Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

New Danganronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing (NEWダンガンロンパV3 みんなのコロシアイ新学期 New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shin Gakki) is an upcoming visual novel game in the Danganronpa series, developed by Spike Chunsoft. It's the third main title in the game series and it's both a sequel and something new for the series.

Like the title "New" implies, the game has a completely different storyline, characters and environment than the first three games (the "Hope's Peak Academy" storyline ends with an anime series), with only the series' mascot Monokuma returning. Furthermore, the "V" in the title doesn't mean just "Version", as it's mentioned to have more than one meaning, such as "Victory".

The overall theme is mentioned to be "psycho cool", unlike the "psycho pop" and "psycho tropical" themes of the first two games. The visual style will have "cool adult-like image" and the Class Trials will have "high-speed reasoning action". While the storyline and the 16 new characters are different, the gameplay is similar to the earlier games, including exploration, talking with other characters and the Class Trials. It will have notable additions and improvements, though, like the possibility to use your own lies to defeat opponents during the trials.

The game features a boy wearing a variety of high tech gear (who may or may not be a cyborg or a robot), possibly the main protagonist, and a new setting called "Gifted Inmates Academy". The high school (and a hotel) is in a garden surrounded by a cage. It's implied that the story is set in the future.

It's planned to be released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2016 in Japan.

Development
The game is in the early stages of development. It's currently being developed for the Playstation Vita as well as the Playstation 4, making it the first time a Danganronpa title has appeared on a home console.

In March 2015, in an interview, the writer Kazutaka Kodaka talked about Danganronpa 3 and the possibility of doing a sci-fi story set in the future, "If I were to do something sci-fi, the rules of nature could change. In present day, you can’t go through walls and these laws of nature can't be broken. But, maybe with a future setting those laws can be bent or altered. Then I could develop murders and tricks based on what technology could be possible in the future".

At the time, he mentioned that his current plan is something like Back to the Future: Part III, "I said Back to the Future just because I like the movies, but I guess to think more about it… Do you remember Back to the Future: Part III? Even though they go to the Wild West the story ends up being a story about the future. I like that idea of being able to play with timelines as a narrative idea". This has lead to some fans speculating that the third game will include time travel.

The game was first teased at the end of the first trailer for Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls followed by another teaser and a full reveal of the game during the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia press conference on September 15, 2015.

In November 2015, Weekly Famitsu revealed new information about the game: Like the title "New" implies, the world view of New Danganronpa V3 is completely new, and it doesn't follow the characters and Hope's Peak Academy setting featured in the series thus far. The series' mascot Monokuma and its basic systems, however, will be carried over.

In December 2, 2015 Spike Chunsoft held an event where they announced more new information about the game. The new setting was revealed to be "Gifted Inmates Academy".

Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to the previous main games, although notable changes with class trials can be seen in the trailer. In it, you can see multiple Shirokumas and Kurokumas (most likely being used as placeholders to prevent spoiling any future characters) being elevated upwards from their respective seats, highlighting that class trials may have a more intense atmosphere. Also, the player can listen to multiple testimonies at once, more than ever before.

During the Class Trials, you'll defeat opponents with "lies", using fabricated truth bullets. There are situations where lying is necessary.

"Scrum Debate" is a new system that divides the debate into two sides with different beliefs. “Panic Debate" is another new system that will be detailed later on.

Along with the Class Trials, the game includes other familiar gameplay like exploration parts and talking with other characters, which have also been improved.

Characters
There is currently limited information on the new cast of the game. The only returning character is confirmed to be the series mascot Monokuma. Weekly Famitsu confirmed that no other previous characters will appear in the game.

In the announcement trailer, a scene in taking place in the Class Trial location revealed 16 podiums, meaning possible a new cast of 16 similar to the other two main entries.

In November 2015, Weekly Famitsu revealed screenshots from the new game, giving players a first look at 3 new characters; two males and one female. One of the males is a white-haired boy with blue eyes. He appears to be a robot or a cyborg, which could explain the length and sharpness of his ahoge. The other boy appears to have mostly purple coloring. The girl has red eyes and red clothing.

A teaser trailer in December 2, 2015 revealed the silhouettes of 16 characters.