The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- Preview + Steam Deck Impressions

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This preview may include spoilers, so please keep that in mind while reading. However, I will do my best to avoid them when I can.

There are a few studios that utilize their own style of anime art that have a way of standing apart from the standard. One of the most widely known is Studio Ghibli, which charms with their movies (like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle) and their games (like Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch). However, when it comes to games, no anime style has captivated me like Spike Chunsoft's Danganronpa series. There's something about the character designs that I fell in love with, and the way the series uses 3D environments with expressive 2D character portraits is fantastic. And that's a big reason why I am so excited for The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-.

The game is being developed by Too Kyo Games, a studio founded by the creators and artists of the Danganronpa series, so it makes sense why the character designs are uncannily similar to Danganronpas. Ahead of its release, I had the chance to try out a bit of the game before its release, thanks to a preview key from Aniplex, and after a bit of time with it, all I can say is that I am completely hooked.

Not many games can completely hook me in within the first 15 minutes of the game, but Too Kyo Games found a way. You start off going about your mundane, ordinary day as Takumi, living inside the Tokyo Residential Complex, when almost immediately, an alarm goes off, and the complex is invaded. In a last-ditch effort to save himself and his best friend, Takumi uses a special sword to stab himself, granting him the power needed to destroy the invaders, thus saving both of them. Moments later, he is in a classroom with a bunch of other kids who are now going to band together to defend human civilization.

It's no wonder why I was hooked so quickly. Both Kazutaka Kodaka (Danganronpa series) and Kotaro Uchikoshi (Zero Escape series) are working together on directing and coming up with the scenario, and it shows. The way each character talks highlights their unique personality while progressing the story in interesting ways. I was hanging on almost every word that came from the characters, and I am excited to get to know them more in the full game.

The Hundred Line's scenario is also quite intriguing. It's a post-apocalyptic setting, which is already something I love, but I was entranced by the motivations behind the events going on. Why were these kids chosen to defend humanity? What exactly are they defending? How did the world get into this situation? Why are the kids only defending humanity for 100 days exactly? I was thinking about this the entire time and was only more curious as the game went on.

Then, we have the visuals, and I love them. It incorporates artist Rui Komatsuzaki's signature character designs with 3D areas in fantastic ways. The character's do have 3D models as well, which we see in combat, but when running around the academy, you will mostly see their 2D portraits. It's very similar to Danganronpa in this sense, and it's exactly what I would have wanted to see.

The gameplay itself is segmented into two parts, and they are both awesome. The combat is turn-based, and you move around and attack using a set amount of AP you get each turn. Each character you have in combat has their own types of attacks and special abilities, but the uniqueness here comes from how you interact with your Voltage bar. The Voltage bar goes up whenever you attack, and you can use it to use different characters' ultimate attacks or power them up.

But, if your health is down far enough, you can actually use the Voltage bar to use an attack that really hurts enemies and ends up killing you. However, instead of this being a bad thing, this is actually encouraged, and you can get more BP if you die, which can be used to enhance your attacks and abilities. I like this angle of it, and it gives me something else to think about when going around and fighting.

When not in combat, you are running around the academy, getting close to other students to improve your grades, training to get more BP, or exploring the wilderness outside of the school. You have different periods of free time each of the 100 days, and you can choose how you want to spend it. It feels very Persona-esque in this sense, where you can choose to deepen the relationships you have and learn more about them, or get more powerful.

The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy - Steam Deck Performance So Far

While this is a demo and not indicative of the full release, I did test the demo on the Steam Deck, and it's looking good. At default settings, the game is able to hit 60 FPS, and it sticks around 12W - 15W battery drain most of the time. I did notice some spots where the drain could shoot up to the 20W range, but it wasn't that often.

When looking at the settings, it seems to default to 1920x1080 resolution, which is more than what the Deck is capable of showing. You can bring it down to 1280x720 if desired, and that will save on some battery, but it does make the game a little blurrier. It is more noticeable during combat, but I wouldn't call it distracting.

I did notice that some of the character portraits can look a bit sharp or blurry when looking at them, but it wasn't enough to the point that I couldn't tell them apart. Changing resolution didn't help this, and with the game on high settings already, I doubt this is something we can fix. It may be improved in the final release, but this could just be a limitation of having a smaller screen.

Overall, The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is shaping up to be a must-have game, and I can't wait for it. I am hooked on it and already want more, and the wait leading up to its release will no doubt be an arduous one for me. I am hooked on the story, the gameplay is solid and intriguing, and I love the artwork and how it combines with the solid 3D surroundings. If you are into JRPGs, this should definitely be a game on your radar.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- can be wishlisted on Steam right now, and a public demo will be available tomorrow to test it out for yourself!

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