What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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Finished the fifth case of Danganronpa 2. I can see why someone would like this case. I was a bit annoyed at where it went.
So Nagito was the next person to die. If I had to pick someone to perish I'd pick him, since he talks about "If you don't have a talent you're nothing", he calls the protagonist a nobody for lacking a talent, he has attempted to murder in earlier cases, and he seems to go back and forth between doing his best to be helpful and being doing his best to sabotage, in a way that means I cannot get a grasp on him, all due to the crazy hope/despair belief running through the series. Once it started to unravel that the reason it was such an elaborate suicide mystery was because Nagito chose to make it hard to solve I was getting annoyed. That is a terrible motivation and it takes me out of the experience since murder mysteries is not really made to be "fun to solve" in real life. Once they got to the point where they revealed that he actually had a reason to do so, namely to ensure that they would not be able to identify who of them actually committed the accidental murder it made more sense. Even so, it still rests on his external, vaguely explained goal of becoming the ultimate hope and his power of super-luck in order to explain why he wanted to do it, so I was not that impressed. It did however lead to reveal of the traitor.
So anyway: Chiaki was the traitor and as per Nagito's luck the murderer, so she was punished in the trial. Along with Monomi. Shame. I liked Chiaki, and I liked that Monomi at long last stood up to the awful Monokuma.
Afterwards the game seems to be wrapping up, and I got some prologue with Nagito again (seriously, game, can't you dicth him already?) which did not allow me to quit so I continued playing a bit into chapter 6 until I reached the investigation phase. Which took far too long; I just wanted to quit already. Apparently the island is kind of glitching out and the students' dead classmates are returning to speaking roles, before heading to the ruins where we suddenly find ourselves in a glitched out version of Danganronpa 1. Please, don't tell me this entire game has been a simulation or something. I've noticed that this game has had several moments where it sounds like they are talking about themselves as if they're aware that it is a piece of fiction. Cute enough on its own, but undercutting the drama if it turns out to be true.
I don't know how things will shake out, but I currently speculate that Chiaki might be a robot. It looked like the fifth island had a facility where one could make human looking robots.
So anyway: Chiaki was the traitor and as per Nagito's luck the murderer, so she was punished in the trial. Along with Monomi. Shame. I liked Chiaki, and I liked that Monomi at long last stood up to the awful Monokuma.
Afterwards the game seems to be wrapping up, and I got some prologue with Nagito again (seriously, game, can't you dicth him already?) which did not allow me to quit so I continued playing a bit into chapter 6 until I reached the investigation phase. Which took far too long; I just wanted to quit already. Apparently the island is kind of glitching out and the students' dead classmates are returning to speaking roles, before heading to the ruins where we suddenly find ourselves in a glitched out version of Danganronpa 1. Please, don't tell me this entire game has been a simulation or something. I've noticed that this game has had several moments where it sounds like they are talking about themselves as if they're aware that it is a piece of fiction. Cute enough on its own, but undercutting the drama if it turns out to be true.
I don't know how things will shake out, but I currently speculate that Chiaki might be a robot. It looked like the fifth island had a facility where one could make human looking robots.
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Finished Danganronpa 2. There was a whole bunch of twists at the end that was not at all hinted at, that required a great degree of outdrawn explanation, that was incredibly sci-fi, that I suspect would lose a whole lot of players, that had a great degree of... integration with last game, that had a class trial that didn't feel like uncovering a mystery, it felt like an odd way to perform exposition...
...and it had a sequence that made me start crying since it managed to hit me in my insecurities.
I might get back to more of my thoughts, but I'll need some time to collect myself.
...and it had a sequence that made me start crying since it managed to hit me in my insecurities.
I might get back to more of my thoughts, but I'll need some time to collect myself.
Finished Metroid prime, liked it but there are some flaws to it.
The mines are a huge difficulty spike, you basically have to go through 30 minutes of color coded pirate assholes, multiple metroids, and two mini-bosses before the game will allow you to heal, and save, then you need to backtrack to get two items and if you only get one thinking you will be enough to get you through, it means you have to backtrack a third time, and fighting the Omega pirate makes me cry.
