Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls



"I won't give up anymore, I won't fall into Despair!"

- Komaru Naegi, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls - Trailer

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (絶対絶望少女 ダンガンロンパ Another Episode Zettai Zetsubō Shōjo Danganronpa Another Episode) is a spin-off game based around the Danganronpa series.

Information and game play footage was first released at the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia Conference on September 9, 2013. The game was released on September 25, 2014 in Japan for the PlayStation Vita and has PlayStation TV compatibility.

The game was confirmed for a Western release at NIS America's February 19 press event. The localized game was released in North America on September 1, 2015, in Europe on September 4, 2015, and in Australia on September 10, 2015. The Western release includes both Japanese and English audio.

The game takes place between the events of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

A PC release of the game was announced on November 18, 2016. On the same day, NIS America confirmed a PS4 port will be released on June 27, 2017 and later on June 29, 2017 on Japan.

Game Development
Unlike the two previous entries in the Danganronpa series being visual novel adventure games, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is a 3rd person spin-off game. The game first was a project from members of Spike Chunsoft that wanted to develop a spin-off game that was more action-oriented. One of the proponents for a spin-off game was Kazutaka Kodaka, who always wanted to write a story of two characters running away from despair, and he felt that the easiest way to do this was through an action game that necessitated movement with Danganronpa characters. When Spike Chunsoft green-lit the proposal, they let Kodaka have free rein to write the narrative for Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. Kodaka stated that he spent an equal amount of time writing the dialogue and backstories for each of the characters of the game compared to the previous games. One aspect of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls that the development team was worried about was whether the shift in gameplay genres would alienate players who were not good at action games. They decided to add the mechanic of switching between characters and the ability for Toko to switch to Genocide Jack to make it easier for players.

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls was announced at a Sony Computer Entertainment press conference in September 2013, where the first gameplay trailer was shown; the trailer also teased the third entry in the series, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. When the game launched, Spike Chunsoft promoted the game and offered several pre-order bonuses, including digital wallpapers, mousepads, and a smartphone stand. Additional merchandise such as Monokuma stuffed toys and an armband were also offered at Comiket.

According to Kodaka in an interview, the game's original concept was "an action game, and then within that, two girls together, in an incredibly hopeless situation, and how they come together to overcome what they're experiencing, what they're facing."

According to Masafumi, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls wasn't going to get a VR game because other companies were already working on other virtual reality shooting games and because the developers wanted to create something that only they could make. Terasawa decided to make the punishment sequence play out from a first-person perspective to make the player feel horror, but also include Monokuma to lighten the mood, leading to the creation of Cyber Danganronpa VR The Class Trial.

Character Development
The character designs are one of the most notable changes in the final game, and a lot of them had a very different appearance prior to it.

Komaru Naegi
Komaru Naegi is one of the characters whose designs changed more than anyone else, having in total 6 different concept designs. Some of these designs are very similar to some of the characters that appear in the games, such as the fifth and sixth concept designs, which highly seem to be used as the designs of Kanon Nakajima and Maki Harukawa.

Komaru's designs highly changed during the development of the game. There were three early sketches of Komaru's sprites; these were placeholders for the "motivation" minigame.

Monokuma


The original Monokuma Unit also featured some differences&mdash;they were more intelligent and also carried knives, as seen in the trailer. In the first trailer for Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, there was a version of Monokuma that held 2 knives; however, this wasn't shown in the final game because it was scrapped during the process.

Game Difficulty
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls also features several difficulties which are very different from the previous games. It features the difficulties of "Genocide Mode", "Komaru Mode" and " Despair Mode ".

Genocide Mode
Genocide Mode is the easiest mode in the game. Playing in this mode will allow you to call upon the invincible Genocide Jack at almost any moment, after which she'll cut through the Monokuma army and leave you to enjoy the rest of the game at your own pace, and also increases the battery regeneration and pickups.

