Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

It's a deeply disturbing game, but it's also a very fun one, and it's a testament to the latter that even someone as painfully wussy as me when it comes to anything gory or horror-ish is able to completely ignore the former.

Smart ideas paired up with smart writing and an enthralling mystery make for another true game of the year contender.

Fans of Sony’s mobile platforms have been envious of Nintendo’s Ace Attorney series for years and longed for an equally good whodunit. Now 3DS users will be envious of Danganronpa 2. [13/2014, p.69]

Goodbye Despair is a perfect example of how a sequel should be done.

While it doesn't have quite the impact as the series' debut, Danganronpa 2 continues the tradition of elaborate murder mysteries featuring appealing characters, and won't let you put it down until the bloody end.

It's a must-play for Visual Novel fans, and those who enjoyed the first year of the deadliest high school ever will find that the return trip is even better.

Danganronpa 2 is a masterful piece of dark mystery storytelling, with a focus on exploring morally ambiguous facets of the psyche.

If you even remotely enjoy great stories and narratives, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is an absolute must-buy. The final segment in particular is magical.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is the definitive Danganronpa experience.

Still, at the end of the day, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is one of the most fun and exciting visual novel games on the market. While the PlayStation platform may never get their hands on the Ace Attorney series, I believe Danganronpa has reached a similar level of prestige and quality.

Goodbye Despair may fall into some ridiculous scenarios and dialogue that clash with the game’s otherwise dark atmosphere, but when Danganronpa 2 is at its best, there’s little else that hits harder.

With improved trial sequences and another excellent plot, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is a brilliant sequel - but it's a sequel that's definitely best played after the original. [Issue#249, p.74]

It pretty much improves everything we didn't like about the first episode. If you like the concept or if you enjoyed the first Danganronpa, this definitely deserves your time and money.

Spike Chunsoft's tropical murder mystery is able to keep the tension and suspense high till the ending credits by using the player's intuition against him, while providing an entertaining and crazy cast of characters and an inspired art direction.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is a satisfying sequel that’s a fun ride despite being too similar to the original, suffering from inconsistent pacing, and overstaying its welcome.

Bizarre mystery-thriller that can’t quite capture the essence of the excellent predecessor. Still this is a very entertaining Vita game you shouldn’t pass up.

Danganronpa 2 is one of the best thing happened to PsVita. Is not a game for every player, being more an interactive novel, but has an incredible story and exceptional characters.

Danganronpa fans should still love this entry, even with some subpar elements.

"Somewhere, beyond the sea" is where we begin this new Danganronpa, a great example of Visual Novel used for something else than dating naïve schoolgirls. Ace Attorney meets Battle Royale in this tense game with a slow tempo that establishes its own rules. It is practically the same formula than the first game, but expanded, with new things an a very exotic location. And trials with minigames and shooter elements that can take us hours to solve this very well written and narrated Whodunit.

Danganronpa 2 is bigger and better than Trigger Happy Havoc, but it falls to the very same conditions: you need to like both visual novels and creepy stories. If possible, Danganronpa 2 is even darker and disturbing and it's okay if you get pissed because your favourite character has just died: it means that Spike Chunsoft delivered once again on the narrative front.

Danganronpa 2 looks like a niche game, but it tells the kind of crazy story that more people need to experience. I mean, who can resist a talking bear and rabbit?

Some of the most fulfilling murder mysteries going. [Nov 2014, p.94]

A refined, smarter version. [Issue#153, p.122]

In many ways Danganronpa 2 provides more of the same – but what wonderful same it is.

Building off Super Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc's absurdist murder mystery base, Danganronpa 2 marries the series' strong crime-solving mechanics with a bizarre, hilarious dayglo nightmare well beyond the craziness of the original.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is an accomplished amalgam of storytelling, character interaction, and deduction – plus, a macabre attitude that isn’t afraid to show its true colors.

It innovates within the series without stepping too far away from the game I first fell in love with: a deliciously dark drama lathered in mystery and peculiarity. It's Spike Chunsoft's version of lightning striking twice.

Not as surprising as the first Danganronpa, but a better game. The gameplay core is almost the same, so its main effort is to provide an interesting story.

Although returning fans will get more out of Danganronpa 2, bar the occasional reference, there are no barriers obstructing those yet to play the series. Still, Goodbye Despair isn’t a game for everyone, especially those who crave action and non-stop thrills.

Once again, Nippon Ichi Software USA has released a great game for people interested in the visual novel genre or for anyone who wants a good read with some gameplay thrown in for extra fun, so if you do fall into that category, then you should seriously check out Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

Danganronpa 2 builds on its predecessor's foundation for a murder mystery that is brimming with personality.

A worthy sequel to the original release.

Danganronpa 2 tells a great story that’s worthy of your time. The characters will keep you invested as you wait for the next death. Monokuma continues as a great lead villain, and the new cast may feel familiar, but offer plenty of new tales to discover.

The name and anime aesthetic may seem off-putting, but combined with the original this is some of the most engaging interactive storytelling of the modern era.

The same magnificent and gorgeous adventure game that captivated thousands of PSP and PS Vita users in the original form. Fantastic game design, storytelling and protagonists.

It’s the strength of the storytelling that makes Danganronpa 2 a veritable tour-de-force, even with its somewhat quirky gameplay mechanics.

Style and a good narrative make this PS Vita game highly suggested to those loving graphic novels.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is a superb sequel that successfully builds upon its predecessor's already addictive formula.

If you enjoyed the first entry, you absolutely owe it to yourself to play Goodbye Despair. If you who weren't enamored with it, you won't find anything here to change your mind. Nonetheless, you still won't find a series out there that messes with your head like Danganronpa. It sticks with you long after you've watched the credits roll.

Danganronpa 2 is a simultaneously terrifying, uplifting, painful, thoughtful, funny, and heartbreaking delight. Anyone who cherishes engaging stories, unique gameplay experiences, and great characterization would do well to invest themselves in this series.

I’m sure plenty of fans will find this to be the perfect complement to Trigger Happy Havoc, but in my opinion, that was a game that is at its best as a single, self-contained experience. No sequel needed.

Not as tight as the first, but still one of the most engaging murder mysteries in games. [Nov 2014, p.68]

Utterly unique and reasonably enhanced since the last outing. This is still to die for. [December 2014, p77]

An improvement in some ways, but a let down in others. [Issue#254, p.63]

A unique visual novel, typically Japanese, colorful and gory. It is good to see this kind of game in Europe, despite some of its flaws.

Danganronpa 2 is wildly uneven, with an engaging story and disjointed action elements, but solving its mysteries provides more than enough satisfaction to make putting up with the bad bits worth your while. It's weird, aggravating and gruesome, but it's also undeniably charming.

It’s not so much “high art” as a blender full of Battle Royale, Law and Order, Hunger Games, Snatchers, Phoenix Wright, and Persona—a pageant to be seen and lightly interfaced with.

This is a fun sequel spinning its wheels, capitalizing on what worked well before without real progress towards an endgame. Like most sequels, that works once, but it won't a third time.