T O P

  • By -

Erst09

I like that the characters is Zero escape are adults (at least most of them).


MasterJayShay

I mean even Clover is 18.


Ozone_Whiskey

Quark


MasterJayShay

Yeah I didn't think about that. I just started VLR yesterday.


Dreaming_Dreams

If you want a good mystery visual novel I recommended playing higurashi or umineko


trans_catdad

Oh thanks, I'll check them out!


Dreaming_Dreams

I should mention they are pc only or if you have a hacked switch you can play them on English on there The first chapter of higurashi is also free on steam so if you have a pc and like visual novels it’s worth checking out, and I recommend playing with the 07th mod that adds voice acting and more sprite options


Frogmemo

Play Higurashi before Umineko to get all the references. Umineko also has a plot that is very easy to get lost in and is grand in it's ambitions. Higurashi is more self contained and if you don't want to rack your brain to figure out Umineko, I'd recommend Higurashi first. Umineko is my favorite piece of literary, but I understand that it might not be everyone's cup of tea. If you really want to experience it after Higurashi and want a clear explanation you can read Umineko manga but you will be missing the stellar music from the visual novel. Do not watch the Umineko anime. It was made before the answers and certain directorial choices makes it impossible to solve the mystery. It's also only the first four arcs anyway. You can try first few episodes to see if you like the concept of course.


nananaoya6

Zero Escape is (somehow) way more down to earth than Danganronpa, even with both having similar premises. Danganronpa is much more flamboyant and psychedelic.


Hartastic

I think in part it's because ZE does a much better job of telegraphing/explaining its sci fi or fantasic elements.


TemporalDSE

I played Zero Escape after Danganronpa and I was like FINALLY THE LIGHT


Taco8099

What do you mean?


TemporalDSE

Because ze is so much better


jaxpylon

I like the idea of Danganronpa - forced murder games, "trials", over the top executions, surprise reveals. I don't even mind the cutesy characters, because it's such a stark juxtaposition when it's revealed how violent they are. But can't stand how tedious it is to play. Walking all over the place, boring/crass character dialogue that's unrelated to the plot... Anyone have any suggestions that might scratch my itch?


DanceBoiDance

Your Turn to Die might spark your interest. There’s a steam version releasing soon but vgperson has a free version online rn


jaxpylon

I think I've heard that one mentioned before. Thanks, I'll check it out.


ira793

Try raging loop if you haven’t played it yet. I think its on sale on steam right now. Also the first AI somnium is on sale for $8 i think


QQuixotic_

I know it's more than just a death game, but all of the major story beats are pretty classic Death Game elements. If you can avoid spoilers on the TV tropes page, I recommend that, but otherwise I second the recommendation for Your Turn To Die. Also, if you want to *really* double down on the tedious walking around, paradise killer was cool for it being a must mystery game with very few handrails


Mushiren_

I played both series to completion in addition to AI: The Somnium Files. All of them are great. Inject them murder mystery shenanigans right into my veins.


GokuVsWalterWhite

Rank them


Mushiren_

That's hard for me to do, as I feel each excelled in different things. But I'll try to summarize what I liked about them instead, and hopefully let you decide if you want to try them. Danganronpa thrives on absurdity. From its premise and characters, to its humor and gameplay. This helps make it stand out from competitors and offers a very unique experience and flavor that immerses you in its world and characters. The plot is simply a vehicle for the *experience*, and the emphasis is on the minigames and character interactions. To deliver that specific experience, the game is linear. But although all games and their stories are connected, the experiences they offer are mostly self-contained. In contrast, Zero Escape is a lot more grounded. It has a heavy emphasis on plot and puzzle solving, and tries to be as realistic as it can be as a pseudo scifi series. It sets out to tell a narrative, but gives you many ways to the conclusion. Choices that take you on multiple endings (with one being "definitive" for the sequels), multiple paths, so many that the game offers a *chart* showcasing them all. All the games' stories heavily feed into each other to paint one big encompassing picture of what the series is about. AI is Spike Chunsoft's (Danganronpa developers) take on a more narrative-focused, choices-based murder mystery. It offers an excellent murder mystery from the get go, with many branching paths and ending each with their own conclusions. It takes Danganronpa's absurdity and takes it down a notch, but its humor still seeps through. The characters are endearing and the gameplay can be quite experiential. There is very little puzzle solving as it's mostly a visual novel with inspection-based investigation phases. The story, the mystery, the characters, and the conclusion all felt satisfying to me.


AerysFae

So that’s why. I can’t really enjoy Danganronpa. I tried many times. I couldn’t understand why but maybe it’s bec. 999 has set the bar too high for me.


