If dark adventure games are your guilty pleasure, the Danganronpa series is right up your alley. Originating as a planned trilogy, the Danganronpa games soon inspired countless spin-offs and various other media, including an anime television series in 2013 called Danganronpa: The Animation and a light novel prequel to Trigger Happy Havoc called Danganronpa Zero. When focusing solely on the main trilogy, the timeline is fairly straightforward, but toss in all the spin-offs and suddenly things get confusing. Whether you’re looking to return to the franchise’s roots or you’re a newcomer altogether, it can be handy to have a comprehensive guide to refer to in order to enjoy the games chronologically and follow the story in a linear sequence.
For the uninitiated in the Danganronpa lore, the overarching theme of the franchise revolves around various groups of high-school classmates who are forced into a winner-takes-all deathmatch by their headmaster, a psychopathic teddy bear named Monokuma. There are gameplay elements of adventure, visual novel, detective and dating simulator, allowing for a versatile experience that’s unlike any other. If Persona 5 and Doki Doki Literature Club! reproduced, the byproduct would be Danganronpa.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc – 2010 (Main Series)
Before the anime was even conceived, Trigger Happy Havoc started it all. It was originally released on the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Japan in November 2010 before developer NIS America published it for multiple platforms across the U.S., then eventually Europe and beyond. Set in the fictional Hope’s Peak Academy, players assume control of Makoto Naegi, a high school student who finds himself trapped in Monokuma’s battle royale. Across all 15 students, the only way to escape is to murder a fellow classmate and avoid accusation in a ‘trial’ thereafter. Makoto interacts with other students to solve said trials, shooting at on-screen dialogue options in a third-person perspective to present an argument.
Due to the amount of violence displayed throughout, the concept was initially rejected until it was reworked by developers Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike). Initially, there were no plans to produce a sequel, but when the game’s writer Kazutaka Kodaka penned the light novel Danganronpa Zero, he intentionally foreshadowed a sequel, Goodbye Despair, which was written simultaneously.
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair – 2012 (Main Series)
Just two years later, Spike — now known as Spike Chunsoft — returned with Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, a direct sequel to the original. Kodaka recommended reading Zero before starting Goodbye Despair, so if you consider yourself a bookworm, you might be interested in a pitstop. If not, you can jump straight into the sequel without missing much. Released in Japan in July 2012, it wasn’t until September 2014 that NIS America published the game worldwide. As mentioned, development started as Kodaka was writing the prequel Zero, wherein he added hints about a potential sequel with Spike’s permission. Many of the mystery elements seemed to draw inspiration from the TV series Lost as Kodaka aimed to make the plot even more unique.
This time, players control Hajime Hinata as part of a group of high-school students who find themselves at Monokuma’s disposal once he traps them on a tropical island to initiate another free-for-all. This time, Monokuma is joined by Monomi, a demented stuffed rabbit who shares the same sadistic ideals. In a similar procedure, students must kill one another and avoid being outvoted in the investigation in order to escape and survive. Before the third and final installment in the main series would come and change the narrative in 2017, several spin-offs kept the tried-and-true concept going.
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls – 2014 (Spin-off)
Set between the events of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, the first spin-off of the series, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, reworks the visual novel gameplay mechanic and instead experiments with a third-person action-adventure approach, sprinkled with a dash of horror. Players control Komaru Naegi, Makoto’s younger sister, as she tries to survive in a city overrun by Monokuma robots. Armed with nothing more than a megaphone-shaped Hacking Gun, Naegi must attack and hack enemies, solve puzzles in the environment and scan for clues.
Additionally, Komaru is assisted by Toko Fukawa, whose stun gun allows her to morph into her split personality, Genocide Jill. Once again, Japan received the game in September 2014, whereas America and Europe wouldn’t get a release until the following year. Ultra Despair Girls received mixed reviews, so either the action-oriented spin-off didn’t quite hit the mark or a tough crowd prefers the visual novel route.
Danganronpa: Unlimited Battle – 2015 (Spin-off)
Deviating completely from the visual novel formula, the action RPG mobile game Danganronpa: Unlimited Battle only launched in Japan on iOS and Android for a short period in 2015. The gameplay was reminiscent of billiards in that players used their device’s touchscreen capability to launch characters at enemy forces in an arena. The game was free-to-play for up to four players at a time, but many features were unlocked via microtransactions using in-game currency. Defeated enemies would drop two types of items; cards that either unlocked new characters or boosted character stats; and bullets, which could transfer maxed-out cards into higher-ranking cards.
Ultimately, Danganronpa: Unlimited Battle was criticized for being repetitive despite faithful ties to the franchise and critics wondered why Spike Chunsoft would choose a murder-mystery game as the basis for a touchscreen action game. Essentially, it was an interesting idea, it just didn’t quite work. By May 2015, over 700,000 user accounts had been registered for the game, but it was only available for nine months before online servers were turned off on November 13th, 2015 and the game was removed from both iOS and Android app stores.
Kirigiri Sou – 2016 (Spin-off)
Acting as the second spin-off for the Danganronpa series, Kirigiri Sou is often considered the “forgotten” game in the franchise, especially as it doesn’t name Danganronpa in the title. That being said, it could certainly act as a stand-alone game, despite being set between the events of the Danganronpa Kirigiri light novel series and Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. Since it contains both protagonists from the Danganronpa series and the 1992 Spike Chunsoft game Otogirisō, the spin-off also serves as a crossover sequel. Released in 2016, the game was bundled with the third Blu-ray box set of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School, which concludes the Hope’s Peak Academy arc as portrayed in Danganronpa: The Animation.
Players control Kouhei Matsudaira and Kyoko Kirigiri from Otogirisō and Trigger Happy Havoc, respectively, as they investigate an abandoned mansion in the woods. Kirigiri Sou utilizes the butterfly effect mechanic, wherein certain decisions can change the narrative of the game and result in different endings — eight to be exact. Reactions were overwhelmingly positive to commend the full-scale horror spin-off as critics requested more like-minded games from Spike.
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony – 2017 (Main Series)
After three complete deviations from the classic Danganronpa formula, it was a refreshing return to familiarity with Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, the third (and presumably last) game in the central trilogy. In line with the new range of consoles, Killing Harmony had become available on platforms such as PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch by 2022 under the subtitle Anniversary Edition. The game primarily focuses on Kaede Akamatsu and Shuichi Saihara, along with other high school students who are forced into a killing game (sound familiar?) by Monokuma wherein the culprit must avoid suspicion or be executed.
Staple gameplay such as dating sim events, murder investigations and “class trials” all return for the sequel, but also combine shooter sections and puzzle solving. Despite being advertised as the game’s sole lead, Kaede Akamatsu is no longer the player-character after chapter one, which means the remainder of the game is played from Shuichi Saihara’s perspective. As for Monokuma, he is accompanied by five miniature robots known as Monokubs, which he views as his children.
Danganronpa 1.2 Reload — 2017 (Remake)
Considering Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair were released in 2010 and 2012, respectively, it makes sense for Spike to keep with the changing of the times and completely reboot both games. These improved versions with higher-quality graphics and all-new School Mode and Island Mode were re-released under the title Danganronpa 1.2 Reload. NIS America were in charge of English publishing for all the Danganronpa games until Spike Chunsoft took over in 2020. There isn’t too much more to say about Reload other than that, so if you’re partial to more nostalgic gameplay, stick to the originals. If not, Reload captures an identical experience that’s a bit easier on the eyes.