Developer: Too Kyo Games, Media.Vision Inc
Publisher: Aniplex (Steam), XSEED Games (Nintendo Switch)
Release Date: April 24, 2025
Platforms: PC (Steam) |
Nintendo Switch
Genre: Adventure, Visual Novel, Turn-based Strategy
Digital Edition: $59.99, €59,99, £49.99 (standard edition); $69.99, €71,99, £59.99 (deluxe edition)
Physical Edition: $59.99 (standard edition); $99.99 (limited edition)
Voice: English, Japanese
Screen Languages: English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
About This Game
Takumi Sumino is a totally average teenager living in the Tokyo Residential Complex, a place where every day is much like the last and nothing bad ever happens. All that changes when freakish monsters attack the town and start wreaking havoc. A strange creature calling himself Sirei appears and offers Takumi the power to protect those he holds dear... All he has to do is stab himself in the chest!
The next thing he knows, Takumi is in Last Defense Academy, a school in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a wall of otherworldly flames. He and 14 other students have been drafted into the Special Defense Unit, a team tasked with keeping the school safe for the next 100 days. How much are they willing to sacrifice to take back their normal lives and save the world from the grotesque school invaders?
The curtain rises on 100 days of war and despair...
Takumi's choices will decide his future, but there's no telling what kind of consequences these decisions might have...
When the invaders attack, it's up to you to protect the school in SRPG battles.
Use each student's unique Specialist Skills to turn the tide of battle in your favor!
Spend time with your teammates to deepen your bonds, or explore the wilderness and ruins outside the school.
You can even use the items you find to craft gifts and get even closer to your allies!
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 88 average - 80% recommended
Metacritic - 85 average based on 15 critic reviews
Critic Reviews
4News.it -
Danilo Di Gennaro -
Italian -
8.6 / 10
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is the perfect fusion born of the collaboration between Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi. The result is a title that draws on the best features of their major productions (Danganronpa and Zero Escape, above all) to create a unique and incredibly ambitious product, especially on the narrative side. Kaleidoscopic, sprawling, and surprising writing makes it essential to play and replay a title equally challenging in its tactical RPG component. There are some structural limitations of game design and, inevitably, its thick verbiage may not make it a product for everyone. But if you have loved the previous works of the two Japanese designers, we warn you: this may be their magnum opus.
8Bit/Digi -
Stan Rezaee -
10 / 10
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- uses a familiar foundation to deliver an unforgettable experience that is rich in suspense and thrills. Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi bring everything they've learned about storytelling to a combat-heavy experience. The result is a thrilling blend of visual novel and JRPG elements that is also rich with callbacks to the Danganronpa series.
CGMagazine -
Jordan Biordi -
6.5 / 10
The Hundred Line - Last Defence Academy is a pretty solid turn-based strategy game buried under an avalanche of terrible anime tropes and mediocre storytelling.
Checkpoint Gaming -
Bree Maybe -
7 / 10
The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy is interesting; it does a surprisingly good job of meshing together the visual novel and strategy game elements in a satisfying way, but it just falls so incredibly short on the pacing that it makes it hard to properly enjoy these elements. There are some very cool developments in here, but it just takes so long to get to them that it almost feels like they are never coming. I have my complaints with it, certainly, but there is some truly great design in there, and I wish it got a chance to shine. For what it's worth, Kodaka-san, I hope you don't go bankrupt and quit making games forever.
Console Creatures -
Bobby Pashalidis -
8 / 10
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a massive game with interesting characters, high stakes, and dozens of endings. It can be a lot of fun, but it can also be overwhelming if you try to take everything on offer simultaneously.
Digital Trends -
George Yang -
4.5 / 5
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a morbidly engrossing tactics RPG that takes the right notes from Danganronpa.
Final Weapon -
Raul Ochoa -
4 / 5
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is an excellent strategy RPG that follows the same aesthetics and themes of the Danganronpa series while being an entirely different game and IP. The game offers a straightforward combat system that's easy to pick up and play while offering some challenging battles. In addition, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy brings an intriguing and eccentric cast of characters with a compelling narrative and shock value at some points of the story.
Game Lodge -
Guilherme Santos -
Portuguese -
8.5 / 10
Kazutaka Kodaka goes beyond any of his past projects, delivering an extensive and intriguing narrative alongside a really enjoyable combat. The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- provides a satisfying experience that keeps me coming back for more.
Game Rant -
Matt Karoglou -
10 / 10
Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi's collaboration on The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a winning mix befitting both creators' legacies.
GameBlast -
Hiero de Lima -
Portuguese -
8 / 10
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is the exact game Kodaka, Uchikoshi and co. promise it is, in every way. Those already familiar with these authors' work will receive something that is, at the same time, well within expectations and completely out there, all wrapped up in the form of a fun and challenging tactical RPG. Even those who don't have time for all the endings should come and meet the Special Defense Unit.
Gameliner -
Claudia Tjia -
Dutch -
3.5 / 5
The Hundred Line: -Last Defense Academy- is an ambitious, experimental, and slightly bizarre strategy game with strong tactical battles and a unique setting, but its uneven story, sluggish pacing, and excessive dialogue may test your patience—especially if you're expecting a new Danganronpa.