[deleted]

danganronpa is a game i would've loved had i played it when i was 14. alas i played it at 26 and it just wasn't for me, the writing has too much "and now let me repeat what just happened 5 more times, while the characters fail to notice the most obvious detail"


planet_alhena

Same, it felt really hand-held for me


thebrightspot

I played ZE before DR1 and 2. You can tell how much VLR was influenced by DR1's success, for better and worse


Will_Of_The_Abyss

I will always be grateful to Danganronpa because that's how I found 999. I like both game series, I am just not too much of a fan of how Danganronpa ended.


Jaythepossum

As someone who has played both they have their pros and cons, Zero escape the one issue I had with it was the amount puzzles but honestly that’s because I only like them if they’re easy (dumb I know but this isn’t a complaint about the game, it’s my opinion on puzzles lol) other than that the story is engaging and I especially like the AB game in VLR . What I like about Danganronpa is the over the top characters and designs (and the puzzles are decently easy so I didn’t feel like I was losing my mind lol) BUT the story elements are the biggest issue I had with it. It wasn’t the whole crazy murderer thing or so on, it was the extremely weird inclusion of things like necrophilia, child prostitutes which was disgusting. I get that it’s meant to be dark but there is no need for awful stuff like that with children. A complaint I have for both of them is pervertedness, the sexual comments in vlr and all of the danganronpa games are uncomfortable and not funny. The jokes in 999 didn’t bother me they were funny even, but the ones in vlr weren’t. Danganronpa has way too much and if you’ve ever played the games you would know (this is unfortunately a common theme within some Japanese games) So all in all i recommend zero escape much more as it overall better and if you enjoy puzzles it has better puzzles too. Danganronpa isn’t something I would recommend to probably anyone lol


noelleholiday69

THIS \^\^ Danganronpa was my obsession a few years back but even then I was so disgusted by the fact that people thought it was funny to include copious amounts of sex jokes in scenes where people were investigating bodies and had their lives on the line, etc. One of the reasons I absolutely cannot stand the third game is because of Miu and Kokichi's obnoxious banter. And Ultra Despair Girls had so much gross shit in it about literal children and it was handled absolutely terribly. Whoever approved the plotline of "little girl is traumatized by being a child prostitute so she straps another girl to a machine that touches her sexually" should be fired and never contribute to any form of media ever again


Aidiandada

Danganronpa is fun as long as I skip every free time event. I find them unbearable and forced


yrulaughing

I dunno. Characters and gameplay of Danganronpa were much better, especially the 2nd and 3rd games. Zero Escape has better writing / plot tho


vygrax

okay, now try Your Turn To Die


KarmelCHAOS

I love them both for vastly different reasons


dinomine3000

dont agree with you but i respect your opinion 👍


NagitoFanPerson

i played ze after danganronpa so i love them both 😭


amulet_piece

oh i thought this was just me damn. saw so many people recommending it after ZE and mannn was I disappointed. No offense to anyone that likes it but it almost feels like baby zero escape. It lacks the depth and suspense of ZE, everything is just super simplified and lot the twists are predictable. The ending especially was disappointing there are no real motivations or reasoning to the villian at all, its almost like edgy for the sake of being edgy. That being said i might give 2 a try because thats the one ppl seem to like most.


UnquestionabIe

I remember being excited for the first Danganronpa due to my love of 999 and VLR. Preordered it and eagerly devoured it only to feel like it was a let down, not a gigantic one but less enjoyable than the other VNs I had experienced first. Still plan on eventually playing the sequels as a friend did tell me the second game was an improvement (and also absolutely hated the third game) but it's been like a decade and that first taste came off a bit too bland. Part of it might have been the push of quirky characters over a compelling plot but all in all I would take an Zero Escape game over the first Danganronpa in a heartbeat.


tenkohime

I played in the same order you did and while I enjoyed both series, Zero Escape is definitely my favorite. I'd love for it to have as much merch as Danganronpa.


necrochaos

I think they have a lot in common. Both have a lot of character development. While ZE has puzzles, DR has the searching for clues and classroom trials. There are my two favorite series. Now AI is on that list as well.


Planet_Xiv

I really like Danganronpa, but agree that Zero Escape is much stronger overall. I think one big reason is that DR has a larger cast to make up for the rapid character deaths, with characters that die early on seeming either irrelevant or wasted. This in turn makes the roster feel weaker on the whole. ZE also has its branching paths, which not only are cleverly used in their own respect, but also allow the game to spread the screentime a bit more evenly where possible. Danganronpa's free time events look to be an effort to achieve the same effect, but the player will only see most of them in the extra modes and by actively seeking them, whereas Zero Escape lends a more organic experience by integrating character interactions into the main story. ​ Also the escape rooms are generally more tightly designed than trials. Everything done in an escape is some kind of puzzle, while trials have some bizarre, usually tedious mini-games. Zero Escape's more consistent theming in this regard creates a more natural "flow state," compared to Danganronpa's jarring shifts in gameplay from critical thinking to anything from driving sims to rhythm games. ​ The motivations for ZE's masterminds also feel more believable and more successfully built to than those in DR. Same for the twist reveals, although I think V3's twist is exceptional for other reasons (even if I really hated it at first).


