade cabinet mini-games (an Asteroids clone, a side-scrolling infinite runner, and... Seagull BBQ, which is by far the most fascinating/weird one IMO). And playing mini-games apparently means you're greedy, because it tosses you onto this route where your character suddenly values money over all else. (????) Other stuff that leads you down this path includes winning any games in the story, such as when the characters do a tug-of-war or host a trivia quiz about each other. YEAH, playing the quiz well evidently is a sign of Greed... THIS is the kind of shit that makes these triggers so frustrating.

You get Lust by talking a lot to any characters the game deems "scantily clad" or possibly, uh... fetish-ize-able. That means spending time with the innocent maid (Annika) counts for this ending because she's dressed as a maid, and that's a potential fetish, so fuck you. :P Talking to Giovanni the Italian 50something dude ALSO counts, because his shirt is hanging open to reveal his musculature. The twin-tailed teenage heir to a fortune? That fuckin' counts, too — she's young and small, ergo it's now a "lust' point. Talking to Eva, the excessively flirty social media diva in small clothing? OBVIOUSLY counts... but that's really the only one that legitimately makes some sense. (Weirdly, spending time with the huge-boobed Portuguese mechanic who always sports her midriff seemingly does NOT count towards this route. Is it because she's in her 30s? Is this sexist ageism shit?) Other triggers for this one are thankfully more obvious: Choosing to play around with or be alone with any girl (even if it's part of a meta-game, such as when the cast are playing 'Caverns & Wyverns'... yeah, that's a thing), going to the sauna alone with a girl, etc.

Off-brand Fast & Furious movies are somehow a plot point on MULTIPLE routes. Starring "Bill Petrol"!

You get Suspicion by spending most of your time talking to your most trusted confidant (Mia) and/or to the most suspicious/secretive person around (Sasha). Also eavesdropping on conversations or spying on people to learn what they're up to will get you here. Oh, and when the producers tell you that you can use in-game points to unlock bits of "Dirt or "Gossip" that will reveal secrets about the other contestants? Yeah, going for "Dirt" whatsoever will ABSOLUTELY get you on this route. This is the route that most heavily caters to Danganronpa fans, because this is the one that leads to you solving a series of murders on the island. And yes, you'll be investigating crime scenes, collecting evidence, and presenting it at opportune times to corner the killer! Unfortunately, the ultimate thesis is pretty much the opposite of Danganonpa: There's no hope to be found on this route. Instead, this is the perfect route for those oddballs who mostly liked Danganronpa but really felt Despair should've won. :P

Like I said, the hardest route to get is definitely Trust. You have to be RIDICULOUSLY pure and avoid ANY/ALL of the triggers for the other three in order to wind up on "Trust." In other words: Spend almost all your time with Daan, Lumi, Francisca, and/or Isak (because these are, for some reason, NOT triggers for other routes). Refuse to ever look at the unlockable "Dirt" or "Gossip." Never eavesdrop and never spy, no matter how sus a character is acting. Refuse to participate in as many in-story games as possible — even when you are prompted by the game to enter an answer or choose from a set of choices, try to find a way to refuse or to enter blatantly fake responses. Like, if the game says "Guess who the answer is to this question"? Just say "Nobody" or some crap like that. :P Don't play mini-games, because Wordle and Asteroids are somehow vaguely evil for reasons I don't get. At one point, there's an in-story competition where you have to choose to either take money (Greed) or expose someone's secrets (Suspicion), and you either need to know which characters to speak with in order to avoid BOTH options, or you need to keep them both as balanced as humanly possible.

It's unsurprising, I'm sure, that Trust is basically the mega-happy ending. But because Trust is easily the hardest route to access, you'll probably see these characters spiral into some shitty behavior on those OTHER routes well before you see them settle into something more peaceful. Which means that unfortunately — due to what I said earlier about the characters being wildly different people on different routes — this happy ending feels pretty unearned, maybe even unwanted. Because no matter how much of a pal they are on the "Trust" path, someone with the same name who looks and sounds the same was willing to go full fucking psycho on you with VERY little provocation on another route. So do you really think these people deserve this mega-happy ending? (It doesn't help that "Trust" also runs pretty long without much happening for 1/3 of it... it can turn into the most boring of the four, imo.)

The story supposedly takes place in 2017, but it sometimes makes references to things that didn't yet exist then. Oh well.

