The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy review: the student surpasses the teacher

When a video game developer makes a big hit that earns it recognition, it’s only natural that it might try to stick with the same formula and try to make lightning strike twice. Atlus’s Metaphor: ReFantazio is a prime example, doubling down on the Persona structure to create a refined RPG that hits a lot of the same beats. Similarly, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, created by Too Kyo Games, heavily borrows elements from Danganronpa. It’s no surprise that the creators behind that eccentric visual novel series are responsible for this excellent new RPG that builds on its DNA.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy may have the same art style as Danganronpa and some similar gameplay mechanics, but it sets itself apart from from its inspirations to deliver an experience that’s both familiar and fresh. The bloody turn-based tactics, gripping story about saving humanity, and larger-than-life characters make it one of the best RPGs of 2025 and a worthy follow-up to Danganronpa’s legacy.

A different kind of death game

Last Defense Academy follows Takumi Sumino, a young boy who wakes up at a mysterious school after his hometown is attacked by aliens. Along with several other schoolmates, he learns that they’re the last line of defense for humanity against these hostile alien invaders whose goal is to capture a powerful artifact buried deep within the school. As part of the Special Defense Unit, Takumi and his classmates have to protect the artifact for 100 days and then are rewarded with a trip back home. There are numerous plot twists and revelations that keep the story exciting, from the origins of the invaders to details about the artifact. It has the same anticipation and suspense that Danganronpa fans have come to expect and love.

The engrossing story is bolstered by its clever implementation of a New Game Plus system. Whereas other games like God of War Ragnarok or Elden Ring simply just ask players to repeat the same story, Last Defense Academy builds on its gameplay alongside its worldbuilding and lore. The first playthrough is a tight railroad, leading me into one singular conclusion, but New Game Plus features a brand new story filled with even more plot twists and new playable characters.

There’s an enormous flowchart with multiple endings like a traditional visual novel. What’s even more impressive is that even though some endings are slight variations based on the decisions Takumi makes, many of them are substantial enough to be considered canon endings, even when Takumi is trying to reach an ultimate one where everyone survives the 100 days. There’s no shortage of content in Last Defense Academy.

Last Defense Academy has its own cast of colorful and zany characters like Danganronpa. Some of the standouts include Kyoshika Magadori, who’s the designated “country bumpkin.” Despite being a samurai, her origins are filled with typical ninja tropes, such as growing up in a hidden village. Darumi Anemiya is inspired by Danganronpa’s sadistic overarching antagonist (but don’t worry, she’s on our side). She frequently makes references to that series, complaining that she’d rather be in a killing game instead where the cast members constantly turn against each other. The over-the-top personalities fit perfectly into the comedic yet grim tone.

Funny enough, little does Darumi know that she sometimes actually gets her wish. Characters bicker and argue as Takumi futilely attempts to keep the group’s camaraderie intact. This often leads to the group’s demise, not because the main villain destroyed them, but because they couldn’t come together when it mattered the most.

Throughout the game, Takumi’s leadership skills are repeatedly tested as he has to deal with the consequences of his own actions, resulting in the branching storylines. Regardless, he never gives up hope and fights to the bitter end even when it seems like all is lost. It’s a highly motivating driving force to explore all of the different endings, a feeling I haven’t felt since playing the Zero Escape series.

Death is the recurring theme explored in the story here, but what makes Last Defense Academy so fascinating is how casually it treats the idea. The school has a machine that can bring people back to life, aptly (and ridiculously) called the Revive O’Matic. Throughout the story, I became numb to characters dying, as they can simply just come back after a short period of time. Death is trivial, until it isn’t. The constant cycle of death and resurrection is eventually disrupted, which gives some of its endings true emotional heft. Ironically, while Takumi’s road to reaching his happily ever after with everyone alive following 100 days is paved with good intentions, it’s also built using the blood and corpses of his own teammates.

Life after death

The other bulk of Last Defense Academy’s gameplay involves strategic tactics akin to a Fire Emblem game. Instead of focusing on pure stat numbers, its mechanics emphasize movement and attack range. This avoids min-maxing stat procedures and makes me think more strategically about where to place my attacks to wipe out as many invaders as possible.

