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Hundred Line Review

After 85 hours, I've decided to call it quits on this game so that it remains a beautiful memory. "That sentence is foreboding." The image below is my experience with this game, so yeah, my relationship with it is incredibly tumultuous.

This review will cover 2S, R, GE, Reb, E, ME, Con, Cas, CoT, V, CoA, Ret, and KG. I don't have any plans on playing the rest, at least for a while, or honestly, if ever. I'm plenty aware I'm missing a huge arc related to Hiruko, but I just can't anymore man...

As a result, this review does have some bias in what I have read, so you'll have to forgive me if the game decided to address some of my issues in another route I didn't play because I just fuckin cannot anymore.

Should you play Hundred Line?

I guess this is a tough question to answer, but overall, I think this game is utterly and completely unrecommendable to play blind. Seriously, ask a friend or grab a list of which endings are good, play those, and resist the urge to even bother playing anything else. Just keep it a beautiful memory in your head.

This game is 70% trash and 30% good for the average person, otherwise the whole thing will blow your mind if you're a young teenager, I guess, or a complete waste of time if you're more pessimistic and critical than me.

Let's go over what kind of people I'd recommend to play the game in a list:

Those who went "x character is hot I want to see them in the game" and have no other deeper reason to read

Those who are here for shipping purposes

Those who like the companionship and mundane flavors from interacting with a colorful cast of characters (think Persona 3-5)

Those who don't mind superficial depictions of war in a game oriented for teens and young adults

Those who don't mind bloat in gameplay and story

Those who really love Kodaka's characters and writing philosophy

Those who love to extrapolate character interaction and plot development outside its text from fan works

And here's a list of people I'd recommend NOT to play the game, especially blind:

Those who hate stories with severe amounts of filler

Those who cannot forgive severe quality variance in a story

Those who are tired of Kodaka’s antics because he hasn't really changed

Anyway, this review is fucking long because it holds most of my thoughts for a game that I spent literally like 80+ hours on so sorry for yapping or, whatever.

Why I decided to play Hundred Line

A friend of mine really likes the game, I saw tons of fanart, comparisons to real life conflicts with how good the writing was (?!) and Kodaka begging people to play the game made me want to check it out. There's so much creativity flowing through the community and the fanart is incredible. Surely a game that inspires so much posting would be a good time, right?

And with that, I embarked on my "it's so over," "we're so back" rollercoaster journey.

The Route Gauntlet

God help me. Writing about every route will inflate the write up of this game, but, well, I'm already jumbling them in my head... This is for me anyway. This shit is completely unreadable, just a forewarning.

Route 0 (Prologue)

Utterly full of bloat, but I get the luxurious vibe it was going for. The recruitment phase with Shouma, Gaku, Tsubasa, and the twins is reminiscent of something like Love Live and how each of the girls joined μ's, which is neat in concept, but the padding is pretty insufferable.

I really like how things just go wrong in the second half, at least in theory. It reminds me a lot of the second half of Undead Unluck, except it wishes it was as good as it which it isn't lmfao and you get the idea that the 100 endings of the game is going to be related to being able to redo the 100 days.

However, Eito's role as an antagonist, much less his condition, is very poorly foreshadowed, besides a couple of wacky events like catastrophes happening after parties. His writing in the prologue is really comical at the reveal, and then your first choice is to kill or spare him.

You do not really have enough information to judge him unless you're using genre savviness, as the game barely talks about what he's like as a person before you can make this choice. Let's be clear here, this is an absolute mistake and future choices to reject him or not feel so much more meaningful when you get more information about him. The fact that the entire rest of the game hinges on your choice to kill or spare someone you barely know at this point is just crazy, and I feel like having this be the major branching point of the game instead of something directly related to the war itself really outlines the mindset the game uses to approach war in general, but let's discuss that later.

Back to the prologue, this route really encapsulate my issues with the game holding its cards too close to its chest. There is active laziness in killing off Hiruko and Sirei extremely early in the same exact way. I don't MIND that Hiruko dies, but you couldn't have done it in a different manner that didn't telegraph "has too much information she gotta go" so obviously because she goes out the same way as Sirei just a day or two after? I find that really insulting to Kodaka's ability to actually write.

This also relates to how the game has a severe lack of narrative intent at this point, which leads to a terrible first impression of the game. Eito's betrayal is laid on real thick ONLY at the end, same with the desire to turn back time. It would've been so easy to make this relevant and clever to the entire game's narrative, and the game's padding here makes it so much worse. For example, Danganronpa and Somnium Files have a more narrowed field of atmosphere and motif intent. Danganronpa is a vivid and bombastic series about kids going through terrible situations for entertainment purposes, and Somnium cleverly uses eye motifs all over for style points. Hundred Line is so much more rushed somehow despite the runtime at this point and obviously bloated by comparison, which baffles me that it came from the minds that made the two aforementioned games. Seriously, if we want to talk about a game where looping/going back in time is integrated into the story with some actual thought, I'd look at Gnosia or VLR for a better example of how to do that.