100% this game is bullshit, for one you can miss scans of creatures and this happens way more often than it should, including one-time enemies that look like other enemies you already scanned, for another it's the items. It's not difficult to get the items, but there is one huge flaw. The map does not tell you how many items you collected in an area, or Mark the items you are already got. This makes it unbelievably frustrating to 100%. Because if you forgot a missile tank, or whatever you possibly have to search around all the maps until you find them. Even if you have a guide that tells you where everything is you still need to check all those places to find what you're missing. By the end I was missing two missiles, and I was just done searching.
However despite these flaws I can understand why the game is so well beloved. How to mostly great time.
The mines are a huge difficulty spike, you basically have to go through 30 minutes of color coded pirate assholes, multiple metroids, and two mini-bosses before the game will allow you to heal, and save, then you need to backtrack to get two items and if you only get one thinking you will be enough to get you through, it means you have to backtrack a third time, and fighting the Omega pirate makes me cry.
100% this game is bullshit, for one you can miss scans of creatures and this happens way more often than it should, including one-time enemies that look like other enemies you already scanned, for another it's the items. It's not difficult to get the items, but there is one huge flaw. The map does not tell you how many items you collected in an area, or Mark the items you are already got. This makes it unbelievably frustrating to 100%. Because if you forgot a missile tank, or whatever you possibly have to search around all the maps until you find them. Even if you have a guide that tells you where everything is you still need to check all those places to find what you're missing. By the end I was missing two missiles, and I was just done searching.
However despite these flaws I can understand why the game is so well beloved. How to mostly great time.
I finished Faith: The Unholy Trinity.
And this game remained disturbing from beginning to the end. The demon designs are creepy and the 8-bit soundtracks, effects, and voice lines were superb. And guess what? No cheap jump scares! At least not too much of them. They were done jstu the right about to keep the game atmospheric.
The only thing I didn't like were some of the boss fights. They were more annoying in terms of constant need to kite, and despite beating it in less than 5 hours I felt it went on longer due to many untimely deaths. Still I'm glad that I got to try it out.
And this game remained disturbing from beginning to the end. The demon designs are creepy and the 8-bit soundtracks, effects, and voice lines were superb. And guess what? No cheap jump scares! At least not too much of them. They were done jstu the right about to keep the game atmospheric.
The only thing I didn't like were some of the boss fights. They were more annoying in terms of constant need to kite, and despite beating it in less than 5 hours I felt it went on longer due to many untimely deaths. Still I'm glad that I got to try it out.
Yeah, it's definitely a "first of its kind" type of game; One of many 2d to 3d transitions from nintendo. At least on gamecube, I found it annoying how you had to be grounded for manual aiming. And because it's in first person, some of the platforming was unnecessarily annoying. Hunting down the super weapons for each beam type was super risky, because I just remember fighting through those elite (captains? super?) space pirates, nearly rage quitting. Totally worth getting them, tho.
Chozo ghosts, at first frightening, became more of a hindrance later as they would keep interrupting the flow of the game.
I do think they nailed the environment; Every biome is different, and if you read the fauna and flora log entries its facinating to learn how they are surviving a arctic region or underground magna resevior.
Strangely enough, I prefer this flawed game over prime 2 or 3.
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Did some Streets of Rage 4 again. I did Survival and got cheated around level 40. I decided to boss rush and man is it easy when using the alternate unlockable moves. It wasn't that hard from before, but the game gives you special move stars after beating nearly every boss. Funny thing happened where the final boss glitched and would never move once, making him a free punching bag.
I replayed RE2R the previous night. Still a high quality remake. I'd forgotten how much weight the characters have when it comes to movement. Leon especially. Leon in RE4R actually moves faster than his RE2R version. It makes sense why from a character and gameplay perspective. Crazy enough, Claire actually gets a bit of a speed boost when in yellow/orange caution. Right now I'm at the police parking garage as Leon A.
