Danganronpa wasn’t just a hit, it was the first visual novel to penetrate the Western gaming market in a big way. As the series went on and series creator Kazutaka Kodaka’s vision grew more ambitious with every title. His games became less visual novel-like and more visual video game-like as more systems and mechanics found their way into his projects.
World’s End Club incorporated cinematic platformer elements. Master Detective Archives: Rain Code embraced dazzling production values and full 3D exploration of a city. For Too Kyo Games’ next trick, they would go back to what made Danganronpa a huge hit, but completely invert its premise and emphasize epic tactical turn-based RPG-style battles.
Only 15 students are the last hope for the planet. Who are these invaders set on Earth’s annihilation? Gear up, troopers; class is in session as we review The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy.
This is a review coupled with a supplemental video review. You can watch the video review or read the full review of the below:
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
Developer: Too Kyo Games, Media.Vision
Publisher: XSEED Games, Aniplex
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
Release Date: April 24, 2025
Price: $59.99
In a world where society lives under a massive roof structure and its citizens have never seen the sky, everyone routinely seeks shelter at specific times of the day. Aside from the drills and the absence of a sky, you might think this was everyday, normal Japan. Daily life for everyone gets completely upended when mysterious, cute invaders appear, wreaking havoc.
All hope is not lost when a dumpy little mascot with an exposed heart and brain recruits youths to serve in a military academy. The 15 students must hold the line and defend a school that houses a secret weapon that would turn the tide of war if the invaders acquire it. If they fail, the world is doomed.
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a story packed with mystery and intrigue. Just like Kodaka’s past games, the narrative is dense with diabolical foreshadowing and blatant clues dangling right in front of your face that won’t even realize are important.
As the story unfolds and grows ever more complex, more gameplay elements are drip-fed, deepening the game. At first you’ll feel right at home thinking this is going to be another one of Kodaka’s wild rides, but then it throws you in the middle of a tactical battle.
The Hundred Line is best described as “Danganronpa Tactics”, but with some of its best known tropes shockingly inverted. If you think you know where the story is gonna go, the narrative seemingly is very aware of the meta and throws curve balls to keep players in a constant state of doubt.
You never feel like you know what the hell is going on, until you know what the hell is going on. Just as you are coming to your senses, you’re roaming around a overworld that resembles a Mario Party board game, getting into battles, collecting items, and making Oregon Trail-style decisions that may or may not leave your party hopelessly crippled.
Coping with the sudden invasion of cuddly killers from day-to-day is one thing, but to also choosing which schoolmate to spend free time with is a whole different ball of stress. A major pillar of building Takumi’s stats depends on who he hangs out with and what gifts he gives them.
There is a crafting system centered on the materials picked up during the board game module which can also be spent on powering up the other students. It’s a tight upgrade system that inevitably leads to players being locked out from overpowering since more advanced materials can only be acquired later in the story.
Being restricted with powering up keeps battles challenging and tense, which is fitting to the theme and tone of the narrative where a lot is riding on the (hundred) line. There are plenty of fights where things can go wrong very fast and stat figures are kept very low for easy and fast calculation.
The odds may be hopelessly against the Last Defense Academy, but don’t despair, because hope comes in the form of hemoanima powers. During battle, the team gets four turns before the enemy goes, but killing a certain type of foe nets an extra turn. It’s possible to keep going so long as you keep a steady flow of kills of the right type of enemy.
With every action, the voltage gauge increases which allows the party members to unleash their hemoanima powers once it hits 100%. A conservative tactician can net multiple charges to unleash nightmarish hell upon their foes, even the big ones will feel it.
The small-figure stats make battles easy to follow and fast paced. Fodder enemies typically only have one HP and are intended to distract from the slow-moving, larger threats.
Mastering the ebb and flow of voltage and thoughtful assaults is key to defending the school during defense battles. It’s important to dispatch the little guys and not focus entirely on the larger foes, otherwise the school’s barrier breach can lead to a death by a thousand cuts.
Another module to upgrading the party members lies in choosing who gets to be the executioner for defeated bosses. Yes, it’s true; unlike Danganronpa, you, the player gets to dish out the execution.
Picking who does the deed matters since it expands that character’s skills. Settling on who can be a little nerve wracking because you don’t know how what you’re gonna get or how useful that character will be later.
Rui Komatsuzaki is on character design, and he always manages to come up with some of the most interesting and unique concepts. Most of the cast is depicted as flat cut-outs during school life like in Danganronpa, but the protagonist has the distinction of having a full 3D model that you can run around in. In battle, everyone is 3D and it’s easy to appreciate Komatsuzaki’s panache since his characters translate perfectly into the third dimension.
Masafumi Takada once again brings the boys to the yard with his disturbing techno that grabs you by the throat, like you owe him money. The Hundred Line‘s music is very in-your-face and chockfull of infectious thumping beats that sound like something out of a German disco. Sometimes the music is atmospheric and veers off on having apocalyptic tones.
The voice acting is solid all-around but The Hundred Line makes a bizarre choice to have random grunts and anime-style utterances like “ahhs” and “umms”, during text scenes. In prior games like Rain Code, World’s End Club, or any Danganronpa game, text scenes would have characters mutter basic sentences to imply the emotion of the sentence.
The Hundred Line‘s chatter sound effects are headache inducing, especially if you’re a fast reader. The soundscape becomes a steady stream of sound vomit of characters constantly making nonsensical anime grunts and groans that sounds terrible. It’s a small issue that only festers the longer you play the game and pay attention to the ambiance.
If you ever wanted Danganronpa as a tactical RPG with some tower defense elements peppered here and there, with some boardgame sequences, then The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is like coming home. Everything you love about the killing game is here: the eclectic cast, morbid humor, and a heart-pounding tense story… all wrapped up in a tightly designed tactical battle system that constantly pushes players to their absolute limit.
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy was reviewed on a Nintendo Switch using a code provided by XSEED Games. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is now available for PC (via Steam), and Nintendo Switch.