Back to Hundred Line, the ending severely pissed me off for two reasons. First is the fake out choices of going back in time or not. The game gives you a choice, but it's fake. It's Takumi's court, and you have no choice but to say yes. Why the fuck did they even add this "choice"? And besides, you couldn't have devoted one of those 100 endings as a non-canonical bad end? You thought taser slop in Conspiracy was worth it over that? It's just infuriating to me that the visual novel with 100 endings doesn't have an ending where you can choose the ultimate option that is "obviously wrong" and doesn't continue the story, because it does this all the time otherwise in so many other fucking endings you can run into. As a person who hates the idea of time travel, I wish the game spent more of the prologue convincing me that was a good idea for these characters, whether it be in character backstory or not. It could've been so easy to make the characters cry over their fallen friends, wanting to turn back time and get them back. (The funny thing is, the idea of fixing regrets and loss is somewhat addressed in Retsnom, a route that is pretty isolated from the rest of the game!)

Contextually, integrating the theme of turning back time to fix mistakes in the prologue would've made the message of something like Second Scenario feel even more powerful, right? Even if you CAN turn back time, it doesn't mean that the ending will be better or as you intended (as the rest of the game stresses).

What’s baffling is that you can’t even argue that the game consistently gives you the ability to make choices, even if they're fake outs. This is the only time I saw that the game gave you a fake choice, and that makes it even more infuriating. For example, there are several times where the game takes agency away from you, like how in Rebellion you have no choice but to accept Eito on the team, or in Reset, how Takumi makes the choice to forget everything on his own. These are character-defining moments for Takumi, because he purposefully the power of choice from players at times, making him feel more like his own character in those moments. (I think even removing that choice in Reset sucks, by the way. For some reason, I can't imagine that Takumi would actively choose to live in ignorance instead of with that guilt, but I guess if he's willing to flake out in the last minute, he'd just roll over and die I guess...)

Back to the first consequential choice, if you choose to kill Eito here because you LEGITIMATELY lack information about how he is as a person, Shion shames you right after. It's really annoying to be told that I actively made the wrong choice in a game with 100 endings. Isn't the point of 100 endings to show how there are endless possibilities that mean something? No? Okay cool <3 The way the game fakes me out with a "choice" and then tells me to go fuck myself for not keeping the game's pookie alive right after is so fucking insufferable, I almost dropped the game because of how horrible this transition is.

If the game foreshadowed Eito's true nature longer with characterization that wasn’t endless yapping cartoon villain, kept Hiruko alive to do some shit for a hotter minute, I wouldn't have the complaints I have, but instead the game wastes my time with ten years of free time and poorly paced and utilized time convincing half the cast to fight. It's infuriating and LDA2 immediately getting along with each other with great synergy was a godsend that got me through the prologue. It's literally okay to ramp up the pacing I promise. Your 100 ending game isn't going anywhere.

This is a lot of words to say that I really dislike the prologue and think the majority of it is a waste of time. Most characters don't even feel like people until you do other routes, and otherwise feel like walking tropes that repeat their same tic over and over. I might end up being an insane person that says "whatever you can imagine happened in the prologue is better than what actually happened, so skip it and play the second half of the game" just to troll people. But honestly at that point, I could say that the game is a waste of time and to play something else, I guess. Okay that's too far, I don’t regret playing it at all and liked it a lot when I did, but they should've cut the shit out of what's in it for sure.

Second Scenario

In a different world where this game was not the maximalist behemoth it was, this would be THE ending to get in the game. There are a few others I'd say match what it has, but the message of this ending is heartwrenching, beautiful, and will linger with its players. I'm genuinely shocked they stuck the landing here, considering how most endings of the game are so lackluster or end right before it gets interesting. It's so incredibly easy to have made the "golden ending" one where everyone lives, but in a war like this, with stakes as insane as this, this is the only way it could've ended without sounding holier-than-thou. "Hey, everyone lives in SF" lalala I can't hear you

In true Kodaka fashion, the game ups the stakes to 100, even up to like 1000 with how he mercilessly kills characters left and right while forcing you to make those choices, tells the cast that the "invaders" they're fighting are actually natives and made of civilians and prisoners of war, and then, to top it all off, tells them their entire lives are a lie and they actually have no one to come home to. It is heavy handed in its approach, which might be too much for some, but I think it hones the moral and ethical choices the game attempts to discuss to that absolute point for style points. It's a very Kodaka way of handling a topic, and I enjoy it. I think it says a lot about how fascinated he is with the concept with unreality as he's explored it so much. I really respect authors who are enamored by a concept and come back to it again and again.

I will admit that it's really easy to interpret this as Kodaka falling back on tricks he used in V3 due to laziness. Honestly, I can't really argue against that. However, I think the way he uses it here is compelling enough, especially when you think of characters as extremely heavy handed explorations on the crimes humanity is capable of, and how you, as a human, deserve to live and have a purpose to keep going despite being a part of such a horrible species.

Eito also addresses this concept very well in this route, which is why having the choice to kill him so early feels so pointless. I maintain that if they were going to give you the choice to kill Eito, the choice you can with Multiple Eitos is the one and only one to keep.

Nozomi's writing is really good in this route as well. It's really heartwarming how she's always willing to stand up for the rest of the cast and fight for them, which means a lot because she did have something to come back to before the satellite blew up. It takes so much strength and courage to process that loss and want to continue, as she does at the end. She's one of my favorite characters and I wish the game focused more on Takumi's actual relationship with her versus other girls. Chasing after other girls doesn't even feel like a decision he'd personally make, and was more made to move copies, despite how I actually like his dynamic with Tsubasa in Killing Game in particular.

