Opening with a bold tease: A familiar tragedy returns, and this time it feels both comforting and new all at once. But here’s where it gets controversial... a classic victim from the series resurfaces in a fresh context, shaking up fan expectations while inviting new players to the party.
Danganronpa 2×2 is on the way in 2026, marking the franchise’s first new release in quite a while. The game revisits the main events of 2012’s Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and also introduces an entirely new storyline. AUTOMATON had the chance to sample the special trial version, and here are the impressions from a roughly 15-minute demo. (That build is the same one shown at the Danganronpa 15th Anniversary Festival.)
Enter Nagito Komaeda
The demo opens with Nagito Komaeda leaning over Hajime Hinata and asking, “Hey… are you okay?”, echoing the opening moment from the original game. Komaeda’s soft, alluring cadence immediately stands out.
While the scene composition remains the same—Komaeda looking down at Hajime—it’s notable that Komaeda’s t-shirt design has been updated since the original. As iconic figures from Goodbye Despair, their first exchange here feels nostalgically familiar.
The demo is packed with nods for longtime fans. Although the plot diverges from the main game, the killer this time is Yasuhiro Hagakure, a victim who already appeared in both the original game’s demo and the Danganronpa V3 demo. Seeing Hagakure, who’s typically used for comic relief, cast again as the victim is surprising and oddly fitting.
Because Hagakure rarely appears in the main Goodbye Despair narrative, it’s amusing that no one recognizes him, which Gundham Tanaka laments as “a pitiful corpse whose name no one knows.”
A new investigation area
Hope’s Peak Academy students—elite youths with extraordinary talents—are perplexed by the sight of an unfamiliar body. Monokuma and Monomi, the mascot characters, appear on the scene. Monokuma declares that the killer is among the students and announces a class trial to uncover the truth, while Monomi protests that something like this cannot be happening.
A murder has occurred, the victim is unknown, and there are strange non-human presences in the room. The setup delivers multiple mysteries in quick succession, building tension and a sense of unpredictability. The demo wastes no time diving into the investigation phase, where you gather evidence for the upcoming trial.
Playing from Hajime’s first-person perspective, you inspect the body and converse with others to collect Truth Bullets that will be used during debates. The victim is found inside a boathouse—a new location not present in the original game—slumped against a wooden crate.
With help from characters like Mikan Tsumiki and Chiaki Nanami in the search, you determine the cause of death as stabbing, a crucial clue that will shape the trial. After inspecting the boathouse, you move outside to scrutinize other suspicious details.
Revamped visuals boost the classic resort vibe
Stepping out from the gloomy boathouse, you’re greeted by bright, tropical scenery. Jabberwock Island—the resort setting from Goodbye Despair—has been updated with modern-consoles visuals, allowing you to see farther and appreciate the island’s scale. The sun-drenched lighting conveys a richer presentation, and the investigation theme “Ikoroshia” has been rearranged for 2×2.
Outside, Peko Pekoyama offers a lead: the group planned to meet at the beach beyond the boathouse. While that alone isn’t enough to pin down the culprit, Byakuya Togami notes that whoever first found the body may hold the key.
Monokuma adds a twist: a body discovery announcement is triggered by the number of people who locate the corpse, meaning the order of discovery could be crucial. With that, the investigation ends and the class trial begins.
The chaotic class trial
During the trial, each character presents their account of events. As Hajime, you scrutinize contradictions between their statements and the collected evidence. Clues appear as Truth Bullets you fire at conflicting remarks to refute them.
The trial feels chaotic because emotions run high and everyone is a potential suspect. A murder has occurred, and even basic questions like motive remain murky. Some characters, like Mikan, cling to their innocence with desperation, while others’ statements raise more questions than answers.
What’s entertaining about the trial in this demo is how unknowing can be a powerful tool. When someone reveals information only the culprit would know, suspicion spikes—the classic “Why would they know that?” moment.
With real-time statements and a ticking clock (even with assist options to slow things), the tension is palpable. Identifying the perpetrator from among your own peers is unnerving, yet aligning testimony with solid evidence and watching the truth unfold is as satisfying as fans remember.
The demo doesn’t reveal the culprit, but it delivers the core thrill of Danganronpa—the careful dismantling of contradictions one by one.
A concise but dense Danganronpa experience
Simply put, playing one of the series’ most beloved entries on modern hardware is thrilling, and the prospect of a brand-new storyline atop that foundation is a real treat for fans. Even in a short 15-minute window, the demo neatly condenses what makes Danganronpa’s investigations and class trials so enthralling into a compact, densely packed experience.
Danganronpa 2×2 is slated for 2026 releases on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Note: The original content has been reworded for freshness and clarity while preserving all key information and timeline details. A few design updates, such as the new boathouse location, refreshed visuals, and revised character appearances, are highlighted to help newcomers understand what to expect.