Gamesource Italia - Steven Carollo -
Italian -
8 / 10
The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy does not shine in any of its aspects, offering gameplay models with bland and shallow mechanics. The characters are little more than literary archetypes, and yet the hours spent in the title's company flew by. All credit to the writing of Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi, who succeeded in trapping me in a maelstrom of unanswered questions, mysterious killings, and plot twists. The events are dense and never boring, stimulating curiosity enough to want to consume the title in the blink of an eye and unravel its mysteries. If you are looking for a deep dating sim, as well as a tactical RPG, The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy will definitely not be for you. If, on the other hand, you want to immerse yourself in a whimsical visual novel with grotesque overtones, with elements plucked here and there from other genres, this title coming out on April 24 will definitely do the trick.
Hey Poor Player -
Andrew Thornton -
4.5 / 5
The very idea of bringing together the minds behind Danganronpa and Zero Escape will be enough to get many fans of this genre in the door. They'll find that The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is an incredibly ambitious title which may not have some of what they expect in the early going, but will ultimately give them everything they're looking for and more.
Loot Level Chill -
Lyle Pendle -
9.5 / 10
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is an utterly unhinged game, with incredible characters, exceptional combat and a whole lot of style.
Niche Gamer - Fingal Belmont -
10 / 10
Everything you love about the killing game is here: the eclectic cast, morbid humor, and a heart-pounding tense story… all wrapped up in a tightly designed tactical battle system that constantly pushes players to their absolute limit.
Nintendo Blast -
Ivanir Ignacchitti -
Portuguese -
8.5 / 10
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy manages to combine a textual adventure full of mysteries with a tactical game with interesting strategic options. The end result has reservations and ends up revealing some of the limitations of Kodaka's writing, but it definitely pays off in the long run.
Nintendo Life -
Mitch Vogel -
9 / 10
The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy is an excellent tactical RPG that fully showcases the strengths of the creatives behind it. A well-written and compelling story, strong and strategic gameplay, attractive art style, and passionate VA work all come together to make for a comprehensive experience that you won't want to miss. It's an instant recommendation for fans of Uchikoshi and Kodaka's past work, but even if you're not so much into visual novels, consider adding this one to your library. The Switch has plenty of life in it yet, and Hundred Line stands as a strong reminder of why.
NintendoWorldReport -
Allyson Cygan -
9.5 / 10
undefined.It's always a delight to discover what will end up being one of my favorite video games in real time, but The Hundred Line did it. With the storytelling prowess of two cult icons mixed with some fresh and exciting tactical gameplay, The Hundred Line manages to bring back things I love from both of its creators while feeling like a fresh new game. If you enjoy a good visual novel or if you enjoy tactics RPGs you owe it to yourself to play The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy. It may not be for everyone, but it struck a major chord for me and quickly became one of my favorite games on Switch.
Noisy Pixel -
Pyre Kavanagh -
9.5 / 10
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a bold narrative-driven SRPG from TooKyo Games and MediaVision, blending high-stakes strategy with life-sim mechanics and a labyrinth of branching storylines, delivering a wildly ambitious experience packed with emotional depth, dark humor, and over 100 endings.
RPG Fan -
Sean Cabot -
90 / 100
A delightful mishmash of genres, aesthetics, and tones that comes out great either despite or because of its many disparate elements.
Rice Digital -
Isaac Todd -
Unscored
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is both what you'd expect from a team-up of Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi and something that stands out on its own. There are almost multiple game's worth of endings to get through, with the story carrying some weaker gameplay aspects.
Shacknews -
Lucas White -
7 / 10
In The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-, the visual novel and combat parts hit that target, but the social and resource-gathering elements don't. And those parts happen to eat up a ton of extra time that grows increasingly obnoxious as you explore the narrative.
Siliconera -
Stephanie Liu -
10 / 10
A fun and unforgettable visual novel/SRPG that's an amalgamation of different genres, yet somehow works to form a sprawling narrative of epic proportions.
The Switch Effect -
Richard Heaton -
5 / 5
Hundred Line has so many things going for it and none of them are half-assed. If you're a fan of tactical RPG's, you'll love it.
TheSixthAxis -
Miguel Moran -
9 / 10
The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy is a must-play for fans of tactical RPGs, sci-fi thrillers, and just high-quality incredibly well written games in general. It's a wild ride from beginning to end, and I'm still not even truly sure if the ride has actually ended or not.
Worth Playing -
Chris "Atom" DeAngelus -
8.5 / 10
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is an absurdly ambitious, delightfully over-the-top and genuinely enjoyable game to play. It captures the same raw insanity of Danganronpa but has a level of raw excess that makes it stand out from the shadow of its big sibling. It does have missteps, including some content which is a tad too uncomfortable for its own good, and the RPG elements end up subsumed by the visual novel gameplay, but if you're a fan of Danganronpa, then this spiritual successor is well worth a look.
. Seems much better than I expected and it's on my wishlist.