Lastly, I gotta note something that left a bad taste in my mouth. The positioning for Sirei dad arc leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the tonal shift, and makes it much harder to give the game credit since it already teeters my patience with how horny Eva's brainwashing was. Like they really couldn't have put the Sirei stuff earlier on or something? It really feels like they were trying to brush over being forced to watch and perform literal war crimes by putting it after all that, but whatever. Overall, the ending of this route is so strong, I think it is worth it to play the game for this and a handful of other endings.

Reset

It's crazy that this is a choice to me, but it fits the whole 100 ending shit, I guess. I can't actually imagine that anyone with a heart would choose this other than "I can and need to get all them endings." I guess the point here is that it is pretty dystopian and a selfish choice to raze a whole planet and then run away from the responsibility of doing all that...

It's a route that could've had a choice but doesn't. I sort of wish it did, but I (mostly) respect and understand the intent. It just means that Takumi is taking the reins and I'm just observing, something I wish the prologue did at the end when I got that stupid fake out choice to go back in time or not.

Goodbye Eito (and Nozomi yap?)

One of the best routes, and one I'd keep next to Second Scenario. These two endings really encapsulate the pointlessness and harm that war brings, not only with Eito literally being a artificially made child soldier, but as a person who has been rejected by others for being "defective," wanting to find a reason to live and find beauty in humanity despite being so intimately aware of how it just isn't.

It's hard not to love and empathize with Eito here. He has a billion fans and people who have picked him apart with more affection than I will, so just assume that I agree with their takes because this is too long to begin with and I rather talk about other things that aren't as obvious.

It made me wonder what it would've been like if Eito was the protagonist of the game instead of Takumi. In my opinion, Eito and Nozomi are the true posterchildren of the messaging of the game, and I feel like Takumi being a forced as a stand-in character kind of detracts from the messaging of the game as a whole, even if he's really good in the end of Second Scenario itself.

Eito has seen the worst of humanity, but chooses to stand with the rest of the LDA because they're all he really has in the ultimate conclusion of the game. That we have to grasp onto something, that it's okay to stay alive, that it's okay to let go of that hatred and maybe learn to be defined by the present/future instead of the past. It's telling that he has almost as much charisma as Takumi before the reveal in the prologue, and he's definitely a man of action, siding with the Futurans for some time and learning the truth behind the war. It would’ve been interesting to see the journey he takes struggling through this war, as it would’ve hammered in the anti-war messaging the game goes for.

Eh, this was about Goodbye Eito, but I'll talk about Nozomi here as well, since I brought up the idea that they're the posterchildren of the game. Nozomi is a more typically noble character here. She is steadfast in supporting and loving her friends, and really encapsulates the idea that wanting to be alive is not a crime, no matter what. That you're worthy of living and when you win, someone else loses. It's a painful part of life, but that makes it all the more important to cherish it and try your best in your own way.

They're really good foils to each other and just narratively intriguing to me. Eito is subtly noble for letting go of his hate because Takumi and the rest of the cast is willing to accept and love him, and Nozomi is outwardly noble by sticking by her selfless and kind convictions. They also both look alike. Takumi I know what your taste is, brother.

Rebellion

This route is proof that the devs don't know how to write a war story. If they really wanted to balance out the Futurans and humanity, being able to rebel and stand with them would've been the larger branching choice to make than killing or sparing Eito from the start. Also, it's way too short for what it wants to be. They should've chopped a ton of routes to really flesh out this concept more if they wanted to write this topic with any depth... The fact that resources were spent on something like Casual/Romance over Rebellion is insulting to the Futurans that THEY created. Like they really thought burning resources on that bullshit was more important than adding and fleshing out a deeper layer of conflict. Be so for real. The game is 80% junk food entertainment and 20% sincerely trying to convey that sentiment, which is just so bizarre and sets up a tone of not taking the topic of war all that seriously.

It also shows in this route as a whole. The writing here is pretty naive and puts a bow on things due to its lacking length, so that further dampens my enjoyment of it, even if it's conceptually neat. I guess it's not the worst, but if you've read literally anything better than this game when it comes to war, the writing here leaves a lot to be desired, and might even piss you off if you're like me.

Eva

If you use Takumi as a self insert and you have a massive crush on Eva, well, I guess this route is for you. Honestly, these two have basically no chemistry and barely anything interesting going on next to V'ehxness, so they really did Eva dirty here. The dynamics between a native and an invader are lacking here, but I guess it's average for a story of this caliber. I'd recommend something like 86 to explore how a romance between oppressor and oppressed would go if you really wanted to read an attempt of handling this complex topic with any sincerity and grace.

At least Killing Game exists if you want to see Eva treated with any dignity. The Eva route could've been better if it was longer, since it would've been easier to see how Futurans live and interact with each other with this setting, but Takumi going off the rails to run away with Eva does not seem like something he'd actually do to me at this point. Seriously, he barely knows Eva. It's just here for readers who really wanted to knock up Eva. Awesome.

Multiple Eitos

This route makes the game with 60 dollars. I might be saying that because I'm a pervert, but the atmosphere here is incredible, and I think each of the four endings are fun and memorable.

Outside of being a pervert, I think the idea that this route has absolutely no good endings is really powerful. The right choice here is to forgive Eito and give people second chances, a message and sentiment that really changes Eito in routes past this, but if you don't, he is extremely vindictive. I also enjoy that Takumi goes a bit insane in this route and their dynamic here made me realize that they are the supreme yaoi overlords of this game for good reason. One of the best routes, if not the best, for character examination here. I love it so much and would even be tempted to reread it for therapeutic purposes.