Genocide carries her "Genoscissors" and a stun gun that allow her to go on a rampage and destroy all the Monokuma Units around her, though she can only use the stun gun when the circumstances are right, as the battery must refresh and, if she uses it too many times, it will fry her brain.

The game difficulty describes itself as "Super Ultra Pumper Genocide Jack Mode. For those who just want to enjoy the story".

Komaru Mode
Komaru Mode is the normal mode in the game. Playing in this mode will allow you to control Komaru, the protagonist of the game and the younger sister of Makoto, as she tries to survive in a city overrun by Monokuma robots. In the spirit of the previous game's Truth Bullets, Komaru is equipped with a megaphone-shaped hacking gun which turns her words into various types of ammunition. Initially, Komaru has all types of Truth Bullets in unlimited amounts, but The Servant messes with the gun when she is initially taken onto the Warriors of Hope's airship, forcing her to rediscover the different bullets and use them in limited supply.

Using the megaphone, Komaru can issue several different commands based on the Truth Bullet she shoots: This game difficulty describes itself as "Working hard for a Normal Girl Mode".

Despair Mode
Despair Mode is the hardest mode in the game. The game will make the Monokuma Units much harder and more challenging to destroy. The player plays as Komaru most of the time and also makes the player play as Genocide Jack occasionally. The mode makes weapons recharge much more slowly and the Monokuma Units much more difficult to control.

This game describes itself as "Ultra Despair Mode".

Plot
(Note: Danganronpa Another Episode has an extremely large focus on gameplay compared to other games in the series. As a result, much of the time during the game is spent in gameplay sections that are not particularly pertinent to the overall story. Additionally, there are an overabundance of short cutscenes in the game that serves to develop the setting and characters that would be too many to document here. The summary provided below is a broad level summary that does not account for such sections.)

Prologue - The Warriors of Hope
Komaru Naegi is alone in her apartment in Towa City. However, Monokumas infiltrate and begin to attack the building and Komaru rushes to the elevator. Byakuya Togami, one of the survivors of Killing School Life and currently a member of an organization called as Future Foundation, appears along with a few of his men and gives Komaru a megaphone called a Megaphone Hacking Gun and tells her to escape. Outside and in a diner, Komaru witnesses the vicious attacks of the Monokuma robots, cruelly massacring every adult human in their sight.

Soon afterwards, she heard Kotoko Utsugi's voice coming from a TV. Apparently, the Warriors of Hope had infiltrated the news center. The Warriors of Hope is a group of five children consisting of the energetic Masaru Daimon, the self-pitying and masking Jataro Kemuri, the cryptic and intelligent Nagisa Shingetsu, the bratty but clever Kotoko, and their leader is the wheelchair-bound Monaca. The kids appear to claim, to the bafflement of Komaru, that they are creating a paradise for kids. Komaru finds a gravely wounded member of Future Foundation, who informs her that she can escape if she runs to the Future Foundation's helicopter which is on standby at the nearest park. She makes it all the way to the helicopter and begins speaking with the members stationed there when they are attacked by a group of Beast Monokuma. She enters the helicopter and escapes but it is infiltrated by a Monokuma; this leads to Komaru being kidnapped and imprisoned in the base of the Warriors of Hope. In the basement, she encounters a romanticist servant who has neutered her Hacking Gun for "game balance"; originally fitted with all of the usable types of ammunition it would need to fight off the Monokumas, it now only has two and the others will need to be re-gathered throughout the game.

After escaping the basement at the servant's challenge, she runs into the Warriors of Hope in the main hall. The five take turns introducing themselves and then Nagisa places a bracelet on Komaru. They then opened a trap door, leading Komaru to fall through the sky with a parachute. She is now exploring the artificial island that is Towa City, forced to partake in their sick Demon Hunting game (Demon is the slang the Warriors of Hope use to describe the adults they so viciously despise).

