Is The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- a return to glory?

Danganronpa fans rejoice, the dream team is back to recapture the magic of that series in a brand new strategy RPG. Too Kyo Games’ latest release, The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is a homage to their roots while branching out into something new. You will laugh, you will cry, and I’m here to tell you why you need to play this game.

Too Kyo Games was founded back in 2017 by developers Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi, previously at Spike Chunsoft who created the Danganronpa and Zero Escape franchises respectively. They are also joined by composer Masafumi Takeda and character designer Rui Komatsuzaki. Since then, they have released several games including World’s End Club and Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, but Hundred Line is by far their most ambitious title to date.

For context, I have over 80 hours in-game at the time of writing and I have still yet to see everything this game offers. But, before I get too ahead of myself, let’s discuss the story.

You play as Takumi Sumino, a normal young man living in the Tokyo Residential Complex (or TRC for short) with his parents and childhood friend Karua. One day the TRC is attacked by strange creatures and to save Karua you agree to use the power offered by a strange mascot character. After this, you wake up in a school with a group of other students and are told to fight for the sake of humanity against the invaders using the Haemoanima powers you all unlocked. You must defend the school for 100 days, after which humanity will be saved and you’re free to go home. As you can expect though, things are far from what they seem.

Gameplay is split between three major components. Firstly there’s the visual novel style slice of life exploring the school and getting to know your classmates. Second, there’s exploring the ruins outside for materials you can use to upgrade your equipment and craft items. And thirdly, of course fighting against the invaders who attack your school.

The Hundred Line’s combat is reminiscent of Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. Battles take place on a grid with an isometric view and the use of limited Action Points or AP for short and a voltage meter that builds over time to buff allies or unleash devastating special attacks. This combat feels very balanced and while I certainly found some characters more useful than others, everyone feels wholly unique and each has a role to play.

Getting to know your companions is back as well, though in a huge improvement from the Danganronpa games – there is no gacha mechanic for gift items! Instead, by using scavenged resources you can craft items in the Gift-o-matic, however, some of these items are locked off with story progression or finding specific key items during exploration. The guesswork is also largely cut out as talking with your friends unveils keywords for their wishlist you can use to narrow down what gifts they would like. Doing so buffs your stats that level up to aid further exploration as well as higher tiers of weapon upgrades.

This may sound like a lot of things to do during your free time and honestly, it is. It’s far more involved than the Free Time events of Danganronpa but with the shift to a strategy RPG some of this is necessary for upgrading your units between battles. Fortunately, you can go about this at your own pace or if you really want, just skip over it entirely. You can also adjust the difficulty at any time so if you’re mostly here for the story, pick the easy mode and rock on!

The game positively oozes style too. While not to the level of the likes of Persona, the menus, UI, backgrounds and character art are all fantastic, distinct, and very clear to understand. Takada also knocks it out of the park with the composition of songs with them having his distinctive sound and a very Danganronpa feel.

You’ve likely noticed by now that I’ve referenced Danganronpa a lot throughout this review. While it’s true I’m a big fan of the series, there are also a lot of references to the franchise. Some are subtle like how Takumi wakes up in the school in a very similar fashion to Makoto in Danganronpa 1.

Others are more overt such as Darumi constantly wanting to play a killing game and talking about dead series at former developers. Very on the nose. Hundred Line is undoubtedly both a love letter to Danganronpa and an attempt to recapture the magic of those games while not just treading the same ground. It’s a difficult tightrope to walk but something they manage to accomplish well.

Part of why I put so much time into The Hundred Line isn’t just because I love it (though that’s certainly true), but because the game is touted as having multiple endings. Many games claim this but it’s a flimsy claim at best with simply a last-minute choice changing your outcome. I won’t say much since I don’t want to spoil things, but while the first part of the game is a linear experience, the second part opens up your choices significantly and they make one hell of an impact on the story.

I wouldn’t have wanted to spend so much time playing if it weren’t for the cast of characters also being so strong. Getting to know them and their pasts, how they fight with each other and makeup, and how they all strive so hard to live really captured me. From characters you love (Tsubasa) to characters you love to hate (Gaku), you won’t just feel lukewarm about a single one of them.

There is so much I want to say about this game, but to avoid spoiling things I’ll leave it here. Perhaps once embargoes have passed and more people have had time to play, I’ll write something about my full experience of The Hundred Line. I’ll leave you with this though.

The Hundred Line- Last Defense Academy- is a return to form for those wishing to experience the magic of Danganronpa and Zero Escape again. This game pulled me in and had me crafting theory after theory, attempting to puzzle out its secrets and falling head over heels for its characters. The pacing may go off a bit sometimes but trust me, stick it out to the credits. You’ll thank me later.