Revealed at yesterday’s Nintendo Direct stream – but absolutely coming to PC because there’s a Steam page for it – The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy seems like a mash-up of visual novel and Fire Emblem-y RPG battles on grids. And it’s by the folks behind Danganronpa and Zero Escape, which means there will be lots of consequences and decisions that lead to copious amounts of despair, no matter how you finish the game apparently. If there’s one thing that really gets me going, it’s a game devoid of happiness and cheer.
In keeping with many Japanese teen stories you’re a totally ‘average’ guy, Takumi Sumino, who lives in Tokyo. Then out of the blue, lots of horrible monsters start attacking the city and a ghostly tic tac with a bow tie says, “Here, have the power to fight these creatures with the power of anime, but stick to the grids on the floor. Stab yourself in the chest! Oh and go to school”. School being the Last Defense Academy out in the middle of nowhere, where Takumi and others will learn how to defend it for 100 days straight.
There’s the promise of spending time with your pals to “deepen bonds” or to craft them gifts so you can deepen them even further. I’d imagine this confers benefits in battle, where turn-based fights have you line up abilities on a grid against waves of demons. Demons ranging from cute little orbs to levitating dragons that, going by the trailer, you can bash with a motorbike. I hope it’s like Persona in the sense that you’ll deepen bonds with the motorbike person and they’ll develop greater motorbike affinity, maybe by like, expanding their motorbike with a sidecar for extra area-of-effect damage.
Details are pretty thin on the ground at the moment, but I’m here for a JRPG where your pals likely fit into four main categories: deranged, tsundere, guy who pushes up his glasses and smirks, as well as outgoing loudmouth who is positively unbearable but also your strongest pal so you can’t swap them out of your party.
The game comes out sometimes in early 2025, and you can follow it over on its Steam page. I’ve also been meaning to play a single Danganronpa or Zero Escape game for some time now, but I’ve never got round to it. They seem cool, if a bit intimidating because there are so many of them and they probably all take around 90-hours to complete.