Chapter 1 - Crying for Love in Hell
Komaru lands atop a building where she meets Future Foundation member, and another Killing School Life survivor, Toko Fukawa, whose alternate personality is the wicked murderous Genocide Jack. The relationship between the two, due to Toko's social naivety, is tense at first, but they reluctantly agree to work together to escape the dangerous game Komaru has been placed in, Toko joining because she eagerly wishes to save Byakuya (whom she worships). They begin fighting the Monokumas together; Komaru uses her Hacking Gun and Toko uses a stun gun which allows her to liberally alternate between her normal personality and Genocide Jack's, switching to the latter for combat purposes. Throughout their journey, they discover the true horror of the rampage the children and Warriors of Hope are reigning on the world. They seek a way out of the city so Komaru can escape and so Toko can reconvene with Future Foundation and request Byakuya's rescue; to this end, they move towards a bridge which leads away from the island city. When they finally get to the bridge, they encounter Yuta Asahina, a young boy who is familiar to Toko and is also bracelet bound. Undeterred by the bridge, Yuta eagerly jumps off the bridge and swims towards the coast, but he becomes an example to Komaru when the bracelet triggers an explosion killing him, saddening Komaru and momentarily demoralizing her before Toko raises her spirit. They decide to go through a subway line that might lead out of the city. They eventually enter it. Immediately afterward, Komaru and Toko encounter one of the Warriors of Hope, Masaru, in an arena full of Monokuma Kids. Daimon cryptically mutters to himself words implying he was abused by an alcoholic father. Komaru and Toku are shocked to discover a literal mountain of adult corpses presented by Masaru. Expressing passionate hatred towards the "Demons" (adults), Masaru battles the two with a massive robot, but he is defeated and carried away by Monokumas. Komaru and Toko continue through the underground.

Chapter 2 - Legend of the Revolution
Nagisa, Kotoko, Jataro, and Monaca—the remaining Warriors of Hope—discuss the death of Daimon and Nagisa is appointed as the new "leader". Jataro is dispatched and encounters the duo in the subway. He warns them that the second they exit city boundaries, their bracelets will explode and kill them; Toko and Komaru are trapped.

Soon after, they discover Shirokuma—although shaped just like the Monokumas, Shirokuma is a benevolent robot AI bear. He leads them through some sewers to the base of operations for The Resistance—the home base of the group of adults who are resisting the uprising the children of the world are beginning. There, they meet many survivors, including Hiroko Hagakure whose last name is familiar to Toko.

The leader of the resistance is Haiji Towa, an indecisive young man who is heir to the lucrative Towa Group. Towa becomes angry, and demands Komaru and Toko leave when he learns that Toko is a member of Future Foundation, whom Haiji apparently despises. Shirokuma advises Komaru and Toko to go to the top of Towa Tower in the city—the transmitter device designed by the Togami Group that may provide an opportunity for contacting Future Foundation cannot be used due to jammers, but the jamming may be bypassed atop the tower, which is the city's highest point.

Soon before they reach the top, they meet Taichi Fujisaki, who is killed shortly after helping the duo reach the top. Then, just before they reach the top, they encounter Jataro who attacks the group with a giant robot just like Masaru; he is defeated. Finally, they try to use the device, and they successfully contact Future Foundation; Komaru is taken completely by surprise to discover that the one answering is her own older brother, Makoto Naegi.

