Video Game / Dangan Ronpa RPG

"Stand strong, and don't let the balance be shattered."

Dangan Ronpa RPG is an in-progress Danganronpa fan-game being created in RPG Maker VX Ace by "New World Order", a team of 13 people. The premise is the Dangan Ronpa series cast in a Medieval European Fantasy Alternate Universe. The characters were each given a Fantasy Character Class that fits their personality and/or talent, a likewise fitting preferred weapon, a High Fantasy-esque outfit, and of course a role which rages from being a major character to a one-off NPC.

The plot follows Makoto Naegi, with the help of Yasuhiro Hagakure, Byakuya Togami, Touko Fukawa (and Genocider Syo), Aoi Asahina, Kyouko Kirigiri, and others that are kept a secret for now, on his quest to defeat Junko Enoshima, who is trying to plunge the world into despair. To do so, they will need to travel around and collect the six Hope Shards.

The gameplay is largely the same as most classic JRPGs. The player controls Makoto and his fellow party members on an overworld where he can walk around and interact with objects or NPCs. Like most RPG Maker games, battles are triggered by Random Encounters, are turn-based, and the character with the highest AGI stat goes first after selecting commands.

The first version of the demo was released in November 2014. The current version of the prologue demo was released October 2016 and can be found here. The development blog, where updates and other game related posts are made, is here.

The game officially croaked on April 30th, 2020 when the developers lost interest in the series and wandered off to do other things.

Spoilers from the main series are unmarked. Only mark spoilers pertaining to this game.

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Contains examples of:

