Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

"Third time's the charm"

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, known in Japan as New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing (ニューダンガンロンパV3 みんなのコロシアイ新学期) is a Japanese visual novel game developed by Spike Chunsoft. It is the third main title in the Danganronpa series. It was released in Japan on January 12th, 2017 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. It will be launched on PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Steam for PC in North America on September 26th, 2017, and in Europe on September 29th, 2017.

A promotional demo called Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Demo Version) was released in Japan on December 20th, 2016. The Demo was later released in North America, Europe, and Australia on August 25th, 2017.

Synopsis
"Welcome to a new world of Danganronpa, and prepare yourself for the biggest, most exhilarating episode yet. Set in a "psycho-cool" environment, a new cast of 16 characters find themselves kidnapped and imprisoned in a school. Inside, some will kill, some will die, and some will be punished. Reimagine what you thought high-stakes, fast-paced investigation was as you investigate twisted murder cases and condemn your new friends to death. Forget what you thought you knew about Danganronpa and join a completely new cast of Ultimates for a brand-new beginning. In a world where everyone is trying to survive, nobody’s motivations are quite what they seem. Use your skills to solve each new murder or meet a gruesome end. The world is shaped by our perception of it. Fast-paced trial scenes will require lies, quick wits, and logic to guide your classmates to the right conclusions." - Official synopsis

Gameplay
With Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy closing the Hope's Peak Academy story arc, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony takes place in a new school, with a completely new cast of characters, acting as the start of a new arc rather than a direct sequel to the previous two main titles. Despite this, the gameplay and story take place along a similar linear path to the previous main titles while adding new gameplay elements.

Like its predecessors, the game's progression is chapter-based and split into 3 major gameplay types: character interaction, investigation, and Class Trials. The player controls the protagonist from a first-person perspective and can explore the school at their leisure, with additional parts of the school becoming available as the plot progresses. Interacting with certain characters or objects is used to progress the story. In each chapter a murder must be solved, which is up to the protagonist and their classmates to investigate and solve, culminating in a class trial inside the school's courtroom.

The game introduced the concept of "smacking" objects to look for Monocoins while exploring the school, which removes the ingame models from the room. As in previous games, the protagonist can interact with other students and improve their relationship through Free Time Events.

Class Trials
Class Trials received an overhaul in Danganronpa V3, adding a number of new features and minigames. The class trial podiums move during the game, with podiums able to move into the middle of the circle; this is often used when certain characters are under suspicion. Lie Bullets were also introduced alongside Truth Bullets, which allows the protagonist to lie to move the Class Trial forward. New minigames were also introduced, and existing ones updated with new mechanics:
 * Hangman's Gambit Ver. 3.0 is similar to Danganronpa 2's Hangman's Gambit, featuring letter tiles on a set route which can collide, however they are in the dark, and the protagonist must shine a light on them in order to view the letters.
 * Argument Armament is a rhythm game equivalent to Bullet Time Battle/Panic Talk Action but with a new format, in which the player must hit the correct buttons in time with the beat in order to destroy parts of a statement. As the opponent's health depletes, their clothing also gets destroyed. When their health is empty, 4 words (or word segments) will appear on screen which, if selected in the correct order, form a rebuttal to the opponent's argument.
 * In Debate Scrum, multiple characters argue their case in two teams representing two contradictory opinions. The protagonist must find a keyword in the argument in one side in order to contradict the argument of the other.
 * Mind Mine is a puzzle-style minigame in which the player destroys blocks in order to uncover images hidden underneath. Uncovering the correct image wins the game.
 * Psyche Taxi is similar to Logic Dive, with the protagonist driving a car through a route to collect letters to form a question with a multiple choice answer. To answer the question, the protagonist must drive into the correct lane and slow down enough to pick up the girl who is standing in that lane, who will hop into one of the passenger seats.
 * Mass Panic Debate is similar to Non-Stop Debate, however in this version multiple students talk at the same time. Because of this, the screen is split into multiple segments with a different student and statement in each as well as multiple weak points. As with Non-Stop Debate, the correct Truth Bullet must be used to destroy the correct weak point.

Development
On September 9th, 2013 at the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Press Conference 2013 (SCEJPC), a third Danganronpa main title was teased at the end of the announcement trailer for Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, with the video visually glitching at the end to show the words "And also... 3". On March 4th, 2015 at the San Francisco Game Developers Conference, Kazutaka Kodaka revealed to video game website Polygon that the next Danganronpa main title was in the very early development stages, with the scenario not yet written.

