Danganronpa: Hope vs Despair Ace Attorney: Ladder vs Stepladder

i love how the creators of both series are best buddies

Despite the fact that they're called "class trials" in Danganronpa, I always considered DR's "trials" to be more like debates than actual trials. After all, it is a bunch of teenagers (and Hagakure) yelling at each other and the protagonist is trying to get everyone on their side.

I like Phoenix right because you get to slam the desk

I actually laughed when you mentioned giving AA to your mom and her being able to enjoy it. Cus I did the same with my mom and danganronpa, and she ended up loving all of em. Twas a nice little moment.

Something you forgot to mention when talking about lying in Danganronpa the interesting thing is whenever you could lie, there's also a place where you can just use regular evidence too so it's always treated like an alternative back route to the answer. it makes it so there are different ways for you to get to your conclusion which I really like

BUT! does Danganronpa have a gumshoe?

"Since we already gathered the evidence let's go yell at other people"

I discovered Danganronpa through my love for the Ace Attorney games. When I found Danganronpa I was experiencing a drought for a murder mystery with a trial like element. That’s how I eventually discovered Danganronpa. This analysis is on point, I can’t say I disagree with anything. My preference is Ace Attorney for several reasons but I do love Danganronpa and glad I discovered it. :)

Also, considering the fact that the danganronpa cast has nowhere near as many resources for investigation (no fingerprinting, no security cameras, no luminol) and only one trial per murder (can't leave the trial to investigate, you have to finish it), it makes sense that they'd put so much value on witness testimony and alibis, it's quite literally all they have in a lot of cases.

Its weird that a completely unfair, unfeeling blood sport trial is more fair then actual Japanese court lol

We all know that the only thing that Danganronpa did bad was... *BONE ON THE MEAT... I mean On the meat bone... wait... HOW IT WAS AGAIN?!*

The cases always find a way to end on a happy note; "Hello. Yes. This is Turnabout Beginnings."

Everyone else: 《...but Danganronpa has waifus!!!》 Me: The Judge is a S N A C C tho

I gotta stick with what's Wright.

In terms of story, I like Ace Attorney more(in every single game I got completely taken by the backstory). In terms of gameplay and shock by moments, I prefer Danganronpa (Damn, Danganronpa 1's second murder caught me off guard)

Ace Attorney isn't just find errors in witnesses testimonies, also you need to find habits, detect emotions, watch the last moments of the victim, combine evidence, play a game of Chess, etc.

But does danganronpa have an updated autopsy report?? I don’t think so.

I love how you critically analyze both series. I also love both of these series. Though I love Danganronpa more in terms of being a fan, I find myself going back to Phoenix Wright often with how much more critical thinking it involves. Unlike Danganronpa, Ace Attorney games doesnt have a theme for each case. Making it feel unique in their own way. In Danganronpa, Case 1 is usually the "Shocker Case", Someone you thought will survive ends up being dead. Case 2 is usually more unique compared to the other cases, making Case 2 some of my favourte cases in the franchise. Also, it's usually the tearjerker case. (But that's not saying much in V3 since in V3, every case was a tearjerker case) Case 3 is the "Multiple Victims Case" where more than 1 person gets murdered. Usually this means you will have to inspect more than one area, not just the murder scene, to uncover what really happened. Case 4 is the "Zero Escape Case" (Geddit?), or also known as the "Locked Room Mystery Case", where the participants are put into a case where the murder is seemingly impossible to be committed by anyone. Case 5 is what I would like to call the "WHAT THE FUCK KODAKA?!" Case. Because Case 5 usually has you screaming at Kodaka for doing something you thought he wouldnt do to your favourite characters. And Case 6 would be the end case, piecing everything together. Since every Danganronpa game (except the spinoff, UDG) follows this pattern. It becomes somewhat predictable ( I say somewhat since I also get stuck from time to time). But, Ace Attorney's cases are more.. Well, lets just say they're more one-offs compared to the Danganronpa series. In Ace Attorney, you get a murder case. You only have that murder case. Which makes it easy to replay. But in Danganronpa, you get a murder case. Then you have to solve another murder case. Until you finish the game. Making it a little bit harder to replay (even if I love Scrum Debate to the point of lunacy) One thing that Danganronpa has that Ace Attorney doesnt have though, are the Minigame Modes. In DR1, it had a Dating Sim. DR2, it had a Monomi Minigame, another Dating Sim, and a free Light Novel. And in V3... Oooh boy. It had an RPG, a Board Game, a bloody casino!, another dating sim, and a card collecting game! It's Amaaaaaziiiiiiiing!

