The ending of Danganronpa V3 is extremely divisive, but I sort of loved it. It's something different, it slightly lightened a plot that had become a little too bleak for my tastes (while still having emotional weight for the characters), and, to be honest, it's hilarious.
I still have my notes from the exact moment of the reveal:
ARE YOU SERIOUS
I CAN'T BELIEVE COSPOX IS PLAYING A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THIS GAME'S CLIMAX
This is incredible. This is incredible. This is the stupidest thing in the entire world and I love it.
DANGANRONPA 53
I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING
This is incredible. This is the best game I've ever played.
As ridiculous as the ending revelations are, a lot does make more sense in the light of them. I really didn't like the motive for the first murder: kill someone, or everyone dies. Why would Monokuma force the players into killing like that, when in previous instalments he's been more interested in the despair of knowing how far you'll go in situations that don't have to be life or death?
As it turns out, though, the motive makes perfect sense, because this Monokuma isn't driven by any sort of ideology. He's creating entertainment, and that means he doesn't care what he has to do to kick off the murders; if nobody gets murdered, it's not entertaining.
(Admittedly there's some precedent for 'kill or be killed' motives in the funhouse case of the second game, where everyone was cut off from food. I wasn't a big fan of that motive either.)
The ending of Danganronpa V3 also explains why everyone has such a weird, over-the-top backstory, even by Danganronpa standards. And I'll grudgingly say that the presence of the Monokubs also makes perfect sense in the light of that revelation. Of course they'd introduce a stupid 'Monokuma has a load of kids now!' gimmick in the hope of shaking up series fifty-three. I'm not a fan of the Monokubs, but I can understand why they're there.
Of course, the chapter six revelations also explain a lot about Kaede's murder plan. It's sort of brilliant that the game anticipates all the 'wait a second...' thoughts players would have after chapter one and goes, 'Yep, you were right all along.' It's a terrible plan! It would never have worked! She couldn't have known that music would play to mask the sound of the shot put, and it would probably have missed anyway! Well, yes. It's a terrible plan. Kaede's not good at murdering. The producers played the music to give her the best chance possible, and it still failed.
I suppose my response to the ending of Danganronpa V3 is a lot like my response to the ending of Ghost Trick (side note: you should play Ghost Trick). 'WHAT, THAT'S RIDICULOUS, THEY JUST PULLED THAT OUT OF NOWHERE, THERE'S NO WAY THIS WAS PLANNED FROM... wait, but it would explain this, and that, and that...'
Some people feel that the ending of Danganronpa V3 cheapens the events of the first two games. I don't personally think it does at all. It's true that the ending establishes the events of Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2 as fictional, but all that means is that they're fictional within the universe of Danganronpa V3, just as they are in our universe. In the world of the first two games, the events are still very real.
I love the sequence of minigames where you succeed by doing absolutely nothing. I can't believe Team Danganronpa made a game with that ends with all the characters striving to prevent any more Danganronpa being made, with the goal 'make the players feel so sympathetic towards the characters in these games that they'll accept it if we don't make the games any more.'
Given Danganronpa V3's ending, it seems unlikely that there will be any new Danganronpa titles. I love these games wildly and passionately and ridiculously, but the team's cunning plan to make the audience accept that there won't be any more of them thoroughly worked on me. I want Shuichi and his friends to be happy! But they can only be happy if Danganronpa ends, so I'll accept that ending.
Then again, now that Danganronpa 2x2 has been announced, who knows what the future of the series looks like?