The game is set at a special, elite high school called Hope's Peak Academy which only accepts students of the highest caliber in various fields. To this effect, each student has a title in akin to "Super High School Level". However every year it accepts one average high school student chosen by raffle and given the title of "Super High School Level Good-Luck". The events of the game are shown through the eyes of the protagonist Makoto Naegi, one such average student.
When Naegi arrives outside of the gates of the Academy, he loses consciousness and wakes up inside the school. Naegi ends up meeting other newly picked Super High School Students who also lost consciousness outside of the school gates.
It is revealed that they are trapped inside the school for life by a sadistic, remote controlled, black and white bear called Monokuma. The only way to escape is by "graduating." In order to graduate, a student needs to commit a murder without any of the other students figuring it out. If the culprit succeeds at committing the perfect murder, then the rest of the students are sentenced to death while the culprit gets to leave the school.
An animation of the game has aired today and is directed by Seiji Kishi, who directed the adaption of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 into Persona 4: The Animation.