Kazutaka Kodaka, creator of the murderous high-school visual novel series Danganronpa, has said he’s not averse to the concept of bringing it back for another game.
In an interview with Twinfinite, Kodaka spoke about his upcoming game Rain Code and his decision to opt for an entirely new story rather than make yet another Danganronpa game. “It’s not like I don’t want to make another Danganronpa game, but I have a lot of ideas and want to create something new,” he said. “Someday I may go back, maybe.”
He also added that developer Spike Chunsoft wasn’t pushing for another pop art murderfest, joking that if he asked to make another one “they might say yes, so I didn’t ask.”
Kodaka also called Danganronpa “more of a niche game,” a surprising choice of words considering the game’s explosive popularity and rampant cosplay community. He said that “it’d be cool” to return to the series eventually, but ultimately is currently focusing on creating new stories and experimenting. “I’m not really interested in doing the same thing other people may be doing,” he concluded. “I’d rather not pick the safe option. When people start to forget about Danganronpa, perhaps I’ll be more inclined to work on it again.”
The last game in the series, 2017’s Danganronpa V3, offered a pretty definitive (if not divisive) ending and I can’t exactly imagine how a sequel could add anything further to the narrative. There are definitely some possibilities in how a new Danganronpa could build off its existing universe, or even tell an entirely new and original story separate from the original four games. Though I have my own hesitations, I’d definitely end up picking up whatever Kodaka put down in front of me. It’s nice to see the door on Danganronpa isn’t closed completely, and there’s a chance we may be seeing murderous Monokuma and a gang of new ultimate high schoolers in the future.