My most anticipated game of 2025: The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-

Danganronpa writer Kazutaka Kodoka's next big game is my most anticipated title of 2025

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- / Aniplex, Tookyo Games

I have an unhealthy obsession with the PlayStation Vita. It’s not just my favorite console – it’s a part of the family. My office is a desk in the corner of my dining room because my spare bedroom is reserved for aesthetically displaying my Vitas and their games. Yes, Vitas, plural. I have six. 

The reason why the PS Vita appealed to me so strongly is because it allowed me to discover and play some of the best visual novels of all time: Danganronpa and Zero Escape. While both gaming series have ended, I have been following the subsequent games from the same developers closely, and with mixed results.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- / Aniplex, Tookyo Games

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc’s designer, Takayuki Sugawara, went on to write the beautiful story of Zanki Zero: Last Beginning, but the gameplay left me a little wanting. Zero Escape director and writer Kotaro Uchikoshi went on to direct and write the AI: The Somnium Files games, a perfect continuation of his work. Danganronpa writer Kazutaka Kodoka, and character artist Ryu Komatsuzaki went on to create Master Detective Archives: Rain Code together, a game that ruined my day every time I played it.

Ridiculous name aside, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is not a bad game. I’d say it’s a pretty good game with a monumental act to follow. Both the opening and ending of the last game in the Danganronpa series, V3, shook me deeply. I thought I’d become wise to the series’ tricks and twists and went into it thinking that I couldn’t be fooled after 100 hours of Danganronpa experience. This made it even more shocking when I was made to look like a muppet.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- / Aniplex, Tookyo Games

I went into Rain Code expecting to have my mind blown. I didn’t think a game could subvert my expectations any harder than V3, but then I thought the same about Danganronpa 2 before I was proven wrong. Expecting to be wrong, I guess it did shock me when – for the first time playing a game by Kazutaka Kodoka – I saw everything coming. It just wasn’t in the way I wanted to be surprised.

The point of this ramble is that Master Detective Archives: Rain Code was my most anticipated game of 2023. When I was offered the code for review, I excitedly told everyone it was my Game of the Year before I’d even downloaded it. It wasn’t my Game of the Year. It wasn’t even in my top 10. Yet here I am saying with confidence that The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- a game written and directed by Kazutaka Kodoka and Kotaro Uchikoshi is my most anticipated game of 2025.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- / Aniplex, Tookyo Games

My response to Rain Code and the decision to add strategy gameplay have both tempered my expectations, meaning that it won’t have to be the best game of all time to bring me joy. How much you enjoy a game isn’t just how much you like it, but your expectations versus reality. Whether The Hundred Line blows me away or leaves me feeling empty, I can’t deny that I’m anticipating it, for better or for worse.