Games similar to Danganropa series? Engrossing visual novels?

[Deleted member 9746]

AI: The Somnium Files
The House in Fata Morgana
Raging Loop
The upcoming 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Steins;Gate
Chaos;Child
428: Shibuya Scramble
Higurashi When They Cry
Umineko When They Cry

Some of these may not necessarily be like Danganronpa, but they're all highly rated and well regarded by fans of the medium. I'm currently going through Fata Morgana and it's exquisite. Highly recommend it.

I'm playing through this right now, and it's super engrossing, atmospheric and often surprisingly candid and relateable.

It just came out last week, it's a Korean VN about a reality tv show that turns into a serious survival game as the stage collapses, trapping the contestants.
As they stumble in the dark for safety, all they can do is helplessly watch rumors spread on social media... until an anonymous poster starts to announce that the contestant in last place will die until everyone from the finalists confesses their sins.

Danganronpa fans will feel right at home, the music in Buried Stars especially is reminscent of DR (to put it nicely without using the word ripped off).
The characters are refreshingly real and nowhere near as cartoony as in DR. It's very wordy, but the art is amazing.

You work through conversation scenes by presenting keywords to extract new info, which can affect your relationship with others and your sanity.

I'm on my second route after seeing the crazy "normal end". It went from scary murder mystery to "how to deal with Twitter trolls" and from earnest discussions on the merits of scripted reality to deep dives into nasty rumors on your fellow contestants.

Don't sleep on this game!

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How's the English localization? Is it good? I've been meaning to try it out.

 

[Waddles the Piggu]

House in Fata Morgana is all you need. Be prepared for lots of reading and not much gameplay. It's still one of the best stories in gaming out there.

 

[Vee]

Since morganas been mentioned:


Fatal Twelve has a spin on the survival game aspect in its story, though theres no DGR/AA trial equivalent or much 'gameplay' mostly just reading

 

[zoodoo]

I will forever be amused by the Zero Escape duology posts.

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What happened with the third game?

 

[Deleted member 48434]

What happened with the third game?

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Third game?
What third game.



Edit: Does necrobarista have a mystery component?
How is it similar to dangan?

 

[Waxwing]

I'm always up for one of these threads, since new things occasionally pop up (Buried Stars!)

The stuff most comparable to DanganRonpa/Ace Attorney in descending order is definitely:

Umineko/Higurashi
Your Turn to Die
Zero Escape
AI Somnium
Raging Loop
Shibuya Scramble

And I always add:

Shinrai

I really need to get around to Fata Morgana...wish the switch port would come out.

 

[Lord Azrael]

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright is pretty fun.

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Ace Attorney fans hate on this one but it's probably my fave of either series. I already knew going in to expect a terrible ending based on my experience with the Layton franchise so what you're left with is great trials, great setting, great music and great puzzles

 

[Cess007]

Barely any mention of Hotel Dusk or Last Window.

For shame all of you. For shame.

 

[Feep]

AI: The Somnium Files is a really great VN, very solid story that hits hard when it wants to.

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Different strokes and all that, but considering the OP's not being interested in Doki Doki and harem-like escapades, avoid this game at literally all costs.

Go with Zero Escape or Ghost Trick.

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

What happened with the third game?

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Nothing, but the same small handful of people think it's funny to continually insult it because it's only a 8/10 instead of a 9/10. Despite them, the game is generally liked, E.G. The steam reviews for zero time dilemma are always "very positive" with 88% of people right now recommending it.

 

[Arcana Wiz]

Ace Attorney fans hate on this one but it's probably my fave of either series. I already knew going in to expect a terrible ending based on my experience with the Layton franchise so what you're left with is great trials, great setting, great music and great puzzles

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I think this is why AA fans didn't like the game so much. AA first trilogy is notorious for having the strongest cases as the final ones. With the most memorable characters (witness, prosecutors, etc) and twists.

This caused the fanbase to really expect a lot of the last arc of AA games, so much that it influences the final verdict and ranking order of the series. Since many didn't have a lot of experience with Layton games... You can see how it went bad

 

[Waddles the Piggu]

What happened with the third game?

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It's lower budget than the other 2. Some ongoing plot lines of the 2nd one has been dropped. Some even think the ending is pretty bad with a pretty stupid twist. Some fun character moments tho. I love it even if it is the worst in the trilogy.

