There’s quite a bit I need to say about The Hundred Line: The Final Protection Academy, I simply don’t know find out how to say it. That is partially as a result of providing any form of story element would spoil the surprises that hit very early. It’s additionally as a result of the premise and gameplay are so off the rails that it’s exhausting to wrap your head round every thing.
However good Lord, what enjoyable it’s to attempt!
Printed by Marvelous (XSEED), the sport involves us from Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi—names you might know from the Danganropa and Zero Escape collection, respectively. In that case, that ought to offer you some inkling of what to anticipate, however I liken The Hundred Line’s move extra to video games comparable to 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Yurukill: The Calumniation Video games. Seize the demo, and also you’ll rapidly see what I imply.
The story facilities round Takumi Sumino, a teenaged boy who’s turn into tired of life within the Tokyo Residential Advanced—a domed metropolis plagued with two unlucky realities. First, the lighting is horrible; think about dwelling underneath a sky lit up like a highschool cafeteria. That’s my criticism, although, not Takumi’s. His is that sirens sometimes announce a mysterious hazard stage, throughout which the residents should retreat to underground shelters. This contains Karua Kashimiya, a childhood pal Takumi swore to guard after she misplaced her father throughout such a raid.
When the 2 finally discover themselves above floor throughout an assault, Takumi finds his oath put to the take a look at by a wierd, ghost-like creature who tells him he can save Karua if he’ll simply, , stab himself within the chest with a wierd dagger known as the Infuser. It’s not a spoiler to say he does this (we do must get the sport shifting), after which he’s transported to The Final Protection Academy with a bunch of different excessive schoolers who additionally do not know what’s occurring.
Right here, I’ve to begin speaking concerning the story. Half the enjoyable of The Hundred Line is studying what’s occurring, and that’s teased and twisted all through the sport. Very often, while you assume you’re about to determine one thing out, the sport both goes in a distinct route or finds a approach to depart you dangling just a bit bit longer.
The evaluation information supplied by Marvelous (XSEED) included 5 slides price of plot factors we aren’t allowed to disclose; that must be a file of some sort.
So, what can I discuss? Nicely, the Final Protection Academy is an precise faculty defending…one thing. Takumi and his fellow classmates aren’t advised precisely what it’s, simply that it’s essential to humanity’s survival and that they’ll must defend it for 100 days.
They’re additionally advised they’re trapped on faculty grounds by “timeless flames” that may’t be extinguished besides in small sections with a particular extinguisher. The excellent news, although, is that Takumi and the others may be introduced again to life supplied they die on faculty grounds (extra on that in a bit).
So, they struggle, proper? Mistaken. Confused and frightened, they do extra arguing than the rest, with only some of the combatants keen to step up…albeit not at all times for noble causes. These college students aren’t simply eclectic, they’re bonkers immediately. The assorted personalities are usually not anime tropes, they’re purposeful caricatures of anime tropes, and so they’re all a lot enjoyable. You already know their character flaws are finally going to obtain a second of exposition, however the writers are intelligent about this and use them in surprising methods.
The forged members additionally get their very own skills to make use of on the battlefield. The enemies assault in waves, usually requiring you to defend the academy on a Hearth Emblem-like grid. Some characters transfer additional than others, some have higher protection, some supply necessary buffs, some are very powerful in opposition to single targets, whereas others are simpler in opposition to teams of enemies. The nuances are quite a few and sophisticated, and being strategic with them is, in fact, the important thing to victory.
It could really be fairly overwhelming early on, however two improvement selections aid you out.
First, you possibly can restart battles from any wave, so unhealthy selections don’t drive you again to the beginning. Second, you’re given the choice to restart along with your voltage meter jacked as much as most. This meter permits characters to make use of particular assaults that not solely do vital harm but additionally give you extra motion factors (AP) so you will get extra strikes in in your flip.
The good characteristic of fight, nonetheless, is that it’s usually useful to kill off your personal teammates. I discussed that they arrive again to life, proper? So, if a personality is about to die, you possibly can sacrifice her or him to trigger in depth harm to the enemy whereas rising the skills of the remaining characters. The sacrificed character returns within the subsequent wave or on the finish of battle. Watch out who you kill off, although; you might want a selected specialty for the remaining enemies.
Fortunately, 100 days on the academy doesn’t imply 100 battles. More often than not, you’re working via the sport’s visible novel part and deciding find out how to stage up your characters. There are maybe too some ways to do that. You possibly can create items for characters, hang around with them, examine in a library, enhance your weapons, and extra. You possibly can even have interaction in a random-chance board recreation the place you possibly can harvest supplies on your numerous power-ups. It’s quite a bit to think about, and I want the sport did extra to elucidate the influence of all of the choices.
I additionally want the builders had executed a greater job of fleshing out the occasional persuasion mini-game. Right here, you have to say the appropriate factor so as to get somebody to, for instance, comply with struggle. However the appropriate solutions are achieved by guesswork, and the sport doesn’t let you know what number of choices there can be or after they expire. Maybe to compensate, for those who get a solution mistaken, the occasion simply begins over till you get it proper. It’s a bizarre part that doesn’t must exist.
Visually…effectively, the Aniplex emblem seems when booting up the sport, so you know the way this recreation goes to look. It has a ton of fashion, with the graphics rising to match the sport’s perspective and humorousness. Talking of which, The Hundred Line is aware of precisely what it’s and mocks itself all through. A few of the jokes could also be a bit too meta, positive, however they’re nonetheless very humorous, and that helps to maneuver issues alongside through the moments when the visible novel elements stick with it a bit too lengthy.
Nonetheless, there wasn’t a second once I didn’t have a blast enjoying The Hundred Line: The Final Protection Academy. And when it’s executed, it’s not executed. Your first playthrough is fairly linear, however subsequent periods help you discover completely different story branches. Once more, we’re p rohibited from detailing these branches, however I can say you’ll positively need to work via them.
All this thought of, The Hundred Line: The Final Protection Academy is my favourite recreation of 2025 so far. Its anime-like violence and off-color humorousness is probably not for everybody, however the turn-based technique and visible novel components mix successfully for an over-the-top romp that may preserve you on edge for all 100 days.
