Spoiler Warning: This preview will contain some story spoilers for the first part of the game.
I got an opportunity to check out a demo for The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-. This one comes to us from Kazutaka Kodaka, who you might know from the Danganronpa series, and Kotaro Uchikoshi who worked on the Zero Escape Series. The game tells the story of Takumi Sumino who was living an ordinary life in Tokyo Residential Complex. His daily life, however, is shattered when strange creatures attack the city. His own life and the life of his childhood friend, Karua Kashimiya, are very much in danger when a strange creature named Sirei appears. He gives Takumi a great power called Hemoanima, and Takumi is able to defeat these creatures with ease, but he is soon teleported to another world. He finds himself in a school with nine other people where Sirei explains this is the Last Defense Academy, and if they ever want to see their loved ones again, they will have to fend off these horrible creatures for the next 100 days. Otherwise, they will be wiped out with rest of humanity! Takumi doesn’t know if he is lying or what is really going on, but until then, he is going to fight and try to uncover the truth of all this.
After playing The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- demo, I am really excited to learn more about these characters and uncover the mystery of this world. All of the characters seem pretty interesting so far, though the demo only lets you really play around with a few of them. I would have to say Darumi is my favorite, so far. I mean, a wild girl that thinks this is a death game and gets you to play old school eroge with her is a big win!
Graphically, I love the character designs here. You can tell they are inspired by Danganronpa, but they fit their personalities to a tee. The world design has some interesting choices, this school really is like no other with lots of decorations, and I’m wondering if there are other locations you will explore in the full game. There is a range of music here from mysterious themes that really push the feeling of the unknown and some badass battle themes to slay all the foes in your path to. I can’t wait to hear the full OST when the full game releases.
Combat takes place on a grid-based battlefield. You will select which move you want to do and move into range of the enemies. As you slay these evil beasts, your voltage meter will go up. When it hits 100%, you can either beef up one of your party members or use their special moves. These moves will clear out entire rows of enemies and turn the tide of battle quickly. Your party members will power up as they perform other actions, as well. Some will get defense buffs for the number of squares they move while others may get an attack bonus for slaying some of the monsters on the field. Just remember to keep an eye on your AP, this tells you how many moves you will get before the enemy gets a turn, and you want to be sure to keep them as far away from your shield generator as possible. If they break it and enter the school, it’s game over for you and humanity!
When combat is not taking place, you will have some free time on your hands. You can choose to spend time with your comrades in order to get to know them better and participate in student activities. Doing this will raise Takumi’s grades which he will need for various scenarios, or so the directions say, the demo doesn’t go far enough for you to put these to use. You can also spend your time training in VR to upgrade your gear.
Overall, I had a great time with The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- demo. It lasts about three hours and leaves you with a lot more questions than answers. I felt I got a good taste of the action and story, though, in the three hours I spent with it, and I’m very stoked to check out the full game when it releases in April. This demo will be made available to everyone on Steam February 18th, and I highly suggest you check it out.