None of these routes are free from writing issues, unfortunately, Where the game excels at making very distinctive characters who are initially interesting despite their Choose-Your-Own-Adventure personalities, the actual overall plotting are where things always seem to fall apart. For example: In "Trust," a character disappears to go work secretly behind-the-scenes to free the group. And this staged disappearance of a major ally is probably the BIGGEST plot point in the final act of this route. Yet, ultimately, said ally... does nothing. They just vanish for most of the story, only to show up at the end and be like "Oh yeah I'm fine but there was no reason for my disappearance, I didn't do anything." It's not even clear why or how the whole 'Inescapable' broadcast/game ends on this route! It just... STOPS, after the characters are told multiple times by the producers that it WON'T, without any explanation. In "Suspicion," on the other hand, we have one major murder case where no motive for the premeditated brutal killing is ever established. This perpetrator isn't some maniac, but... I guess maybe they are, because the game never establishes ANY reason for why they did the horrible thing they did. It just... kinda happened. THESE are what I mean when I say there are big PLOT issues. On more than one occasion, it's just like "This shit happened for some reason. We either don't know or won't say why."

And I get that maybe my expectations/demands are just really high. There's a LOT that goes into high-quality writing, after all - you have to develop characters that are interesting, you have to have consistent characterization for them, you have to write dialogue that feels engaging, and you have to create coherent and intriguing plotting throughout. To its credit, Inescapable's writing absolutely succeeds in TWO of these things. But one of them, it fails in. And one of them? It doesn't even TRY to do.

I think you get the picture by now. I was ultimately let down by this latest attempt to recapture the magic of titles like Danganronpa, Zero Escape, etc. In the past two years, my favorite "Danganlike" attempt remains Yurukill — I still think about that one fondly and with surprising regularity. By comparison, Inescapable is a much longer/more complex game ... that I sadly have a markedly lower opinion of.

Both Yurukill and Inescapable ultimately end with a tease for a potential sequel. I would ABSOLUTELY play a Yurukill 2, but I feel like that's not looking too likely right now. Would I play an Inescapable 2, though? .... Eh. Maybe. If I was in the right mood or I heard/read something about it that sounded good, I may risk it.

[hopeymchope]

Danganlike, Ahoy: Process of Elimination

As we wait for the team behind the Danganronpa series to finally release the game they've been working on for almost five years now next month, why not fill the time with another recent release that's inspired by their work?

I've just started playing it myself.

Process of Elimination just came out in April, and the team behind it has been open about the fact that Danganronpa was one of their primary inspirations. As such, we once again we have a situation where a group of eccentric anime-style people are trapped in an isolated location where murders ensue! (At least this time, the cast isn't being forced/encouraged to all murder one another. ... Well, not YET.)

And the player character? We play as a detective-in-training with extremely low self-esteem who wears an all-black uniform and sports an ahoge sprouting from the black hair atop his head.

In other words: Shuichi.

We play as dollar-store Shuichi Saihara.

"We have Shuichi at home."

In all seriousness, his name is actually "Wato Hojo." But far as I'm concerned? This motherfucker is Discount Shuichi until he earns his own name. But make no mistake — I'm legitimately hoping our protagonist will manage to come into his own. I wish you the best of luck, D.S.!

Before we get any further, know this: There's a free demo available for this game! You can try out the early parts for free on your Switch, PS4, or PC! So there's very little reason NOT to do so if you're at all interested in a new Danganlike mystery Visual Novel-esque game with puzzles to unravel!

With that out of the way... if you're still here, I'll happily give you more info on the basic setup/backstory of the prologue and how the gameplay generally works.

Unfortunately for Discount Shuichi, he's far from the only detective on the premises when deaths start occurring. In fact, he's but one of MANY. But to explain why that's the case, we need to dig into the setup/backstory of this thing.

Here's the setup/backstory of our adventure: A serial killer who goes by "The Quartering Duke" appeared roughly a year ago. Since that time, he's committed more than 50 double murders, racking up an heretofore-unprecedented 100+ kills. To make matters worse: The fact that he's been on such a successful spree without generating any clear leads has led to multiple copycats springing up in his wake.

The citizens are living in fear, requests for bodyguard and private detective services are at a historic high, and the government has resorted to leaning on the Detective Alliance (or "DA") for assistance with the crime wave.

"Who dat," you ask? The DA is sort of like a detective union: A loose alliance of 100 private detectives who are given a numeric rank based on their skills and experience. So kind of like the Detective Library made famous to DR hardcores by Danganronpa Kirigiri, albeit with fewer members.

