Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc PC

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Image
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 57 Ratings

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  • Summary: Fifteen super-elite students have been locked in the school and they are forced to live in this isolated community. There is a special rule for the students: only murderers can graduate from the school, and this rule turns the prosperous school into the despairing place. The protagonist,Fifteen super-elite students have been locked in the school and they are forced to live in this isolated community. There is a special rule for the students: only murderers can graduate from the school, and this rule turns the prosperous school into the despairing place. The protagonist, however, does not follow this rule. He investigates murders instead of murdering somebody and tries to figure out a way to escape from the school.… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. CD-Action
    May 30, 2016
    90
    Trigger Happy Havoc is an unsettling journey, an absorbing moral dilemma and a brilliant, tangled criminal story. [05/2016, p.60]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Twinfinite
    Feb 18, 2016
    90
    Don’t be turned away by its linearity, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is one of the best visual novels you’ll play.
  3. PC Gamer
    Feb 18, 2016
    86
    A brilliantly funny, disturbing, and entertaining visual novel, but the lack of interaction won't appeal to everyone.
  4. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Mar 14, 2016
    81
    Unlike Phoenix Wright, Danganronpa is a fair-play detective – no one will barge in at 11-th hour with a crucial piece of evidence, so if you pay close attention, you’ll figure out the gist of “whodunit” well before the protagonist does. So if you missed western release of Danganronpa on PS Vita, now is the time to make up for it. [Issue#207, p.71]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Brash Games
    Feb 17, 2016
    80
    The game does a great job of switching up the pacing and timing of the gameplay.
  6. Digitally Downloaded
    Mar 14, 2016
    80
    If you're keen for one of the suspenseful thrillers manageable with just images and text, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc comes highly recommended.
  7. Games.cz
    Mar 29, 2016
    80
    Successful detective novel has finally found its way to PC from the handheld zone and any enthusiasts of well-narrated stories shouldn´t definitely miss it.