At the SCEJPC 2015 on September 15th, 2015, the game was first officially announced, revealing the game's title New Dangan Ronpa 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), and the first version of the game's logo. The announcement trailer shown at the conference revealed that although the game would be the next numbered sequel in the Danganronpa series, the game would not take place in the Hope's Peak Academy saga, but at a new school, and that the game would be the first Danganronpa titled released on PlayStation 4. The announcement trailer showcased the new class trial minigame Mass Panic Debate, using Shirokuma, Kurokuma and Monomi as stand-ins for the students.

In the September 28th, 2015 issue of Famitsu, Spike Chunsoft president Mitsutoshi Sakurai revealed that the developers were considering "various interesting new mechanics" since the game would be the first Danganronpa game designed primarily for a PS4, a non-portable console.

At the Danganronpa Project Presentation in on December 2nd, 2015, a 2nd trailer for Danganronpa V3 was debuted featuring the (then un-named) Maki Harukawa, K1-B0, and Kaito Momota, who also featured on the game's first official poster. It was revealed that the theme of the game was "psycho cool", with a more "adult coolness". The "New" in the game's title New Danganronpa V3 served to reinforce that the game took place in a brand new setting, not following the characters and storyline of the Hope's Peak Academy saga but instead would be set in the Gifted Inmates Academy (才囚学園). Despite being a new setting, the series mascot Monokuma would still feature in the game.

The December 2nd, 2015 issue of Famitsu followed from the Danganronpa Presentation, featuring an interview with writer Kazutaka Kodaka and producer Yoshinori Terasawa. They explained that when they were discussing whether to create a sequel or something new for the third installment in the series, Spike Chunsoft decided on both because of divided opinion among the studio. As a consequence, Danganronpa V3 and Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School began at around the same time, with Danganronpa 3 closing the Hope's Peak Academy saga, and Danganronpa V3 beginning a new chapter. The V in V3 is to differentiate the game from the name of the anime. The Scrum Debate and Lie Bullet mechanics were also introduced.

On April 17th, 2016, it was revealed that Tarako would be the new voice of Monokuma in both Danganronpa 3 and Danganronpa V3, following actress Nobuyo Ōyama's retirement from voice acting due to dementia. A sub-site was launched on the Japanese Danganronpa official site introducing Tarako's Monokuma, and featuring a thank you message from Ōyama and a preview of Tarako as Monokuma.

On September 13th, 2016 it was announced at the 2016 PlayStation Press Conference that Danganronpa V3 would be released in Japan in January 2017, and announced that the protagonist of the game would be Kaede Akamatsu. A new trailer was debuted, showcasing Sayaka Kanda as the Japanese voice of Kaede. The official website was updated a week later on September 20th, 2016, revealing the Japanese box art, the first image of the full cast, and introducing the Monokuma Kubs. . The cast's full names and Super High School Level talents were later revealed in the September 29th, 2016 issue of Famitsu, followed by the names of the remaining cast of voice actors in the October 20th, 2016 issue of Famitsu. A series of character trailers, showcasing the voice actors, were periodically released on a fortnightly basis.

A promotional demo called New Danganronpa V3: Trial Version was released in Japan on December 20th, 2016 ahead of the game's full release on January 12th, 2017.

Demo
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Demo Version - known in Japan as New Danganronpa V3 Trial Version - was first announced on Spike Chunsoft's New Danganronpa V3 development blog on December 1st, 2016. The Demo is only the 2nd Demo ever released for the Danganronpa franchise, since the release of the Japan-exclusive Demo Dangan Ronpa: Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei (Trial Version) 6 years prior. The Demo was promoted in the December 15, 2016 issue of magazine, where it was revealed that the Demo would feature an original story exclusive to the Demo, and that Makoto Naegi, Hajime Hinata, and Yasuhiro Hagakure would appear as guest characters. New Danganronpa V3 Trial Version was released on the Japanese PlayStation store on December 20th, 2016 for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Demo Version is the first Danganronpa Demo to be released outside of Japan. It premiered on the showfloor of  from June 13th to June 15th, 2017, with both English and Japanese voice tracks playable for attendees. During the event, a 16 minute commentated preview of the Demo was streamed by PlayStation Underground as part of their E3 coverage, which was the first official footage of English localization, later followed by an exclusive video preview of the full Demo by on July 31st, 2017.