Since morganas been mentioned:


Fatal Twelve has a spin on the survival game aspect in its story, though theres no DGR/AA trial equivalent or much 'gameplay' mostly just reading

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Man I really want this for the Switch. I'm still waiting for the Root Double port too.

 

[Richter1887]

Your Turn to Die

Best part? It's freeware. Worst part? It's unfinished. But what's there is lengthy(like 10 - 12 hours) with great characters that take themselves(and their deaths) much more seriously than DR, great atmosphere, and great music. Almost no fanservice either.

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The Silver Case is the best VN I've played. The least anime goofiness, great atmosphere and music. I'd recommend it to anyone. Check out Ghost Trick and Hotel Dusk as well.

Also, 428 is a must play.

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zero escape series

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House in Fata Morgana is all you need. Be prepared for lots of reading and not much gameplay. It's still one of the best stories in gaming out there.

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You are all good people.

 

[hwarang]

What was that one indie game where its a murder mystery but with gods?

 

[Deleted member 15457]

Glad to see Zero Escape and Your Turn to Die suggested here.

 

[kurahador]

Ace Attorney fans hate on this one but it's probably my fave of either series. I already knew going in to expect a terrible ending based on my experience with the Layton franchise so what you're left with is great trials, great setting, great music and great puzzles

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Yeah...despite the dumb swerve in the story, the court session remain as good as ever. I thought it was more inventive and well animated than Dual Destinies.

 

[GoldStarz]

I've always liked the idea of danganronpa more than the actual act of playing it. Like.. Heavy reading visual novel game that still has real and meaningful gameplay elements, murder mysteries. It should be cool. But it is just so anime, so tropey, genuinely insulting in its treatment of the women cast, etc.

With that core danganronpa problem acknowledged, how is this buried stars game people have been mentioning?


Edited my post, I mixed up which game I meant to ask about.

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I don't really see how DanganRonpa is worse off than similar games in its genre, but I'd definitely recommend Your Turn to Die. It has similar gameplay and a female main protagonist who's really well-written.

 

[Deleted member 923]

Man, I really need to check out Your Turn to Die. Heard nothing but great things about it.

 

[hwarang]

Man, I really need to check out Your Turn to Die. Heard nothing but great things about it.

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I want to as well but apparently it's unfinished for now.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

After you're done with Suda51's The Silver Case, be sure to check out the sequel:

Hotel Dusk and Last Window on DS are essential as well:

And one that went under the radar but is a good game for fans of Hotel Dusk:

And another one that usually falls by the wayside:

Sweet Fuse, came out right near the end of the PSP's life, so most didn't notice it. It has character art by the Ace Attorney series artist and was surprisingly good. Even has its own "Monokuma" in it. Can get it on Vita, I'm pretty sure.

 

[Bradford]

428 is riveting, and highly recommended.

 

[Cugel]

Glad to see Your Turn to Die mentioned, it's fantastic. I'll throw in one I haven't seen in this thread: Raging Loop. It's a phenomenal and atmospheric story about a guy who gets caught up in a small mountain village custom that's eerily similar to the mafia/werewolf game. It's a super unique take on the death game VN due to its emphasis on the lore and culture of the village it's set in.

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Seconding Raging Loop

 

[ffvorax]

Zero Escape series for sure!
If you get into VN, there are also Steins:Gate and Chaos;Child that I heavily reccomend (but these are almost no gameplay, just story with branches depending on your choices).

 

[purseowner]

And I always add:

Shinrai

I really need to get around to Fata Morgana...wish the switch port would come out.

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Thanks for this - I keep forgetting about this one - wish I'd nabbed it in the Steam sale.

As for Fata Morgana Switch - Limited Run have been silent since announcing it, which they seem to have a habit of doing before suddenly unveiling preorders about a year later. Not convinced it's this year.

 

[Dee Dee]

How's the English localization? Is it good? I've been meaning to try it out.

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Yes, I'll say it's good. There is some odd phrasing here and there, and sometimes they mix up names and gender of the characters, but it's easy to follow what is going on and what's most important, you can understand which clues to pick to solve the tasks. (It's a murder mystery at heart still.)
They also do a great job of giving character to the people you interact with. Sometimes you have two dialogue options that feel like they are the same (i.e. "You're right..." vs. "I agree...") but they end up making a difference, and they manage to make you understand the nuance. So I'd say the translation is good.
I haven't finished the game, so it's possible there's some untranslateable whack stuff needed to solve some tasks I haven't seen yet, but so far the language quality is not detracting from the game.

