The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- Demo Impression

Beyond this mind game though there’s a deep strategic combat to enjoy and a colourful cast of characters to get to know.

If there’s one thing to expect from a video game created by the minds of Kazutaka Kodaka (Danganronpa) and Kotaro Uchikoshi, (Zero Escape) it is some kind of tragic thought experiment set in a sci-fi world.  Mixing with their usual writing styles is a tactical RPG that keeps players on their toes for how to proceed.  The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- from Too Kyo Games and Media.Vision is an ambitious title with a lot going on that an early look at the premise and gameplay would do wonders.  RPGamer got the chance to take a look at this demo and the early results are definitely positive.  Please note that the following impression contains spoilers for the first few hours of gameplay.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- takes a group of high school students to a special institution.  This group is chosen by a talking shapeshifter Sirei, who’s natural form looks as though an adorable ghost mascot got stuck with a translucent brain floating around.  After testing each student with a do-or-die scenario, those who pass are whisked to the Last Defense Academy and are told they are defending humanity and all their loved ones back home.  Not everyone readily believes that story and their wildly different personalities make it difficult for everyone to agree to any course of action.  The only things they seem to agree on is wanting more information than Sirei is willing to provide and that they all have something they want to protect.

There’s a feeling that happy endings won’t come easy.

Players follow the perspective of Takumi Sumino as he spends a typical morning with his lifelong friend Karua Kishimiya whom he’s been protecting for years since Karua’s father had passed away.  He feels as though these normal mundane days will never end.  These early moments hammer home the bond between the two, so when the airhorns go off for them to hide in their Tokyo Residential Complex bunkers to await the all clear, it’s easy to see how heartwarming their relationship is.  This makes Takumi very lucky that Sirei offers to help him save Karua in his do-or-die scenario as when a second airhorn goes off it brings colourful invaders that start massacring everyone nearby.  All Takumi has to do is stab himself in the chest with a magical sword to unlock the Hemoanima within him.  Hemoanima is a blood transformation that turns the wielder into a stronger, faster, and near invulnerable version of themselves.

The students that Sirei brings to the academy have vastly differing personalities.  Their introductions are all very over the top showcasing particular social cues that players will likely find either endearing or unbearable from the outset.  After a brief defence of the academy against hostile invaders, Sirei just lays down the groundwork for what they are doing there, and players quickly see there is more to the characters and situation than first meets the eye.  The students can’t leave due to the academy being surrounded by Undying Flames that melt any organic material, while the school protects something important to the survival of mankind.  However, only a portion are ready to risk their lives and Sirei refuses reveal what they are protecting until everyone is prepared to fight.  To assuage them, Sirei mentions they will resurrect if they die on school grounds and their role as the last bastion of humanity allows them to protect their loved ones.  After the period of one-hundred days, then they are free to leave.  However, events soon mean that any remaining questions from the students must go unanswered.

Yes, one Hemoanima gives the character a motorcycle on fire as well as a spiked bat for a weapon.

When players go outside the walls of the academy, using special fire extinguishers that temporarily put out the Undying Flames, they are met with a giant board game-type map with multiple routes that can be taken.  There’s no real limit while traversing this board, but players do only have nine slots for inventory when exploring.  Exploring utilises one of two randomly-drawn numbered cards, which determines the number of spaces traversed.  Most nodes give brief scenarios where players either get an item or suffer some damage.  They can pick up resources or fight in additional battles at the risk of not being able to resurrect, but ending exploration is easy as players can return anytime from a menu button prompt.

Most combat will be when waves of invaders attack the academy.  Those willing to leave, go to protect the shield generator that envelops the building.  This shield generator has a lot of health so most of the strategy revolves around keeping the weaker party members alive.  Each character has their own attack pattern, such as heavy damage to single target, a sideways five square line, or a cross pattern from a distance for example, which makes positioning important in both attacking and defending.  Outnumbered, players are given a default of three action points and can only do a few attacks per turn, though some abilities are able to recoup actions.  With lower health totals and no weaknesses to work with, combat feels a bit like a chess match, trying to maximize pieces taken without losing any needlessly.  With their automatic revivals, combatants can readily sacrifice themselves it the situation calls for it by using a special attack whenever they are near death.  Doing so even nets players extra battle points, which are used for upgrading skills back at the school and it helps boost the Voltage gauge, which allows characters to use special attacks or buff themselves.

Quirky only begins to explain how some of these character’s minds work.

In-engine scenes in The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- use a cool combination of highly anime-like character models that mix with almost realistic looking backgrounds.  This works with the detailed character portraits during normal events and the colourful enemies to give the title a unique look that is appreciated.  The voice acting is strong, though not used for every line of dialogue, there are moments of comedy that come from all directions, even the most frustrating characters, and the tones and delivery match their over-the-top characters perfectly.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- throws a lot at players, with strategy shown in combat and plenty of questions left wide open in the story.  Prior works from both these writers make a guarantee that tragedy will strike when players least suspect it.  Beyond this mind game though there’s a deep strategic combat to enjoy and a colourful cast of characters to get to know.  With the initial look at combat showing encouraging strategic elements and a story that at this stage could go in almost any direction imaginable, there’s a lot to look forward to when the full game releases for PC and Nintendo Switch on April 24, 2025.

Disclosure: This article is based on a demo build of the game provided by the publisher.