I replayed RE2R the previous night. Still a high quality remake. I'd forgotten how much weight the characters have when it comes to movement. Leon especially. Leon in RE4R actually moves faster than his RE2R version. It makes sense why from a character and gameplay perspective. Crazy enough, Claire actually gets a bit of a speed boost when in yellow/orange caution. Right now I'm at the police parking garage as Leon A.
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Played with Street Fighter 6 a fair bit with an IRL friend (doesn't own the game and hadn't played it before) and other than Ryu who I've always been down with, I had a lot of fun playing Dee Jay, who normally I haven't felt much connection with when I played him in 2 and 4. Friend ended up maining Manon, with a bit of interest in JP's style. Also started World Tour, but still too early to have an opinion on that yet.
Im playing through Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.
I played this one when it came out, but haven't touched it since. Which means that I have also never played the single DLC mission pack that was released for the game, which I've heard was pretty good, or any of the DLC characters.
For those unaware, the PS is effectively a standalone expansion of Borderlands 2, and is (as the name suggests) a prequel to BL2, but a sequel to BL1. As for the game itself, It looks the same as BL2. I plays the same as BL2. It reuses a lot of assets as were in BL2. The setting, characters, story, etc are all original, but this is very much so built on the bones of Borderlands 2, very much like what Halo 3: ODST is to Halo 3.
The gimmick here is twofold: one, the game is set on Pandora's moon, and so comes with all of the trappings of that kind of setting - like low gravity, oxygen management, and a slightly more sci-fi tone. Secondly, basically everyone is Australian for some reason. And hey, it works for me.
Owing to the change in gravity, there is a lot more verticality in the mission design this time around. Whilst you are in midair, you can effectively glide at the cost of some oxygen, or you can do a ground pound for some AOE splash damage. There is also a new Cryo element that some weapons can come in, which allows you to slow/freeze enemies in place, then smash them for some serious bonus damage. And there are also lasers, which can be varied in their function, working like assault rifles, beam weapons, shotguns, or railguns.
Is the game as good as Borderlands 2? The gameplay probably is, but the writing isn't quite as funny. It is also pretty unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, because it doesn't really do too much aside from give you some extra backstory to Handsome Jack, and a few of his Lieutenants that you would kill over the course of BL2. But, as someone who has played through BL2 a dozen times over, it is quite nice to have a BL2-adjacent experience, that isn't burned into my retinas at this point.
I played this one when it came out, but haven't touched it since. Which means that I have also never played the single DLC mission pack that was released for the game, which I've heard was pretty good, or any of the DLC characters.
For those unaware, the PS is effectively a standalone expansion of Borderlands 2, and is (as the name suggests) a prequel to BL2, but a sequel to BL1. As for the game itself, It looks the same as BL2. I plays the same as BL2. It reuses a lot of assets as were in BL2. The setting, characters, story, etc are all original, but this is very much so built on the bones of Borderlands 2, very much like what Halo 3: ODST is to Halo 3.
The gimmick here is twofold: one, the game is set on Pandora's moon, and so comes with all of the trappings of that kind of setting - like low gravity, oxygen management, and a slightly more sci-fi tone. Secondly, basically everyone is Australian for some reason. And hey, it works for me.
Owing to the change in gravity, there is a lot more verticality in the mission design this time around. Whilst you are in midair, you can effectively glide at the cost of some oxygen, or you can do a ground pound for some AOE splash damage. There is also a new Cryo element that some weapons can come in, which allows you to slow/freeze enemies in place, then smash them for some serious bonus damage. And there are also lasers, which can be varied in their function, working like assault rifles, beam weapons, shotguns, or railguns.
Is the game as good as Borderlands 2? The gameplay probably is, but the writing isn't quite as funny. It is also pretty unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, because it doesn't really do too much aside from give you some extra backstory to Handsome Jack, and a few of his Lieutenants that you would kill over the course of BL2. But, as someone who has played through BL2 a dozen times over, it is quite nice to have a BL2-adjacent experience, that isn't burned into my retinas at this point.
