The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy – A Delightful Return to Beloved Tropes Without Being Danganronpa 4

Earlier this month, I wrapped up Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony for the first time—a satisfying conclusion to my journey through a captivating multimedia series that hooked me during the pandemic’s lockdowns in 2020. This timing was impeccable since it meant I went into The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy’s demo at Steam Next Fest with Kodaka’s narrative mastery fresh in mind.

Kazutaka Kodaka, alongside some ex-Spike Chunsoft colleagues, established the indie outfit Too Kyo Games around the time V3 debuted in 2017. Since then, many of their releases have been scrutinized as potential spiritual successors to Danganronpa. Fans experienced minor letdowns with titles like World’s End Club in 2020 and Master Detective Archives: Rain Code in 2023—both echo Danganronpa’s essence yet deviate on essential elements (World’s End Club lacks a killing game, and Rain Code skips the school setting).

Unsurprisingly, The Hundred Line draws the same comparison. Having tried the demo, it’s clear the game doubles down more than any previous offering from Too Kyo. Familiar musical notes and sound cues, nearly identical to Danganronpa’s, invoke a strong sense of déjà vu; the art style and character tropes evoke the warmth and surreal sense of familiar-yet-distant kin at a wedding.

Right off the bat, the game’s introduction—thirty minutes of fully voiced and animated cutscenes—echoes Danganronpa’s rhythm, albeit with a slight eeriness for those accustomed to its visual novel format. It follows an ordinary teen and his not-quite-girlfriend through everyday school chaos, ending with him in an unfamiliar classroom filled with strangers and a bizarre cartoon mascot taking charge.

Too Kyo playfully acknowledges fans anticipating a survival game scenario by featuring a character eager for a last-kid-standing showdown—a point where The Hundred Line diverges, pivoting to a turn-based strategy where characters must unite against evil robots and strange creatures, aiming to prevent apocalyptic doom—a backdrop often lurking in Danganronpa’s universe.

As someone newly appreciative of turn-based mechanics, I may not dissect The Hundred Line’s strategic depth like its narrative ties to Danganronpa. However, I’m not entirely unseasoned, and the demo presents intriguing strategic puzzles without groundbreaking shifts, expected when narrative innovators venture into new gameplay terrain. It seems poised as an introductory strategy experience for visual novel enthusiasts rather than veteran tacticians.

Covering the first seven in-game days, the demo ends on a cliffhanger I won’t spoil here but should satisfy fans familiar with the creators’ previous works. This isn’t to suggest a covert revival of the killing game under a genre disguise, nor do I wish it so. Kodaka has garnered respect for deciding whether to revisit Danganronpa’s world. With amicable ties to Spike Chunsoft, should a Danganronpa 4 arise, it will likely carry that name.

Approaching The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy with hopes for more Danganronpa may mislead some, yet the game winks at fans, signaling it retains the ability to deliver beloved quirky characters and grand narratives while venturing beyond franchise conventions and worn-out patterns.

This game so far walks a tightrope between fresh undertaking and nostalgic homage. Whether novelty or nostalgia prevails, I’m on board to see it through. Plus, there’s a fittingly timely message in a Danganronpa-adjacent release advocating unity over rivalry—perhaps not a subversion but an evolution of conventional themes.

You can try The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy demo on Steam now. The full game launches on April 24th for Windows and Nintendo Switch, with a perk for PC players being able to carry over demo progress.