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UmbrellaStand rated Danganronpa: LIVe or Die

A downloadable game for Windows.

Reviewing it as a fan danganronpa game. While the gameplay for daily life is fine, because it is RPG maker after all, the trial is pretty bland. Every single puzzle is just multiple choice question stuff. This game is using only RPG maker assets, but still, combined with other factors, it makes it boring. If you can at least fix some other things below, it can make the game more enjoyable.

In terms of sound, it's all DR music, which is expected, but I personally have gotten sick of it. I like some variety once in a while. The lack of sound effects also makes the game feel empty, especially during the trial, and especially since it uses RPG maker default sound effects.

In terms of writing, it's okay for most of it, but in the end it feels like a cookie cutter story. It's like someone read the synopsis of chapter 1 in  a DR game, and just copied all those plot points, and didn't add anything else. Meet characters, killing game starts, people work together, motive introduced, someone dies, trial starts. It felt like nothing was padded in between all of that, so it's hard to get the feel of the situation and the characters. The one good part is the part where your friend convinces you to do a murder. THAT is what I want to see more of in a DR fan game. Though in the end it felt like that idea didn't get utilized to its fullest. I want to see a more underlying story, something that would make me more interested in seeing what happens next. It's not all about "I want to see who dies next".

The characters are okay, but I felt the part where EVERYONE talks at the table could've been done better. Like say, have more activity happening, and use those events to learn more about the characters. I don't like the idea that we have to go through ALL the characters just to get their stories across. But in terms of free time events, I think they are decent. The characters I interacted with are the comedian and the rapper person, and thought they were pretty funny. And as mentioned, I thought the ultimate lucky student was interesting, up until you know what happens to him.

Finally for the trial, everything is pretty logical, though at the same time very rushed. For example, I had no idea that the killer was trying to defend you until the moment I had to choose the killer. It wasn't very explicit during the trial that he was defending you. Additionally, I felt the one argument point with the jacket was pretty lazy. Like, it was simply "Oops, I didn't mean to say this".

Overall, I unfortunately don't think this is a good fangan game. The way to improve it is to have a more fleshed out story and use that to pad out the writing. And adding sound effects helps A LOT to give more feeling to the game.

I would critique the art, but I am not an artists, so it would be unfair for me to talk about it.