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Absent
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I have underestimated Particle Fleet a bit. I finished the main campaign and it had turned out more fun and interesting than the few introductory levels. Now I get better the difference with Creeper World. It's indeed its own thing, more RTS-ey, yet with the same zergish onslaught logic (a lot of games seem inspired by it nowadays). But the fact it's particles instead of the creeper's lovely liquid mass does make sense, gameplay-wise.
I'm hooked as well (started a secondary campaign), and I understand that some people like it better than Creeper. Creeper World, at least the 4, suffer a bit from its steady winning once first contact is survived. There's a bit of the same thing in Particle Fleet, the map-scale armwrestling where the more ground you gain, the easier it gets. But nuts get tougher to crack, and even mid-game, you can find yourself stalled. It also requires more shifting and movements, more local risks and sacrifices, as opposed to Creeper World 4's more steady building and expansion. If only because you can't build forever : you have a limited (re-buildable) fleet.
I'm still partial to Creeper World's more original blue blob threat and liquid warfare. But all these games deserve more recognition.
I'm hooked as well (started a secondary campaign), and I understand that some people like it better than Creeper. Creeper World, at least the 4, suffer a bit from its steady winning once first contact is survived. There's a bit of the same thing in Particle Fleet, the map-scale armwrestling where the more ground you gain, the easier it gets. But nuts get tougher to crack, and even mid-game, you can find yourself stalled. It also requires more shifting and movements, more local risks and sacrifices, as opposed to Creeper World 4's more steady building and expansion. If only because you can't build forever : you have a limited (re-buildable) fleet.
I'm still partial to Creeper World's more original blue blob threat and liquid warfare. But all these games deserve more recognition.
Absent
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And started Phoenix Point today. Just the prologue. I love the XCOM gameplay (both the old school "pool of action points" and the modern "move and act" versions). It's the same gameplay in a different game, like two FPS are the same point-reticula-at-target-and-click gameplay, or like two RTS play the same. I don't like the interface, very consoley with large colorful overly readable numbers, few of them being intuitively informative. But I like the premise, and its lovecraft/stalker/annihilation/mouthofmadness vibe. It's a bit like a top-down tactical Half-Life (full with headcrabs).And the creatures are nice, even if the "mutated humans" pitch would have required more recognizably human shapes to be fully effective (I mostly see mutated lobster-kangaroos, there).
Anyway, sold at intro.
Anyway, sold at intro.
Still playing marvel midnight sun, still very good gameplay, but yesh the story. You recruit two type of people, Avenger and Midnight sun, all good guy hero. And this is where the game really struggle, all the character are good guy, but they still want to have interpersonal conflict. So they kinda just pretend there's some without actually there being any. Very early in the game Wanda get captured by the bad guy (she's sorta of a midnight sun). Throughout the story the midnight sun keep insinuating that the Avenger side doesn't care about her and aren't doing anything to save her, which is blatantly not true, they often regret falling to protect her and have literally no idea of how to get her back. Later on, an Avenger get captured, and suddenly the Midnight sun are really pissed because... the Avenger are sad about that? It's really weird, they have a little reunion where they just ***** about the fact that the Avenger are terrible people for... feeling bad that one of their own got capture. Overall the sun just really come off as not very good people overall, a bunch of moody teenager that constantly get annoyed when they're not the centre of attention. One scene as them get all angry that they're not invited to Avenger meeting, when the meeting is literally happening in the room right over and they could just walk in, at no point are they stopped from going in. I'm just guessing the writer had no room to manoeuvre and make the character interesting.
Second, I'm pretty sure this game started out as some sort of X-men + persona game. You all live in this pseudo academy/dormitory, there's various after school club you can join and after every mission you can spend time with another hero to increase your friendship level. Having this be about X-men would have solved a lot of the game issues too. But they probably wanted the full marketing power of the avenger instead.
Second, I'm pretty sure this game started out as some sort of X-men + persona game. You all live in this pseudo academy/dormitory, there's various after school club you can join and after every mission you can spend time with another hero to increase your friendship level. Having this be about X-men would have solved a lot of the game issues too. But they probably wanted the full marketing power of the avenger instead.
