Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls puts you in control of young Komaru Naegi (the younger sister of the first game's protagonist). She has been held captive since before the events of
Trigger Happy Havoc, but all that ends when the city gets overrun by the black and white robotic bears known as Monokumas. Komaru is saved by a group called Future Foundation and its leader, but before she can get to safety, she ends up captured, once again, by five elementary school students who want to remake the world into a paradise for kids. When they think that Komaru is too old to fit in with their plans, they send her out and put a hit on her.
It is then that she meets the game's other main character, Toko Fukawa. Toko was one of the survivors from the first game, and her strange personality will become a vital part to surviving the mayhem that has taken over the city. Players of Trigger Happy Havoc will recall that Toko has a split personality; her other is a serial killer known as Genocide Jill, and Toko has started to learn some control over the more violent person living in her head.
While Toko is a force to be reckoned with while she is in her killer mood, the player can't spend too much time controlling this character. Instead, Komaru has access to a megaphone-style gun that Future Foundation gave her. This acts as your primary weapon for most of the game, and it can do a bit more than simply take out enemies.
This weapon, called a Hacking Gun, translates Komaru's voice into various Truth Bullets (a concept taken from the other Danganronpa titles). Her first, and primary, command is "Break." This damages the enemy robots and can sometimes cause a bit more havoc if fired just right. Other attacks include the ability to burn, make your target dance, or even take control of your target in order to get them to attack other enemies. The Hacking Gun also features a non-offensive option that lets you activate buttons, machines and even robotic cars. While this is used primarily to interact with your surroundings, the ability to turn on some machines will help you get out of some tough situations, especially if there are several Monokumas near an unpowered robotic car.
When you find yourself surrounded or with little ammo, it is time to switch to Genocide Jill. The shooter-heavy game switches to a hack-n-slash experience as you slice through the enemies with Jill's razor sharp scissors. If you do enough damage, you can activate one of Genocide Jill's more powerful attacks, but this is rarely necessary as she will tear through the immediate enemies pretty quickly. While Jill is an impressive ally, she comes with a shelf life since she will revert back to the meek Toko if you spend too much time as Jill.
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls also adds some personalization aspects to the action genre by letting you upgrade both the Hacking Gun and Jill's melee attacks. As you take out Monokumas, you will earn experience, until you eventually level up and earn points that you can put towards both characters' skill sets. You can also spend money dropped by enemies to add even more enhancements to your arsenal.
Even though Ultra Despair Girls is a very combat-heavy game, it delves into puzzles occasionally. These primarily come in the form of rooms that you need to get past, but you have to be aware of where the enemies are and what they are doing. These rooms are preceded by an arcade game that acts as a surveillance camera into the next room. The game then challenges you to get past the room with some set conditions. These can be anything from getting through without being seen or killing all of the enemies with a certain number of attacks (often one or none).