• A Child Shall Lead Them: Defied with Byakuya. An NPC states that because he was only 13 when he was chosen as the heir, he had the throne withheld from him. Except he’s old enough now, but Kijou still refuses to step down.
• Aerith and Bob: Everyone in the game has a Japanese name except for Aloysius Pennyworth.
• All in a Row: The active party members follow around Makoto.
• Anti-Hero: Byakuya is a Pragmatic Hero, and Yasuhiro is a Nominal Hero.
• Armor and Magic Don't Mix: Makoto and Yasuhiro are both mages, and can’t equip armor.
• Battle Butler: Aloysius. If you try to re-enter Togami Castle after getting kicked out, Aloysius will COMPLETELY OBLITERATE you.
• Big Fancy Castle: Togami Castle.
• Black Blood: The blood is pink, of course.
• Blob Monster: The Slime enemies.
• Boss Banter: Once a human boss's HP hits half, they will say something.
• Call a Hit Point a "Smeerp":
  • SP is used in place of the traditional MP. SP stands for 'skill points' as a reference to skill points in the Danganronpa series, but it works exactly like MP normally does in an RPG rather than the way skill points are used in Danganronpa.
  • Critical hits are called "NICE SHOT"s on the in-battle popups, in reference to what they are called in Despair Girls. However, unlike Despair Girls, Nice Shots are inflicted at random and on any enemy, whereas in Despair Girls, they occur only when you fire at a Monokuma's red eye.
• Color-Coded Item Tiers: The Monocapsules. The pink one contains only one Monocoin, while the blue Monocapsule randomly contains 1-4 of them.
• Crapsaccharine World: At the first glance and for the most part, it’s your average lush landscape, but horrible things are beginning to happen as Yasuhiro predicted.
• Crystal Ball: Yasuhiro carries one around (whom he addresses as "Crystal Ball-chi") and consults it during cutscenes sometimes. He also has one equipped in his accessory slot.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Not quite friendship, but Byakuya joins the party this way.
• Equipment Spoiler: The Prospero City shop sells quills, bronze shields, and bronze armors, which neither Makoto or Yasuhiro can equip. Your next party member, Byakuya, can equip the armor and shield, while the quill can be equipped by Touko, who isn’t even available in the demo. Though, it’s more or less common sense who the party member is that can equip the writing utensil if the player knows that 6 of the party members are the survivors of the first Danganronpa game!
• Fantasy Character Classes: Along with being a big RPG Episode, one of the points of the game is everyone was given a classic fantasy character job class that suits their personality and/or talent in the original Dangan Ronpa games.
• First Town: Hope Village. It has Ghibli Hills right outside of it to the north.
• Foil: Makoto and Byakuya. Makoto is an All-Loving Hero, while Byakuya is a Pragmatic Hero with a Lack of Empathy. Makoto’s role in a battle is support, while Byakuya’s is offense.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Komaru and Makoto respectively.
• Good Morning, Crono: The game begins, bar the opening scenes, with Yasuhiro waking Makoto up.
• Gradual Regeneration: The 'Another Hope' item revives a knocked out party member with 30% of their total HP and then gradually restores more.
• Graphics-Induced Super-Deformed: The overworld sprites have heads about as large as the bodies.
• Gratuitous French: A few of Byakuya’s victory quotes, as well as when he says "En garde!" before fighting Makoto and Yasuhiro.
• Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: The fight with Byakuya is like this. Once you 'defeat' him, he will unleash his Limit Break and destroy your party, but losing for real gives you a Game Over.
• Healer Signs On Early: Yasuhiro is a White Mage, and is the first party member to join Makoto.
• He Knows About Timed Hits: At the beginning of the game, Yasuhiro explains to Makoto how to equip weapons. Lampshaded right afterward with a very confused Makoto.
  • Yasuhiro in general shows signs of Medium Awareness. He reminds Makoto to save the game while on the way through Togami Gardens, with Makoto once again reacting with confusion like he did above.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Played with. Makoto uses the very nonstandard-for-a-protagonist weapon, sling; it’s Byakuya that uses swords instead. Not only is he Makoto’s Foil, but it’s a reference to the part of Danganronpa where Byakuya dramatically says that he plans to kill Monokuma, to which Monokuma replies, "You almost sound like a protagonist! Too bad you're just a side character!"
• Hyperactive Metabolism: All of the items that heal HP are food, and drinks heal SP. Most of them are very strange foods such as chocolate chip covered jerky or alcohol-free wine. Your limit break bar is filled by biscuits.
• Inexplicable Treasure Chests: As a given, being an RPG. The type of chest depends on the item inside.
• Kleptomaniac Hero: Even the goodie-two-shoes Makoto isn’t exempt from this. Maybe Yasuhiro peer pressured him…
• Lighter and Softer: Seems to have a much more lighthearted tone than the series it was based on, but granted, we only saw the first 90 minutes...
• Limit Break: Getting hit by attacks and using skills little-by-little fills up your characters' Limit Break bars. Once filled up, they are able to unleash a single powerful skill (not always offensive) which empties the bar completely afterward. The devblog states that each character eventually gets seven Limit Break skills.