They're officially free agents, but they're largely contracted by the government as of late. Also: The members of the DA can't reveal their real names/identities. Instead, they only go by an adjective that describes them and the word "Detective."

A group of quirky detectives that each have a noteworthy trait? Is this taking inspiration from Rain Code BEFORE Rain Code is out?!

For example:

Gourmet Detective is an excellent chef in addition to her detective bonafides.

Rowdy Detective is typically aggressive and ready to throw down.

Techie Detective prefers to rely on technological tools for his work.

Posh Detective is... posh.

And as you no doubt see in the above image, our own character is dubbed the "Incompetent Detective." I wish I could say that was undeserved, but... nah. It check out.

When we first meet Discount Shuichi, he's botching a job he was assigned as an assistant at a smaller detective firm. He's brought into the Detective Alliance at the lowest rank of 100 JUST in time for he and another 13 sleuths to wind up isolated at DA's island headquarters with their communications out. And he quickly proves that he's not very swift on the uptake when it comes to the clues around him. I actually joked to my S.O. that maybe they'd dub him the "Inept Detective"... and two minutes later, he got the "Incompetent" label. And I laughed. It's harsh, but for now? It's fair.

Oh, and he even gets knocked out and wakes up inside a locker that is within his new murder-prison. +1 Shuichi Point!

Anyway, back to the story: To the surprise of everyone who isn't the player, a quartered dead body is soon discovered. It appears entirely likely that the Quartering Duke has made his way to Detective Alliance Island and is now trapped among them! Pretty soon, we're collaborating with other detectives to examine the crime scene and determine what went down.

I just started playing last night, so I don't have a lot more to report than that. I've only completed the first chapter/mystery so far. At the moment, it looks like we might only have ONE culprit throughout this game who commits all the murders... but given that we're already set up that there's a ton of copycats during the prologue/backstory, I wouldn't be too shocked if we encounter one or two others as the game goes on.

The bulk of the game is a visual novel experience with occasional binary choices that can lead to (minor/short) branches in events and/or impact your end-of-chapter score/grade. The balance is similar to a Danganronpa so far: You're mostly reading, but there's still one important segment where gameplay takes center stage and gets much more involved than merely reading the text. That core "gameplay" comes in the investigation sequences.

Isometric Investigative Action!

This is when we use our "dPad" (an iPad parody, not a directional pad) to direct all the titular detectives around the building. I'm not going to get into the story reason for why Discount Shuichi has this authority, so let's just talk about what he can do with it.

See, there will be "Mystery Points" that require a certain level of "Intellect" to unlock, and you can assign detectives with various numeric Intellect rankings to investigate them. If you put another detective beside such an investigating detective and assign them to "Assist," you get a significant boost in their Intellect skill that will help you break down the Mystery Point faster, revealing the clue underneath. Most Mystery Points will only take a single "hour" or "turn" to identify what the relevant evidence is, but some take multiple turns. Furthermore, once you identify a piece of evidence at such a point, you'll find that some of them require closer analysis to reveal all of their secrets. And each of our detectives ALSO has a numeric "Analyze" ranking. If they meet or exceed the rank needed to analyze the evidence, they can do so in a single hour/turn, revealing whatever additional info it holds.

Detective stats include a numeric Move rating, too! it controls how far they can move during a single turn. Usually, each turn lets you move a character and then assign them an action — but you can also choose to give a character full access to traveling the ENTIRE map if you need them to get very far very fast. Doing this means that moving will be ALL they can do for that particular turn, though.

Starting get the picture? The game is one of time and resource management. You have a limited number of hours/turns before you must complete an investigation, and each detective on hand has set numeric ratings that limit how much they can move and what they can successfully complete within a single turn. Your mission is to complete the analysis of the crime scene and all its evidence before your time is up, leveraging your team's unique stats to carve the most efficient path.

The first investigation is 50% tutorial, so it's pretty easy to complete it within the allotted hours/turns. For that reason, I don't yet know what happens if you take too long to find everything in an investigation. The game only threatened that doing so would cause "ANNIHILATION." ... Which sounds bad.

I think that's enough of an introduction to Process of Elimination. I'll just close by noting that it only contains Japanese voiceovers (no dub) and, although I found some elements of its story to already be super-obvious, they've been reasonably quick to reveal the most obvious elements during the first chapter rather than lingering on the mistaken assumption that we hadn't already figured their crap out. So I'm optimistic that they won't make this narrative TOO obvious or simple in the long run.

