Nippon Ichi America have recently been pushing a new franchise in their repertoire. Titled Dangan Ronpa, the game meshes Ace Attorney and Professor Layton like-puzzles; but with a whole lot of crazy. Following the release of the first game a few weeks ago, NISA have also announced that the sequel: Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, is hitting Western shores. When asked why this title has been all the rage for NISA lately, public relations manager David Alonzo said:
“We feel like this game’s slowly gained some exposure since its PSP inception through word of mouth, but recently it’s definitely come to a head, especially with Funimation doing the anime. More and more people are recognizing Monokuma and other characters, but most importantly we feel it’s definitely a really strong title that tells an amazing story in a unique way. Visual novels may not be at the forefront of Western gamers’ minds, but I feel like this title will definitely change that up!”
It comes as no surprise that Funimation has had a hand in anime-style video-games, making the push of Dangan Ronpa all the more understandable. Unfortunately, the game has only sold 11,000 copies in North America since its release on the Vita. Hopefully this rise in popularity will continue to bring the games over here.
As with the Zero Escape series, it seems visual novels are finding a more developed niche in the west. We here at CGM say, keep it coming!