• Luck Stat: Luck helps status effects land when used by you, and miss when used by opponents.
• Malaproper: Komaru accidentally calls Prospero City "Purposeful City."
  Komaru: Yeah, go to that Purposeful City or whatever it is!
• Mana Potion: Mineral Water, which heals SP.
• Mondegreen Gag: In the Prospero City library, talking to the librarian at the front desk has Yasuhiro mishear "library" as "laundry" which makes him think the library is a laundromat and gets very confused.
• Monumental Theft: Yasuhiro apparently stole an entire shrine and somehow dragged it all the way into his basement.
• Mooks: Monokuma serve as this.
• My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Kiyotaka introduces himself immediately before he fights Makoto and Yasuhiro.
• Never Learned to Read: As part of the medieval AU, the only characters that are able to read are the wealthy, and those who require literacy as part of their occupation. Notably, Makoto and Yasuhiro can't read. Before Byakuya joins the party, checking signs and the like will usually result in Makoto and Yasuhiro wondering what it says.
• Nominal Importance: For the most part, only the Dangan Ronpa characters get names and portraits.
• Non-Indicative Name: The flower enemy, "Dandelion" that doesn't look like a dandelion. The only thing it has in common with an actual dandelion is that it's yellow.
• O.C. Stand-in: Kijou Togami. The only things he gets in canon are a mention by Byakuya in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, and then he’s given a name and a few lines in Danganronpa Togami. He doesn’t even have official art. In this, however, he’s given a design, and overall does more than he does in canon. Not much more though, so this is downplayed, but at least he actually goes on-screen.
  • In a way, Mr. and Mrs. Naegi fit this too, if only because they canonically have a measly one line each. They're minor characters in this game, but they at least have many more lines than they did in the source material.
• Open-Ended Boss Battle: The Mini-Boss fight with the Monokuma in Hope Village is like this. Regardless of whether you win or lose, Monokuma will blow up in the following cutscene and knock you out.
• Overly Long Gag: The garden in front of Togami Castle is absurdly long, to the point where Yasuhiro lampshades how long it is once you reach the fifth screen. Most screens of the garden are completely identical.
• Power-Up Food: The Rainbow Biscuits. Eating them will completely fill up the limit break bar.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: This trope is typical in RPGs, and this is no exception, it even mentions it in the description of the game on the devblog. As of the latest demo, your party consists of, a Ridiculously Average Guy Farm Boy, a Cloudcuckoolander Conspiracy Theorist Fortune Teller, and a Knight in Sour Armor Warrior Prince.
• Rainbow Speak: Text is turned blue to represent Makoto’s monologuing. Important terms, or terms that will be important later, are colored orange.
• Rat Stomp: Some of the first enemies you can encounter are rats.
• Reclusive Artist: Touko is an In-Universe example. There is an NPC in the Prospero City library that is a fan of her books, but doesn't know what she looks like.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Byakuya, who was sent on some sort of mission by request of his father.
• RPG Episode: The entire freakin’ point of the game.
• Shipper on Deck: Komaru notices that Makoto blushed when Kyouko accidentally bumped into him, and playfully asks if he has a crush on her.
• Shout-Out: Loads.
  • Chiaki references many video games in her dialogue. They are, in order, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Ace Attorney, Professor Layton, and Tomodachi Life.
  • One of the Monokuma during the Hope Village attack references Buzz Buzz from EarthBound's “A bee I am… not…” line with “A bear I am… not…”
  • Mrs. Naegi tells Makoto to remember to change his underwear, like Delia Ketchum from the Pokémon anime.
  • Yasuhiro’s dialogue when you check the red orb in his basement references Final Fantasy.
  • Prospero City’s name is a reference to the character Prince Prospero from "The Masque of the Red Death". This is pointed out by an NPC, but he gets the name wrong, calling it “The Cask of the Blue Life” instead.
  • If you lose to the Monokuma miniboss fight at the beginning of the game, Yasuhiro will say “knees… weak… arms… heavy…” in reference to Lose Yourself by Eminem of all things.
  • The long, long garden in front of Togami Castle? A reference to another Danganronpa fangame, Togaemi.
  • There is an NPC in Prospero City who mentions Jutaro Akafuku, a character from Makoto Naegi's Worst Day Ever. Makoto gets a bit shaken up in response.
  • There are several references to Faulerro's Danganronpa Abridged Thing. Kiyotaka says "Commoners are not welcome in a royal environment!" and "Justice is very much welcome in a royal environment!" Kyouko says "If I had to guess..." and "My suspicions were confirmed." when investigating the crucified corpse in Hope Village.
  • An NPC in Prospero City quotes the lyrics to the song "I am a Prince" from LazyTown to describe Byakuya.
  Noble: When I saw him, my thoughts just went, "Boom! He is a prince...! It's easy to see he's royalty...!
  • Yasuhiro references a Billy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy quote when the aforementioned NPC that mentions Jutaro Akafuku is talked to.
  Yasuhiro: Witches are the ultimate evil! They wanna become the dominant species on the planet, and they'll destroy us all to make it happen!
