At the beginning of 2025, I fully believed I had grown tired of stories about multiple timelines. During the past decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe pushed the classic comic book narrative device into the mainstream, fueling a film conglomerate with legally approved cameos, flashy visuals on the silver screen, and loose plots that, eventually, came together for one final pay-off.
While the concept of the multiverse has been explored in film and TV even before Marvel's takeover, it quickly became the narrative foundation of choice. When done right, the potential is undeniable--works like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once are heartwrenching displays of interpersonal relationships, making characters face the reality of what-if scenarios, reconciling with their choices and what could have been if they had turned the other way instead. But you can only hear the same tune so many times before it starts to lose its original impact.
It wasn't until The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy that my interest was reanimated. The visual novel and strategy-RPG hybrid presents itself as deceivingly linear, only to push you into a completely different story structure at the very end. It makes for a sprawling web of outcomes based on your choices, all while showcasing different perspectives on events and characters that weave absurdity and sentimentality in equal measure in a showcase of creative prowess from the development team.
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