The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy – Not Danganronpa 4, but a Nostalgic Nod to Beloved Tropes

Earlier this month, I coincidentally wrapped up my first playthrough of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, finally bringing to a close my journey through the main story of this enthralling multimedia saga. This series has captivated my interest ever since its resurgence during the 2020 lockdowns. With the finale of Kazutaka Kodaka’s most acclaimed work still vivid in my mind, I prepared myself to dive into The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy’s demo at this month’s Steam Next Fest.

Around the 2017 launch of V3, Kodaka, along with some prominent former Spike Chunsoft colleagues, launched their indie studio, Too Kyo Games. They’ve since developed several titles that fans have eagerly anticipated as the spiritual successors to Danganronpa, despite not carrying the same name. However, releases like World’s End Club in 2020 and Master Detective Archives: Rain Code in 2023, while reminiscent of Danganronpa, veered from its core elements (no lethal games in World’s End Club and no school setting in Rain Code), leading to some fan disappointment.

Now, The Hundred Line is inviting similar comparisons. Having tried out the demo, the parallels are striking—perhaps even more pronounced than in any other Too Kyo offering to date. Musical elements and sound effects immediately transport die-hard Danganronpa enthusiasts back, with some so familiar that they almost verge on direct reuse. This, alongside the art style and character archetypes, creates a sense of nostalgia akin to meeting relatives at a social gathering.

In the initial half-hour, which unfolds through a series of fully animated, voice-acted cutscenes, the game mirrors its spiritual predecessors almost scene-for-scene. We meet an unremarkable teen and his platonic female companion, whose school-bound day is disrupted by chaos, ultimately landing them in a mysterious classroom with strangers and an unsettling mascot orchestrating events.

Too Kyo knows you’ll draw comparisons to Danganronpa. They even poke fun at it, with a character excited about the prospect of being thrust into a deadly last-one-standing scenario. But here’s where it diverges: The Hundred Line is a turn-based strategy game where characters collaborate to fend off evil robots and bizarre creatures, actively working to prevent the apocalyptic backdrop familiar in Danganronpa lore.

As someone who’s relatively new to turn-based games, I may not be the best judge of The Hundred Line as a strategy title, but I’m no stranger either. It provides engaging strategic challenges without doing anything wildly innovative, which is what I expect from a narrative-driven team venturing into new gameplay territory. I’d wager it serves as a good introductory strategy experience for visual novel aficionados more than the reverse.

Covering the first seven in-game days, the demo concludes with a cliffhanger that should please fans of the creators’ past works. However, I wouldn’t claim that The Hundred Line is stealthily rebooting the killing game concept under the guise of a genre shift. Frankly, I’d prefer it stays true to its new direction. After all, I just wrapped up Kodaka’s lengthy explanation of why the Danganronpa formula needn’t be endlessly recycled unless he genuinely chooses to return to it. With Too Kyo’s good standing with Spike Chunsoft, any Danganronpa 4 would likely retain the title, or at least a recognizable variation of it.

Approaching The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy with expectations of a Danganronpa rehash might not do you or the game any service. Nonetheless, it recognizes and honors the quirky characters and bizarre narratives fans adore, expanding beyond the constraints of its predecessor’s gameplay style and familiar yet sometimes repetitive trilogy formula.

What I’ve experienced so far deftly balances fresh innovation with nostalgic echoes, and while it remains to be seen which element will dominate the full release, I’m eager to embark on this adventure. In a way, it feels timely that a Danganronpa-inspired follow-up emphasizes teamwork over conflict, suggesting an evolution of well-worn storytelling tropes.

The demo for The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is currently available on Steam, with the full game slated for release on April 24th for Windows and Nintendo Switch. PC players will be thrilled to know their progress from the demo carries over to the full version.