Holy shit. When I saw this game and its reviews online, I saw many Danganronpa fans irked by its ineffectiveness as a fangan. I personally am too broke to buy the original, therefore can't comment on that. But I can review this game by itself, and I loved it. The art was beautiful and consistent, not like other games that use stock images and gacha backgrounds. I appreciate seeing detailed and hand-drawn backgrounds and effects. I appreciate taking the characters beyond the easy descriptors of good and bad.  There were many grey areas and spaces of contention, and the game pushed the question of how bad murder really is, depending on the reasons behind it. The characters were also so easy to fall in love with, and their designs and names were so well thought out. 

SPOILERS !!!!
The characters, especially the ones that were killed, were so easy to fall in love with. I instantly was drawn to Pandora, Ashley, Art, Forte, and especially Cyrus. I wish the latter got the redemption he deserved, despite how cheesy that would be in writing. Watching all my favourites die was genuinely heartwrenching, especially Art and Forte. The line Forte said to Sai before he died nearly brought me to tears. The post-credits scenes left the ending ambiguous. As a writer, I appreciate it, but as a player I simply need to know if they all ended up happy. Echo's skill, though I wish it had more explanation regarding its origins, I also think it was a stroke of genius. Because we, as players, get the exact amount of information and understanding that the character does, and nothing beyond. Similarly, Zero's death was also so tragic. I do wish I got to fall more in love with the side characters, but I understand that playing as Echo robs me of any knowledge the character himself wouldn't have. This is something I believe other players need to reconcile with, since they had many critiques for the writing on the basis of this very fact. I think it's important to remember we're playing in a semi-first-person-perspective, not as an overarching narrator, thereby giving us only the information the character we view knows.

THEORY
I think the ending hints at the whole game being a hallucination created by Echo to reconcile with the passing/disappearance of his best friend. That is also a good reason as to why many things felt inexplicable.

Another theory in terms of the ending is that the Preservation Project does get its hands on the players and sends them into whatever comatose state Gaea and Akhiko were in, thereby continuing the cycle.

An optimistic ending I want to throw out there is that Echo travels back to the very beginning, as seen in the post-credits, and saves everyone from their doom. I want this to be true because I need my sweet boy Forte to survive, and for Cyrus to get the salvation he deserves. And I especially want Ashley to thrive with her best friends. Is this theory unlikely? Yes. Will I stick to it? Also yes.