Chapter 3 - Cute Girl's Battlefield
Nagisa and the others discussed the death of Jataro's punishment and later a robotic bear named Kurokuma appeared and called himself the advisor of the Warriors of Hope who will help them in defeating the adults. Makoto explains to a confused Komaru how he, Toko, and Byakuya are all some of the few survivors of the Killing School Life, and how Junko Enoshima kidnapped the people close to the members of the trip so that they could eventually be used to coerce them to commit murder (though the trip ended before that motivation was used). This is why Komaru was kidnapped and left abandoned for so long. Abruptly, the power to the monitor is cut, leaving Komaru to fear that the children have pinpointed their transmission. Komaru returns to the base where they disagreement with Haiji over the appropriate method; Haiji would rather sit back and wait for an opening while Komaru urges that they take action now. As the argument intensifies, a horde of murderous Monokuma robots swarm the base and begin attacking the adults, Komaru and Toko sending them away. After they are sent, an enraged Haiji imprisons Komaru and Toko; he believes that they since they returned to the base after being honed in on by the children, are accountable for the massacre. For a sense of challenge, Kotoko infiltrates the prison and kidnaps Komaru and frees Toko. Eventually, Kotoko confronts them in an arena again; she reveals that she was the subject of rape/molestation in her childhood, breeding in her a resentment of adults. Kotoko battles and is defeated by the duo; after the defeat, Nagisa comes out and demands that the two leave. He does not want them interfering in their plans to create a children's paradise.

Chapter 4 - The Way We Live
Despite Nagisa promising safe passage, the trio are attacked by Monokumas; it seems that Nagisa's behavior has been discovered as traitorous by Monaca. During the journey, Nagisa reveals his past of being given absurdly high expectations by his family; this went so far that they used medical drugs to force him to be able to do expansive studying. This was a traumatizing burden on Nagisa. They eventually reach the secret passageway out of Towa City, a secret staircase in a shrine. At this point, the servant enters and shoves Nagisa aside. He reveals that he, in order to train the sister of the Ultimate Hope, who is despised by the servant, set up the entire adventure Komaru went through. He reveals that Toko, against whom the captive Byakuya was used as leverage, was actually manipulating Komaru to go along with the servant's plan. Toko acknowledges that she was fooling Komaru all along. The servant now urges that Komaru not leave; if she does, Byakuya will not be returned to Toko.

Desperate to ensure she stays behind, Toko switches to Genocide Jack and duels Komaru. Using her hacking gun to incapacitate the stun gun (and therefore limit her ability to control Genocide Jack), Komaru defeats her friend and knocks her out. Genocide Jack then stabs the servant's knees, close to killing him. Her friendship with Toko now solidified, Komaru vows to stay behind and save the people of the city. The servant gives her a passageway to return back to The Resistance's base.

Back at the base, more attacking Monokumas show up. After fending them off, Komaru is forced to destroy Shirokuma in order to use the high explosives within him to create a debris barricade to hold off the intruders. Afterwards, Komaru moralizes the fearful adults with a rousing speech. Moralized, Haiji tags along with Komaru and Toko on a mission to the Towa Group factory, where they have a certain "last hope" that is the last opportunity for ending the uprising. There, they learn that i is the Towa group that was responsible for the manufacturing and creating of the Monokumas; they originally were intended for labor automation and maid work. Since he previously did not have a way to combat the Monokumas before Komaru arrived with her hacking gun, he could not enter the factory until now. The trump card, the last hope, is Big Bang Monokuma, a massive walking robot that can stand a chance against the entire army of Monokumas. After defeating Nagisa and his robot, they are able to enter the robot and finally start their resistance.

Chapter 5 - Absolute Despair Girl
Due to the murderous rage within the kids, Komaru and Toko want to nonviolently disarm the children by disabling the Monokuma controller at the HQ of the children, wherein Toko can also save Byakuya.

Epilogue - The Changing World We Made
After defeating the Big Bang Monokuma, Komaru and Toko were able to save Byakuya, bring an end to Warrior of Hope's terror and freed Towa City from the riot. Both Kurokuma and Shirokuma's halves of the AI were brought together and stopped the acting and returned to their one, true personality as Junko Enoshima. Izuru Kamukura then destroyed their physical bodies, ending both Kurokuma and Shirokuma for good. At the end of the story, Komaru and Toko decided to stay and rebuild the city.

