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As the mastermind developers behind games like Danganronpa and Zero Escape prepare to release The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, co-director Kotaro Uchikoshi reveals that the new tactical RPG features 100 carefully crafted endings.
Fans of visual novel-esque gems like Danganronpa and The Nonary Games understand the concept of choice-driven endings well, but The Hundred Line takes things to the next level by offering players a whopping 100 potential finales. As translated by Automaton, Uchikoshi explains how he worked on the branching storylines in a recent post online, laying out the "extreme" conditions that were in place as he designed endings.
First and foremost, each of the 100 endings had to have "meaning" – that means they all need to be "dense," as Uchikoshi also wanted to avoid any "easy" bad finales seen in most visual novels and decision-dependent narratives (I'm looking at you, Knife ending in 999). He says every ending needed to feel genuine and not like a bonus scenario or spin-off. As for what would constitute the "true" ending, Uchikoshi writes it's intentionally left up to the player.
The main route exists, but it's not necessarily the "true" route. The co-director wanted every ending to feel fleshed out enough to stand on its own as a "true" ending, should the player consider it as such. The Hundred Line's paths might also feel wildly different depending on a person's choices along the way, straying into separate genres ranging from drama or sci-fi to mystery or romance. It's big, to say the least – but that's how the creators envisioned it.
In fact, fellow lead Kazutaka Kodaka previously admitted that the tactical RPG is so long, devs worried it might "put off" players. Uchikoshi's words seem to support as much, as he describes how he chose to "ride the wave of madness" while constructing the game's branching paths and endings, each one as content-heavy as the last. He concludes by urging fans to "play through every corner" of The Hundred Line – advice I fear I'll take too seriously myself as an achievement hunter.
While you wait for The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy to release, check out a few of the best JRPGs to try right now.
