Being the second game of the series, I 100% recommend playing the first game in the series first as this game expands the connected world of the Danganronpa series.

Danganronpa 2 is a great sequel to a great visual novel. While it does not try to particularly improve many of its visuals and carries a decent amount of the original soundtrack, it adds enough new gameplay elements and songs and remixes to keep the gameplay going and feeling fresh, while the story is arguably a huge improvement over the first game.

As previously said, probably partly due to its relatively short production time, the game's UI or gameplay still manage to feel very familiar to those who have played the first game, although there are new gameplay elements and class trial minigames, although some of them are... not very polished at best. Regardless they manage to keep the player engaged, and while the soundtrack borrows heavily from the first game, especially with multiple remixes of the old themes, it still manages to be enjoyable and the new tracks are all very nice.

The story is where the Danganronpa series shines, and Danganronpa 2 delivers a surprisingly enjoyable cast, with a majority of the characters being a step up from the previous game's. There are more connections between the characters and you will feel very connected with them by the end of the game, and some of the characters feel particularly fresh, completely shattering the player's expectations and delivering insane and unexpected twists to the player's previous knowledge of the games. This results in the cast being incredibly enjoyable as you often cannot quite tell what is going in their minds, and by the end of the game where you will know most of the truths of the many mysteries of the games your idea of who the characters really were may change entirely. The game's story manages to feel fresh and unique, and the ending was arguably far more thrilling than the first game's. While some parts of the game may manage to feel unrealistic compared to the first game, it still manages to explain itself in full and not shatter the player's immersion in the world it's built.

Overall, this game is my favorite in the series, particularly due to the amazing characters it introduces, with Nagito in particular being the most enjoyable character in the series for me. While the visuals and especially the music doesn't change too much, it still manages to feel new and not hold the fantastic storyline back and I wholly recommend playing it if you enjoyed the first game.

Being the second game of the series, I 100% recommend playing the first game in the series first as this game expands the connected world of the Danganronpa series. Danganronpa 2 is a great sequel to a great visual novel. While it does not try to particularly improve many of its visuals and carries a decent amount of the original soundtrack, it adds enough new gameplay elements and songs and remixes to keep the gameplay going and feeling fresh, while the story is arguably a huge improvement over the first game. As previously said, probably partly due to its relatively short production time, the game's UI or gameplay still manage to feel very familiar to those who have played the first game, although there are new gameplay elements and class trial minigames, although some of them are... not very polished at best. Regardless they manage to keep the player engaged, and while the soundtrack borrows heavily from the first game, especially with multiple remixes of the old themes, it still manages to be enjoyable and the new tracks are all very nice. The story is where the Danganronpa series shines, and Danganronpa 2 delivers a surprisingly enjoyable cast, with a majority of the characters being a step up from the previous game's. There are more connections between the characters and you will feel very connected with them by the end of the game, and some of the characters feel particularly fresh, completely shattering the player's expectations and delivering insane and unexpected twists to the player's previous knowledge of the games. This results in the cast being incredibly enjoyable as you often cannot quite tell what is going in their minds, and by the end of the game where you will know most of the truths of the many mysteries of the games your idea of who the characters really were may change entirely. The game's story manages to feel fresh and unique, and the ending was arguably far more thrilling than the first game's. While some parts of the game may manage to feel unrealistic compared to the first game, it still manages to explain itself in full and not shatter the player's immersion in the world it's built. Overall, this game is my favorite in the series, particularly due to the amazing characters it introduces, with Nagito in particular being the most enjoyable character in the series for me. While the visuals and especially the music doesn't change too much, it still manages to feel new and not hold the fantastic storyline back and I wholly recommend playing it if you enjoyed the first game.