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Before we get started here, I want to make one thing perfectly clear. I did not create this Let's Play. It was posted on the Something Awful forums, by a pretty awesome guy who calls himself orenronen. (You can view it on its home site here, but fair warning; you might not be able to view it without an SA account.) Neither having a PSP nor the ability to read Japanese, I claim zero involvement with this. I also don't claim to own any part of the game itself.
I'm posting this with the sole purpose of sharing it with people who wouldn't otherwise get to see it. Specifically, those who participate in a role play I created, using this game as a guide, although it is welcome to anyone now, I suppose. It costs money to get an account on Something Awful, and I understand perfectly how $10 might seem pricy just to read something on the internet, so I couldn't ask them all to do that.
Due to the fact that there is some interaction going on between orenronen and those who post in his thread, I will be making small modifications to his posts, mostly to eliminate anything that is not relevant. There are times he puts something up for vote, and since this is neither affiliated with that thread nor being updated simultaneously with it (we're starting well behind them, guys and gals), it's pretty obvious that no one reading only here gets a say.
I would also like his no spoilers rule enforced. If you know what's going to happen next, please, just don't talk about it. Not even to say that you know what's going to happen next. It's not fair to those who are new to this. For those who don't want spoilers of any kind, I strongly, strongly recommend against doing any google searching. This game has been out for two years in Japan, and the fan translation has existed for nearly a full year, so it is incredibly easy to find spoilers, even on accident. That's why youtube videos here are linked through Polsy; even if you can't read Japanese, just the thumbnails themselves on the recommended videos can and do contain spoilers.
Lastly, it is suggested, but not imperative, that you go into your account settings and change your wordfilter to "Minimum." These are high school kids we're dealing with, and besides being in a time of life where swearing is still kind of cool and edgy, there's also quite a bit of stress going on with them. While I don't think there will be lines too clogged with ******'s to read, it's still nice not having to guess which curse they're using, I would imagine.
With all of that out of the way, let's continue with the LP.
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Dangan what?
Dangan Ronpa (or its slightly longer full name, Dangan Ronpa: Academy of Hope and High School Students of Despair) is a game for the PSP published in Japan by Spike on November 25, 2010. The publisher calls it a "High-speed Mystery Action Adventure". In reality it's mostly a Japanese-style adventure game, but there's some shooting in it. And a little rhythm game. Because of the platform and some of the subject matter, I doubt it will ever be localized for the west. But since it's one of my favorite games of 2010, I thought it's a shame people can't see it.
There is a general discussion thread about the game and its sequel in Games. Spoilers are allowed there, so be careful.
So what is it about?
I guess the best way to describe it is Phoenix Wright meets Battle Royale starring a masochistic teddy bear with Doraemon's voice.
Sounds good. What about the LP?
Obviously, I will be translating the game.
This is a hybrid LP, though most of the time there will only be screenshots. Videos come in in two places: there are some cut scenes that can't be done justice with screen shots (there's one in the very first update!), and some of the action parts will get short videos to supplement the screenshots and show what gameplay is actually like. My guess is that it will be more than a month of updates before we even get there.
For the most part, this is a very linear game. If you played the Phoenix Wright games you know the drill - there's exactly one place to click at any given time that will trigger the next story event and advance the game. However, there is one part of gameplay that allows for some choice. It doesn't affect the overall story but it allows players to focus on the characters they like. I will open the decision to a vote once we get to that part.
Normal text is dialogue. Bold text is narration. Italic text is my own additions. The game is ridiculous, knows it, and doesn't really require snarky comments (it sometimes makes these snarky comments itself, in fact). This LP lets the game speak for itself, but adds supplemental information in many places. Information relating to the game itself are marked by the image of Monobear. Information about Japanese culture and translation notes are marked with a small Japanese flag.
About the translation
Neither Japanese nor English are my native language, and as such I am not really in the ideal position to translate a game. That said, I did take some translation theory courses and my main fear is that my English prose just isn't good enough. Feel free to copy-edit in your head.
I don't think super-literal translations are a good thing, and I don't leave Japanese words in just to sound exotic. I don't mind rephrasing passages when it makes the thing sound better. This game is steeped deep in Japanese culture, however, and this isn't a localization (which means I'm keeping the honorifics, and you can't talk me out of it). Don't fear, though - there will be plenty of translation and cultural explanations.
A note for people who are not color blind
Because of the intricacies of the Japanese game rating system, blood in this game is colored pink. Rest assured, though, it is human blood you will be looking at, and it doesn't mean our characters are secretly aliens or elves. If this bothers you too much, I suggest either reading this LP wearing red-tinted glasses or going on a nightlong photoshop color-correction frenzy.
One last thing
This game's story is as twisty as they come, and it's a pretty good one. I doubt anyone reading this played the game, but if someone did - wahmbulance no spoilers wahmbulance . At all. Not even under a spoiler tag. Speculation is always welcome, though, and there's no need to tag it.
People who want to be surprised should also avoid looking for fan art and such on the net. It tends to reveal too much.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Super High School Level Update #1
Super High School Level Update #2
Super High School Level Update #3A
Super High School Level Update #3B
Super High School Level Update #3C
Super High School Level Update #4
Super High School Level Update #5
Chapter One - (Ab)normal Days Part
Super High School Level Update #6
Super High School Level Update #7
Bonus Features
The Cast