Looking forward to uncovering more!

[hopeymchope]

Danganlike, Ahoy: "Inescapable" coming October 2023

If you're like me and you're always looking to play more Danganlikes, well... you're probably busy playing Rain Code right now. But that doesn't mean you can't look ahead to the next game to take inspiration from DR, which is Inescapable: No Rules, No Escape from Finnish developer Dreamloop Games.

The team behind the game admit they are fans of Danganronpa and were inspired by it when concocting this title. The setup involves a bunch of "contestants" being dumped onto a remote island, where they're told to "survive" but also to "entertain" their viewers on the Dark Web. The story is said to explore how far people will go for social clout, wealth, and their own desires.

There's already a demo available on Steam if you want a taste; apparently it's about an hour in length. The full game is currently expected to be out this fall on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

[hopeymchope]

Just got back from vacation, and LOOK WHAT I PICKED UP WHILE I WAS OUT

MASTER DETECTIVE ARCHIVES: RAIN CODE IS HERE.

And in short: The true successor/follow-up to Danganronpa is finally here.

But don't merely take my word for it; here are just a few of the (very positive!) review headlines:

The comparison/connection is VERY obvious. I'm only about four or five hours in (i.e., I've only just now seen the title sequence after finishing Chapter 0 and the Prologue), but the mysteries/murders are already as convoluted as you'd expect, the characters are as quirky as ever, and there's a counterpart to almost every recurring Danganronpa mechanic...

INCLUDING:

"Truth Bullets" = "Solution Keys"

"Non-Stop Debate" = "Reasoning Death Match"

"Hangman's Gambit" = "Shinigami Puzzle"

"Bullet Time Battle" = "GOD Shinigami"

"Closing Argument" = "Deduction Denouement"

You get the idea; Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is even more of a Danganronpa-esque game than I think any of us anticipated.

I will, of course, be back with more thoughts and reactions as I go along. But for now, Ima just soak it up.

[hopeymchope]

Danganlike, Ahoy: Yurukill is like Danganronpa x Zero Escape x occasionally a Top-Down Shoot-em-up

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is a visual novel focused on a set of murder mysteries mixed in with an overall death game, and if that doesn’t already give you an inkling of what might’ve inspired it, I think some screenshots will HEAVILY CONFIRM your suspicions.

Howa bout the animated cut-ins whenever you make an counter-argument during a debate?

Or how about the animal-themed mascot character who always sounds happy to be tormenting you and who speaks in frequent puns?

Oh, what about some mini-games that have you choosing a specific lane/direction as you attempt to answer questions correctly? 

So yeah, it seems clear that Danganronpa is among Yurukill’s most obvious inspirations. That influence is out on front street, but don’t worry: It’s not like it’s aping DR all the way through. FAR from it, in fact!

First, the setup: A group of five convicted prisoners have are taken to “Yurukill Land,” a supposed “amusement park” on an island owned by Yurukill, Inc. Yurukill is a massive but secretive corporation that most people have never heard of. They create “opportunities” for convicts as well as “entertainment” for unknown parties in the form of the games at Yurukill Land. 

What do these games entail? 

Firstly: To be brought into the games, a prisoner must consistently claim they are innocent of their charges despite their conviction. 

Second: Each prisoner is paired with an “executioner” who is somehow connected to that prisoner’s criminal case. The executioner has control of a button that will instantly inject poison into the prisoner’s neck — and the executioner can push this button at any time they so desire. 

Third: Together, the each pair of prisoner and executioner must make their way through an “attraction” that operates like a series of escape rooms full of puzzles and possible dangers. (So there’s the “Zero Escape” element, because the puzzles herein ESPECIALLY invoke the feel of that series. But they’re usually shorter than most of that series’ escape rooms.)

And finally: At the end of each attraction along the journey awaits the “Brain Reality” (a.k.a. “BR”. This is a virtual reality experience wherein the prisoner will be made to pilot a virtual ship into “combat” against the willpower and mental blocks of his/her executioner. But the executioner is FAR from defenseless — they get a much bigger ship of their own to fight back with! For the executioner, this confrontation is harmless. For the prisoner? Not so much — death in the simulation can literally kill them in reality. But this confrontation is the only way a prisoner can force their ideas and opinions into their executioner’s mind, thereby saving themselves from the insta-kill button.