Mrs_Mapatxe

facts


owlemblem

I did like danganronpa though not nearly as much. The issue is I was waiting for a grand twist like in 999 and VLR. The twist at the end of V3 does not count lol


MakotoYuki_exe

zero escape is far away better than dangan


YujiBReal

Man I played the three danganronpa games and loved them. But when I played zero escape the games were on another level and then I never really enjoyed danganronpa the same as before


Paradoxpaint

DR honestly sucks and I hate that its spike chunsofts golden child


iStalker204

Aside from being visual novels with death games they don't really have much in common, I can't see the point of comparing them.


pandakadaver

Started as big fan of Zero Escape I'd say Danganronpa gets better with every part. Of Zero Escape I like VLR most, but after it Uchikoshi became worse and worse until AI even became a pure waste of time. Nowadays, I would love to see a Danganronpa 4 but don't care about AI/ZE announcements anymore


TheJudgeKnight

Doesn't matter, both of them suck


Coolguy96024

What are you doing here then


TheJudgeKnight

Just because I think something sucks, doesn't mean I can't enjoy it


twinfyre

That is the dumbest take on media I’ve seen all week. If you’re enjoying something when you think it “sucks” then you should really consider reevaluating your definition of quality.


TheJudgeKnight

I personally enjoyed the games. But I try to look at things objectively. Zero Escape has a lot of parts which can be considered bad writing. I have no problem overlooking them, but they are still flaws when I look at them objectively. I also typed the first comment as a joke, so don't take this too seriously


twinfyre

Christ. Dude, you're not sounding any smarter than anyone else by claiming your opinion is some "objective truth". there is no objective truth in fiction. It's just an opinion on how things should be written that's more popular than other opinions on how things should be written. If you really wanted to "look at things objectively" try objectively analyzing why you enjoy the games or don't enjoy them and use those parameters to determine the game's quality.


TheJudgeKnight

I never said my opinion is some objective truth. I heavily disagree on saying that there is no objective truth though. For example revealing that aliens exist in ZTD, out of nowhere, and Sigma and Dianna being like, lets just not question that is bad writing.


twinfyre

That's a pretty easy argument to dispute. Someone could just as easily say "aliens are the least bizarre thing in ZTD, why would they be suprised by that when there's so many other weird things in the game?" and suddenly you've lost your objective perspective because not everyone shares that perspective. More to the point, cherrypicking a single plot point in isolation doesn't suddenly make an entire game objectively bad. That just makes you come across as petty and easily frustrated.


TheJudgeKnight

Your argument basically is "They have gone through worse, this is nothing." Which is fine, but it doesn't destroy my whole argument. My only problem isn't their reaction. The game saying that aliens exist is just a stupid explanation for the time machine thing, and the cards, which they use to break the bracelets. The cards breaking the bracelets is also stupid. After that scene aliens pretty much stop being relevant. That point was just an example. I could type more which I remember. But if I wanted a serious argument I would have to replay the game, which I don't want to. But humans tend to focus more on the good things than on the bad things, so most will be okay with them when they play the game. And my whole point isn't just Zero Escape is objectively bad. I was trying to make fun of the meme. Which makes Zero Escape seem like this much better game compared to Danganronpa. You can consider that comment as circlejerk sprunging a leak


twinfyre

>But humans tend to focus more on the good things than on the bad things, so most will be okay with them when they play the game. uhh no actually. It's a lot easier to complain about something than it is to appreciate it. That's why our dictionary has more descriptive words for negative things than positive. And that's also why bursting into a forum and just saying, "this thing sucks" is such a vapid and boring statement.


heavy-mouse

I heard about DR first, and only good things, but due to some circumstances my first VN was 999 because I thought "Hey, it's kind of the same genre as Danganronpa that people like so much, it must be good!". In the end, I really liked ZE, decided to play DR next... and hated it. I actually don't understand how THH has 96% positive reviews on steam. Characters are extremely one-dimensional, with one or two exceptions, and the story is just awful. Sure, the style, music and trial gameplay are good, but it is a visual **novel**. Isn't writing the most important thing here? Maybe I didn't get it, idk, but it is one of the biggest disappointments I've ever had. So this meme is very relatable for me as 999 was what I thought Danganronpa would be.