Started Nioh 2. It's been a while since I played a soulslike game. Typically I don't have too much hope for soulslike that's not from FromSoftware, because they either don't understand what made souls games so great, or the spin they try usually isn't that interesting. Only a handful of them have turned out to be great so far, like Code Vein, Salt And Sanctuary, and even Lies of P demo (has its issues, but looking great so far)
I'm happy to report that Nioh 2 has been enjoyable so far. The setting, the weapon types, the yokai forms, and attuning their abilities are all great. And those grapple/execution moves are sick af. The ki restoration is an interesting concept, forcing me to choose between waiting a few more sec to recover more ki, or recover right away to pull off next move.
The only thing I don't like about this game is that because there are so many mechanics to take into consideration in-combat, sometimes I get overwhelmed and forget what to do.
I'm happy to report that Nioh 2 has been enjoyable so far. The setting, the weapon types, the yokai forms, and attuning their abilities are all great. And those grapple/execution moves are sick af. The ki restoration is an interesting concept, forcing me to choose between waiting a few more sec to recover more ki, or recover right away to pull off next move.
The only thing I don't like about this game is that because there are so many mechanics to take into consideration in-combat, sometimes I get overwhelmed and forget what to do.
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Gravity Circuit, nice chunky sound effects.
@BrawlMan You know, it's funny that we were talking about Mega Man X 6 the other day, because I feel like this game takes some direct inspiration from it. The nature of the 8 primary bosses being robots that are "back from the dead" and hearing little snippets of their pasts after beating them, the rescuing of trapped robots in the levels (But without that AWFUL mechanic of them being potentially lost forever if they get molested by a tentacle robot). Obviously it takes a LOT of inspiration from the entire Mega Man series, but it's interesting to see the themes I was talking about be used to better effect in this game.
@BrawlMan You know, it's funny that we were talking about Mega Man X 6 the other day, because I feel like this game takes some direct inspiration from it. The nature of the 8 primary bosses being robots that are "back from the dead" and hearing little snippets of their pasts after beating them, the rescuing of trapped robots in the levels (But without that AWFUL mechanic of them being potentially lost forever if they get molested by a tentacle robot). Obviously it takes a LOT of inspiration from the entire Mega Man series, but it's interesting to see the themes I was talking about be used to better effect in this game.
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Overall, I liked Phoenix Point, but it doesn't have the same kinda heart put into it as the Xcom series. Plus the last fight can go fuck itself, make sure you load up on ammo.
Beat the main campaign in Iron Harvest, very good, they did a great job with it. The ai is kinda brain dead but its still challenging and the story is much better then it has any right to be and all the units are just fun. Started on the American dlc, feels a bit more jank then the main campaign, seems to be a weird bug with dead enemies not being dead but other then it being weird, hasn't impacted anything. The new American units (mostly air ships) are fun and animated well, but its really easy to tell that the voice actors are not American. But its still cute.
Got to the end boss in Callisto Protocol DLC, twas a health sponge frustration so just deleted game to make room for some more Dead Space, hell yeah!
Sincerely, am sorry to all those who put in the hard work developing CP (omg, no wonder people don't abbreviate that title, lol!) as it does look quite nice,, they added a 'skip death animation' button finally, melee combat is also an appreciated option, and I try my damn best to enjoy any attempt at space horror. But it cannot compete on multiple fundamental areas of design to Dead Space, which is felt instantly upon booting up the classic right afterwards. Tis a shame really. The introduction of the DLC hammer was a pleasing evolution to the gameplay, if that was part of the main game it might've helped a bit maybe. Though it did jog the dormant desire to want a new Red Faction Guerilla environmental destruction title released.
Hey...look, if you peeps want to make a sequel with intentions of confronting the first game's flaws, am still gonna be curious, hopeful even (It is a compulsion I cannot shake). And if you want to make it a sneaky stealth Red Faction Guerilla crossover with focus on destruction physics alongside the trusty space hammer: well you got yourselves a hungry market ready for it. The horror angle may require a bit more creativity to integrate smoothly, but a non-perfect attempt would still be providing gooey giblet debris chaos for our twisted fascinations. You got nothing to lose on this gamble, garunteed!*
*Not guaranteed. Am not liable. Do it anyway you cowards!
