Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Part #1

Part 1: The Chase Suite

Come one, come all, and witness the latest in killing game entertainment: Danganronpa V3!

I am Solitair, and I'll be your host this evening.

Without further ado, let's kill Harmony Korine.

But first, the game notices I have a complete save from the demo. FPZero covered that during the Danganronpa 2 LP. Watch it if you like, but a lot of the dialogue in it comes straight from the prologue and I'm not interested in repeating it.

Not too shabby!

I got no complaints about the dub here, and plenty of compliments.

As always, Logic Difficulty controls how many wrong options you get for picking evidence, and Action Difficulty affects the minigames. Mean Action isn't even that hard most of the time, but Mean Logic tripped me up in several places when I first played.

:siren:

VIDEO: Promo Movie :siren:

We begin with a highlight reel from previously LPed content.

Ah, memories. Stupid, stupid memories.

When the game first launched, this said "with" instead of "will," but it got fixed in a day one patch. I like this localization, but if I find any other typoes I'm transcribing them as-is.

The screen goes black.

Nothing. No light. No sound. No form. No voice. No knowledge of who I am. ...Who I am? Who am I? I extend a hand. A hand that belongs to no one. To take hold of my existence—

NEW MUSIC: REAL/FICTION

AUDIO: School Life from 0

My name is Kaede Akamatsu. I just remembered who I am.

I'm the protagonist of this crazy story.

NEW MUSIC: Rise of the Ultimates

I stumbled out of the locker in a daze. But as soon as I did... ...I fell on the floor.

Ahh!?

I couldn't even brace for impact as blinding pain suddenly rushed through my head.

One new feature I like is that you can now see your character's face in conversations.

But thanks to that pain, I went from dazed to annoyed real quick.

...Huh? Wait, where am I? What is this place?

I rubbed my throbbing forehead. Yep, this is definitely going to leave a bump... I looked around.

NEW MUSIC: Nightmare in the Locker

AUDIO: Invitation to Despair

Yeah, this is a classroom alright. But...l don't recognize it.

Where am I...? What am I doing here...?

So I pinched my cheek...

...but all that did was make my head hurt in two places instead of one.

Ummm... Okay, hold on a sec. Let's just stay calm and think this through.

Confused as I was, I tried to remember how I ended up here. But no matter how hard I tried, in the end I just couldn't—

Whoa!!!

Suddenly, the locker next to mine started swaying and shaking, making all kinds of noise.

Hnnng...

A normal boy dressed in a school uniform... In fact, he might be a high school student, too.

He screamed as if he'd just seen a monster, fell on his butt, and scooted back.

...What other guys?

The people who kidnapped me!

Kidnapped?

Wh-Where am I...? What are you gonna do to me!?

Hey! Hold on!

I firmly gripped his shoulders...

What's your name?

...Huh?

Ah, I'm...Shuichi Saihara.

I'm Kaede Akamatsu. Now listen to me, Shuichi...

Ah, sorry...

After making him shut up, I retraced my steps again.

I was kidnapped, too!

AUDIO: Kidnapping

I shouted for help, but no one came to rescue me... Everyone pretended like nothing happened... It made me think how rotten the world is... And then, I lost consciousness...

Same with me... Were we kidnapped by the same people?

It seems like it... But...why me? My family's not rich and I'm no one special. I'm just a normal high school girl. There's no reason to kidnap me...

Me either... I'm just a regular guy... And...this is a school, right? Why did they take us to a school?

I wonder why...

Well, I can't explain that, but I can give a basic explanation about the controls.
Use the L stick to control the reticle on the screen.
When you have a target in your sights, press the X button to investigate it.
The R stick controls your view. Get a good look at your surroundings.
You can also press the R1 button to smack objects around.
Who knows? You might find something amazing.
You can always press the L1 button to return objects to their original position, so relax.
However, not every object can be moved. Thank you for understanding.
If you press the TRIANGLE button, a mysterious investigative power will activate...
Sorry, I know this is a lot of information.
But if you forget anything, you can press the OPTIONS button to review the controls.
Investigate this place thoroughly! That's how you progress the story, y'know?

"Something amazing" is almost always just pocket change, but that shit adds up and it's fun to smack stuff around... when you can actually hit it. The hit detection on smackable objects is dodgy and often requires finagling with the camera angle. Doesn't stop me from redecorating every room I enter, though.

One venting session later...

...it's time to look around. Instead of putting circles over stuff you can look at, this game makes everything you can't transparent. I approve.

This blackboard is also an LCD screen. That's something you don't see every day...

Seriously though, what is it? It really seems out of place here.

But why were we in these lockers in the first place?

Why are the school windows covered in barbed wire?

Ah, no, it's okay... I shouldn't have yelled at you.

Anyway, this place is...weird. You don't think we got caught up in something bad, do you?

Something bad...

What's going on? What have we gotten ourselves into?

I don't understand this at all... But that doesn't matter! At least, for now...

Hey, let's just get out of here as fast as we can and find some help!

Y-Yeah... Good idea!

We ran as fast as we could to the classroom door, and opened it with all our strength...

But then—

NEW MUSIC: New Classmates of the Dead

AUDIO: Beginning of Despair

The lenses on this mecha flash red, and a siren blares when it sees our heroes.

What?

A m-monster!?

Gah-hahahaha! Woooo! Hahaha!

Th-This is bad! We need to get out of here!

O-Okay!

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, waaaaait!!!

The lenses flash again before—

Kaede! Over here!

Alright, time to haul ass!

First we run down these stairs.

Another one? But it hasn't noticed us yet, so we should be good to go.

Never mind! We're outnumbered now!

