Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter

Kumitantei: Old School Slaughter has the potential to be a great murder-mystery horror title, and it has a lot of the key ingredients for that. It just needs to be a little more consistent in its leaps in logic and dial back on – or resolve – the other gameplay and aural annoyances. This is worth checking out for Danganronpa fans in particular, and I look forward to seeing if and how later episodes can improve on this entry's weaker points.

Is the best thing to happen to the killing game genre since Danganronpa V3. Where most spiritual successors flatten the formula into imitation, Mango Factory understands it deeply enough to push it somewhere new — a grittier, stranger, more atmospherically unsettling place that feels like the genre finally growing up without losing its charm. Episode 1 has rough edges: borrowed beats that sell its originality short, minigames that need tuning, and a card battle system that hasn’t yet found its full footing. But the cast is extraordinary, the atmosphere is unlike anything else in the genre, and the narrative hook at the end of the episode is genuinely stunning. At $13.49 for what’s here, it’s one of the best-value purchases of 2026 so far. Get in early — this one’s going to be something special when it’s complete.

In Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter, the developer takes great pride in borrowing elements from other games, sometimes to an excessive degree but always on purpose. It's impossible to deny that it's similar to Danganronpa, from the idea of a killing game to the way the trials are set up. Still, it manages to stand out on its own thanks to its unusual setting, strange cast, and new ways to play.

Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter is a video game drenched with passion and love towards the titles that inspired it.

Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter - Episode 1 brings renewed interest to the death game formula, between more openly questioning the meritocratic philosophy of the Danganronpa world and boasting a cohesive cast, very well-positioned for chaos (or apathy, as their captors would have it). This is a project worth following to its eventual conclusion.

For better or worse, Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter Episode 1 wears its Danganronpa inspiration on its sleeve, which is a great thing for someone like me who loves that sort of story and gameplay. Despite some flaws and a lack of tutorial, it’s a fun murder mystery with odd-yet-likeable characters and intriguing hints for what the future will hold.