Dangan Ronpa.

[Ash]

Dangan Ronpa - Ultra Despair Girls has been announced for a Western release this Autumn.

This game takes place between Dangan Ronpa 1 and 2, and it is likely that looking at any screenshot will spoil you if you haven't finished Dangan Ronpa 1, since one of the surviving characters from 1 is the secondary main character in this game. As it does take place before Dangan Ronpa 2, you'll probably be okay looking at pre-release material if you haven't finished Dangan Ronpa 2, but I'd personally recommend that you at least still finish the first case.

Unlike Dangan Ronpa 1 and 2, this game is a puzzle-shooter; you have a megaphone that you use to shoot Monokuma's with. The basic plot is that the younger sister of Makoto, Komaru, is forced, by a group of children, known as the Warriors of Hope, to play a game for her survival in a place called Towa City.

Just two things to point out:

Although this game is an interquel, and is a puzzle-shooter, rather than murder-mystery, the story of this game is still very important, and provides some foundation for Dangan Ronpa 3.

This game has considerably more "fan-service" and darker themes than the previous games.

[OL]

I need to get on this series before it leaps in price, I think (if it ever ends up doing that). Shouldn't be too bad sometime soon, as both of the first two games together cost roughly what a new console game would.
I still haven't even finished Virtue's Last Reward by Chunsoft (shame on me) even though I was one of the earliest ones I know of that was rallying behind 999 (which also took me a long time to get around to). Visual novels like these usually require a very specific mood for me to get into, but I tend to love them when I finally get there.

And the new one, the Interlude; it gives me a weird Killer 7 vibe, which ain't a bad thing. I looked at a video, but I won't remember it enough by the time I play the first game for it to be a spoiler.

[Ash]

I'm sorry, this is quite a bump, but Ultra Despair Girls is out in North America now, and will start releasing in Europe tomorrow.

I think I'm going to wait until the game is on sale. I watched some of the game on Youtube, and the pacing seems a little off, and while I know Komaru is probably the most realistic protagonist so far with her reactions, I can't help but dislike her.