The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy feels like developer Too Kyo Games is finally living up to its promise. The studio, co-founded by Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka and Zero Escape lead Kotaro Uchikoshi, has put out a few projects since it was established in 2017, but the tactical RPG is the first game that truly has both creators’ fingerprints all over it. It’s one part Danganronpa-esque story of school life, one part tactical RPG with puzzle-like battles, all of it bound together by some truly buckwild Zero Escape-esque branching paths and timeline flow charts. I’m still chipping away at all that Hundred Line has to offer, and I get the feeling that even after all this time, there’s so much left for me to discover. Recently, I was talking to players who went in a different direction early on and their story has gone down in ways I couldn’t have even fathomed. This game’s ambition can’t be overstated. — Kenneth Shepard