Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (絶対絶望少女 ダンガンロンパ AnotherEpisode 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 9th 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 19th 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.

Two manga adaptions of the game called Zettai Zetsubō Shōjo - Danganronpa Another Episode: The Manga and Zettai Zetsubō Shōjo: Danganronpa AE - Genocider Mode have also been made. The former premiered on February 20th, 2015 while the latter was released in Japan on January 27.

A Comic Anthology series was also released on January 24, 2015 called Zettai Zetsubo Shojo Danganronpa Another Episode - Comic Anthology.

A PC release of the game was announced on November 18, 2016. On the same day, NIS America confirmed to port it into PS4 on June 27, 2017.

Plot
(Note: Danganronpa Another Episode has an extremely large focus on gameplay. 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 serve 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 afterwards, 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, a indecisive young man who is heir to the lucrative Towa Group. Towa become 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
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 and bring an end to Warrior of Hope's terror, freed Towa City from the riot. At the end of the story, Komaru and Toko decided to stay and rebuild the city.

Background
Unlike the visual novel gameplay of the previous games, the game is a third person shooter with horror elements. Players 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:
 * Break: The first of two Truth Bullets Komaru starts with. This is the basic attack bullet, which Komaru can shoot at Monokuma Units to inflict damage. 3-4 shots take down a Monokuma Unit unless the player hits the Monokuma's weak point, the red left eye. Shooting the eye will result in a one-hit defeat plus a golden Monocoin.
 * Move: The second of the default Truth Bullets. Move allows Komaru to active machinery such as generators, cars, and the Monoku-man arcade machines. Move also activates the MonoMono machines, which dispense health, bullets, and batteries.
 * Dance: The third Truth Bullet, and the first type collected by Komaru on her adventure. Shooting this Truth Bullet will force the Monokuma to dance for a while, leaving it completely vulnerable. The Dance Bullet is most effective against Siren Monokumas, who will draw in all nearby Monokuma towards them for easier destruction.
 * Detect: The 4th Truth Bullet. Detect allows Komaru to search for hidden things in the environment, such as Monokuma Kids and their artwork.
 * Knockback: The 5th Truth Bullet, which blasts the Monokuma Units backwards. It has a decent spread, but short range. The Knockback Bullet is especially effective against Guard Monokuma, since it can blast their riot shields away. It also works well near environmental hazards such as water or pits, since it can blast Monokuma Units into the hazards for instant kills.
 * Paralyze: The sixth Truth Bullet obtained by Komaru. Paralyze is an electricity-based bullet that can defeat basic Monokumas in one hit. It also affects other enemies standing close to the initial target, making it useful against large groups. If fired at something standing in shallow water, Paralyze will hit everything touching the water - including Komaru if she's not standing on dry land.
 * Burn: The seventh Truth Bullet is a fire-based bullet that can be shot at an extremely fast pace. It has the most capacity of any offensive Truth Bullet, making it effective against quicker Monokuma Units such as Destroy Monokuma and Beast Monokuma.
 * Link: The eighth and final Truth Bullet to be reacquired. The Link Bullet allows Komaru to temporarily control any Monokuma Unit she hits. The Monokuma Unit can then be directed to move to a new position or attack its allies.

During the course of the game, Komaru is assisted by Toko Fukawa, one of the survivors from the first game. Toko carries a stun gun that allows her to access her split personality, Genocide Jack, who attacks enemies with her Genoscissors. The game features three difficulty settings:
 * Genocide Mode: Super Ultra Pumped Genocide Jack Mode. For those who just want to enjoy the story. (Increased battery regeneration and pickups, enabling more use of Genocide Jack.)
 * Komaru Mode: Working hard for a Normal Girl Mode. (Increased Truth Bullet drops, enabling Komaru to fire more often.)
 * Despair Mode: Ultra Despair Mode. (No bonus pickups and increased enemy difficulty.)

In a more recent Famitsu scan, it is revealed that there will be a new character in the game, a young athletic boy. It is also known that the script for the game is essentially complete.

In Towa City, a group of five children known as the “ Warriors of Hope ” exist. They act as the leaders of the  Monokuma Kids,  a group of  Monokuma mask-wearing children who slaughter adults. Like an RPG, each leader has their own “job.”

Warriors Of Hope
These 5 kids are the leaders of the Monokuma Kids who are massively slaughtering all adults. To them, this is one big role play, like a giant RPG. They’ve even gone so far as to call themselves them typical RPG classes like “Hero”, “Thief”, “Mage”, etc.

Bomber Monokuma

 * A Monokuma Unit that throws bombs. Explodes when defeated.

Siren Monokuma

 * A Monokuma Unit with a back-mounted speaker pack that attracts more robots to him.

Junk Monokuma

 * A grisly Monokuma Unit resembling a heavily-disfigured version of the original.

Guard Monokuma

 * A Monokuma Unit wearing police armor. Carries a large riot shield invulnerable to attacks but can be hurt from an attack behind behind him or if the Knockback Bullet exposes him.

Destroy Monokuma

 * A Monokuma Unit equipped with a flamethrower and a jetpack.

Beast Monokuma

 * A large Monokuma Unit that crawls on all fours. Identifiable by its beastly grunts and its erratic right eye.

Ball Monokuma

 * A Monokuma Unit with a spherical body that can also be used to run over anything in its path. Throws garbage to damage and disorient its enemies.

Preview
NA launch trailer=|-| NA trailer=|-| JP PV1=|-| JP PV2=|-| NA PS4 trailer=

Trivia

 * This game marks the second time Toko and Jack are major characters.