When the creative minds Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi team up for a passion project, you can expect something special. Their current work on Steam proves that.
What kind of project is this? The game with the remarkable title “The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-” was released on April 24, 2025, on Steam as well as on Nintendo Switch, mixing turn-based strategic battles with visual novel elements and comes from well-known developers.
Behind the studios Too Kyo Games and Media.Vision Inc., who developed the game together, are game designer Kazutaka Kodaka (the creative mind behind the Danganronpa franchise) and Kotaro Uchikoshi (author of the “Zero Escape” series).
Here is the launch trailer for “The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-“:
What is the game about? You take on the role of Takumi Sumino, a teenager from Tokyo, who encounters the creature Sirei during a monster attack, offering its power to protect his loved ones. To do this, he just has to… stab himself!
This selfless act brings him to the Academy of Last Defense, a school in the middle of nowhere where 15 students are trained to form a special defense unit. Their mission: to protect the school for the next 100 days.
From then on, you can expect a mix of getting to know the other students, building and improving relationships, strategic defense battles, leisure activities, explorations, and countless decisions that can drastically affect the progress of the story.
In the first 30 hours – which you need to complete the 100 days – you should expect a rollercoaster ride of twists, revelations, and boss battles. But that was only the prologue, and you end up in a fractal nightmare of branching storylines that lead you deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. Anyone wanting to see everything must plan significantly over 100 hours.
How is the game received? The currently 1,784 user reviews on Steam stand at 89 percent positive, which qualifies as “Very Positive.” On metacritic.com, the metascore is 85, and the user score is 81.
- Songpin writes after almost 74 hours on Steam: “This is THE game that people have always hoped for since Uchikoshi and Kodaka started working together.”
- Peary states after over 150 hours on Steam: “If there ever was a game to avoid spoilers, it’s this one. This could be the opus of Kodaka and Uchikoshi, where they finally combine their best work into one single piece.”
- Sirius praises on Steam after over 80 hours: “I haven’t been this overwhelmed by the scope of a game in years. It feels like something that only exists in fantasy or is executed in a very poor manner, but this game delivers on its promises in a way that keeps blowing me away.”
Here is one of the older trailers for “The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-“:
What’s the deal with bankruptcy? At first glance, a mix of turn-based strategy and visual novel doesn’t sound too expensive. However, considering the incredible scope of what’s in the game, the development of “The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-” must have been quite costly.
So costly that things don’t look too good for Kazutaka Kodaka’s studio at the moment. When the Danganronpa designer is asked about additional translations (currently only supporting English, Japanese, and Chinese) or possible ports for Xbox and PlayStation, he responds:
If I can pay off my debts early and secure enough operating funds for the company, I would like to get started right away. But at the moment, we are still on the brink of collapse.
Kazutaka Kodaka via bsky.app
In a second post, he adds that this would only refer to the additional localizations. As for further ports, there are currently no plans. This might change only if “The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-” unexpectedly (as it is quite niche) becomes a huge financial hit.
Also just released on Steam is the horror shooter Trench Tales, which sends you into the battlefields of World War I. This time, however, you fight alone against undead soldiers. You can read more about it here: Gloomy horror shooter from Steam lets the zombie apocalypse follow the First World War