See all 9 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Ibuki_Mioda
    Feb 27, 2016
    10
    Normally I don't like writing a review for a game, however this isn't a normal one. It's like watching both an anime and a crimeNormally I don't like writing a review for a game, however this isn't a normal one. It's like watching both an anime and a crime investigation show on tv at the same time. It's kind of true that you don't really get to make too may decisions from time to time but that is so you don't go too far off track from the story flow. This is probable my 5th or so play through over both the PS Vita and now the PC. Really hoping they add in the other parts for the PC later on.… Expand
  2. abraham_b
    Mar 28, 2016
    10
    Awesome game if you're a fan of visual novels such as the Ace Attorney series, with which it has quite a few similarities. With visual novels,Awesome game if you're a fan of visual novels such as the Ace Attorney series, with which it has quite a few similarities. With visual novels, emphasis has to be placed on the atmosphere, characters and story, not gameplay and this game delivers in that regard. The plot twists are great too with a pretty unforgettable story and cast. And I'm not even a fan of anime but this game may have helped convert me.… Expand
  4. DemKin
    Feb 18, 2016
    9
    I'm gonna make it short.
    Played this game on Vita release, so I based my rating out of that. If you like visual-novels, good narration, cool    I'm gonna make it short.
    Played this game on Vita release, so I based my rating out of that. If you like visual-novels, good narration, cool morbid atmospheres and investigations, you might like this game.
    If you have a laptop, definitely take the laptop with you in bed and play this game in the dark with a headset on, and enjoy diving into this twisted ( japanese ) story.    … Expand
  5. TSmalls
    Jul 16, 2016
    8
    This is my first time writing a review so please excuse anything that reflects that. I purchased this game on Steam during the summer saleThis is my first time writing a review so please excuse anything that reflects that. I purchased this game on Steam during the summer sale after hearing good things about it on Vita and reading some Steam reviews. I was not disappointed and I really enjoyed this game. It is just a really unique experience unlike anything that I have played before. There are points where I was shocked by what was going on and throughout the game I was trying to figure out what was happening. Just when I thought I knew what was going on I would find out that I was completely wrong. The game has a school life, courtroom and investigation aspect along with a bit of building relationships with your classmates. I would have loved to have seen the relationship building and interacting with your classmates fleshed out a bit more. The game ran really well for me with no performance issues and kept me invested in it the entire time. when I finished the game I had around 36 hours in game so it's pretty good length wise as well. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and look forward to playing the 2nd game.… Expand
  6. Human21
    Aug 5, 2016
    7
    Danganronpa: Trigger Havoc Happy, do I recommend it or not and why? I regret playing this game. It was enjoyable and the quality of the gameDanganronpa: Trigger Havoc Happy, do I recommend it or not and why? I regret playing this game. It was enjoyable and the quality of the game was at least decent. But I found it not worth the time. I find a game worth my time when it is either very entertaining or when it is fullfilling in some way, for example by being very intelligent, thought provoking, or by providing fresh perspective or interesting emotions. I found it lacking on both.
    For me, it lacked entertainment because on the one hand the actual gameplay was too easy and not challenging or engaging enough (such as the murder trials) for a 'thinker' like me, and on the other hand the story was not that strong (sure the murder trials have unexpected twists and the whole setting of the game is one big mystery, but that is not enough for a strong story with character development, character interaction and character bonding). (Also, I found the mood very serious with not so much humor.) This is all in contrast to my favorite game Phoenix Wright (which also has more emotional depth). (People saying that this game is similar to Phoenix Wright motivated me to play this game.)
    About 'fullfilling'(/deep): sure themes like 'despair' and 'happiness' were there, but to me they were not fleshed out enough. Perhaps it was somewhat psychological ('who will commit murder?'), but not so much philosophical (apart from moral 'choices').
    Once you have bought this game and have started playing, you will likely want to know the rest of the story and spend many hours on this game; that's one reason why I wanted to warn people like me. Before I bought this game, I read quite positive reviews. Yes, this game has some strong points. But apparently, at least for me, only the highest quality or most intelligent games suffice, and this isn't one.
    I can only finish with: I had fun, and I am thankful for the game creators.    … Expand
  7. Silver_Celeste
    Jul 26, 2016
    6
    Danganronpa is an interesting murder mystery game, mostly comparable with the Phoenix Wright series, with a unique theme of despair and hopeDanganronpa is an interesting murder mystery game, mostly comparable with the Phoenix Wright series, with a unique theme of despair and hope added in. As such, gameplay will mostly be just on the sidelines where the story and characters stand at the front, and will mostly decide whether or not this game is worth playing.

    --Story--
    The premise is *read the synopsis*. This is a somewhat unique premise, having characters sealed in an area and forcing them to kill each other. The murders and investigations are smartly written enough, and the twists are fun and exciting, though due to obvious clues scattered around, the player more or less sees the twists coming from a mile away. This leads to an underwhelming feeling when all the characters are completely clueless while the player already knows who committed the murder, and perhaps with smarter writing the player could know as much as the characters know and be on the same page as them without doing the deus ex machina introducing a random piece of evidence later on. Despite this, the murders and investigations are interesting to follow along. The other side of the plot is mostly with the characters interactions and free time, which leads us to the characters.

    --Characters--
    Most of the characters are based off of some sort of trope along with a couple of traits added in, and herein lies the biggest problem I have with this game.

    Most of the characters aren't likeable, nor are they interesting, thus the player usually doesn't really connect with most of them nor care about them at all when they get killed.

    Aside from the very first character that's murdered, I cared very little about the characters that came after. This is mostly due to the fact that the game forces you to bond with this first character, and to an extent, the game did a rather well job setting the first character as a three dimensional person with goals and fears and whatnot, and I did feel something when she was killed, but aside from that, you are not forced to bond as closely with most other characters.

    However, bonding with the other characters is still optional, and the game encourages this by rewarding the player if you do bond with them. However, bonding is pretty shallow, and you mostly just learn a few facts and quirks about the characters before you are finished with them.