After a promotional Danganronpa event at the PS Carnival in Taipei, Taiwan, the Demo was released with English and Japanese audio and Chinese, Korean, and Japanese subtitles in several Chinese-language PlayStation Stores on August 19th, 2017. The Demo was later released worldwide on Steam for PC on August 25th, 2017. The Demo was available on both PS4 and PS Vita in North America, Canada, and Mexico on release day. In Europe and Australia, the PS4 Demo was available in all territories on release day, however the PS Vita version as delayed for several days due to an "internal issue". The Demo was later released on PS Vita in Europe and Australia on August 29th, 2017, with the exception of Germany, where both the PS4 and PS Vita Demos are PS Plus subscriber exclusive due to age restrictions in the country.

Audio Issues
After the release of the Demo, there were a number of consumer complaints about the audio quality on the Vita release of the Demo, voicing concern about the audio quality that would be present in the full game, due for release on January 12, 2017. The concerns were addressed by Danganronpa V3 associate producer Yuichiro Saito on the New Danganronpa V3 development blog, explaining that the poor audio quality was due to "capacity limitation" on the PS Vita, and assured players that after the release of the full game they would be able to download a DLC which improves the audio quality. The HQ Audio DLC for the full game was released on January 18th, 2017, 6 days after the game's release. The same issues were present in the English release of the game, and so a HQ Audio DLC was released by NIS America on the game's release day in North America on September 26th, 2017 and Europe on September 29th, 2017.

Ban in South Korea
After a successful South Korean release of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls in 2015, Danganronpa V3 was announced for release in South Korea with full text localization at Sony's PS Arena event in Seoul in March, 2017. The game was originally going to be realesed in September 26th (the same day it was released world wide). However, after a 17 year old girl murdered a child in South Korea, the subsequent investigation revealed that she had been a part of online roleplaying communities, and it was assumed that she was a part of the Danganronpa roleplaying community, which is one of the biggest roleplaying communities in South Korea. Despite the fact the murderer was not infact a member of the Danganronpa roleplaying community specifically, the association was amplified by the South Korean media, with one particular broadcaster using Danganronpa-style graphics to explain the case. This gave the general public a negative opinion of the Danganronpa franchise, and as such, when Spike Chunsoft applied to the Korean ratings board for Danganronpa V3 to be rated, the ratings board rejected the game on moral grounds on July 26th, 2017. A spokesman stated: "The decision was based on the game’s content. We did raise concern about copy cat crime and whatnot, but the rating was not denied just because of that. We determined that the game had crossed the line where it was difficult to allow this in society."

Because the ratings board refused to rate the game, this banned the game for distribution within South Korea, making it illegal for any retailer to sell within the country. Sony had one week to appeal the ruling, however on August 3rd, 2017, Sony Interactive Entertainment Korea announced that they accepted the ratings board's decision and would not be releasing Danganronpa V3 or the game's demo version in the country.

English Localization
NIS America announced their plans to release an English localization of Danganronpa V3 on December 3rd, 2016 at PlayStation Experience 2016, along with the first official English trailer, later revealing the North American release date would be September 26th, 2017. As with other PC releases of Danganronpa, Spike Chunsoft's English division would be in charge of Danganronpa V3s release on Steam, using NISA's localization. The first localization footage premiered when the Demo Version was shown on the showfloor of  from June 13th to June 15th, 2017, with both English and Japanese voice tracks playable for attendees ahead of the Demo's worldwide release on August 25th, 2017.

By their own admission, Danganronpa V3 is one of the biggest, most complex games NIS America has ever localized, with over 400 pages of text, 2.4 million Japanese characters, 96,000 English lines, and 12,000 voiced lines. Because of its immensity, NISA had to redistribute the work among multiple members of their localization team. Four translators individually paired with an editor were chosen to work on the game. The characters were evenly distributed to each pairing to localize, which allowed the team to follow each character's progression throughout the entire story and maintain consistency of tone and voice for each character. Because of the large amount of audio files involved in both the main game and bonus modes, Danganronpa V3 is the first main title in which Japanese audio will not be available as standard on PlayStation Vita carts due to capacity limitations, and will instead be available as free DLC.

Streaming Ban Controversy
On 19th September 2017, NIS America and Spike Chunsoft were centered in a controversy when the streaming guidelines for Danganronpa V3 were announced, revealing that livestreaming or posting video from beyond Chapter 1's Class Trial was prohibited and doing so would put content creators at the risk of a copyright strike. The same streaming restriction was in place for the Japanese release of the game, in a bid to protect fans from spoilers. This announcement resulted in a backlash from content creators and gaming media, in particular because it echoed similar controversial streaming restrictions enacted by Atlus' recent release of . As a result of the backlash, NIS America released a statement on September 25th 2017, the day before the game's release, announcing that the decision had been reversed and re-assured fans that "Streaming Danganronpa V3 past Chapter 1 will not get anyone banned".