Conspiracy

Extremely cool concept that is bogged down by taser slop and an ending that is an absolute cop out. This is the sort of stuff I like reading, but they did absolutely nothing with it. The Anti-Exodus group is a really cool concept. The entire operation of invading and razing Futurum to take over it is cruel and humans really should just give up and accept their deaths. I was looking forward to reading a route with a mindset I agreed with, but...

It's pretty obvious that despite having 100 endings and dozens of choices, the game really wants you to come out with a certain message sometimes. Here, you have to admit that your friends' deaths were in vain and were pointless, and then it ends off with you driving off in listless depression, with an ending that fades out into the sand. No other ending besides the end of the prologue insists so much on a message, but at least at this point, I've accepted that the game might have 100 endings, but they have clear values and messages they want you to take from the game.

Honestly, they should've just scrapped this route entirely to inject its concepts into Second Scenario, since it also discusses about the futility of their lives and war... Not to mention, Gotoh is a concept that is never touched outside of any other route. Absolutely laughable and keeping Kurara alive is done so dirty here. It's called 選択編 (Choices Arc) in Japanese for a reason. It is literally there for ending padding. I'm so pissed.

Casual

Writers must know how to kill their children, and this is a route that is bogged down by not being able to do that.

Conceptually, this route is interesting. Imagine being a soldier who's gone through such strong brainwashing you're straight up hallucinating interactions with others. However, the whole milk and poker scenes are really pointless and really take away from the horror of actually not being able to perceive things as they really are due to the sheer focus on bland mundanity. The interactions with Gaku and Takemaru are just not interesting enough. This is especially compared to Takumi interacting with Eito in this route, where their conversations really express the point of this route well. Takumi is so brainwashed he's willing to live in a cage, showing just how subservient he's become from it.

The only merit of this route is if you like yaoi. Takumi is gay for relying on a hallucination of Eito emotionally and morally. However, other routes show this just fine, so I think it's a complete waste of time to read. What exactly can you take from this route that you can't from others? Do you think that message and dynamic can't be injected into another existing route instead? I wager that most people can't deny that. Seriously, writers MUST know how to kill their children, and none of them know how to do it in this game.

Cult of Takumi

This route is a war (heh) between the horny and fucked up. I'd also like to talk about Eva in Second Scenario here, since it's related.

On paper, this route is uncomfortable. Drugging everyone to lust after you because it unites the squad when morale is low is fucked up. Yugamu is fucked up for drugging Takumi without his knowledge. However, you can't look at me in the eye and tell me that the reward scenes aren't supposed to be MOSTLY horny nonsense. Yes, in normal circumstances, none of these characters would actually want him that way, but I think they play it for comedy's sake more here. The level of sexual innuendo is high, and it chews the scenery of a cult here far too long because the game has so many goddamn characters. The game suffers from its maximalist nature, making it impossible to give the lack of consent the gravitas the topic really deserves.

"But bad things happen in this route!" Of course, it's really fucked up that Nozomi gets beat to death and Takumi gets raped by Eito in one ending. No one is consenting to any of this. Honestly though, Eito in this ending is so BL eroge core that I can't help but see his behavior as a homage to the genre more than anything, but I'm not here to talk about how and why the BL demographic has a complex relationship with sexual assault. However, the core of it is horniness, in my opinion.

The other ending suffers from the game prematurely cutting itself off when things get interesting. Honestly, the ending of the prologue and this ending made me think the whole game was a simulation because it always cut off when they were able to get to the satellite... It's so consistent in this way, I thought the convenience was purposeful. Nah, that's just genuinely how this game rolls lmfao

Let's talk about Eva in Second Scenario for a second. It's really heartbreaking, yet understandable that Takumi is incredibly passive while brainwashing Eva multiple times here. After all, he's also been through this brainwashing to be subservient, and he's also just a kid. Taking a stance is incredibly difficult for anyone, and with him as our protagonist, I think it's fitting that he just doesn't because he is generally passive to begin with.

Seeing her horny for a whole day is honestly bloodcurdling and incredibly disturbing, and I feel the ratio of horny to disturbing is a lot better off here, especially because we hear her scream from the pain and see her expressions too. It's just crazy. Less is sincerely more for these messages, even if I have gripes with it (because the contextual placement of Dad Sirei is just so deranged to me). I also think a large part of that discomfort is because it is genuinely disturbing and the black humor is balanced well here, even if it's not always tasteful. It's a very Kodaka way to address that topic.

Anyway, back to Cult, I think this route is pretty entertaining and a good time. For anyone who can see the more fucked up commentary this route has to offer while enjoying the horny, they'd give it more credit than me. It's definitely one of the better ones to me regardless of my opinion on it though, but it's impossible to change my mind on how it's at least 60% horny nonsense.

V'ehxness

There are a few endings in Hundred Line that make me think the whole multi-route premise is worth it, and this is one of them. I really feel like the consequences of a choice really matters here. Here, we become POWs and get an opportunity to actually know V'ehxness as a person. Tsubasa is really good in this route, the messaging about the conviction to kill is compelling, and both endings are interesting conclusions. I really wish the Futurans were more important in a game about conflict about them, and this route was a good snack for that. Ideally, every route and ending would be something like this. Snappy and consequential with all the endings feeling like valid answers.

Back to V'ehxness, I think she's a very fun character that joins Kodaka's scrunkles of hope. You could argue that a story about war would've been better off with a character more grounded and sympathetic instead of a deranged megalomaniac dictator, but, well, this is Kodaka's world and we're living in it. I don't find her colorfulness detracting really, especially after learning about her ideals and motivations to be hope in this route. It's just how he writes things.