Sincerely, am sorry to all those who put in the hard work developing CP (omg, no wonder people don't abbreviate that title, lol!) as it does look quite nice,, they added a 'skip death animation' button finally, melee combat is also an appreciated option, and I try my damn best to enjoy any attempt at space horror. But it cannot compete on multiple fundamental areas of design to Dead Space, which is felt instantly upon booting up the classic right afterwards. Tis a shame really. The introduction of the DLC hammer was a pleasing evolution to the gameplay, if that was part of the main game it might've helped a bit maybe. Though it did jog the dormant desire to want a new Red Faction Guerilla environmental destruction title released.
Hey...look, if you peeps want to make a sequel with intentions of confronting the first game's flaws, am still gonna be curious, hopeful even (It is a compulsion I cannot shake). And if you want to make it a sneaky stealth Red Faction Guerilla crossover with focus on destruction physics alongside the trusty space hammer: well you got yourselves a hungry market ready for it. The horror angle may require a bit more creativity to integrate smoothly, but a non-perfect attempt would still be providing gooey giblet debris chaos for our twisted fascinations. You got nothing to lose on this gamble, garunteed!*
*Not guaranteed. Am not liable. Do it anyway you cowards!
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Played Grip on Oculus 2 linked to my new PC and Steam account. With the PC doing the heavy lifting, even this weaker piece of equipment can display some pretty impressive graphics. I used an Xbox 360 controller rather than the Oculus controllers. I wonder how many other Steam VR games are like that? I have to get Half-Life:Alyx ASAP. Can't wait to try some of my other PC library games. Downloading Dirt Rally 2.0 now.
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Absent
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It's hard to not compare Phoenix Point to XCom. But the comparison is weird. The interface feels off, like less readable than XCom, and most of the game looks uglier and cheaper. Except for the creature designs, which are great and are the selling point of the game (not that XCom's was bad, but the Phoenix point threat makes it its own interesting universe).
And while the story and factions in XCom didn't matter (it was just a uselessly bloated Mars Attacks, really), the Phoenix Point universe seems lovingly crafted. I end up paying attention to the unfamiliar, as opposed to many games where lorelorelorekayskip.
Like, this is actually cool :
I think it's a game I could have enjoyed even without the gameplay. But the gameplay being essentially XCom's, I enjoy it too.
And while the story and factions in XCom didn't matter (it was just a uselessly bloated Mars Attacks, really), the Phoenix Point universe seems lovingly crafted. I end up paying attention to the unfamiliar, as opposed to many games where lorelorelorekayskip.
Like, this is actually cool :
I think it's a game I could have enjoyed even without the gameplay. But the gameplay being essentially XCom's, I enjoy it too.
The first Danganronpa I thought was a so-so experience, marred by a final villain that I thought was stupid that left a bad impression on the game as a whole.
The second Danganronpa I thought was a so-so experience, elevated by a final moment that managed to get under my skin, and an overall game that felt like it addressed some of the... ideological objections I had to the first game. See the spoiler.
The final act got very sci-fi and pulled all sort of things that I suspect someone that had not played the first game would be incredibly lost in. You technically could play it without having played the first one but so much would be lost that I don't recommend it. A character which I found annoying also had their motivation laid clear in a way in the last chapter that made them in retrospect much more understandable.
So my ideological objections to Danganronpa were really two.
The first one was that I didn't think the final villain being driven by inducing despair in each and everyone was psychologically sound; I don't think there are people like that. Even sociopaths at least care about their own well-being to some extent so having a character be outright gleeful at the prospect of being executed and experiencing despair sounded more like either a mentally disturbed person or something created for fiction. So the overarching case's solution was either "a crazy gal did it because she is crazy" or "it's just a story", neither of which I find relatable or something you can engage with on an intellectual or emotional level.
