Sony began their SCEJA press conference by talking about their PlayStation Vita lineup, and they kicked off the segment by showing off a trailer of a sequel to the respected visual novel series, Danganronpa. However, the third game in the series, Danganronpa: Another Episode, takes a vastly different approach to the series by making the full transition to a third person shooter.
The trailer at the SCEJA press conference was brief but managed to show us enough action. Players take on the role of a school girl, whose ultimate talent is not revealed, as she mows down waves of Monokuma clones with her megaphone gun. The trailer for Danganronpa: Another Episode shows off familiar characters from the first game, although we still don’t know how this game will be placed in the series’ cannon.
Although it’s slightly off-putting that this mystery series is turning into a shooter, it makes sense as even solving cases involved shooting truth bullets at a variety of contradictions. To make a side-story that focused solely on shooting wouldn’t be too much of a departure from the series, as it already had elements of an action game. It also makes sense from a story perspective, as players can finally explore what the world of Dangaronpa is like outside of the school where citizens battle the oncoming despair.
The series has long since been released for the PSP in Japan, and both of the first games were finally brought to the West earlier this year. The second game, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, is scheduled to be released on September 5, 2014.
