Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, also known as 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) in Japan, 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 in the original release, 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. The "V" in the title stands for "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 a "cool adult-like image" and the Class Trials will have "high-speed reasoning action". While the storyline and the sixteen 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 new killing game called the New Killing School Life. It also features sixteen new characters and a new setting called Gifted Inmates Academy or the Prison School for the Gifted. The Academy (and 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 on January 12th, 2017 in Japan and sometime in 2017 in North America and Europe.

In the  Weekly Famitsu Magazine Spike Chunsoft revealed that a demo will be released, where they will feature Makoto Naegi, Yasuhiro Hagakure, and Hajime Hinata as guest characters to prevent spoiling the main game, and it will feature a different story from the main game. It will be released in Japan on December 20th, 2016.

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 the 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 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.

On 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, with each chapter divided into three sections; Daily Life, Deadly Life, and Class Trial, 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. To use it, you have to hold the fire button for the truth bullets. By doing this, you can change the "Truth Bullets" into "Lie Bullets". By doing so, you turn the original truth bullets into the opposite of what they were. If you fire a lie bullet into a weak point that matches up, you can break that statement. However, using lie bullets are optional, so you can advance the debate with just truth bullets. By using lie bullets, you can access a short-cut or back route to move through the game. This will lead to different developments from the straightforward route.

"Scrum Debate" is a new system that divides the debate into two sides with different beliefs.

“Panic Debate" is another new system where multiple students will talk at the same time. Because of this, the screen will be divided to several characters for them to give separate testimonies at the same time. A normal person wouldn't be able to tell what they are saying when they are talking all at once, much less who is saying what. However, Kaede, using her talent as the Ultimate Pianist is able to figure out what is said and who said it. Her ability is similar to how Ibuki Mioda from Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair was able to figure who said what in the dark during the 1st murder. This system is similar to a normal "Non-Stop Debate", but far harder because you have to keep up with multiple testimonies at once, all the while not confusing one testimony with another.

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

Monokuma

 * Voiced by Tarako
 * Monokuma (モノクマ Monokuma) is the headmaster of Gifted Inmates Academy and the mascot of the Danganronpa franchise.

Monokuma Cubs

 * Voiced by: Kōichi Yamadera


 * Monotaro (モノタロウ)
 * Monosuke (モノスケ)
 * Monofunny (モノファニー)
 * Monokid (モノキッド)
 * Monodam (モノダム)

Kaede Akamatsu

 * Voiced by Sayaka Kanda
 * Kaede Akamatsu (日向 創 Kaede Akamatsu) is the main protagonist of the story. Since her childhood, Kaede has always played the piano. Before long, she began winning contest after contest, to the point where she had the title of Ultimate Pianist (超高校級の「ピアニスト」) bestowed upon her.

Rantaro Amami

 * Voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa
 * Rantaro Amami's(天海 蘭太郎 Amami Rantarō) talent is currently unknown. He claims that he does not remember his talent and is not particularly concerned about discovering his talent. Thus, he is dubbed Ultimate ???.

Miu Iruma

 * Voiced by Haruka Ishida
 * Miu Iruma (入間 美兎 Iruma Miu) is the Ultimate Inventor (超高校級の「発明家」).

Kokichi Oma

 * Voiced by Hiro Shimono
 * Kokichi Oma (王馬 小吉 Ōma Kokichi) is the Ultimate Supreme Leader (超高校級の「総統」). He is the self-proclaimed leader of an evil secret society with more than 10,000 members, though it's unknown if it actually exists.

Kiibo

 * Voiced by Tetsuya Kakihara
 * Kiibo (キーボ Kībo) has the title of Ultimate Robot (超高校級の「ロボット」 ), owing to his robot body. He is a creation of Professor Iidabashi.

Gonta Gokuhara

 * Voiced by Shunsuke Takeuchi
 * Gonta Gokuhara (獄原 ゴン太 Gokuhara Gonta) is the Ultimate Entomologist (超高校級の「昆虫博士」).

Shuichi Saihara

 * Voiced by Megumi Hayashibara
 * Shuichi Saihara (最原 終一 Saihara Shūichi) is the Ultimate Detective (超高校級の「探偵」).

Tsumugi Shirogane

 * Voiced by Mikako Komatsu
 * Tsumugi Shirogane (白銀 つむぎ Shirogane Tsumugi) is the Ultimate Cosplayer (超高校級の「コスプレイヤー」chō kōkō kyū no “kosupureiyā”).

Korekiyo Shinguji

 * Voiced by Kenichi Suzumura
 * Korekiyo Shinguji (真宮寺 是清 Shingūji Korekiyo) is the Ultimate Anthropologist (超高校級の「民俗学者」). He has seen many places and people, and as a result, he has formed his pet theory of "humanity's unlimited beauty".

Tenko Chabashira

 * Voiced by Sora Tokui
 * Tenko Chabashira (茶柱 転子 Chabashira Tenko) titled as the Ultimate Aikido Master (超高校級の「合気道家」). She is a practitioner of the martial art she created with her master, called "Neo Aikido".

Kirumi Tojo

 * Voiced by Kikuko Inoue
 * Kirumi Tojo (東条 斬美 Tōjō Kirumi) is the Ultimate Maid (超高校級の「メイド」). She is a very talented maid with a very strong sense of duty.

Maki Harukawa

 * Voiced by Maaya Sakamoto
 * Maki Harukawa (春川 魔姫 Harukawa Maki) has the title Ultimate Caregiver (超高校級の「保育士」 ). She was raised in an orphanage, where she learned to take care of children.

Ryoma Hoshi

 * Voiced by Akio Ōtsuka
 * Ryoma Hoshi (星 竜馬 Hoshi Ryōma)  is the Ultimate Tennis Player (超高校級の「テニス選手」).

Kaito Momota

 * Voiced by Ryōhei Kimura
 * Kaito Momota (百田 解斗 Momota Kaito) is the Ultimate Astronaut (超高校級の「宇宙飛行士」 ).

Himiko Yumeno

 * Voiced by Aimi Tanaka
 * Himiko Yumeno (夢野 秘密子 Yumeno Himiko) has the title Ultimate Magician (超高校級の「マジシャン」).

Angie Yonaga

 * Voiced by Minori Suzuki
 * Angie Yonaga (夜長 アンジー Yōnaga Anjī) has the title Ultimate Fine Artist (超高校級の「美術部」).