No really, I’m serious. I know what you’re thinking right now, especially with these screenshots and with these character designs. You’re having thoughts of Danganronpa and all the ridiculousness that goes with it.
I get that. I understand it, because that was exactly what I was thinking when I first saw this game previewed on Nintendo Direct. I am unambiguously a Danganronpa fan, and even I know that those games are absolutely lousy with tropes, repetition and nonsensical writing… not to mention that infuriating teddy bear.
But I promise you: this is not that kind of game, and I’m not just talking genre-wise. What you are seeing is far more ambitious than it is letting on, so much so that I was left literally gobsmacked by what I experienced.
What Is It?
Don’t worry, this isn’t Monokuma. You still might grow to hate him, though
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is the latest title by Too Kyo Games, a studio formed by Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodoka and Zero Escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi, while also taking alumni from both franchises with them. Both Kodoka and Uchikoshi (especially Uchikoshi) were heavily involved in this project, and their fingerprints are all over it: the character designs, the twists, the big concept sci-fi plot, the occasionally juvenile humor is all here in spades. But that’s only surface level, because underneath is one of the deepest rabbit holes in gaming.
As for the actual game itself: you play Takumi Sumino, an average high school student in Tokyo… except this Tokyo is covered by an artificial dome, few if anyone has any idea what is outside the city’s walls, and air raid sires regularly force the citizenry into underground shelters. During one of these eventful days, Takumi and his lifelong friend Karua are attacked by a herd of odd, mascot-like creatures that quickly lay waste to the city block. While running from his life, he is confronted by an odd ghost-like creature named Sirei who gifts him with a seemingly ‘magic’ weapon: a sword that grants him the power of controlling ‘hemoanima’. One tutorial battle later, and Takumi wakes up in the ruins of a school-like building with ten other random teenagers, where he is given the task of defending the eponymous Last Defense Academy from the creatures for 100 days, after which their task will be complete and mankind will be saved.
… Did you get all that? Good. Take all of it with a massive grain of salt, because this game is hiding so much underneath the surface that by the time you’re finished, every single aspect of this game’s story will be in question.
Why Should I Care?
You’re gonna grow to love this gaggle of weirdos, I guarantee it.
The game itself has three different segments: a life sim mode, a battle mode, and an exploration mode. The life sim mode will be familiar to any Danganronpa player, largely based around interacting with other characters, talking and doing things with them in order to learn more about them, getting gifts for them (via the Gift-o-Matic) in order to build up your bond, etc. There’s also places to level up your character’s abilities, learn more universe lore, and fight virtual battle for training purposes.
The battle mode is where things really take off. The game is, at its heart, a Simulation RPG, and all battles are tactical in nature. As in every Sim-RPG, each character has their own particular strengths and abilities, all via their Hemoanima which takes various forms depending on the user (one uses a katana, another uses a motorcycle, etc.). Combat is tile based, and each attack and movement (which is limited via action points) has its own range and damage (some might even knock out the character after use). Some characters do better up close, while others are range based; at least one character is primarily a healer. Enemies and bosses operate on the same principle (with the exception that some enemies take up multiple tiles) and can also inflict status effects like debuffs, stuns, etc. However, you also have a secondary task, which involves protecting the shield generators surround the school; if they go down, it’s game over.
Few things are as satisfying as taking out an entire group of mooks with one hit.
The exploration mode is almost an entire game in its own right: every so often, you’ll need to go outside of the school and roam the apocalyptic ruins to get supplies. This takes the form of a board-game style segment wherein you choose between two numbered cards in order to determine how many spaces you move (saving the unused card for the next ‘roll’). Each space involve various scenarios that are accomplished through multiple choice, which in turn may result in getting supplies, taking damage, having a battle, or being forced move back a few spaces (or forward, on occasion). The potential challenge of each space is determined by color (blue for easy, orange medium, and purple for hard), and eventually you can leave the immediate city to other outside environments with even more challenges.
Remember, of course, that most of this all takes place on a time table, so use your time wisely and always be prepared (because the Invaders can attack at any second).
What Makes It Worth My Time And Money?
I can make her worse.
At the (metaphorical) eleventh hour of my first playthrough, this game through a massive curve ball at me that I did not see coming. True, there were little bits here and there that made me think that something was being amiss, but I also chalked that up to the weirdness that comes with the territory that are these developers. But it was at that point that I realized that I was not at the end of the game, I was just finishing up the prologue. The real game starts afterwards.
Make no mistake: this game is a rabbit hole that spirals every downward, and it is long. Part of that is the sheer amount of story this game is conveying… and some of it is light padding. Don’t get me wrong, the writing in this game is much tighter than what you would see in Danganronpa, with nowhere near the amount of repetition you would expect. That doesn’t mean, however, that there’s no repetition at all: you will have to deal with the occasional flashbacks, as well as repeated dialogue on occasion. There’s also some light graphical issues involving clipping and some slightly blurry textures.
But considering the absolute unit of a story this game is telling you, that is ultimately nitpicks at best. The combat is fun and rewarding, the characters are likable, andI did not expect anything close to what this game gave me. I still have not uncovered all its secrets.
When I got the chance to review this game, I asked myself: “Why did they put the embargo so far out in advance?”
