100 Days, 100 Endings.
This is truly a collaborative magnum opus from Kodaka and Uchikoshi.
Would recommend if you are into Danganronpa, Zero Escape, Visual Novel, and SRPG.

Oh, Hundred Line... Where do I even begin?

After 6 months, 357 hours of (admittedly inflated due to time spent AFK, the game probably won't take you quite this long) play time, and countless nights spent gaping at my screen in complete and utter disbelief, I have finally completed Hundred Line. 100% completion, all 100 endings. I'm writing this coming right off of my 100th ending to process my emotions, and I feel like I'm giving a eulogy for my dead wife. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now that this experience is over. To put it bluntly: this game ♥♥♥♥♥♥ and sucked me in ways that I had not thought possible. Kodaka and Uchikoshi have done it again.

Hundred Line is the easiest 10/10 I have ever given in my life, but not because it's flawless. In fact, it is incredibly flawed, both as a game and a story. Every route splitting decision feels like playing Russian roulette as to whether you're about to experience some of the greatest writing known to man or complete and utter abysmal ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. So many characters are underutilized, the constant consistency errors will have you tearing your hair out, a decent portion of endings are filler that can be chalked up to "everybody dead on day 33 because of Knife Man," and some of the routes are just straight up fetid ass. Yet in spite of all this, Hundred Line is a glowing masterpiece in my eyes because the good outshines all the bad to the point that I don't even care. For every flaw, there's an emotional peak, a compelling character, an insane plot twist, a gutwrenching ending that just shines so much brighter. This game is perfect in its imperfection, and I don't regret a single second of time that I spent with it (even while languishing in the Box of Blessings trenches).

At its core, Hundred Line is a story about war. But sometimes it’s a story about mental illness. Sometimes it’s a cute coming of age romp that doubles as a critique of covert ableism in fiction. Sometimes it’s a parody of anime fanservice that veers so hard into sexual horror it will genuinely leave your jaw on the floor. Sometimes it’s an absurdly convoluted murder mystery that bends over backwards and jumps through 15 different hoops solely to keep the player guessing. Sometimes it’s about how ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up it would be if people just started turning into fish for no reason. And sometimes, very frequently actually, it is a story about evil tapeworms. The evil tapeworms are SHOCKINGLY relevant. No matter how much you think you already know about this game going in, no matter how much you think has already been spoiled, I GAURANTEE there's still something that will make you ♥♥♥♥ your pants. There will always be a ludicrous plot beat, a shocking line of dialogue, an Eito Aotsuki Gay Moment™ that makes you audibly say "I cannot ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ believe he just said that" at your screen. Hundred Line is an unending barrage of absolutely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ plot points and it is written like it is intended to break you. I mean this as a compliment. If you're a fan of the over the top absurdity that's signature of Kodaka and Uchikoshi's previous works, and if you're anything like me, this game will change your life.

I'm rambling now, but I truly think Hundred Line is something special. It's strange, it's ridiculous, it's experimental, and it is so deeply authentic, memorable, and human in its insanity. It has a lot to say even if not all of it is well written, but the parts that ARE make it all so worth it. You don't have to play all 100 endings (though I do recommend it), and you can always use a guide to avoid the worst of what the game has to offer. This game managed to connect with me so deeply and I hope it manages to do the same for you. It's also the reason I wrote 40k words of gay fanfiction this year. Pls buy it, we need your money to fund the Eitaku elopement route DLC.

TLDR; play if you love ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

My rating: 5/10 - a painfully average game that mistakes quantity for quality.
I’m finally finishing Last Defense Academy. I completed 8 of the 21 routes and unlocked 51 of the 100 endings, and honestly, that was more than enough to see what this game really is: bloated, repetitive, and strangely disrespectful of the player’s time. There are moments of brilliance buried in here, but digging them out becomes a chore.

As a huge Danganronpa fan, I went in with high expectations. I’m literally the target audience: tactical RPG + visual novel + sci-fi setting, from creators whose work I love. And at first, it worked. The first 100 days (the “prologue”) were engaging - good twists, solid reveals, and I even enjoyed the combat and leveling system. It still felt too long for a prologue (30 hours), but I was invested.

Then the routes started.

I was excited to make choices, go in blind, maybe even stumble onto something big on my first try. Instead, I somehow landed in a gag-romance route that I absolutely hated - and had to repeat the fights again through it. Not fun. My second route (V'ehxness) was better, and then I followed some recommended route orders online: Killing Game and Mystery. These were mostly enjoyable and I liked how some mysteries only paid off later… but wow, the lows were very low.

Every route dragging on for 100 days with barely any time skips is brutal. It constantly felt less like “playing” and more like grinding workload.

After that I did the second scenario route. It clearly had higher production quality. I followed a guide to reach that route because at that point I just wanted to be done with the game. While I enjoyed parts of it, the big reveal landed with a flat “that’s it?” for me. I don’t know if it was the reveal itself or how it was delivered - either way, disappointing.

I took a long break, played Expedition 33 (which was fantastic), and came back for the SF route because everyone praises Uchikoshi’s writing. And yeah - I loved Hiruko, the time-travel focus, and how it tied other routes together. It had great ideas… but again, it was one strong route (or a route with strong ideas and some great execution) inside a giant maze of repetition, with multiple endings that still left major setup points unresolved. I wanted more - not more hours, but more payoff.

The game’s biggest problem is its own pitch: “100 endings and every ending can be your ending!”

It sounds cool on paper, but in reality it spreads the story so thin that a lot of it becomes filler. The combat also turns stale fast after the prologue, and even the “skip-friendly” options still force you through unskippable bits.

In the end, Last Defense Academy isn’t terrible - it’s just average, and frustratingly so given the talent behind it. There is a good game buried somewhere in here. But the endless routes, unnecessary padding, and gimmicky design drown it.

If the routes were shorter, some sillier endings were cut, and the pacing respected players’ time, my opinion would probably be completely different. As it stands, though: too much of something (especially when it’s not consistently good) eventually makes you tired of it.

I definetily enjoyed Rain Code way more.. It felt more like a complete game.