Don't go that way! Over here!

Hold on, why stop here?

Ah, geez! What are those things!?

There's only one way to go now.

NO MUSIC

...something we never expected to see.

AUDIO: 15 Friends

FEMALE VOICE 1: Ohhh... More people have arrived.

KAEDE: Huh?

MALE VOICE 1: Did you all get chased by that monster, too!?

KAEDE: O-Oh, yeah...

MALE VOICE 2: What...are they? What do they want with us?

MALE VOICE 3: Do you want me to check on what's happening?

FEMALE VOICE 2: You can't! It's too dangerous out there!

MALE VOICE 4: It's likely that monster still lurks nearby...

KAEDE: W-Wait!

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

KAEDE: Who are you guys...? And why am I here—

MALE VOICE 5: And that makes 16.

KAEDE: What?

MALE VOICE 5: I'm talking about us. There are 16 of us—all high schoolers. What do you think that means?

16...high schoolers...?

MUSIC: Rise of the Ultimates

I can give you my name. It's Rantaro Amami.

Let's leave it at that for now.

Huh? Um...okay.

Nah, I think this is all of us. If this is what I think it is, anyway.

It was at that moment... An unknown voice suddenly echoed throughout the gym.

NO MUSIC

MALE VOICE 6: Okayyyyy, quiet everyone! Shimmy down, shimmy down!

FEMALE VOICE 3: No, no, no. It's "simmer down."

NEW MUSIC: EXISAL TRIBE

AUDIO: Despair Robot

FIVE VOICES: Kyahahahahaha! Thanks for bearing with us!

Damn it! There are more monsters! We're surrounded!

These aren't monsters. They're Exisals.

They're highly mobile, bipedal weapons platforms.

Weapons!?

Should we take these for a spin by killin' one of 'em!?

It wouldn't be any fun picking on plain, good-for-nothing commoners!

You're right. We should at least think of an interesting way to kill you. Maybe I'll pick ya up and squeeze ya till your guts come gushin' out like toothpaste!

P-Please! Not like toothpaste!

Urgh... I just imagined it. I can't handle gore.

Then what if...we start peelin' off their limbs one by one, like string cheese?

Please, not like string cheese either!

Wait! We can't kill them with the Exisals. According to the schedule, the Exisals aren't supposed to show up till later!

But...we're in the Exisals right now.

We screwed up. We're not supposed to be in the Exisals for our first appearance.

I told ya we shoulda read the script!

...No, ya didn't.

Well...why don't we just get out of these mechs? It shouldn't be too late for that.

Y-Yeah! Let's do that! Okay, readyyyy!

:siren:

VIDEO: The Monokubs Arrive :siren:

The Exisals' cockpits open...

...and these little guys fly out.

With our powers combined,

NEW MUSIC: Rise and Shine, Ursine! (Get used to hearing this track a lot.)

......Huh?

Kaede doesn't know what the fuck.

Now we're not scary anymore, right? Right? Right!?

And he's just outright terrifying!

I'm a messenger from hell from the depths of hell, here to drag ya down to hell!

Eh? What's hellish mean?

H—Hey...what's up with these stuffed animals? How are they moving?

I-I have no idea.

Moving stuffed animals...

Moving stuffed animals? Monokubs?

Wait! You guys call yourselves...the Monokubs?

Oh... Don't bother askin' Monodam. He only talks to close friends. The years of abuse have really done a number on his heart. Isn't that right, Monodam?

M-Monodam! You won't even open your heart...to me!?

...Looks like I was right.

But who's behind all this? Why the ridiculous theatrics—

Gahhh! Shut up, you! All o' you are reactin' way too normally to this! It's boring!

Actually...don't their clothes seem kinda boring, too?

Wait a minute... Ya think maybe they haven't been given their first memory yet?

Huh? That shoulda happened before they woke up...

Hey, answer my question! If you guys are the Monokubs, then—

Huh?

We're just wondering...do youse guys have Ultimate talents or anything like that?

Ultimate talents...?

I...don't have one. I have a skill that I devote myself to...but I wouldn't call it an Ultimate talent...

M-Me either... I-I don't...have anything like that...

Y-Yeah...same here.

I knew it! They haven't gotten their first memory yet!

Monophanie...weren't you in charge of that?

She's sleeping? Did she seem really tired to you guys?

She's obviously fakin' it.

zzzzzzzzz...

Even if she's faking, she looks so peaceful. Let's whisper so we don't wake her up.

Hmph! If you say so!

A-Anyway...if you guys really are the Monokubs, then—

Don't worry about us. The real issue is youse bastards. Well, "issue" is putting it mildly... This is actually a huge problem. Youse all have forgotten your talents and become generic high school students.

Huh? Forgotten?

See, according to the backstory, there's this Ultimate Hunt goin' on. You've all lost your memories and become different people cuz of the Ultimate Hunt.

Umm...what are you talking about?

Well, in your current state, it's pretty much pointless to talk to you guys about this.

The first thing we need you guys to do is remember your true selves.

What the—!? Are you awake already?

How are we supposed to talk when you keep askin' so many friggin' questions!?

Yeah! We're not some swift-footed singer who's landed another future ex-boyfriend!

Let's do this already. No one wants to watch a bunch of generic high school whiners.

First, we'll update your wardrobe so you guys look all cute and spiffy!

:siren:

VIDEO: The 16 Transform :siren:

The Exisals toss a bunch of outfits at everybody.

And then the magic happens! Despair prism power!

Only enough budget for one transformation scene, unfortunately. At least this one won't be reused as stock footage.

MUSIC: Rise and Shine, Ursine!