The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy Delights in Revisiting Beloved Danganronpa Tropes, Even if It’s Not Danganronpa 4

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of completing Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony for the first time. This marks the culmination of my journey through a franchise that has captivated me ever since its resurgence during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns. This completion was timely, as it allowed me to go into the demo for The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy at Steam Next Fest with the intricacies of Kazutaka Kodaka’s previous works still vividly in mind.

Back when V3 launched in 2017, Kodaka, along with a few other key figures from Spike Chunsoft, formed an independent studio named Too Kyo Games. Since then, their projects have often sparked rumors among fans craving another installment akin to Danganronpa. However, titles like 2020’s World’s End Club and 2023’s Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, while sharing some elements with Danganronpa, veer off due to the absence of a killing game or the typical school settings.

Naturally, The Hundred Line is receiving similar comparisons, and having tried the demo, it’s clear the game leans heavily into those familiar Danganronpa vibes. Certain soundtracks and effects bear a striking resemblance to its predecessor, triggering nostalgia wrapped in a new narrative. The art style and character designs evoke that feeling you get at family gatherings, meeting a cousin for the first time yet finding them strangely familiar.

The early segments of The Hundred Line unfold with highly stylized and fully voiced animations, something that might feel a bit uncanny compared to Danganronpa’s visual novel style. This introduction plays out eerily similar to its spiritual predecessor. A seemingly average teenage protagonist, together with a not-quite-romantic companion, embarks on a school day disrupted by twisty occurrences, leading our hero to awaken in an unfamiliar classroom, under the command of a peculiar cartoon mascot.

Too Kyo expertly toys with our expectations, including a character in the group who’s overly eager about the prospect of engaging in a last-man-standing scenario. However, The Hundred Line steers into different territory. It’s a turn-based strategy game where the goal is cooperation against nefarious robots, making it distinct from the backdrop of cataclysmic events in Danganronpa games.

As someone new to turn-based combat, assessing The Hundred Line’s strategy elements isn’t my strong suit, though it certainly isn’t uncharted territory for me. The game offers intriguing strategic challenges, albeit not groundbreaking ones, reflecting the typical pivot from a narrative-focused developer to a new genre. It’s poised to appeal more to visual novel enthusiasts as an introduction to strategy rather than veteran strategists looking for complexity.

The demo spans a week in the game’s timeline, culminating in a cliffhanger I’m keeping under wraps. Players familiar with Kodaka’s past projects will likely find it satisfying, though I don’t see it trying to stealthily resurrect the killing game theme under a new guise. Frankly, that’s a relief, considering that Kodaka has already articulated why he wouldn’t replicate Danganronpa unless he genuinely wants to. With Too Kyo still maintaining a good relationship with Spike Chunsoft, should Danganronpa 4 ever see the light, it’s likely to be titled exactly that.

Approaching The Hundred Line with the sole expectation of more Danganronpa might not do justice to either experience. Nonetheless, the game keenly taps into what fans cherish about Danganronpa—quirky, endearing characters and dynamic storylines—sans its traditional gameplay structure or overly familiar narrative frameworks.

From what I’ve experienced, The Hundred Line elegantly balances innovation and nostalgia. Whether it leans more towards a fresh start or indulges our penchant for reminiscence remains to be seen. Yet, I’m eager to journey along. Perhaps, in 2025, this quasi-follow-up emphasizes unity over rivalry, suggesting not a subversion of norms but a natural progression.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy’s demo is readily available on Steam, with the full game anticipated for release on April 24th for Windows and Nintendo Switch. PC players have an added perk: they’ll be able to carry over their demo progress to the complete game.