If you love to dabble in the dark side as much as we do, it’s highly likely that you’re familiar with the work of Kazutaka Kodaka. A master in his craft, the Japanese videogame designer, writer, and mangaka is best known as the creator of the iconic Danganronpa series, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, and World’s End – so it’s no surprise that we, along with many other fans, are beyond excited to hear that he’s planning on releasing another game soon.
In a quote tweet response to a fan stating “can’t wait for your next game”, Kazutaka Kodaka simply replied “coming soon!!!!!” and, honestly, that’s all it took to get us all chomping at the bit and conjuring up ideas as to what Too Kyo Games masterpiece we’ll get to explore next. Could it be another sequel to the Danganronpa games? Perhaps a follow-up on the deliciously dark detective game that earned a solid place on our 2023 Switch games of the year list?
Well, unfortunately, as much as we and many people in the replies would love to see a Danganronpa 4 release date in the future, the conclusion of V3 really did make it seem as though the series had drawn to a close. But don’t get too glum, as there’s still hope for Hope’s Peak Academy – in our interview with Kodaka he did suggest that he wants to work on more Danganronpa in the future.
He also confirmed that he would like to release a sequel to Rain Code at some point, which would certainly make sense following the game’s open ending. We’d love to know what happens to Yuma next (and, of course, I’d welcome anything that allows me to spend more time with the stunning and sassy Shinigami – a girl can dream).
However, while there’s definitely a chance that we’ll get to revisit both of these worlds in the future, as of June 2024, we can’t tell if this original post is referring to Tribe Nine, which we learned more about in 2023, or The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, which we found out about in the Nintendo Direct of June 2024.
If you’re unfamiliar, Tribe Nine is a multimedia franchise that’s been in the works since 2020. So far, we’ve seen a 12-episode anime series, which aired from January to March 2022 and is now available to stream on Crunchyroll. But Too Kyoo Games has also confirmed that it’s collaborating with mobile publisher Akatsuki to release a Tribe Nine game in the future.
On August 18, 2023, Akatsuki Games held an online presentation, revealing more details about the upcoming project. Here, we learned that it’s a 3D action RPG set in the dystopian, futuristic world of Neo-Tokyo, and that it’s set to release on iOS, Android, and PC via Steam in the future. To find out more about the setting, gameplay, and other juicy details, be sure to check out our Tribe Nine release date guide, as we’re keeping a close eye on this one.
On the other hand, this original post could have been the first teaser for The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, Kodaka’s upcoming game for Nintendo Switch. This game takes place at a school – Kodaka loves an academic setting, apparently – where the students are tasked with protecting the building from hostile enemies for 100 days.
The trailer from the Nintendo Direct below does a better job of explaining the convoluted concept than I do, but from the brief glimpse of gameplay, it seems to be a mix of the classic Kodaka visual novel style with strategy battle elements. Either way, we’ll find out exactly what’s in store when the game launches in early 2025.
So, as much as we can’t help but daydream about a new Danganronpa or Master Detective Archives 2, we’re still pretty darn excited to dive into Tribe Nine and get involved in a game of extreme baseball and protect our school in The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy. Because, regardless of what it is, we have faith that Kodaka and Too Kyo Games’ next project will be yet another master(detective)piece.
If you fancy revisiting Kodaka’s previous works, head on over to our Danganronpa characters, Danganronpa 2 characters, and Danganronpa V3 characters guides to reintroduce yourself to those intriguing individuals. We’ve also got a list of the best visual novel games and the best horror games for some more dark delights.