Your analysis of the gameplay and pacing are spot on. In terms of story, I don't think you mentioned this, and I think it's important to note-- DR, at its heart, is still a high school drama. Depending on who you ask, it's a murder mystery with high schoolers or a high school drama with murder mysteries. Exaggerated pains of growing up, characters who lack the maturity to deal with their situation are themes that will resonate with some more than others. I can see why Ace Attorney might impact harder for you, whereas I didn't pick up on its legal satire as much.

Tbh, I love both series. But I always felt like it was obvious who the killer was in AA, with the exception of a couple cases. Especially when you first meet them. It’s a bit more difficult when DR gives a case, cause you have the feeling of ‘They couldn’t have done it, right?’ But that’s just me I think

I love both Danganronpa and Ace Attorney to bits, and being an Ace Attorney fan was actually what got me into Danganronpa. Ace Attorney's cases win me over *by far*, and I think it's the better game in that aspect. However, character wise I much prefer Danganronpa. Danganronpa was introduced to me by a friend saying "If you love shocking twists and turns, and since you're an AA fan, you'll love Danganronpa." In that aspect I agree that the twists and turns are very shocking, yes, but those that really stuck to me was the twists about the characters. When you get through the trial, it's more about heartbreak when you see the characters you want to trust start to scramble as time goes on. Don't even get me started on the ending sequence when they literally smash you with the bus of feel trips. The cases I feel are more on the characters, and not really focused on a giant mystery like what AA does. TL;DR - Ace Attorney has more intriguing stories while Danganronpa's cast (especially SDR2) are more developed and more focused on. All of this is just a random opinion, so no offense if you feel differently! It's all based on personal likes and dislikes as the video said.

We all love the judge right

My knowledge of Danganronpa was so poor that I thought I was just like 999 type of game, didn't even know it had trails

Your point about Hangman's gambit brings up another area I think Ace Attorney does better than Danganronpa. While DR's localizations are pretty top-notch for the most part, some solutions do get lost in translation, especially with minigames like Hangman's Gambit where space is limited. Japanese words are a LOT shorter than English ones, so the localization was in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation where they either use awkward abbreviations like "schizo" or long literal translations that make the minigame way harder than it should be ("Improved" Hangman's Gambit was especially bad with this). AA has the awkward Japanifornia thing, but I can't remember any cases where an actual puzzle solution or deduction was made harder by a mistranslation. They localizers probably prioritized making sure the contradictions still made sense, as they're the key part of the gameplay. The setting shift caused problems in later games, but you have to admit the contradictions were always translated very well. Off the top of my head, one of the few times a contradiction was Japanese-dependant, they were able to find a perfect equivalent for it in English. (A witness had only heard the defendant's name over the phone, so writes it wrong when trying to frame her. In Japanese, he writes it with the wrong Kanji. In English, he spells it wrong. It works because in both languages the defendant's name is a common name written differently to normal, the witness assumes it's the standard version.)

I love both series, but Danganronpa destroys me emotionally. Ace Attorney's murders have always felt super mild to me (the trials are funny and make up for it), whereas Danganronpa has no qualms about going all-out while I watch my favorite characters die. RIP man

The fan translation for the PSP version of DR1 used "D.I.D."(Dissociative Identity Disorder) instead of "Schizo" for that hangman's gambit you showed, and I think that fits better.

