The only game to come close to Baldur's Gate 3's 17,000 ending was released in 2025 and received 0 game award nominations

The standard was set Baldur's Gate 3 for player choice and playthrough variation is incredibly high. With all the potential choices players can make during a run Baldur's Gate 3there are purportedly around 17,000 possible ending scenarios that account for the breadth of these choices. It will be quite a tall order for any future game to even come close to this record, despite the claim from Larian that the studio's upcoming games, Divinitybecomes even greater than Baldur's Gate 3. But a game quietly released in 2025 that comes closer than any other title has to achieve this number of endings doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

In reality, Baldur's Gate 3The 17,000 endings claim is a bit of a stretch, as the game really has 3 “main” endings with multiple variations depending on how players achieve those endings. To add variety, each Baldur's Gate 3 companions can have one of several different endings, giving the game a wide range of outcomes to be sure, but the 17,000 endings mostly stem from the minor differences in choices players can make along the way and not entirely unique ending scenarios. This sets The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy into the conversation of games with the most different endings, right on the side BG3as it has 100 different endings that players can earn.

The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy has 100 endings, which is an impressive feat despite Baldur's Gate 3's absurd numbers

The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy - trailer screenshot

Fans of Danganronpa and Zero escape franchises are probably familiar with The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academyfrom which it comes Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka and Zero escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi. Although there are some distinct elements of these franchises in Last Defense Academythe game's premise and gameplay go in significantly different directions. At its core, Last Defense Academy is the story of 15 high school students trapped in the titular school, which they must defend from the invaders for 100 days or risk destroying humanity.

Last Defense Academy's gameplay is a far cry from Baldur's Gate 3

While Baldur's Gate 3 is a modern take on the classic isometric CRPG, Last Defense Academy plays more like a combination of Danganronpa and Fire emblem: Three houses. The basic game loop for Last Defense Academy involves spending each of the 100 days in the game preparing to face Invader attacks. This includes exploring the surrounding area for materials, upgrading each character's stats and abilities, and bonding with them to improve friendships.

The other side of this equation is the combat, which plays out like a turn-based tactical RPG. Players must fend off waves of Invaders before they can destroy the shields protecting the school. Each character has their own function in combat, from drawing Invader aggro to clearing weaker enemies with AoE attacks. Because there is no permadeath like it Fire emblem series, players are encouraged to sacrifice their units during battle to perform extra powerful attacks at the cost of that character's life, allowing them to respawn after the battle ends.

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Players may not even see every last defense academy ending after 150 hours

A standard playthrough of The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy will likely take players around 40 hours. This means that players can potentially spend hundreds of hours in the game without seeing every possible ending. Fortunately, the game makes achieving each ending somewhat easier with the ability to jump straight to major route decisions and skip combat sections entirely after completing at least one full walkthrough.

How Last Defense Academy pulls off its 100 endings

As Baldur's Gate 3s end, Last Defense Academy does not have 100 completely unique routes. Instead, there are 21 unique routes with different outcomes based on the player's choices culminating in 100 possible ending scenarios. Each of these routes can vary greatly in tone and events, including anything from being a horror game to a dating simulator. While there are some paths that reveal more about what's really going on in the story than others, there isn't really a “true” ending, so Last Defense Academy players are strongly encouraged to watch each ending to get a complete picture of the game.

Even if The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy received no nominations at The Game Awards 2025, it won the Award for Excellence at the Japan Game Awards and was nominated for Best Story at the Golden Joystick Awards.

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Even more endings have been teased for Last Defense Academy

In a recent interview with GamesRadar, Kazutaka Kodaka mentions that there are plans to release DLC for Last Defense Academy. While the scope of this DLC is not clear, Kodaka mentions that the nature of more DLC content would likely mean that more routes would be added to the game. With these added routes come more endings, so it's possible Last Defense Academy could move even closer Baldur's Gate 3s level of final variation in the future.

Although this DLC has not been officially confirmed, Kodaka has been very vocal about wanting to add more routes through DLC. In addition to mentioning potential DLC in interviews, Kodaka has also responded to fan requests on social media, supporting the idea that more routes could be added in future DLC. While The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy may not have had the same impact or acclaim as Baldur's Gate 3it should not be overlooked as a brilliant piece of storytelling with many implications for the player's choices.