Why would the prisoner/executioner put themselves through all this crap? Well, because the pair that makes it to the end of the Yurukill games with both parties still alive gets A) the prisoner’s conviction overturned and B) one wish of the executioner granted (...so long as it’s something that’s actually possible for a corporation to achieve). But be advised: Only ONE pair can win.

That last bullet point I mentioned above is the one that REALLY takes this from a oddball “Dangan-like” to something VERY distinctive. Because instead of having a “Class Trial” at the end of each chapter, we wrap them each with *DRUMROLL* a lengthy shoot-’em-up stage!

Each shoot-’em-up section takes about 15-20 minutes to complete, and although you can save at any time during the Visual Novel portions of the game, you can’t save at all during the shmup, so be prepared! These can be tough for anyone unexperienced in the genre, but there is thankfully an “Easy” setting that should allow even the biggest novice to pass. And if you’re an old hand at shooters? Even “Normal” will probably seem too simple for you. So it’s probably a good thing that there’s a “Hell” difficulty setting for you experts. :P 

I’m someone who has plenty of retro game experience, but I’ve only rarely/sporadically played any “shmups.” I found I was able to beat the game without too much struggle on Normal difficulty, but it definitely took a lot of lives and a lot of tight maneuvering. It was stressful for me, but I’m only a little above “noob.” I’m just extremely grateful that the controls are so damn tight and precise. You can really move your ship between the tiniest gaps between enemy bullets without having to worry.

During the shmup segments, you have the opportunity to argue your case. This is where you get the “Logic Dive”-style minigame shown in the third screenshot of this post in addition to some other pauses that let you select evidence to make an argument. I’m always grateful for the chance to take a momentary break in the shooting action, so these were not just a fun away to use what we learned — they were also a welcome respite.

Now, this is all pretty cool, but I don’t want to oversell Yurukill. It has its faults. But some of them might even be considered positives... ? For example:

You spend half the game hopping into different prisoners’ scenarios, finding yourself controlling the actions of/experiencing the mindset of a new protagonist every chapter. The tail end of the game finally settles on one primary hero, but this decision prevents you from getting too invested in any one person or knowing any of them too well. Although I guess it DOES give you a chance to get to know some of them more than you would if you were just on the outside looking in. It’s impressive how, by the end of the game, you’ll probably feel sympathy for MOST parties who’ve endured this ridiculous torment. 

Perhaps as a side effect of the above, the characters here are perhaps a little thinner than those in other visual nvoels. There’s nothing in Yurukill that’s going to compare to the memorable complexities of a Danganronpa cast member. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have plenty of reason to still like them, either. They’re just not given any standout quirks or ironic traits that really make them feel oddly human, imo. But I also find them far more symapthetic than what you see in many similar games.  (ETA: Even over a YEAR after I finished playing this, I find that I still think about these characters pretty regularly. That definitely says a lot for this game that I can’t say for most other VNs/Danganlikes.)

Of course, this feeling could also be just a natural side effect of a game that only runs about 12 hours of total game time. For some people, that length will detract from the experience. For others, however, that could be seen as an upside. I was definitely in the mood for something shorter after playing really long friggin’ games in recent months... and since I finished playing this one, I’ve continued to think about it. It’s stuck with me in a way that really speaks to its impact.

My biggest issue is that a few of the puzzles just don’t work. Not MOST of them, thankfully! But the game gives you no penalty for requesting up to three hints per puzzle, and I think that’s an admission on the part of the devs that there are a spare few of these that are virtually impossible to figure out with just the information given to you in-game. You have to make some crazy logical leaps or do some things that just... no sane person is going to guess. There are even a couple times where using all three hints isn’t enough to make you clearly understand what you’re expected to do! (This is especially true of the dialogue choices in the rapid-fire Maji-Kill segments where you have to choose the right words to prevent your executioner from murderizing you right then and there. There are NO hints here, and there’s often very little difference between choices that get you killed and the choices that let you live...) 

PLEASE don’t let any of the above deter you too much, however. This is a narrative with some fun cast members as well as twists and turns that can be sometimes predictable, often surprising, and sometimes just frustrating because of how much you’re going to be rooting for a character who winds up getting screwed.

I guess this speaks well of Homura Kawamoto, who did most of the writing on Yurukill. He’s best known as the author of Kakegurui, which is a damn great manga/anime series that’s loaded with suspense in its own right. Which also speaks to just how suspenseful this game can get at times. ......... Please perceive that sentence as a serious thumbs-up. 

