Game Cover

A deadly judgment… A deadly deception… A deadly betrayal… A deadly riddle, a deadly defense, a deadly faith… A deadly… class trial…!

Platform played on: PS Vita, Xbox One (Anniversary Edition), PC (Anniversary Edition)

# Review

The game takes place in the elite high school called Hope’s Peak Academy, where only “Ultimate” students are enrolled. Each Ultimate student has a talent which the student alone is the best at; the talents range from the normal, such as playing baseball and computer programming, to the weird and quirky, such as writing fanfiction and leading a biker gang. The player assumes the role of Makoto Naegi, whose ultimate talent is being lucky because he was accepted into Hope’s Peak by winning a lottery. Makoto and 14 other Ultimate students are trapped inside Hope’s Peak and forced by a sadistic bear named Monokuma to play a killing game where the students have to try to commit a murder and get away with it to escape the school.

Monokuma, sadistic headmaster

The story is wacky like most Japanese games of this kind, filled with weird humour and unpredictable plot twists. The game is a visual novel where one reads through the story much like an animated book. The player can walk around the academy, interact with different objects, and speak with the other characters. The player can build up their friendship with different characters by giving gifts and spending time with them.

Interacting with objects and characters

My favourite aspect of the game, however, is the class trial, where the students get together to determine the identity of the murderer. The class trials feature many mini games, such as the debates where Makoto must use clues he found to spot flaws in people’s arguments by shooting them down.

Class trial

After completing the main game, there is a School Life mode, where the game turns into a resource management game. The player has to manage the activities of all 15 Ultimates to help gather resources to complete tasks. Personally, I found this mode to be more of a quirky way to complete Makoto’s relationships with the other characters.

School Life

The Anniversary Edition is broken on PC (at least through the Windows Store) as the game speed is extremely fast and the environment doesn't fully load. It is helpful for the School Life mode, though, as the animations are drastically sped up.

# Conclusion

A quirky murder mystery game with exciting trials.

# Overall rating: 7.8

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