    This is bad for the constant 'despair' theme the game tries to hammer into your head, since you don't really care about the characters dying one after the other. Added with the fact that most of the characters are just tropes, it really hurts the game. It's as if the game is trying it's best to make you NOT to feel anything for the characters with the exception of the first one that dies.

    --Gameplay--
    Most of the investigation stuff is just pointing things out and walking around, while the highlight and most fun part of the game are the class trials.

    Instead of having the standard phoenix wright cross examination and objections, the game adds a gimmick to the 'pointing out contradictions' section, where instead of a steady still image of the witness, the camera flips to each character talking. This is honestly pretty exciting and more intense than the phoenix wright cross examinations, except that the game had to add stupid gimmicks. Instead of just clicking out contradictions, you have to, literally, shoot the contradictions like a FPS. This seems negligible at first, but as they add more and more gimmicks it just gets annoying, and becomes a chore to play.

    Aside from that, there are two other minigames shoved in, such as a really simple word match minigame and a stupid rhythm game which is extremely difficult to understand. These minigames are not pleasant to play and mostly just pointless.

    Despite all that, these minigames are mostly just negligible, they don't interrupt the flow and tension of the story too much, so they are mostly ignorable. The class trials are still the most fun and exciting part of the game due to the music and the cross examining.

    --Conclusion--
    Despite the poor characters and the tedious minigames, the story still manages to keep the player engaged and the gameplay manages to entertain and keep the tension going. Thus, I recommend this game and this game is above average.

    6/10    … Expand
  8. VidyaBum
    Apr 10, 2016
    5
    Half DanganRonpa is a linear-progressing murder mystery. Since it's linear, you know you're not going to make a mistake and die, you just goHalf DanganRonpa is a linear-progressing murder mystery. Since it's linear, you know you're not going to make a mistake and die, you just go along with the story. And since its a murder mystery and everyone around you dies one after the other, you don't really want to get attached to any of them because you know they're all gonna be offed at some point. Good writing could counter the massacre principle and get you attached even if you don't want to, but all the characters are hyperbole parodies of typical anime character tropes, the fat geek, the punk, the teen idol, etc. The personalities are ok enough but none come off as really memorable, except maybe Kirigiri.

    DR didn't really make me want to like its characters, except Kirigiri and Asahina. I barely ever felt anything for any of them.

    The gameplay is both better than Ace attorney and a lot worse. Every day you have to do a ton of walking around an empty school, which sucks. But the real difference is with the class trials. For some unfathomable reason you don't argue with others, you shoot down their statements once you found a contradiction. And by shoot I mean shoot, you have a cursor and you shoot it down like an FPS. It's...stupid. And not very pleasant to play. Other things include veeeery simple letter association and more shooting, and then a big, annoying rhythm minigame. It's a whole lot of useless fluff for something that essentially should just be about a bunch of people talking, but it is original at the very least, and the shooting down is ok once you get the bonus from Togami which makes the cursor less floaty.

    But the worst isn't there...

    The ultimate theme of Danganronpa is hope and despair, and honestly, I think it's a VERY poorly treated subject. Despair especially is a rather complex issue which is kind of hammered in throughout the whole game. It's pretty much "DESPAIR, BECAUSE I KEEP RAINING ON YOUR PARADE!" and instead of intricate psychological attacks on the player, it's more "well here's your daily dose of senseless murder and more wierd ****

    If the game had made the smart decision of putting the player in the position of a "willing pervert" who doesn't want to die in game but enjoys the game, enjoys the killing, enjoys the violence, then it might have been a really good theme. You'd want to keep playing and yet you'd question whether you aren't the sick **** for enjoying all the violence and death. But they kept on going with the whole, very poorly understood, hope VS despair theme.

    And at the final showdown I ended up skipping angrily through the text because the "I will not yield to Despair!" stuff had just grown extremely old extremely fast and sounded as corny as it sounded false.

    So yeah, it's definitely worth trying and it has an intricate plot with some very good twists, but the general themes, a lot of gameplay and characters are badly designed and it sort of fell flat too many times for me to be positive about Danganronpa.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

#40 Best PC Game of 2016
#93 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

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