I also appreciate that she acknowledges that she and Takumi are two sides of the same coin here, but their relationship is not overtly romantic as something like Eva's. Anyway, I'm just gonna reiterate that every route would ideally be written with the philosophy of reverberating consequences to get to a route, with endings that linger like this.

Coming-of-Age

I'm very fond of this route, and think it is one of the best in the game. It's funny but fucked up with Eito's brainwashing, it's got a lot of tropes that you'll see in school anime, but hits different in a setting where the cast is a bunch of child soldiers. This isn't a novel concept, but it feels like a breath of fresh air to be able to give Shion a chance at a normal life (and in the context of Second Scenario, to give the entire cast one). It reminds me a lot of how I felt in the closing arc of Fatamoru (though that comparison gives 100L WAY too much credit lmao) with the lighthearted moments.

However, the endings are suitably bittersweet, and if you haven't played Second Scenario, foreshadow the tone that the game takes with that "ultimate" ending. Eito killing himself after his match with Takumi is a great piece of character study, and his reaction to the shonen bonds is EXTREMELY funny in the other ending.

Kodaka's writing really shines in this route. It's got that black humor to it, with relationships that are fun to see and interpret. It's one of those routes that is a lot sadder in hindsight, especially the fireworks scene. It really feels like a shorter version of the message Second Scenario wanted to say, with how war comes with sacrifices no matter what, and neither ending feels like a resounding victory. I truly think playing this route is a duty of players in how it gives the characters happiness and genuine relaxation at least for a little (and if you’re not Eito sorry about how clumsily callous Takumi was dude).

Retsnom

I don't care for this route as much as others, and I think it comes down to preference if you like Darumi in Retsnom or Killing Game more. I like her in KG a lot more.

This route covers some worldbuilding lore related to Futurum with Retsnom, and I think even doing this to begin with expands the scope of the game to its demerit because Retsnom lore contributes absolutely nothing to the overarching narrative of war. Sure, the concept of being able to bring back your friends who died in war is interesting and good, but they really chew the scenery in developing this creature growing inside of Darumi that is more of a plot device than anything else. Its existence is very isolated to the Futuran narrative as a whole which just makes it feel like it was pasted in last minute. Hell, do they even have world setting files for this game? I kinda fucking doubt it, actually.

Anyway, Retsnom itself is a clear homage to eldritch creatures and Saya no Uta. Both Darumi Retsnom endings are very Saya and I enjoy that both feel like valid answers that would make Darumi squee with how Saya it all is. But that's about all it is. Remember we were playing a game about war? I sure don't when reading this route...

I'm happy with the concept of a route that keeps Darumi alive and shows how kindhearted she is, but it's also bittersweet in how it's definitely not her at the end. It's what she deserves.

Ultimately, I could live without this route though and wish that Darumi just, didn't die in Second Scenario because her character, with how she truly doesn't value her life, would've shined a lot in the conundrums that come up in in the latter half of that route.

Killing Game

This was the first route I completed after ditching Slasher, and left a very good impression on me.

You can tell a different writer is at the helm here, as Takumi in particular has a lot more internal monologue and the characters have more subtle development and writing in general. They feel quite grounded. I also think this route showcases the consequences of killing Eito far better. In a situation where you have to count on a partner, would you want to count on someone who easily killed someone you barely knew, even if it was for the "right reasons?"

I know Kodaka didn't write this, but to me, it's proof that he thrives in this setting more than anything. There's a reason why, even though Hundred Line is mostly about war, they feel like they have to rely on a setting in a school, with tensions set up in how anyone can die at any time, except they get revived so that removes the stakes. But it's okay because they always make up some excuse to break the Revive-o-Matic, so seriously, what‘s the point of this function even outside of being awesome in Multiple Eitos? Anyway, the tension of anyone dying in a school really make the game feel like Danganronpa lite, and then the Killing Game itself, while not directly making the cast murder each other, is just a consequence of playing to type with a setting that is much easier and more manageable to work with.

Honestly, as much as I like this route because the setting makes it easy to have intriguing and interesting pacing, I also think it contributes to the overall image of the game being like Danganronpa all over again. Slightly related, I think that Uchikoshi visibly changes in his scope when comparing Zero Escape to Somnium. For one, he's way more willing to use stupid shit to pull off the plot, setting the more lighthearted tone of Somnium well, whereas ZE exposits with a mostly straight face. I think the shift in tone here shows his growth as a writer and willingness to be transparent about when he's fucking around or not.

There's nothing wrong with using a setting, themes, or character tropes over and over again. I respect it even, but I feel like Hundred Line doesn't really think about the meaning of the tropes it copies and uses in other routes. That's neither here nor there though, and not even really criticism that applies to this route in particular. (I can definitely say that that the writing for the Futuran monsters as very shallow and expresses a severe lack of understanding of how and why they work in a story like Nier though.)

The reliance on "templates" reminds me a lot of how I feel about Your Lie in April. A tragic work where the main character is abused by his late mother, where the girl he loves is terminally ill, and how every other character in the show's reason for being revolves around him. There's nothing bad about this, but for those who take a step back, it's easy to realize to see that the show uses a lot of these formulas to try to get you to feel something, and for people like me, it's hard not to be pessimistic about it and feel like you're being artificially manipulated to feel something. Again, this isn't a wrong choice when it comes to writing, but just isn't one I love myself.