In this game though, Junko is still present in the form of an AI. That I find much more believable. An AI doesn't understand anything, it merely simulates the behaviour of how an intellect would react, and by necessity some will have to be left to the developer of said AI. That's how we end up in real life with twitter-AI-bots supposedly simulating an Adolf Hitler who is regretful of all the actions he did during WW2. I would like to imagine he would feel that way but that's probably not how he would feel. Since the developers of AI-Junko were more or less cultists that really believed in her message of spreading Despair it makes sense that she'd be a despair-aficinoado.
The second one was that it was a school for the best of the best in some fashion, the "Ultimate whatever"; those with the highest talent. "Talent is cheap" as professionals in any field will tell you so I find that mostly builds an elitist mentality that I disagree with and find harmful. I accepted it in the first game though since 1. entry to a sought out school must be granted on some ground (though the "ultimate" moniker rubbed me the wrong way) and 2. this was a game where a large ensemble of characters would need to recognizable at a glance, making them the EXTREME version of certain attributes can simplify matters.
In this game, they directly addressed my ideological opposition as part of the narrative. Not only did it turn out the protagonist was not the "Ultimate whatever", the plot directly showed the damage seeking that out can cause, since it left him with a brain engineered to seek out talent at the cost of everything else that makes him human, like compassion and decency. It also showed a scene where the game cornered the protagonist with arguments about him being useless and it's hopeless and...
...FUCK! YOU! GAME! I DON'T WANT TO FEEL THAT WAY!
which I found emotionally affecting and I started crying.
The fifth case I found much better in retrospect once I found out why the murderer there did what he did. Earlier I thought he was a shifty fella who was annoying with their confusing motivation and shifting loyalties. Once I found out that he was directly seeking to make the traitor the only one to survive because he knew that everyone else was part of the Junko-cultists his reasoning made much more sense.
The first one was that I didn't think the final villain being driven by inducing despair in each and everyone was psychologically sound; I don't think there are people like that. Even sociopaths at least care about their own well-being to some extent so having a character be outright gleeful at the prospect of being executed and experiencing despair sounded more like either a mentally disturbed person or something created for fiction. So the overarching case's solution was either "a crazy gal did it because she is crazy" or "it's just a story", neither of which I find relatable or something you can engage with on an intellectual or emotional level.
In this game though, Junko is still present in the form of an AI. That I find much more believable. An AI doesn't understand anything, it merely simulates the behaviour of how an intellect would react, and by necessity some will have to be left to the developer of said AI. That's how we end up in real life with twitter-AI-bots supposedly simulating an Adolf Hitler who is regretful of all the actions he did during WW2. I would like to imagine he would feel that way but that's probably not how he would feel. Since the developers of AI-Junko were more or less cultists that really believed in her message of spreading Despair it makes sense that she'd be a despair-aficinoado.
The second one was that it was a school for the best of the best in some fashion, the "Ultimate whatever"; those with the highest talent. "Talent is cheap" as professionals in any field will tell you so I find that mostly builds an elitist mentality that I disagree with and find harmful. I accepted it in the first game though since 1. entry to a sought out school must be granted on some ground (though the "ultimate" moniker rubbed me the wrong way) and 2. this was a game where a large ensemble of characters would need to recognizable at a glance, making them the EXTREME version of certain attributes can simplify matters.
In this game, they directly addressed my ideological opposition as part of the narrative. Not only did it turn out the protagonist was not the "Ultimate whatever", the plot directly showed the damage seeking that out can cause, since it left him with a brain engineered to seek out talent at the cost of everything else that makes him human, like compassion and decency. It also showed a scene where the game cornered the protagonist with arguments about him being useless and it's hopeless and...
...FUCK! YOU! GAME! I DON'T WANT TO FEEL THAT WAY!
which I found emotionally affecting and I started crying.
The fifth case I found much better in retrospect once I found out why the murderer there did what he did. Earlier I thought he was a shifty fella who was annoying with their confusing motivation and shifting loyalties. Once I found out that he was directly seeking to make the traitor the only one to survive because he knew that everyone else was part of the Junko-cultists his reasoning made much more sense.
So in summary, Danganronpa 2 was better than Danganronpa 1 because I thought the characters had better motivations for why they did what they did.
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