When you gain enough rapport points with other people, you get a little "rapport event" aka. a heart-to-heart where they open up about their past.
So far none of them had anything ridiculous going on for them (no plot amnesia), they all have pretty relatable issues and problems, just different backgrounds. I'm honestly very impressed with those parts of the game so far (possibly because one of the characters went through very similar family issues that I experienced, which made me choke up when he recounted them).

Different strokes and all that, but considering the OP's not being interested in Doki Doki and harem-like escapades, avoid this game at literally all costs.

Go with Zero Escape or Ghost Trick.

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I'm co-signing this post.
While I overall enjoyed AI and would recommend it for the story, there's like... 5 scenes too many where groping, porn mags, boobs or girl panties are a major means of progression in the story. Which is... just not my idea of fun.

And another one that usually falls by the wayside:

Sweet Fuse, came out right near the end of the PSP's life, so most didn't notice it. It has character art by the Ace Attorney series artist and was surprisingly good. Even has its own "Monokuma" in it. Can get it on Vita, I'm pretty sure.

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Be aware that Sweet Fuse is an "Otome" aka. a romance sim targeting girls/women (in this case: girls).
Sweet Fuse is very light on the romance and very cute and innocent about it. You see some guys take off their shirts and you get a kiss in the end, that's it.
Don't think too hard about the age difference for some of those pairings, your brain will melt.

The game overall is pretty fun, the dialogue options are nice, there's riddle elements to it, and the story is VERY reminiscent of DanganRonpa, including a weird Cartoon Pig as a stand in for the real bad guy.
I don't think you need to play the true ending (which you can achieve achieve after one or two runs already I think, so you don't need to date everyone first), it was stupid in my opinion.
It's an entertaining enough game either way, but don't expect it to make a lot of sense.


But, if we're recommending Otome, you could also check out CollarXMalice, which is about a mysterious organisation in a weird dystopian Tokyo of the future with whacky police laws... I forgot the details, sorry, but they are basically killing people off by inciting revenge murder plots.

Some of the routes are better than others, the true route being the best one by far.
Some of the routes are just ... I don't even. I'm looking at you, Shiraishi. Wtf was that ending.

The romance is much more present than in Sweet Fuse, but it also is much more serious about it's wacky plot.
Also, you get to shoot people with really lame QTE events.

I like it a lot, but it's VERY OTOME.

 

[SpoonyBob]

Yes play those 2 games.

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I will forever be amused by the Zero Escape duology posts. (And they're right, you know)

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Well this is worrisome... I finished Virtue's Last Reward a few weeks ago and was going through Ghost of Tsushima before doing Zero Time Dilemma. Is it really that bad?

 

[purseowner]

Well this is worrisome... I finished Virtue's Last Reward a few weeks ago and was going through Ghost of Tsushima before doing Zero Time Dilemma. Is it really that bad?

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Two of the route ends are some of the highlights of the entire series in my opinion (and, tellingly, were the only two written by Uchikoshi).

The actual ending and the epilogue files are hot garbage. Loads of characters are grossly miswritten and it betrays a lot of plot threads, characterisation, and buildup.

 

[Deleted member 9746]

Well this is worrisome... I finished Virtue's Last Reward a few weeks ago and was going through Ghost of Tsushima before doing Zero Time Dilemma. Is it really that bad?

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Personally, I loved how messy it was but I can understand why it's a controversial game. It really is a mess.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Well this is worrisome... I finished Virtue's Last Reward a few weeks ago and was going through Ghost of Tsushima before doing Zero Time Dilemma. Is it really that bad?

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It retroactively makes Virtues Last Reward worse. Do yourself a favour and avoid it. No good can come from playing it.

 

[Waxwing]

Two of the route ends are some of the highlights of the entire series in my opinion (and, tellingly, were the only two written by Uchikoshi).

The actual ending and the epilogue files are hot garbage. Loads of characters are grossly miswritten and it betrays a lot of plot threads, characterisation, and buildup.

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Wait...Uchikoshi didn't even write the ending? wtf, mate...

 

[Exist 2 Inspire]

Well this is worrisome... I finished Virtue's Last Reward a few weeks ago and was going through Ghost of Tsushima before doing Zero Time Dilemma. Is it really that bad?

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I didn't have much problems with the story itself more with the janky ass Telltale style presentation. It's definitely not as good as 999 or VLR but still enjoyable enough i would say.