Despite all that, I stand by saying that I think this route is one of the better ones and is pretty decent. Nozomi and Eva have a really good and interesting relationship here, and I think Tsubasa is really good in this route and in the V'ehxness route. Giving Eva the dignity of being her own person in one timeline is one of the merits of KG, and I'm glad I played it, even if the Killing Game setting is just because the writers wanted to be comfortable while writing the game for once. It's a route that genuinely feels consequential in what you learn and with how Eva is treated, and that's what I wanted and looked for when playing Hundred Line.

Also, Yugamu is great here and he's my favorite character.

Characters

Why is this game's cast so large ahhh help me

Yugamu

Perfect design, he's got Sasazuka's voice actor, I love his death motifs and his actually kindhearted personality. Also he's my bisexual king. He was really made for my tastes. I wish he had a gay route with Takumi though.

Nozomi

Nozomi is a noble and kind soul. For some reason she reminds me of Spirited Away's Chihiro in parts of Second Scenario's ending. These are all her friends that cannot come with her, and all she can bring is their memory and spirits.

I really like her, she's one of the best characters, and woefully underutilized outside of Second Scenario. For a flagship character, I wish she was more important outside of being a symbol for Takumi... It is genuinely crazy how easily he is able to move on from her in some routes, and detracts from her importance as a whole. Anyway, Nozomi game chibi plush when?

Kurara and Kyoshika

I can't separate them AND I'm lazy. Kurara is me frfr with her abusive quips (she reminds me a lot of how I behave with my boyfriend) and Kyoshika is just lovable, adorable, and I just like them both a lot. They may not be deep, but they're very entertaining and that's all I care about in a game like this.

Eva (and Kamyuhn I guess)

Eva is a great character and utterly heartbreaking in routes outside of Eva (not that her characterization is good here) and Killing Game. I really like her voice and kindhearted personality. I'm glad she's given the dignity of being her own person in those two routes, and the multi-route formatting of the game really benefits her in particular.

Kamyuhn is cute. Not much more to say, she's a cute kid and I like how she's written in KG more than Rebellion. She serves her purpose as a civilian and I wish her role was bigger.

Nigou

Absolutely adorable creature voiced by Ikue Ohtani. Has cringe opinions sometimes, but I will protect Nigou with my life. What more is there to say?

Moko

Gaku wishes he was her so bad in terms of the group dynamic. She's such an uplifting and kind character and just very likable. I love her a lot and enjoyed it whenever she was on screen. I bet her hugs are nice.

Eito

I've talked about him a lot above, which I'm not going to repeat, so this section will be a bit briefer.

It feels weird to place him in my favorites. I can't accept he's up there. But it's weird to place him in the second tier. He's in his own tier and I'm a tsundere. He's a very charismatic and entertaining character, and it's clear to me they spent a lot of time, even more than Nozomi, crafting his character and caring for him.

He's such a great character in Multiple Eitos, hilarious and gives Takumi a "fell for it again" award in Coming-of-Age, and just absolutely heartbreaking in Goodbye Eito. I refuse to admit he's up there because I'm a tsundere, but I do fervently wish for his happiness in some universe... He's very cute with the sunglasses and I want to pinch his cheeks and pat his head until he goes bald.

There's no goddamn way they didn't intend on this motherfucker to be lovable though. He's like "We meant to make him villanious and unlikable lolz" Sandalphon Granblue tier, seriously... I don't believe that shit at all. The girlies LOVE a troubled man who self-isolates and Japanese game devs just fucking know that.

Takumi

Honestly I don't know where to place him. It's hard to place him as a favorite for me, but placing him in a more neutral category just feels wrong. He, like Eito, is a core mascot of the game, like Pikachu. Like, if you don't AT LEAST feel positive about him, do you even like the game? I almost didn't want to rate him...

He's our POV character, takes a more passive stance sometimes, and stands out a lot in certain routes like Multiple Eitos. Sometimes he doesn't even act like himself, like in Romance. He's bizarre. His writing quality varies so much depending on who's writing him. I like him a lot in Killing Game though. I feel like I should write more about our protagonist, but I really don't have much more to say...?

In another game, I wish someone else, like Nozomi or Eito were our POV character instead, but as a game that follows the form of trope and expectation, he really had no choice but to be our protagonist. This is why we read lots of things though. You're just not going to get it from this genre. He's serviceable enough.

V'ehxness

She's comically evil, a total megalomaniac, but very entertaining and beautiful. Honestly, I like her the same way I like Eula in Genshin. I don't think their writing is objectively good. They leave a lot to be desired in that way, but they're VERY funny in a slop way and I'm fond of her route. If I were to examine her with a fine toothed comb or put on a moral lens, I would actually dislike her, but who cares like lighten up a little. It's not that serious.

Takemaru

He's my bro. He's a heartwarming and cool character and I am fond of him in Killing Game. The gap between the prologue to Killing Game is really good and one of the better parts about the game, imo. In the prologue, he's clearly on your side, but in Killing Game, it's hard not to feel annoyed with him by being the opposition. I really like it when the writing psychologically makes you want to take the protagonist's side, even if a part of you admits that their rival makes a good point.

The way he's so protective of Ima and Kako is really cute as well, and his relationship with Shouma is pretty good too. (I would like to see fanwork that explores his dynamic with Ima more. I think they're pretty interesting, ship or not.)