  • The attack Yasuhiro tries to use to clear the boulders in Sunset Pass, "Yasuhiro-style Imploding Explosion" is a reference to "Susano-style Exploding Implosion" from Ōkami, down to the little story he gives about it beforehand.
  • The Bird enemy located in Sunset Pass and north of Hope Village can "peck at your eyes." This is a reference to the Spiteful Crow from EarthBound, an enemy that attacks in the same way.
  • Some of the battle win quotes reference things.
    • Makoto’s “Gotta put my best foot forward.“ is one of Zidane’s quotes in Dissidia Final Fantasy, whom he shares his English voice actor with. Likewise, "I can't... run off..." references Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion, whom he shares his Japanese Seiyuu with, Megumi Ogata.
    • Yasuhiro’s quotes reference as follows. “That’s called “Yasuhiro Style!” Learn it!” is a reference to Sokka’s “That’s called "Sokka Style!" Learn it!”. “Man, that took forever!” is a Yosuke quote, while “I’ve climbed the stairway to maturity!” and "Tum-ta-tum-tuuuum!" are both Teddie quotes. "Woo, check out my phat loot!" is a Junpei quote. “I’m really feeling it!” is a Shulk quote famous for Memetic Mutation.
• Starter Equipment: The party members available in the demo each start off with not very powerful equipment as per typical RPG fashion.
  • Makoto starts off without a weapon, and is wearing a "Cotton Tunic." His father gives him his first weapon (a "Worn Sling") after the tutorial, which is quickly outclassed by the "Leather Sling" purchasable in Hope Village right after stopping the Monokumas.
  • Yasuhiro starts off armed with a "Wooden Staff", wearing a "Cotton Robe", and holding a "Glass Ball". He doesn't have a stronger weapon obtainable in the demo.
  • Byakuya starts off armed with the "King's Sword" and wearing the "Heir's Crown." The King's Sword is actually quite strong compared to Makoto and Yasuhiro's first weapons, but it's still relatively weak. Like Yasuhiro, there is no stronger weapon for him obtainable in the demo.
• Take That!: There are no less than two references making fun of the highly controversial Danganronpa Togami.
  • The shop owner in Prospero City’s name is revealed to be Yu Saito, referencing the author of Dangan Ronpa Togami, Yuya Sato, even down to having a unique NPC sprite that slightly resembles him. He has the prices in the shop inflated to ridiculous amounts 5000 yen higher than they are supposed to be. He has a Small Name, Big Ego, referencing the infamous part of the first volume where he suddenly stepped in to start extravagantly praising his own book. If you visit the shop after Byakuya joins your party, it’s revealed that the reason “Yu Saito” raised the prices is so more copies of his “biography” of Byakuya would be sold, which remains at its regular price. Byakuya forces him to lower the prices and criticizes the biography.
  • If you have Yasuhiro tell Byakuya’s fortune, his reading for him is “You will find out that your brother is actually a serial killer.” This is a reference to Suzuhiko, a character from Dangan Ronpa Togami widely considered The Scrappy for essentially being a carbon copy of Genocider Syo. Byakuya is so appalled that he doesn’t even bother to respond and leaves the tent.
• Tempting Fate: After the attack on Hope Village, one of the villagers says he's "glad he's not dead at this point." He's killed by Genocider Syo by the time you return from Prospero City.
• Too Dumb to Live: The player can make Makoto stick his hand into a fire by checking any fireplace.
• Trauma Inn: Justified, because the innkeeper is Mikan, who heals them by casting White Magic on the party while they’re asleep.
• Treasure Room: Yasuhiro’s basement.
• Unnamed Parent: Makoto and Komaru’s parents. Lampshaded by Yasuhiro.
  Yasuhiro: He’ll be fine, Naegi’s Mom-chi, since I can do this!
• Verbal Tic: Yasuhiro says 'dude' a lot, like his Project Zetsubou Fan Translation incarnation. He also applies the -chi honorific to everyone’s name.
• "Wanted!" Poster: In Prospero City, there is a bulletin board with wanted posters on it. One poster has Mondo on it, and the other has Genocider Syo.
• Warm-Up Boss: The Monokuma you fight after fighting the five Lesser Monokumas in Hope Village at the beginning of the game. Though winning is optional.
• Welcome to Corneria: Averted with most Non Player Characters. The NPCs in Hope Village change their dialogue after the Genocider Syo incident, and many of the NPCs in Prospero City change their dialogue after Byakuya joins.
• What's Up, King Dude?: Downplayed. To get into Togami Castle, Makoto and Yasuhiro need to defeat Kiyotaka and Takaki Ishimaru, as well as some knights. However, Kijou nearly kicks Makoto and Yasuhiro out as soon as he sees them in the throne room.
• White Mage: Yasuhiro and Mikan.
• With a Friend and a Stranger: The game starts out with Makoto and his friend(?) Yasuhiro. The next party member is Byakuya, which they were both unfamiliar with.
• You All Look Familiar: All of the unimportant non-Dangan Ronpa character NPCs are featureless blue people, akin to Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls and Danganronpa 3. The slightly less unimportant NPCs's outfits are shown, but still have blue faces.
• You Are Not Ready: At the beginning, when Yasuhiro asks Chiaki what they need to do first, Chiaki tells them they are not ready until they “learn how to read.” They don’t understand what she meant by “read” and she simply replies to Figure It Out Yourself.

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