Placement is important because players have limited AP to spend per battle, so they can’t necessarily move all of their units in a single turn. While the small fry invaders only have a single digit of HP, the larger ones have more and reward extra AP when they’re defeated. However, players can’t leave the lowly enemy fodder running about, as they can attack the school itself and take down its barrier, triggering a lose condition. As a result, the gameplay strikes a crucial balance between offensive and defensive play, keeping battles fresh.

With every move, the Voltage meter slowly builds up to a limit of 300%. By using a portion of Voltage, units can gain an extra move, a permanent attack boost, or prepare to counterattack against incoming enemy attacks. This adds extra gameplay depth to the otherwise limited movement options.

What really separates Last Defense Academy’s tactics gameplay from other contemporaries is that it encourages players to kill off their own characters. Because of the Revive O’Matic, I could use death to my full advantage with no punishment. When characters hit critical health, they can fire off their ultimate attacks without using up Voltage at the expense of dying. I’m even rewarded for doing that because it adds another 100% to the Voltage meter and the post-battle results screen adds a bonus score for every character sacrificed.

I was able to focus more on the joy of tactics when I didn’t have to worry about losing characters permanently. It’s a stark contrast to other tactics games where I’d take every step to ensure that my characters survive. Instead, I happily put them in harm’s way to make them go out with a bang, knowing that they’ll be back in the next enemy wave.

Death, and its role in battle, struck me the most during my very first boss encounter. At the end of most boss battles, players can select one character to finish off the commander and absorb their power, giving them a permanent power boost. However, the character selection screen is presented in the commander’s point of view, with the Special Defense Unit glaring down with malicious intent and the background soaked in rage-inducing red. It’s almost like the commander is begging for their life to be spared.

After selecting the character, they slowly walk up to the commander and deliver a killing blow, the screen filled with raining blood and the scene ending on a close up of the chosen character’s face. From that point forward, it made me question the Special Defense Unit’s heroic motives, thinking, “wait, are we the baddies?” I didn’t know the origins of the invaders yet, but as I continued playing and learned more about them, I always kept this moment at the back of my mind.

Copying homework

When Takumi isn’t out defending the school, Last Defense Academy is set up similarly to a Persona game. Throughout the 100 days, the Special Defense Unit gathers in the cafeteria to discuss any important events or findings they come across. Interspersed between these story elements are moments where Takumi can do activities across the school. He can hang out with classmates, participate in mock VR battles, and explore outside of school grounds. They’re all worth doing as they provide gameplay benefits to Takumi, like granting BP to upgrade skills, rewarding materials to enhance weapons, or increasing his social stats. The freedom to organize your own schedule makes the 100 days pass by in a breeze.

There are some story instances where Takumi has to conduct Persuasion Missions to convince his other classmates to fight alongside him. This is one of Last Defense Academy’s few pitfalls. I’m thrust into a minigame where I have to pick the correct phrase and fill out a meter, another gameplay idea clearly borrowed from the Danganronpa games. There’s no fail state and picking the wrong phrase just simply reverts me back to a previous point in the conversation. It’s low stakes and doesn’t add much to the overall experience.

Sometimes I’m also thrown into a stealth minigame where I have to navigate the school without getting caught. While these minigames are relatively easy compared to forced stealth missions in other games, they happen so infrequently that there doesn’t really seem to be a point to them at all. They would have worked just as well as regular cutscenes.

If you do happen to stumble on the Persuasion Missions and stealth missions, be prepared to wait several seconds. Load times are slow on Switch, and are inconsistent between playing in docked mode versus handheld. Loading times while playing in the latter is somehow faster than the former. The slow load times are also an annoyance when navigating through the school. Other than that, however, there aren’t any other performance issues.

On the surface, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy simply looks like the next mainline Danganronpa game in all but name. However, it does more than enough to separate itself and even pulls off the formula better. With a strong visual novel backbone, Last Defense Academy’s robust RPG systems and story transcends its inspirations. Despite a few red marks on its report card, the student has surpassed the teacher.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy launches on April 23 for Nintendo Switch and PC.