Music
Masafumi Takada, the composer of all 3 previous games, returned to compose Danganronpa V3. Megumi Ogata also returned to perform the end credits theme Dan Kusari -break-. The game notably features a performance of  by, which was credited on the game's soundtrack as being performed by Kaede Akamatsu.

In Japan, the game's complete soundtrack of 109 tracks was released on February 24th, 2017 in a two-part release over 5 discs, called NEW DANGANRONPA V3 O.S.T. WHITE and NEW DANGANRONPA V3 O.S.T. BLACK. This soundtrack collection later received a worldwide release on iTunes and Google Play on October 27th, 2017.

A 10-track soundtrack CD called the New Danganronpa V3 Original Soundtrack was bundled with the Japanese Limited Edition release of New Danganronpa V3, which also featured 15 tracks of comments by the game's Japanese voice cast. This CD, without the cast comments and renamed Murder Nocturne, was bundled with the worldwide Steam release and Day One Editions of Danganronpa V3 in North America and Europe.

PlayStation Consoles
Danganronpa V3 was initially released in Japan by Spike Chunsoft on January 12th, 2017 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita consoles. The game was available in both standard and limited edition versions. The standard edition included only a physical copy of the game. The limited edition included a physical copy of the game, an illustrated box design by Danganronpa character designer Rui Komatsuzaki, a Blu-Ray copy of the anime OVA Super Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of the World, a speaking Monokuma strap, an art booklet, a 2017 calendar featuring the Danganronpa casts' birthdays, the NEW DANGANRONPA V3 ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK + CAST COMMENTS CD, and a download code for a custom PlayStation 4 or PS Vita theme. Additionally, three limited edition Danganronpa V3-themed consoles were released exclusively in Japan: A Monokuma themed PlayStation 4 console, and two PlayStation Vita consoles.

The game will be released in North America on September 26th, 2017 by NIS America for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita consoles. On PlayStation 4, the game will be available with Japanese and English dual audio, with English or French subtitles. On PlayStation Vita, the Japanese audio will be an optional DLC due to capacity issues on the Vita cart. The digital copies have a filesize of 25.8 GB (PS4) and 3 GB (PS Vita) respectively.

The game is available in both standard, day one, and limited edition versions. The standard edition includes only a physical copy of the game. The day-one edition includes a physical copy of the game, a 10-track CD called Murder Nocturne, and an art booklet ("Day One Dossier"). The limited edition includes a physical copy of the game, a limited edition deluxe soundtrack CD (Killing Harmonies), the CD Murder Nocturne, a hardcover art book ("Investigation Notes"), Shuichi Saihara's hat, Kaede Akamatsu's backpack, and a pair of Danganronpa V3-themed over-ear headphones. The standard and limited editions also released in Europe and Australia on September 29th, 2017.

Steam for PC
The Steam port of the game will be released worldwide on September 26th, 2017 by Spike Chunsoft. The game will feature English and Japanese dual audio, and Japanese, English, French, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, subtitle options.

Promotional Events
In Japan, the cafes Pasela Resorts, Nicocafe, Karaoke no Tetsujin, Sweets Paradise and Chara-Cre! have all featured Danganronpa V3-themed food, drinks, and desserts on their menus at limited-time events.

Two events have also been held in Japan. The first, called Chō Zettai Zetsumei Zetsubō Kibō Royale Z (超絶対絶命絶望希望ロワイヤルZ), was based around the Monokuma Kubs and as held by Asobi Factory in Shinagawa, Tokyo from April 28th - June 11th, 2017. The second, called Cube Danganronpa RED (キューブダンガンロンパRED), was based around Rantaro Amami and began in Namco's Nazotomo Cafe in Shinjuku, Japan. After a successful run in Nazotomo Cafe it moved to several other Namco cafe locations and will continue to run until October 15th, 2017.

Online Promotional Events
A digital MonoMono Machine called the New MonoMono Machine was launched on the official Japanese website of New Danganronpa V3 as part of the game's pre-release promotion on December 16th, 2016. The New MonoMono Machine allows visitors to the website to collect free digital goods such as wallpapers and avatars featuring characters from Danganronpa V3 as well as characters from previous games in the series.

