Danganronpa: Another -Despair Academy-

Danganronpa: Another -Despair Academy- is a full on fangame, and honestly, for something that started back in 2012 it's wild how much heart and drama is packed in there. You play as Yuki Maeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student, who gets tossed into a killing game at Hope's Peak Academy with fifteen other Ultimates. Sounds familiar, right? But it quickly finds its own vibe.

The cast is where the game really starts to shine. You've got your whole spectrum of personalities, from the righteous police officer Tsurugi Kinjo to the surprisingly layered Rei Mekaru. Some of 'em start off feeling like echoes of characters from the official games like, you can spot the Byakuya or the Kyoko stand ins early on, but as the chapters roll by, they peel back layers you didn't expect. The characters that survive the early chaos get some genuinely gripping development, especially around Chapter 4 and onward. Yeah, a couple of the first victims are kinda one note, but the ones who stick around will surprise you.

Talking about the story, the structure follows the classic Danganronpa formula: prologue, six chapters, and an epilogue. The early cases do lean a bit heavily on replicating twists from the first game, which can make it feel predictable. The first chapter in particular is a bit of a slog to get through, but around Chapter 2, something clicks. The motives get messier and more personal, the trials introduce some clever new ideas, and by Chapter 4, the game fully embraces its own identity with some brutally emotional turns that genuinely rival the big moments from the official series. The finale goes to some dark lore heavy places that will either blow your mind or feel a bit too familiar depending on your taste.

Now, we gotta talk about the elephant in the room: this was made in RPG Maker 2000, so the trial minigames are super janky. Think hitboxes that are off and mechanics that just don't translate well. Plus, most free time events aren't translated, so you gotta have patience, but despite those flaws, the writing underneath is seriously strong. The character interactions feel real, the despair hits hard when it wants to, and there's a clear passionate vision behind it all. It's a fan project that somehow managed to finish its story, which is rare, and it laid the groundwork for its even more popular sequel.

 

Prologue & Chapter 1

 

Chapters 2 to 6