Gameplay
The game is a is a third-person adventure shooter game with the player controlling the protagonist Komaru Naegi as she travels around Towa City with various elements and obstacles as she fights Monokuma Units with her partner Toko Fukawa. Compared to Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Danganronpa Another Episode features a lot more collectibles in the game. Danganronpa Another Episode features various collectibles such as Hit List Cards, Socki the Sock, Books, Reference Books, Hidden Kids, and Notes.

Other Media
Danganronpa Another Episode featured three different manga adaptions written and illustrated by different authors which were published in 2015.

Danganronpa Another Episode also had a mobile app featuring Komaru that was released for Android in Japan in August 2015. The app allows users to manage their smartphone files and cache, and Komaru's expression will change depending on the amount of storage used.

Danganronpa Another Episode also featured a themed cafe that featured themed food based around Danganronpa Another Episode. It ran from February 28, 2015, to April 9, 2015.

Danganronpa Another Episode also appeared as a DLC in  with Komaru, Toko, Genocide Jack, Makoto, The Servant, Byakuya, and Monokuma appearing as limited guest characters and playable characters.

Reception
Danganronpa Another Episode sold 70,596 copies within its debut release week in Japan, and 85,930 copies in two weeks. The game has sold over 500,320 copies World Wide as of 2016.

Marketing
Danganronpa Another Episode has been licensed in more territories than any other Danganronpa game. To date, it has been published in Korea, China, Taiwan, North America, South Asia, Australia and Europe.

North America/Europe/South Asia
In September 2015, the game was licensed and published by NIS America for PlayStation Vita in North America and Europe. The game received a rating of M by ESRB and 16 by PEGI. The game received both a limited edition and a single disc release. The limited edition included a copy of the game, a 30 page art book, a fifteen track soundtrack single disc, and a collectors' box. In November 2016, NIS America announced a port for PlayStation 4, with both the limited edition and the single disc version.

South Korea
On December 3, 2015, the game was licensed and published by Intragames in South Korea for PlayStation Vita. The game received a rating of 18 by GRAC. The limited edition release included a copy of the game, a special art book, a keychain, a special book featuring Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc characters, and a steel cartridge case.

Taiwan/China
The game was published by Spike Chunsoft in July 2015 for PlayStation Vita. The game recieved a rating of 18 by GSRR.

Trivia

 * This game marks the second time Toko and Jack are major characters.
 * The Monokuma Unit shown in the trailer is most likely a reference to the early concept image meant for the game loading screen on Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.Monokuma loading screen.png
 * In the cinema on the third Island of Jabberwock Island, there is a poster next to the door. In the original PlayStation Portable release, this poster referenced the game Time Travelers, while in the PlayStation Vita and PC versions, it references another Danganronpa game, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. The image is of Komaru firing with the Megaphone Hacking Gun at a pinned Monokuma. This poster can also found in Chiaki's Cottage, behind the Monokuma arcade machine.Komaru_Poster.JPG
 * This image is also found in Chapter 4 of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc on the TV shown on the Monokuma Theater.
 * The South Korean version is the first game in the series to get licensed and published in South Korea.
 * Two pieces of early concept art seen in a tweet from the official English Spike Chunsoft Twitter account show Komaru and Toko chained together, and Komaru able to run along walls.
 * Ultra Despair Girls 2 English.jpg Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Kaede Akamatsu discovers a promotional poster for Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls 2 during Chapter 1. She comments that the game "sounds like some lame spin-off."
 * Based on Danganronpa V3, it is possible that Danganronpa Another Episode is some-kind of spin-off movie in the Danganronpa season from Team Danganronpa as Danganronpa Another Episode did not appear on the seasons from the series and Ultra Despair Girls 2 was found in a bucket of movie projector screens.
 * Danganronpa_V3_Library_Book_Textures.png texture files for the library featured in Danganronpa V3 include five of the collectible books from Danganronpa Another Episode: Spiritual Detective Nekopi, Mastering Disappointment, Unstoppable Man, Billy Milligan Royale, and Pure Family Companion.

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