Ima and Kako

Ima looks like Tsukishiro. I wanted to play 100L for him because he's just gorgeous. I just wish he was more utilized in the story (along with Kako) outside of the prologue. (I know they have content in the Box routes, but I don't care enough to play them.) Regardless, the padding of the prologue makes him more insufferable than he already is, and the writing of their arc is just, incompetent and tasteless. Takumi looks pretty terrible when trying to convince Kako. I just ignore this when thinking about Ima. He's just too beautiful.

It's really fun to compare Ima with Gaku. Ima is actively funny even if he's TOO rude most of the time, but Gaku never knows how to word or time his comments at all, so he comes off as rizzless and completely annoying. The way you can distinguish both characters is a testament to how well-defined their characterization is.

Kako is cute and I like how she goes apeshit at the end of the prologue, and her whole arc of trying to assert her individuality is pretty decent. She's likable and adorable. Wish there was more of her. It's hard to say more about her other than it's hard NOT to like her and her arc is relatable for a lot of people. And she's got an adorable design.

I really like thinking of Geminism with these twins. Ima really is like Tsukishiro, if a bit more infuriating, and Kako is like Awasumi. Okay not really but if he was a cute girl he would be.

Shion

He's chill when he's not telling me I suck for killing Eito. I barely know you when you say all of that like get off my case. Otherwise, I really like his design and I think he's quite likable. I talked a lot about Coming-of-Age, which is basically about him, so I won't repeat myself since my comments on CoA apply to him as well. I really like him there. I also like how his soothing personality foreshadows his actual relationship with the cast, and the flavor of him being a literal baby is pretty fun.

Tsubasa

She's really likable and feels like a real person, especially in Killing Game. Takumi's relationship with her here is really sweet and good. I don't have much more to say, but I do like her. She kinda loses out in a cast full of deranged people, and I dislike how she's characterized by her nausea in the prologue. She's much more flattering in other routes, and just a solid everyman character.

Shouma

It seems that most people really dislike him. It's very offputting to see how much he hates himself, but I can't go against it because I'm the same. If he was more typically handsome, I think people would like him a lot more. I do appreciate how he's sympathetic towards Eva no matter what, even if he takes a pretty cringe stance when absorbing Eva in Second Scenario. It's extremely self-righteous and leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but Second Scenario is all about making tough decisions, after all, so I'm glad that it's a choice in the game, and he goes and says it plainly, even if it's infuriating.

Darumi

I like her in KG more than Retsnom. She's not a bad character by any means, but is surprisingly irrelevant despite being one of the more memorable/promoted characters when the game was first announced. I appreciate her depth and genuinely kind heart, but I like how she expresses that in her actions in KG more than her words in Retsnom.

There's really not much to say here, but I think she's a neat character and I wish she survived to the end of Second Scenario. I would've enjoyed seeing her reactions to the ultimate futility of their existence. In a way, I feel like she and Eito mirror each other in the way that they were both ostracized by loved ones and have a pretty low self esteem.

I also think it's crazy that in a game that's 140 hours if you read it all, I can somehow STILL wish it was longer or did things better. That's a flaw of the game for sure...

Gaku

Some people really like Gaku, and I'm not one of them. He wishes he had the charisma of Moko and the comedic timing of Ima, but he comes off as completely unflattering. I think there's some merit in a character that's realistically unlikeable, but yeah, he's a bit too real. (Same with Shouma.) So I just don't like him and that's about it. Just not my taste.

Sirei

I don't like this motherfucker and that's by design. Let's move on.

Hiruko

I can't judge her because I haven't played her routes. Like she's fine, I guess, but the way she's unwilling to cooperate and keeps her cards close to her chest is incredibly annoying and a result of the game being 100 days long. However, putting her in a neutral category is her is unfair to her because she's a heroine in her own right, just fighting a completely different battle that has no relation to what Eito and Nozomi go through, which are the other main characters, which is not her fault.

The world's most maximalist visual novel

You've wrote so much already about every route and character, what more could you possibly say?

What happens when you don't kill your babies

Well, obviously, the game is too long for its own fucking good and shouldn't have shipped out the way it is. This game should've been 50 days and called 50 Line, like seriously. Not even the writers knew how to leverage 100 days meaningfully with how much that motherfucker Takumi sleeps sometimes!

This game is the result of not being able to kill your babies, something I don't really feel like going into, so here's an article if you want to skim over the topic. This isn't even me trying to armchair critic, this is me speaking as a writer myself. Every writer should be able to look at what they've written and go, "I NEED to revise this more" no matter how good it is. Your work should never look absolutely perfect in your eyes. That's just how it is. (For the record, all I do is ramble in these posts and don't edit them or restructure them very much because that's just how I am for this blog.)

I think the breadth of the game takes away and even insults the good parts of the game. Seriously, just cut some of this shit. Things like Reset and how carelessly it's written actively spit on how beautiful Second Scenario is, and I won't stand for it.

It's extremely ambitious game that got way too out of hand. Sure, a large portion of it is about war, but it's also about murder mysteries, killing games, and eldritch monsters. Like why? There are routes like Killing Game that I think have interesting and compelling content, but you could cut out the killing game part of it and it would change almost nothing about the overarching narrative. I'm aware that SF talks about time loops, but the way that the content in it is very isolated means that the game loses more focus and resources on its main narrative for almost no benefit. The strength of the game is its anti-war/anti-violence messaging, and yet at least 80% of it, even some of the good stuff, is not really about that. It really shows to me that they just didn't take that seriously outside of using it as a narrative background, which makes the ending of Second Scenario even more of a miracle and feel like a fluke.

