The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy is a game written and directed by Kazutaka Kodaka (Danganronpa) and Kotaro Uchikoshi (Zero Escape & AI: Somnium Files), who come together to create a unique game under TooKyo’s belt! How could I not be excited to check this game out? Our friends at TooKyo Games gifted us a review copy of The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy. Let’s check it out!
Every day seemed normal and mundane to Takumi Sumino, who lived in the Tokyo Residential Complex. However, one day, everything shattered, changing his normal, mundane life to complete and utter chaos in a matter of moments. Approached by an interesting entity called “Sirei,” Takumi is offered the chance to save himself, save his family, and save the world, even if he’s a little uncertain about it.
15 students are enrolled at the Last Defense Academy. Their task is to defend the school against these mysterious ‘School Invaders‘ for 100 days. But things start to get strange when people start disappearing, dreams that are maybe memories, and when you’re about to learn the truth, something happens. Interesting.
The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy story started a little slow due to the cliché-ness of the opening – Boy A & Girl A are best friends, Boy A promises Girl A that he will protect her no matter what. When everything goes to chaos, Boy A protects Girl A, but the aftermath is a mystery and is revealed throughout the story. I do find the Hemo-Anima concept relatively calm. Hemo-Anima is a mysterious item in the shape of a weapon used by the various students to unlock their powers. That’s one of the vast mysteries that plagues the player. I also found the concept of the Undying Flames interesting; mysterious purple flames surround the school with no signs of burning out. Sirei gives the player an idea of how dangerous the flames are, but how harmful both are.
I didn’t expect TooKyo Games to release a tactical RPG, but there’s always room for exploration regarding gameplay. The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy has a few different gameplay styles – School Life, Battle, and exploration. ‘School Life’ is the free time you’re allotted, where you can speak to the other students to develop a friendship and improve everyone’s skills, which are super important to battle.
The main goal of the battles is to survive the wave of enemies while protecting the barrier of the school. If all the characters are downed in combat or the barrier is destroyed, it’s game over. Each character has stats, their armor class – their weapon, and their hemo-anima bestowed upon them. When planned correctly, the characters’ hemo-anima can turn the tide of the battle. I do appreciate the revive-o-matic (a fancy revival mechanic) however you do need to survive the wave to recover those characters that fell in battle. When playing I noticed that these battles can be difficult due to limited moves between the barriers. There are some instances where you may have to sacrifice characters to make it through the wave.
The last game mechanic The Hundred Line adds is exploration outside of the school. Used like a game board, the exploration is area and time where you can forge materials to help improve stats, items for the gift-o-matic, and of course battle. I like to think of this as a breather in-between battle and the school, though it may seem like it’s all fun and games gathering materials and what not, but your inventory is limited and students can die, permanently.
Tread carefully~!
I am in love with The Last Defense Academy’s aesthetic. Its more grim, life or death world. Last but not least, If it’s not broken it doesn’t need to be fixed. TooKyo games’ art style is unmistakable from Danganronpa, and Tribe Nine. TooKyo is definitely reusing some of their previously used assets from – some character models and some music. If you’re familiar with Danganronpa’s soundtrack there are some tracks that is a definite throwback but it fits right in!
Would I recommend The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy? Yes, however with one caveat. If you like tactics gameplay and the difficulty that comes with it. This might not be as fun to someone who is new to tactics, it can be challenging but rewarding once completed. I am familiar with tactics games, but I did have some difficulty with some of the battles where I barely made it. It’s challenging but yet rewarding when you and your team survives…until the next wave.