Danganronpa's eccentricness is the reason why I love it, even if it's one of it's flaw.

but danganronpa has *w a i f u s*

Need more murder/mystery visual novels in general maaan. I've played the Zero escape series, Danganronpa, Ace Attorney and Investigations. Also similar, see: Hotel Dusk Room 215 and it's sequel Last Window Secret of Cape West- DS Gems that just didnt get the attention that aa did.

18:27 You're telling you don't get transported in a synthwavescape when you're thinking deeply?

But Danganronpa litterally kills your favorite waifus and husbandos.

Have to agree that I enjoy PW more, the unlimited time made for more tense trials. Danganronpa's cases with their constant time limit was more evenly paced, but this made it so that the mystery didn't feel as exciting to solve. DR is still good though.

You know, I think that Ace Attorney’s simple mechanics in trials, you have to prove stuff or contradict it, is much better (for me) than all of the stuff Danganronpa has, with you shooting bullets as evidence and all of that. I really love how the shoutings just flow normally in Ace Attorney by the late parts of the trial, while you present evidence, when you start going, and how it all connects in the end, it’s a great feeling. And no Japanese shouting can surpass the “OBJECTION”.

now I wanna see a case called Turnabout Danganronpa or something

"you cannot save your favorite anime bud" //shows Taka's free time event :'(

The real difference between the two games is exposing the who dunnit. In Danganronpa, if you exclude the first game (The most childish and obvious crimes, and where in half the cases someone other than the mc knows who did the crime from the start), unless you think long and hard about who did the crime it's hard to just know who is the culprit. In Ace Attorney, for the most part you will just know who the culprit is (Only three times throughout all the games and spin-offs was I surprised to learn who the culprit was), and the main reason is because Ace Attorney only gives you so many suspects, between 3-5, in any given case.

One small point about presentation: The Ace Attorney series has mostly static images, with relatively little animation even for a visual novel. Most of its characters have less than a dozen poses total (not counting lip flaps, obviously). But those poses are _so_ clear, striking, and full of character that they elevate the game _well_ above what a game running on the GBA should have been able to portray. Danganropa has all sorts of motion and visual effects, but the character poses are a lot more...basic. That one crazy-looking girl with the tongue stood out, but the rest tended towards pretty normal poses. Not that you could really appreciate Ace-Attorney-style poses with all that other stuff going on, but I feel it's worth pointing out.

I like your analysis but the fact that two people's accounts in dr are valid evidence IS logical. Don't forget that no one in the trial WANTS to die. They'd only hurt themselves by lying for someone else.

Have you considered giving the Zero Escape games a shot (i.e. 999, Virtue's Last Reward and Zero Time Dilemma)?

I think I can say that Danganronpa V3 slots into my top 3 favorite games of all time. I eagerly await the pissed off reactions I will receive from absolutely adoring such a divisive game in a beloved franchise. Edit: Also Debate Scrum is the best minigame/song in the entire series. You cannot convince me otherwise.

Difference between AA and DR Ace Attorney: 1 defense 1 proscutor 1 defendant The judge slam the gavel a lot Danganronpa: All defenses All prosecutors All defendants The judge slam the gavel only once But still i love both of the games.

So basically, in terms of gameplay and style.... Ace Attorney = Jeopardy Danganronpa = Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

"To make life a little bit easier, and death a little bit harder..." That sounded cool as heck

The thing that bugged me about Dangonronpa was how much the trial gets shoved onto the player character even though the narrative suggests everyone should be participating like a game of Among Us. It's aggravating how often other characters will just defer to the player character, to a point where it feels like the supporting cast don't actually know shit and are just looking to you to drag them through the trials.

One of the best strats of Ace Attorney is to "Press" everything. It gives details

I think it is a bit unfair that you are analyze the three Danganronpas, with his polished mechanics, but no Apollo Justice, Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice.

