Tactical despair, eccentric schoolmates, and no debate trials in The Hundred Line—just you, a sword, and 100 days to survive.
When the news of Too Kyo Games came out in 2018, everyone was incredibly excited. Kazutaka Kodaka Danganronpa and Kotaro Uchikoshi Zero Escape started the studio, which was a dream come true, and four mysterious projects were teased on the stream. These projects, World’s End Club, Akudama Drive, and Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, turned into very different things over time.
But what about the fourth? Limit Cross Despair, an ambitious mix of the chaos and twists of Danganronpa and Zero Escape, disappeared into thin air until it came back with a new name, look, and studio. As The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, that long-lost project is now being worked on by the Media. Vision (known for Wild Arms) was released by Aniplex. And if it sounds like a fever dream made just for people who like cult classic visual novels mixed with tactical RPG elements, well, it is.
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- seems to give you a false sense of normalcy when you first look at it. You are Takumi Sumino, an average high school student with slightly below-average grades, a childhood friend named Kei, and a city that wakes you up by turning on the ceiling lights way too loudly.
Within seconds, emergency sirens, monsters falling from the sky, and a ghost telling Takumi to stab himself with a sword break through the illusion. As expected, this turns him into a bloody, magical boy and thrusts him into a new normal that is close to a nightmare.
Takumi is with a group of other teens who have been chosen to protect people. What was their job? Hold down the fort at Last Defense Academy for 100 days while things outside its walls continue to fall apart. Everyone in the class gets new skills and responsibilities, and even though there isn’t a killing game, the stakes are still very high.
Every scene in The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- drips with Kodaka’s signature surrealism, and the deeper you go, the more you can see Uchikoshi’s love for the complicated and metaphysical. The story goes in crazy, unpredictable directions, but the absurdities feel real because the writing is so good, and the story makes a lot of sense.
In The Hundred Line, you can live out your best post-apocalyptic life between each wave of bad things that are about to happen. It’s structured into parts that are like visual novels and parts that are like tactical RPG battles. You will decide how to spend your free time on days when there aren’t many classes.
You can hang out with your classmates, play pretend battles, make and give gifts, or go explore outside of school. Your social stats are affected by every choice you make, and these stats let you get character upgrades and explore more. Yes, it’s a life sim, but it has teeth. There isn’t much time left, and every choice matters, not just emotionally but also strategically.
You’re always deciding what to do first: do you work on a character’s relationship to get a new passive ability, or do you look for better gifts and gain favor elsewhere? You might only need fake fights to get the in-game money. As you play, one activity leads to the next in a satisfying loop, creating that rhythm of “just one more day.”
You fight like in a grid-based, turn-based strategy game. Each character on your team has their own personality, both in and out of battle, and you use action points to move, attack, or use skills. Even though it’s a structured method, it moves quickly, and the focus is on stringing together kills and smartly managing your resources. It’s more likely to be aggressive and take risks when you defeat strong enemies in the middle of your turn.
The Voltage Gauge is the most important part of this system. It charges up when characters attack enemies. When it’s full, it can be used to make powerful attacks that stun enemies and do a lot of damage. On the other hand, if a character’s health is very low, they can use their ultimate skill for free, but it will knock them out for the rest of the battle.
Even though it’s not a permadeath, it still feels heavy, especially since some missions depend on making it through several waves. Another bad reason is that killing a character in this way gives you extra points that you can use to improve your skills.
Some tactics games, like Fire Emblem, encourage you to be careful and slow down. The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-, on the other hand, wants you to go full anime berserker. Don’t be afraid to move forward or face the chaos. This aggressive structure not only fits the tone of the game but also makes the battles feel like parts of the story rather than separate problems.
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is one of the few strategy games where the choices you make in battle reflect the characters’ personalities. This makes each fight feel more personal. But the system does feel a little weak at first. The early game felt like it wasn’t the best-optimized game.
This game doesn’t use the usual XP system. Your characters get stronger by collecting points in battle and through activities. These points can then be used to improve their skills. It’s a nice break from the usual grind, and it fits in with the main idea of the game: everything you do counts. Want Kurada’s tomato-based AoE attack to be even more powerful? You can get points by fighting smart or by giving up your life for the cause.
The way the game is made makes both battles and time management riskier. You’re not constantly grinding to reach a certain level; instead, you’re being smart about where and how to spend your limited resources. It makes every choice feel like a strategic one, even when you’re not fighting.
These designs by Rui Komatsuzaki are once again very famous. If you’ve played Danganronpa, you’ll recognize the crazy hair, over-the-top silhouettes, and fashion statements that look like weapons. However, these characters stay around longer than in Kodaka’s other works. Since there isn’t a death game that constantly kills off characters, you can enjoy how each one’s design choices show who they are.
The environments in The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- aren’t as stylish as they could be, but they still work well. Even though both take place in small spaces, the Tokyo Residential Complex and the Last Defense Academy feel different. Combat maps are easy to read and keep to the point. They use color to draw attention to objectives, movement ranges, and threats.
During your 100-day sentence, the music will be with you all the time. It smoothly changes from slow, sad songs when you’re not fighting to fast, exciting songs when you are. Kodaka likes to add a bit of his signature “creepy circus music” energy when things are getting really tense.
Adding Japanese voice acting to any scene makes it more interesting. It makes you feel things without going too far, and it brings even the silliest characters down to Earth just enough so you can relate to them. Everything fits together because of the sound design. The world may be strange, but it sounds good.
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is the kind of game that feels like it shouldn’t exist: it’s a mix of different story ideas, a new way to play tactics, and a bunch of crazy weirdos who become like mold in your mind. It’s a bit of a strange duck but in the best way possible.
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- combines familiar gameplay elements with big changes that feel natural and not forced. This is a must-see for anyone who likes Kodaka or Uchikoshi. This game might be a nice surprise if you like strategy RPGs and want to try something new.
The one-of-a-kind game that’s polished enough to appeal to people outside of that niche is hard to find. The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- strikes the perfect balance and gives us a new kind of tactical visual novel mix we didn’t know we needed.