[hopeymchope]

Danganlike, Ahoy: Inescapable is coming in 2023

WAKE UP

Trailer for a Dangan-like game has dropped

Promo text follows:

“Inescapable is a social thriller set in a tropical island resort. You’ve been kidnapped and forced to participate in a twisted reality TV show with 10 additional strangers. At the end of your stay, you’ll receive $500,000. The catch? On this island, there are no rules, and there’s no way to escape. 

Inescapable’s story explores human nature and how far people will go for social clout, wealth, and their own desires—and how much further they might be willing to go when they have permission to ignore any and all societal rules.”

Damn... 

2023 is waaaay too long. 

I want this injected directly into me NOW.

[hopeymchope]

Exile Election is still a thing that is happening, here are character trailers

So, does anyone remember my post about how Exile Election is the most blatant Danganronpa knock-off imaginable?

I haven’t really followed up on the fact that that game is still coming, and it’s still totally “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Danganronpa!” except that the art style of the characters is distinct, so that’s something at least.

Since that initial announcement, they’ve done a number of character trailers for the thing, so I figured I’d provide a handy resource for those if anyone out there still wants to follow this.

Said trailers are in Japanese, of course. But at least you can get some vague sense of what you’re going to experience if you play this thing or if it comes West.

Alice (the mechanical doll that is also the mascot/host of the killing game) is just a crazy a-hole.

Arsya Tadenomiya is one half of a pair of twin girls. They are more mature in speech than they look, and they have zero interest in anyone else within this game outside of each other and Hakushu.

Karsya Tadenomiya is.. well, she’s the other twin. What’s with the flower-eyes on these kids?

Hakushu Isumi is the tutor to the twin girls and quite admired by them. He carries a pill case wherever he goes because he has a chronic illness of some kind.

Miori Himeno is a gentle pacifist who wants nothing to do with this whole “vote on who dies” crap.

Yuuri Himeno is the “brains of the group,” supposedly, due to the fact that he carefully weighs the pros and cons of every decision. He’s the younger brother of Miori and best friends with Michimune Isurugi.

Michimune Isurugi is a faithful friend to the Himeno siblings, and he has confidence in his physical strength as well. But is that even useful in this situation?

Shihori Yurizono is apathy personified. She doesn’t care about others, doesn’t care about whether she lives or dies, and even though she has bad eyesight and has prescription glasses, she rarely wears them because she doesn’t care if she sees anything or not.

Issei Ninchouji is calm, agreeable, and works in a restaurant. He’s 25 years old and believes in cooperation among the group.

Ayara Izuki is a provocative thug who is openly aggressive towards the group and avoids any/all group activities. He is a loner and is basically like Fuyuhiko in the first two chapters of SDR2.

Noori is a young girl who has lost her memories... all of them, even the ability to speak. As such, the protagonist tries to look after her.

Ichika Houshi is the protagonist’s childhood friend who declares absolute trust in him and works with him as they investigate the circumstances behind their imprisonment in this game. So... does that make her the Maizano?

Kaname Ichijou is... you! The protagonist knows that his own sister was previously “exiled” (i.e., executed) in this same game, and he wants to identify the nine people who voted her out and then punish them. He’s calm, collected, and has a special “synesthesia” ability that lets him see sounds as colors - including seeing lies in bright red. Naturally, this is a useful skill that will come into play during the election debates. 

[hopeymchope]

Danganlike, Ahoy! “Exile Election” is a blatant Danganronpa knock-off

In the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, Nippon Ichi software announced Tsuihou Senkyo or Exile Election - a new adventure game/visual novel, and also the most blatant Danganronpa clone imaginable.

That doesn’t mean it’s going to be bad, of course. I hope it’s good! But holy crap, check it out:

Scans are from @famigeki.tumblr.com

12 teenagers are trapped inside of an amusement park where they meet Alice, a mechanical doll/mascot character who says that she is the theme park’s “administrator.” As administrator, she informs them that they will now live in the park peacefully most of the time- except that every few days, they will be forced into a “discussion” and “election” where they will ultimately vote to remove one of their group. The chosen teen is then “exiled” from the park... via execution!

The gang is soon swirling with fears, back-door schemes and expectations as they try to live in their bizarre new environment while never knowing who is plotting to vote them to death in the next “roundtable discussion” and subsequent “election.”

BOY THIS ALL SOUNDS KINDA FAMILIAR

Nippon Ichi says that the game is 90% complete already, and it will release in Japan on April 27th. It’s coming to both PS4 and Vita, and I wonder if it’ll ever make it west.