A collaborative livestream event called DanganGravity Live Broadcast was held by Playstation Japan on December 25th, 2016, streamed live online through Youtube Live, Fresh! and Nico Nico. The event involved a cross-collaborational playthrough of the demos of both Danganronpa V3 and Gravity Rush 2, with each development team playing the others' game. The stream was hosted by Miu Iruma's voice actor Haruka Ishida. Director Shun Sasaki, writer Kazutaka Kodaka and producer Yoshinori Terasawa represented Danganronpa V3 at the event.

To celebrate the release of Danganronpa V3 on Steam worldwide, Spike Chunsoft's English division will hold a midnight release stream on Twitch on September 25th, 2017, featuring writer Kazutaka Kodaka, producer Yoshinori Terasawa, and other special guests.

Critical Reception
New Danganronpa V3 received favorable reviews in Japanese game media, and was awarded a a pre-release rating of 37/40 by Famitsu. The game was voted as the 7th best game of all time by readers of Famitsu magazine in the magazine's 1500th issue. The English localization of Danganronpa V3 has a Metacritic score of 82, and an Open Critic score of 83, signifying "generally favorable" reviews.

Masafumi Takada's soundtrack received universal praise from critics. The game's visuals were also highly praised, particularly the UI, color palette choices, and environments made possibly by the jump from PS Vita to PS4. The characters designs, character development, plot twists, and quality of the main storyline were also well received by reviewers. The first and finale chapters were praised by the majority of reviewers, particularly the game's climax. Some reviewers regarded Danganronpa V3 as their personal highlight in the trilogy - with Dualshockers rewarding the game it's Editor's Choice Award and the reviewer praising it as "the best sequel to a game they have ever played". Most reviews noted the game as a solid entry in the series that was very welcoming for newcomers while still being rewarding for long-time fans of the series.

Many reviewers, however, expressed disappointment that the game felt too formulaic or similar to the previous entries in series , highlighting that the middle chapters of the game felt too procedural and tended to drag, feeling overly padded with gameplay elements or comic relief dialogue at the expense of the plot. Critics were also split on the longer runtime of the main plotline, in particular the longer time commitment necessary to complete a Class Trial, with many comments that much of the dialogue and reiteration of plot points felt redundant. The increase of mid-plot minigames with the additions of the Casino and Despair Death Road alongside those featured in the Class Trials were largely regarded as too convoluted and time-consuming, and an unnecessary distraction from the main narrative.

Review Scores
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Commercial Performance
In Japan, the game achieved release week sales of 76,166 units for PS Vita and 40,006 for PS4, making it the 2nd and 3rd most popular game in Japan that week. As of 29th July 2017, New Danganronpa V3 has sold 136,788 units on PS Vita, and 72,946 units on PS4 for a total of 209,734 units. This figure makes New Danganronpa V3 the most succesful 1st-year launch of a new Danganronpa title in Japan, ahead of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (157,179 Units in its 1st year ) and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (183,472 Units in its 1st year ).

On 25th September 2017, the day before the game's US release, Danganronpa V3 was the #1 most popular game in the PS Vita category, and the #11 most popular game in the PS4 category on Amazon US. On Steam, the game reached a peak of #5 on the Top Sellers list on September 26th, 2017, the day of release.

Trivia

 * Monomi, Shirokuma and Kurokuma were used as placeholder characters to demonstrate Mass Panic Debates in the first trailer for the game, and their sprites still remain in the game's files.
 * The song ' by which features in Danganronpa V3 also made a noteable appearance in the game ', the soundtrack of which was also composed by Danganronpa composer Masafumi Takada.
 * Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Demo Version) is the first demo to be released outside of Japan, and the first to be released in English.
 * Danganronpa_V3_Demo_Ouma_Spelling.png the E3 2017 premiere of the Demo by NIS America, the English translated opening intro included Kokichi Oma's name spelled as "Kokichi Ouma". NIS America confirmed this was an error, and the spelling was later corrected in the public demo release.
 * Danganronpa V3 is the first Danganronpa game localized in French.
 * Despite the game itself being fully translated into French, the Demo was not, and as a consequence attendees at Japan Expo 2017 convention in Paris, France were able to play the French localization of Prologue and Chapter 1 of Danganronpa V3 itself from July 3th - July 9th 2017.
 * When Shuichi Saihara's profile was first added to the English Danganronpa V3 website, it stated he helped run his grandfather's detective agency, rather than his uncle's. This error was quickly rectified and a new version of the profile was posted. (Error profile) (2nd version)
 * Monophanie is the only character who's name received a drastic change in the localization, previously romanized as Monofunny on Japanese official merchandise and promotional artwork.

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