This isn’t what it looks like. No really, I’m serious. I know what you’re thinking right now, especially with these screenshots and with these character designs. You’re having thoughts of Danganronpa and all the ridiculousness that goes with it. I…
No really, I’m serious. I know what you’re thinking right now, especially with these screenshots and with these character designs. You’re having thoughts of Danganronpa and all the ridiculousness that goes with it.
I get that. I understand it, because that was exactly what I was thinking when I first saw this game previewed on Nintendo Direct. I am unambiguously a Danganronpa fan, and even I know that those games are absolutely lousy with tropes, repetition and nonsensical writing… not to mention that infuriating teddy bear.
But I promise you: this is not that kind of game, and I’m not just talking genre-wise. What you are seeing is far more ambitious than it is letting on, so much so that I was left literally gobsmacked by what I experienced.
What Is It?
Don’t worry, this isn’t Monokuma. You still might grow to hate him, though
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is the latest title by Too Kyo Games, a studio formed by Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodoka and Zero Escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi, while also taking alumni from both franchises with them. Both Kodoka and Uchikoshi (especially Uchikoshi) were heavily involved in this project, and their fingerprints are all over it: the character designs, the twists, the big concept sci-fi plot, the occasionally juvenile humor is all here in spades. But that’s only surface level, because underneath is one of the deepest rabbit holes in gaming.
As for the actual game itself: you play Takumi Sumino, an average high school student in Tokyo… except this Tokyo is covered by an artificial dome, few if anyone has any idea what is outside the city’s walls, and air raid sires regularly force the citizenry into underground shelters. During one of these eventful days, Takumi and his lifelong friend Karua are attacked by a herd of odd, mascot-like creatures that quickly lay waste to the city block. While running from his life, he is confronted by an odd ghost-like creature named Sirei who gifts him with a seemingly ‘magic’ weapon: a sword that grants him the power of controlling ‘hemoanima’. One tutorial battle later, and Takumi wakes up in the ruins of a school-like building with ten other random teenagers, where he is given the task of defending the eponymous Last Defense Academy from the creatures for 100 days, after which their task will be complete and mankind will be saved.
… Did you get all that? Good. Take all of it with a massive grain of salt, because this game is hiding so much underneath the surface that by the time you’re finished, every single aspect of this game’s story will be in question.
Why Should I Care?
You’re gonna grow to love this gaggle of weirdos, I guarantee it.
The game itself has three different segments: a life sim mode, a battle mode, and an exploration mode. The life sim mode will be familiar to any Danganronpa player, largely based around interacting with other characters, talking and doing things with them in order to learn more about them, getting gifts for them (via the Gift-o-Matic) in order to build up your bond, etc. There’s also places to level up your character’s abilities, learn more universe lore, and fight virtual battle for training purposes.
The battle mode is where things really take off. The game is, at its heart, a Simulation RPG, and all battles are tactical in nature. As in every Sim-RPG, each character has their own particular strengths and abilities, all via their Hemoanima which takes various forms depending on the user (one uses a katana, another uses a motorcycle, etc.). Combat is tile based, and each attack and movement (which is limited via action points) has its own range and damage (some might even knock out the character after use). Some characters do better up close, while others are range based; at least one character is primarily a healer. Enemies and bosses operate on the same principle (with the exception that some enemies take up multiple tiles) and can also inflict status effects like debuffs, stuns, etc. However, you also have a secondary task, which involves protecting the shield generators surround the school; if they go down, it’s game over.
Few things are as satisfying as taking out an entire group of mooks with one hit.
The exploration mode is almost an entire game in its own right: every so often, you’ll need to go outside of the school and roam the apocalyptic ruins to get supplies. This takes the form of a board-game style segment wherein you choose between two numbered cards in order to determine how many spaces you move (saving the unused card for the next ‘roll’). Each space involve various scenarios that are accomplished through multiple choice, which in turn may result in getting supplies, taking damage, having a battle, or being forced move back a few spaces (or forward, on occasion). The potential challenge of each space is determined by color (blue for easy, orange medium, and purple for hard), and eventually you can leave the immediate city to other outside environments with even more challenges.
Remember, of course, that most of this all takes place on a time table, so use your time wisely and always be prepared (because the Invaders can attack at any second).
What Makes It Worth My Time And Money?
I can make her worse.
At the (metaphorical) eleventh hour of my first playthrough, this game through a massive curve ball at me that I did not see coming. True, there were little bits here and there that made me think that something was being amiss, but I also chalked that up to the weirdness that comes with the territory that are these developers. But it was at that point that I realized that I was not at the end of the game, I was just finishing up the prologue. The real game starts afterwards.
Make no mistake: this game is a rabbit hole that spirals every downward, and it is long. Part of that is the sheer amount of story this game is conveying… and some of it is light padding. Don’t get me wrong, the writing in this game is much tighter than what you would see in Danganronpa, with nowhere near the amount of repetition you would expect. That doesn’t mean, however, that there’s no repetition at all: you will have to deal with the occasional flashbacks, as well as repeated dialogue on occasion. There’s also some light graphical issues involving clipping and some slightly blurry textures.
But considering the absolute unit of a story this game is telling you, that is ultimately nitpicks at best. The combat is fun and rewarding, the characters are likable, andI did not expect anything close to what this game gave me. I still have not uncovered all its secrets.
When I got the chance to review this game, I asked myself: “Why did they put the embargo so far out in advance?”
by Brandon Perkins
