The Hundred Line 3
Image: Xseed Games

Creating a brand-new IP can prove risky at the best of times, yet when AI: The Somnium Files) believe in their vision.

Launching on Switch on 24th April 2025, The Hundred Line looks to combine the visual novel approach of Danganronpa with tactical gameplay that might be more akin to Into The Breach. It boasts a vast, eclectic cast that, if past works are anything to go by, will no doubt be completely expendable after they are forced to defend a school from invading creatures.

We recently caught up with both creators from Too Kyo Games via email to find out more about the project, whether Mr. Kodaka might ever return to Danganronpa, and what The Hundred Line's success means for the future of the studio.

Nintendo Life: The Hundred Line: Last Defence Academy is Too Kyo Games’ first tactical RPG. Can you talk about this approach and what kind of challenges you faced with its development?

Kazutaka Kodaka: This is our first in-house IP and is a collaborative work between myself and Uchikoshi-san. The game progression consists of multiple branching scenarios, and because the theme is war, that is why we needed to incorporate the tactical RPG into the game.

Kotaro Uchikoshi: Creating the scenario and writing is always a challenge. Additionally, we had to take care of the financial part of development and invested quite a bit to produce this game, which was challenging for us.

The creation was very unpredictable because there are so many branching scenarios that I had to take care of. It was a little bit challenging.

Which games did you look at as inspiration for the tactical gameplay?

Mr. Uchikoshi: Fire Emblem.

Mr. Kodaka: Into the Breach and also Dynasty Warriors.

The idea of people, often school kids, being forced into a dangerous situation by a mysterious entity is very reminiscent of Danganronpa, Zero Escape, and Ever17. What is it about these kinds of scenarios that attracts [you both] to them so much?

Mr. Kodakan: I know that this game is similar to Danganronpa, but it is my favorite type of game! That is why the idea is a little bit similar, but it’s not exactly the same.

Mr. Uchikoshi: Kodaka-san created the main idea behind the game, the overall plot and concept behind it. Usually I create the characters in the game I make, so I have to think about the main idea behind the game first. However, because this game was based on Kodaka-san’s idea, I had to think a lot about all the scenarios based on his idea, which was very interesting and a different way of writing scenarios.

Mr. Kodaka previously mentioned a willingness to revisit Danganronpa again in the future. Is that still the case, or is your focus now solely on The Hundred Line?

Mr. Kodaka: Danganronpa is a very memorable series for me. But right now I want to put all of my time, energy, and effort into The Hundred Line. Right now I am not thinking of returning to the series, I’m completely focused on The Hundred Line.

There are quite a lot of characters in this game. How did you approach their creation, and do you have a particular favourite?

Mr. Kodaka: When I wrote this scenario I thought that each character could be the main character. I do not have a favorite character out of them all. That was my approach to writing them, thinking about creating each character as if they can be the main character.

The Hundred Line 5
Image: Xseed Games

It’s been mentioned that Too Kyo Games fell into debt with the development of Hundred Line. How are things at the moment, and how important will the game’s success be to the studio?

Mr. Kodaka: If the game does not sell well, we may be done, so it is very important we put all our effort into the game and that it does well.

Can you talk about the decision to make Hundred Line a console exclusive for Switch? And will this be a timed exclusive like Master Detective Archives?

Mr. Kodaka: Spike Chunsoft owns the Rain Code IP so we can’t comment on that. At the moment we do not have plans to release on other platforms, but since this is our in-house IP it is something we will discuss in the future. You never know!

What are your thoughts on the Nintendo Switch 2 so far? Do you have any hopes for the console in the years ahead?

Mr. Kodaka: We hope that the performance and the power of the console becomes better.

Mr. Uchikoshi: If I was a player I would assume it would be fun using different consoles. But as a creator I feel the same as Kodaka-san and hope for more performance and power.

The two of you have worked together on multiple projects over the years, including co-directing World’s End Club with your studio. How did you come to collaborate so frequently, even before Too Kyo Games, and have you changed your approach to working together at all?

Mr. Kodaka: Before we worked together at Too Kyo Games we would meet occasionally to listen to each other's ideas or ask for advice on our own projects, but after we started working together at Too Kyo Games we started collaborating on direction and writing scenarios. If I talk World End Club, I was creative director so it was nothing to do with scenarios, more like Uchikoshi-san wrote the scenarios.

The Hundred Line is our first collaborative piece together. So this is the first, and I hope it is not the last, but it is a huge milestone of the collaboration.

Mr. Uchikoshi: Before, we were good friends, but now we work together, we work on the same title, and we are also business partners. We are much closer than we were before.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Thank you to Mr. Kodaka and Mr. Uchikoshi for taking the time to speak with us. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy will launch on Switch on 24th April 2025. Will you be picking it up? Let us know with a comment down below.