Baby's first war story

The war writing here is rudimentary and absolutely juvenile, which suits the audience it's trying to address. Frankly, Japanese stories about war tend to be... well, lackluster! For good historical reason. Of course, the perspective is always interesting to read, but finding any actual ideological value from this game sure is a decision you could make, especially since it's mainly used as set dressing than more anything they wanted to address with sincerity outside of a handful of routes.

If they wanted to take the Futurans seriously, they would've developed them more as characters like how they STARTED to in the V'ehxness's route, or fleshed out Eva or Rebellion. In the end, I personally know very little about the Futurans as people. They have a strong and mystical power, mysterious boxes that can grant wishes or lay curses, and a handful of other details, but they just don't feel like believable beings outside of living exactly like us. It's completely rudimentary worldbuilding and the powers they have make them feel more fantastical and foreign than intended for this kind of story.

I saw someone compare the game to Muv Luv and Muramasa (which they considered peak btw). This comparison is completely and utterly laughable to me. Firstly, it makes me never want to read Muv Luv, and secondly, I don't even LIKE Muramasa and I rather read that for interesting commentary on war that I don't even agree with from a Japanese perspective over this. The war narrative is so childish in Hundred Line and not even taken seriously for like 80% of the game for reasons I exhaustively discussed earlier. I literally just can't with it. This is a game you read for entertainment above all else, which goes without saying, but the talks of people saying "It's Kodaka's well-written commentary on real life conflict" is fucking insane to say and you should probably read something better or keep up with the news instead. I believe in you, go do it.

Gameplay railing

The day structure is a demerit to the story, besides the fact that 100 days is too long for a game like this. I think I would've killed somebody if I couldn't skip battles when I did. There's also how you can't even upgrade your shit outside of free time for some reason. What's the point? It doesn't even take a time slot to do it...

There's also so much filler with Takumi musing before and after bed, the alarm before and after bed, and while I also think this adds to the structured life the cast leads, I also think it's insufferable due to how long the game is.

I also really dislike how much the Exploration takes up several days at a time in certain routes like Second Scenario, making the game feel like a gacha game turned premium with how much time it utterly wastes, even if you can skip it. It's even worse when you're forced to spend three days at a time doing exploration because they don't have enough narrative content to hit 100 days without it. It's really annoying and insufferable. Why would they do all that.

Can you be nice to the game you've been pretty mean and I thought you were trying to be nicer in reviews

Okay I complained a lot but I promise you I actually liked the game when I liked it. I don't hate it. Apparently I have to say that I got something out of the game even when I criticize the fuck out of it otherwise people think that all I'm doing is bitching. Even when I bitch, it means that the game moved me, and I got something out of it. That is a positive thing. I'm really not trying to rewrite the game or something when I talk like this. As an arrogant reader, I do get the point the game is trying to make, but I feel like some of the execution is really lacking, and I just KNOW the writers can do better because of their background. I want to see them at their best selves, and this is why I exhaustively yap about what I don't like, even though no one's seeing reading this shit so I may as well be delusional. It's therapeutic to write this, especially in this day and age where people churn through media like a revolving door without digesting their feelings on it.

With that said, I'll discuss one liked in the game that I don't think fits anywhere else (and I voiced my praise for the games in many parts unless I was being all too tsundere about it. You can find them. I believe in you.)

I criticized the life sim parts of the game a lot, but I think in some routes and in a lot of aspects, it's got a really nice vibe akin to like, watching a Vtuber collab stream. They feel like your friends in a way, like you're able to hang out with them despite not being able to actually interact with them. I think the monotony of it all really conveys that point, even if it's a bit too much at times because 100 days is too damn long. I appreciate that the cast has to be relevant and say at least one thing here and there even if it's a rational waste of time. Not every line of dialogue needs to move the plot. I really like the friendship and coziness the game offers with this.

Honestly, and perhaps quite bluntly, this is a game that's great for lonely people and introverts. You get 15 friends, realistically some you're closer to more than others, and some you don't like as much as others, but still chat with anyway. It's got a really cozy vibe sometimes and I think they did a good job conveying it even if it's too fuckin' long.

Closing thoughts

It pains me to say that I side with those who dislike the game more than those who like it, despite having a handful of characters I really like and a few routes that are truly memorable. It's just that a game that is 70% mediocre/bad and 30% genuinely good. Because the game ships with 70% bullshit, I am inclined to judge it because they thought the 70% bullshit was worth the time, resources, and money to develop it. It is simply not something I can ignore, and this is also why reading Higurashi would probably kill me

Regardless, I really respect that the game exists. It certainly has soul and love put into it, even if that consideration isn't distributed equally throughout the game. There's no way that another game will ever exist like this again unless some indie devs went apeshit. I think it's a really neat idea, even if the execution leaves way too much to be desired. It's a game that's best seen as entertainment and delicious junk food, and is proof that revisions DO provide value <3

In the end, yeah, I had a good time and liked it when I did. If I continued to play, it would be pretty toxic. My opinion of the game would continue to plummet, so we're just stopping here. It benefits no one to hear me bitch about the game more than I already have. Just look at how long this post is jesus christ

What's next? Finally getting back to reading in Japanese I hope, along with continuing to draw. Hopefully I'll start Club Suicide soon or Amatsutsumi, we'll see how it goes.

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