The worst one of the three games, it's honestly not even a contest. It does get major points for being the first one. Some of the things I really enjoyed about the first game is the oppressive atmosphere which I feel like the latest entries didn't quite capture and the more grounded, "iconic" cast.
The characters:
Makoto Naegi - absolute wet blanket of the character, and the one of the characters that really emphatizes one of my least favourite things about the series. That being said I can't fault him for being an enthusiastic hope-filled idiot 4/10
Kyoko Kirigiri - a really good character which is supposed to bring Makoto down to earth from his bullshit sometimes, has a really nice backstory, and overall gets some good development. She is a bit Mary Sue-ish but she is still the second best girl in the game 8/10
Byakuya Togami - a giant anti-hero asshole who arguably has a heart of gold? Something I really don't appreciate about him is how he never truly gets called out for his bullshit aside from the fourth trial, but he brings some really interesting chemistry to the trials and is arguably one of the smartest characters in the game aside from Kyoko 8/10
Toko Fukawa - really cool idea for a character which I felt like was a bit squandered, considering after the second trial she doesn't do much else, that being said she gets some of the funniest moments in the game and her character really shines in Ultra Despair Girls, 6/10 for DR1 and 8/10 for UDG
Aoi Asahina - a really cute, sweet girl who doesn't know any better, she is a bit bland but probably the most normal character in the game and she has wonderful interactions with the rest of the cast 7/10
Yasuhiro Hagakure - oh boy, where do I even start? Complete fucking doofus and a major asshole (if you play his FTE you'll know what I am talking about) but he is also the funniest character in the game, I mean that entire spiel about Kyoko being a ghost in chapter 5 is the funniest shit ever 7/10
Sayaka Maizono - sadly she is a only a plot device, so you don't really get to know her that well, the waifu-baiting would go on to be a lot better executed in DR2 and V3 than here 3/10
Leon Kuwata - kind of funny, but overall he is just kind of a boring dick, that being said 11037 still gets me to giggle (especially considering the series itself dumps on it) so he is automatically better than Sayaka 4/10
Chihiro Fujisaki - another waifu (husbando?) bait character, a real cinnamon roll type and if you actually didn't feel sad when he died you are pretty heartless 6/10
Mondo Owada - he is a great yin to Chihiro's yang (the duality between those two characters is one of the best things about the second trial), has a good tragic backstory and overall probably my second favourite motive in the first game 6/10
Kiyotaka Ishimaru - you say Chihiro is the cinnamon roll of DR1? well you are wrong, because this guy is, and he does it way better than Chihiro, he is the first character I befriended in the game and the other characters always shitting on him made me feel really bad because he always tried his best ;_; he didn't deserve his fate, best boy of DR1 9/10
Hifumi Yamada - what you see is what you get with Hifumi, he is a fat weeb and if you like fat weebs (like me) you'll enjoy him at least somewhat 6/10
Celestia Ludenberg - what a giant waste of an interesting character, I haven't gotten into the trials yet but the third trial completely ruins everything about her character and has the worst motive in the game, fuck her 4/10
Sakura Ogami - one of the BEST characters in the series, she is also someone who tried her hardest, and she also has the best motive out of everybody ;_; WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE 10/10
Mukuro Ikusaba - THE 16TH STUDENT IS HIDING SOMEWH- you know the drill, also considering her FTE she seemed like an alright person, but eh, just another plot device 3/10
Junko Enoshima - i saved the best for last because HOLY SHIT JUNKO IS THE LITERAL WORST like what the fuck were they thinking with her?????? i mean her personality switching shtick is kind of funny but she is ridiculously obnoxious and quite possibly my least favourite thing in the ENTIRE series holy shit die junko/10
The cases:
1 case - it's alright, i'll excuse it because it's a tutorial case, and it does wrap up pretty nicely, but the 11037 thing just completely annihilates any sense of mystery if you are not braindead 5/10
2 case - this is where the steam really begins to pick up, very interesting case with the whole room switcheroo, but how did Buakuya never get called out on tampering with the FUCKING CRIME SCENE? they all just kind of brush it off, also poor taka ;_; 7/10
3 case - this is the WORST trial in the entire series, what the fuck were they thinking with this one? not only is the plan completely retarded, relies on a ton of coincidences, and transparent, it also completely ruins Celestia's character by having her go full retard in the middle of the trial. This woman is supposed to LIE well, she is the ULTIMATE GAMBLER, how does she collapse under pressure from fucking MAKOTO????? also the motive is trash "lol i want a castle" fuck you game 1/10
4 case - this is my personal case in the first game, it all just comes together so nicely, and I love how the first theory you propose during the trial is correct, and you spend the remainder of it eliminating all the other possibilities. certain characters are at their stupidest during the trial and it's for all the better. the motive is really good and I felt really bad for Aoi in the end even though she did try to basically murder us 9/10
5 case - not really anything to write about, this is entirely a plot device case, the murder itself is a bit cool but eh 4/10
6 case - a complete trash fire of an ending, this one is so bad it echoes in DR2's ending and makes it worse, the hope/despair shit is incredibly gay, the memory loss plot twist can be seen from a mile away, it moves at a glacial pace, and in the end you just don't feel like you've reall accomplished anything considering the entire trial is just Junko spoonfeeding you the answer, HOW THE FUCK DID A HIGHSCHOOL GIRL START AN APOCALYPTIC EVENT THIS IS SO FUCKING STUPID the junko reveal was p cool tho 2/10