Dying becomes a skill in this JRPG from the Danganronpa devs, and its Steam Next Fest demo is already Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam
A mysterious school. A group of 15 special students. The goal to survive for as long as possible. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy's set-up is almost exactly the same as Danganronpa, which makes an awful lot of sense considering it comes from some of the same creators – having set-up new studio Too Kyo Games. But, despite the similar premise, what's important is that The Hundred Line isn't Danganronpa with its serial numbers filed off. How it subverts expectation just as much defines what it is, as I learn in my over three hour Steam Next Fest demo.
After mysterious monsters break through the walls of their domed city, our cast of students are bestowed with what's basically sci-fi blood magic, and whisked away by a strange ghost-jelly mascot colonel (don't ask) to a school in the middle of a ruined city. They've no idea where they are, or what they've been tasked to protect for 100 days – all they know is that if they want to go home and uncover the truth of their situation, they need to persevere. Whatever the school is hiding in a sealed off chamber, the monsters want to come and get. In waves. Waves that you kill.
Yes, The Hundred Line isn't a murder mystery 'killing game' like Danganronpa, where those involved are psychologically pressured into secretly offing one another. Instead of courtroom cross-examinations, the dense and well-written story is punctuated by bite-size tactical RPG battles.
Rather than turning on one another, the students here have to have each others backs in order to co-ordinate their monster slaying. Standard defense battles feature foes aplenty that have the goal of not just cutting down the students but taking down the school's shield generator. There's almost shades of tower defense to popping all the fairly weak monsters before they can overflow and blow your last hope to kingdom come.
There's a nice simplicity to the core of these battles, right down to how small the numbers you deal with are, basic enemies having around one to
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