18:58 unless you where an idiot like me for the 1st few times and thought you had to destroy every square to be able to beat it

I do think it would have been worth noting that in the first Dangan Ronpa (Unfortunately) there are times you have to wait for the second go around and for Naegi to tell you the answer. Not because the case is difficult, but because you need to pick out a comment from one NPC to shoot at the statement of an NPC from earlier in that arguement. I also think that the fact that testimonies are more often cited as evidence is because of the constraints of the killing game itself, rather than the fact that you're convincing high school students and not a court of a law, as they're all still very adamant about exploring every possibility. In a setting where there's no more than 15 people at a time, and consistently dwindling, having even two people able to corroborate an alibi makes it mostly airtight given the confined quarters and the constrained ability for accomplices in a murder (Constrained, not impossible). Even then Ace Attorney does still focus on that a lot, though it's often brought up by the prosecutor in 'Did you forget what _ said?' type events. Otherwise though, I think this was a great video. I do agree with Ace Attorney being the superior series, though that does come down to taste. I do think that some of the events of the AA games could be viewed as being just as dark (Not as gruesome or graphic, but as dark in tone) as DR (Looking at Maya's mother and really Bridge to the Turnabout in general, along with cases like Turnabout Revolution from the later games), but that would involve going into more spoilery territory so I understand why you'd avoid going into them.

Personally, I think showing the first trial of V3 is a bit spoilery. It was the most surprising trial of V3, possibly all of danganronpa, but the fifth trial of 2 is very surprising.

20:47 The newer Ace Attorney games ("Dual Destinies" and "Spirit of Justice") kind of have the "put the whole case together" thing near the end of a trial, but I forget what it's called. It's not exactly the same as what DR does, but it really reminded me of it when I first saw it.

DR: Not a fan of the mini games but the characters are awesome because we spend time with them a lot AA: Straight to the point and the game story is a "murder mystery of the week" which is great all on its own

I played DR before AA and I must say i felt always quite weird about knowing who the killer was beforehand. Idk what it is about it. But going from Not knowing what is going on to the last minute of the trial to knowing the killer even before the trial starts is...quite the difference.

Personally I find Ace Attorney harder so better for the adult in me that wants a challenge, but Danganronpa is more fun and I prefer the tone (even if the mini games make me want to break the game) so the child in me who wants a cool story but doesn't want to think. I love them both and I found them both later in life so it's hard to choose

I like Phoenix Wright not only for the mystery and solving a case, but how damn good it feels. Hearing the desk slam, the proud OBJECTION, the pursuit theme. Its all great stuff and there is plenty of moments where it could damn well be game over.

Tbh, I like Ace Attorney more

I wish the protag of SDR2 (Hajime Hinata) had a crossover with the ace attorney (Apollo Justice Best choice), Just like in the professor layton series

I love both Danganronpa and Ace Attorney, game and anime as they really bring out the detectives in us. The cast of Danganronpa is really lovable and the sequence of events in the the Classroom debates are really interesting, the only problem for me is that we have to concentrate on too many things rather than focusing on the main topic which is to actually solve the case. Phoenix Wright has amazing OSTs (I just had to say it) and rather complicated plots and just like Danganronpa, there are many characters that we know and love. The only thing that sets it off for me is the limited movements for each case. As well as the fact that if you miss a single detail, you'd spend hours trying to find that one piece of evidence in order to kove the plot forward. Nonetheless, I enjoyed both ganes and they certainly left many memories I wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

Really awesome analysis of both game series. Also appreciate the fact it's a 30 minute video, gives enough time to really get into the details and digest the differences between the two games. Definitely subbed.

When it comes to investigation I actually prefer Danganronpa format. It's true that It doesn't require anything from you and you can just click through it, but on the other hand while going through investigation you can already start working on figuring out what happened, the gameplay is happening in your head. I know It's the same case with Ace Attorney but I like that Danganronpa dooesn't break up your thought process with gameplay. Danganronpa asks many questions during investigation but doesn't require you to answer them right away. In Ace Attorney game asks you to answer questions during investigation. Thanks to that your thought process is more linear during investigation. In Danganronpa asking questions and answering questions is broken up into two segments. Investigation and Class Trial and I really like that approach. But in the end I think It's a matter of preference.

