What would the main theme be for this game? (SPOILERS FOR PRETTY MUCH THE WHOLE GAME)

[BOOPERU]

Every DR game has had a specific moral or theme behind it.
The main theme for DR 1 is that no matter how much despair you face, its important to never lose Hope and to not give in to Despair. DR 2 and 3 focuses on the future that one can make for themselves once they find the Hope to overcome their Despair.


But DRV3 suggests that the theme is "truth or lies". This is supported by the fact that their are so many aspects of the game that have to do with LYING. The new mechanic in the Class Trials, Kokichi, Maki deceiving the group of her talent, the false Flashback lights, the false WORLD ITSELF, Shuichi's determination to find the truth (though this may be due to the personality of being the ultimate detective).

All these suggests that the theme/moral of the game is to choose who you trust and don't trust carefully. An example is Rantaro's negligence to sharing his info with the rest. He only acted this way because of the survival perk that he received which included the video of himself giving instructions on how he survived the previous game, "share with those you trust" blah blah blah.


My guess for the main theme is that it would be "truth or lies". By finding out the truths and the lies, one can interpret different choices as hope or despair based on more than what they appear to be at first glance. In the final trial, one would think that voting for K1-B0 would be the right choice but in actuality, voting for him would ensure that the audience would get what they want and the demands for another killing game would not decrease. The real solution was to not play the game and not vote. And the only way Shuichi and rest came to this conclusion was because they searched for the truth of both options.


This is just my opinion and I literally wrote this right after finishing the story, so don't blame me if my logic is flawed hahahaha. Can't wait to hear/read the rest of your ideas :)

BTW this my first time doing this hehehe

[Battler Ushiromiya]

It's both "the nature of truth vs lies" and "fiction can change reality and people".

[TheKingofUruk]

^ What battler said but to put it into my own words the theme of the game is truth vs lies while the moral is that fiction can change reality

[neildittmar]

The theme... hmm...

I guess the one that most folks will likely agree on is that fiction, despite not being based in truth, has the potential to create real change. Shuichi even intimates, if not outright declares, this in the games epilogue.

As for any subtext that one could draw, I believe much of that is left up to the individual player. Any one that is derived is almost instantly debatable though, which definitely presents a challenge.

I feel this issue is rooted in V3's tendency to use the terms "fiction" and "lie" interchangeably, particularly throughout it's conclusion. This presents a problem as both have different connotations and potentially different intents. Fiction is often clear in it's position as presenting a narrative that's not based in fact. Lies on the other hand attempt to present themselves as truths, intending to swerve, derail or otherwise deceive. As such, many of the secondary themes, morals, and even conclusions one could draw from the game are obfuscated by the synonomous usage of "fiction" and "lie."

The introduction of parallelism between V3 the show and V3 the game also presents some interesting opportunities for interpretation of themes, motivations, et. al. For example, "Team Danganronpa" and "the fans of the killing game" could very well be interpreted as code speak for Spike Chunsoft / Kodaka and fans of the Danganronpa series of games respectively. If one accepts that, the proceeding events of V3's ending become much more malicious towards players, culminating in their very own "despair" as everything they loved about the Danganronpa series is systematically taken away from them and destroyed.

Again, that's just one interpretation that's certainly debatable. Therein lays the aforementioned challenge :-)

[battler]

Truths and lies...