Loving chihiro is not gay

OBJECTION! Your doing a good job, keep it up!

man, hearing that phoenix wright court music again gave me an emotional response i wasn't prepared for. time to go replay the entire fucking series, hell yeah

I'll echo the sentiments of basically everyone in the comments. AA has better cases and courtroom drama, Danganronpa has better characters and interpersonal drama. The plot twists in Danganronpa are more frequent and wild but the plot twists in AA, when they occur are enormous like Dual Destinies' finale.

In terms of using logic... For me, Ace Attorney represent it well. Look at 14:40

I'm noticing a pattern here... Most people defending one or the other hasnt played the other game. I'd suggest you try both games before forming an opinion. But honestly tho, both franchises are fucking great and they each have their pros and cons.

This video was a joy to watch. Please keep up the great work!

This Is How Wars Start

But, lets all agree. *There is never going to be another game in both communities*

I also want to point out how the DR series seems to gradually get more emotional when it comes to the punishments, in DR1 I was like "they deserved it" when somebody got punished, in DR2 I understood why they felt like they had to do this and partially sympathised with them, and DRV3 had the only punishment in the series when I actually cried (yup, I didn't cry at you-know-who's punishment in DR2, but that's just because the music was too amazing to allow me to cry), and the only punishments in DRV3 that I wasn't sad at were the ones in second and third chapters; second - because the motive was bad, since I played previous games, I already knew the society was probably destroyed so there was no point; and third made me sympathize with the victims more than with the killer (even if they were one of my favourite characters), kinda like in DR1

What a good way to improve my day, I've been rewatching nearly all your stuff lately, including your excellent Postal 2 LP.

I mean, at least the story to Ace Attorney made sense. Danganronpa's plot and situations are just batshit insane, and not in a good way.

The thing about the two series is that in AA, your issue isn't necessarily solving crimes but actually serving justice to the culprits with the personal obstacles and broken legal system you have. While in Danganronpa, you must solve murders while setting aside your subjectivity, trying not to lose your faith in the cast of characters, and falling into despair - more about the morals of the characters themselves rather than the roles the characters play in obtaining justice.

Too bad you didn't highlight any of the latest 3 main games of Phoenix Wright. When it comes to minigames during trials, I think Phoenix Wright got them down quite well with the Lie detecting minigame of Apollo, mood matrix of Athena, and the Divination Seance of Rayfa, as well as the newly introduced Revisualization sequence (one that is my absolute favorite). All of those introduce a fun way of either presenting new evidence or ways to turn things around without feeling too hamfisted in its approach

I love and enjoy both, and I can't wait for another game from both series! Very good video btw!

Playing Danganronpa, I get the same feeling when I watch Game of Thrones or play Dark Souls. Like an ever present sense of gloom and the realization that nobody is completely safe. I enjoy stories where the threat of danger exist.. I never played Ace Attorney but since it's grounded in reality I doubt I can expect as much.

Very thorough and well reasoned.

Love both. Both should be loved. End of story.

I prefer Ace Attorney. At least the fandom does respect the spoiler policy.

I would love to see a crossover of Danganronpa and Ace Attorney. That would be so crazy.

To me the rhythm sections of Danganronpa always felt fucky, I'm actually good at rhythm games and literally make music from time to time but the timings on the rhythm sections always felt off, like the audio and visuals were somewhat desynced very slightly, even when watching someone elses gameplay it never felt quite right. also "improved" hangmans gambit is the worse thing to ever grace the video gane industry

Ace Attorney just does the cast, character development and narrative better, that's why i love it

As a huge fan of both ace attorney and danganronpa, I really liked this video! I've always thought about comparing the two myself. Nice job

Danganronpa is crazier, and follows more tropes. But I'm more invested in the characters than in ace attorney. The graphics in DR are very intriguing. I can tell you love Ace Attorney - and so do I! But Danganronpa will hold a special place in my heart ^^

I really want to see a game like these ones but from the other side, where you're the killer and have to throw everyone off of your trail.

I think the reason in DR that word of mouth testimonies are more trusted is because they're rarely wrong due to most of the cases not having a ton of people involved in the murder (as only the person who actually did the killing will be punished) so most of the time there isnt much motive for the characters to lie about their wear abouts and certain facts, especially because if they do theres a chance everyone ELSE will die.

Good video, subbed

Hey, how about Zero Escape? Judging on your opinions on these two, I feel like you'd probably get a kick out of those games. 999 is still probably one of my favorite games on the DS.

Danganropa is cool and all but does it have *Miles Edgeworth Investigation 2 English patched*

I love both of these series and the fact that you made a video on these was fantastic because it shen some light on these lesser known series. That being said, i'm gonna have to say I personally like Danganronpa more. I find that the slower paced gameplay of AA, while more logistics based, didn't have the same impact as Danganronpa's gameplay. I like that DR forces you to think on your feet and that it's alot more fast paced, because it forces me to not only think it through but to do it quick, which is a skill that has real world application. I find the minigames to be enjoyable too because it does give me that sense of satisfaction and also a break from clicking and reading the entire way through. It also keeps me engaged after 11 hour sessions, which is something I can't say with AA. I also think DR has the better story between the series. While AA has more episodic cases, the nature of DR's cases being a long, continuious story made the story feel like it had alot more impact and emotion behind it. AA gives you satisfaction, but I prefer to be emotionally tortured by my favorite characters being murderers and getting caught or being killed. It makes the story alot more memorable than that of AA's. Also, everybody in DR has their own style and extremely distinctive personality, while in AA, it felt more like a blur due to the realistic setting apart from the characters in each locale that partake in the trial.

Aww, I was looking forward to him review in the punishments specifically dangonrangpa's terrifing and physcologicslly tormenting executions

Ranking the games from each trilogy: 1. Trials and Tribulations 2. Ace Attorney 3. Danganronpa V3 4. Super Danganronpa 2 5. Trigger Happy Havoc 6. Justice For All

11:21 This is at the end of the day, a group of teenagers yelling at eachother Idk why I just found this hilarious, and it isnt wrong

Love the orchestrated PW ost in the background! :D

really loved this video! might even watch it again when I'm bored! lol When I first played danganronpa just in the last year, I really felt like it was just like Ace Attorney, which I have played all the games (at least the ones released in north america) and I love both series.

Regardless of which game is better, we can all agree we need a crossover, right? I just love thinking of all the possibilities: Maya: Hey guys, settle a bet for us, would you? Makoto: A bet? Kyoko: Fine. What is it? Phoenix: Look at this thing right here *shows ladder/stepladder* Makoto: Okay? Maya: Great! Now... is it a ladder, or a stepladder? Kyoko: W-what? Makoto: THAT'S what you're arguing about? Maya: What? Kyoko: That's ridiculous. Makoto: Yeah, who cares? Phoenix: Just answer the question! Makoto and Kyoko: Fine. It's a- Makoto: -ladder. Kyoko: -stepladder. *awkwardly stare at each other* Can you imagine if that happened, it'd be perfect!

I like both series in their own way. I got into Danganronpa by expecting a little bit of what I liked about Ace Attorney, and I came out of it with feelings of sadness for the characters who I got to know through each of the 3 main games. The trial systems may differ greatly, but they're still enjoyable. I'd have to say the twists that Danganronpa made had a lot more impact than the ones in Ace Attorney, and less predictable. Ace Attorney is usually trying to pin the blame on a specific individual who screams "I AM THE KILLER WHO PINNED THE BLAME ON THE DEFENDANT," but it's still not without its own sets of interesting moments and twists. If there's ever a new Danganronpa after V3, I'd be sure to pick it up. Same goes for Ace Attorney.

I litteraly saved before every Armament argument that way I can play them whenever I want.

Ah, I do enjoy both games. ^_^ Part of me wants to say that I enjoy Ace Attorney more but..I don't know, they are both fine in their own rights. ^^ Goodnight~!

I’d have loved if you had taken the newer mechanics like Apollo’s bracelet, Athena’s mood matrix or the climax red line thinking part they introduced in AA 5 & 6 Otherwise great vid, I like both as well^^ (Though my personal preference is Ace Attorney)