If The Hundred Line flops, Danganronpa and Zero Escape are DEAD

[BLA01]

I'm actually worried. Like genuinely worried.
This is the spiritual successor to Danganronpa, written by Kazutaka Kodaka himself. Takumi Nakazawa of Zero Escape fame is involved. This is a dream team situation—two titans of visual novel storytelling teaming up for something totally new, and it feels like no one even knows it's happening.

Where is the hype? Where is the marketing??
I’ve seen more promo for mobile gacha shovelware than I’ve seen for The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- and that terrifies me. If this game doesn’t perform, we might NEVER get another big, weird, stylish mystery VN again. It’s not even out yet and it already feels like it’s being slept on.

If this fails, don’t come crying when Spike Chunsoft stops funding ambitious story-driven projects and everyone involved goes bankrupt and becomes VTubers to survive.

Please tell me I’m wrong.
Tell me this game is going to blow up.
Tell me people care.

[Pomni]

game is doom to fail and its a good thing

[strogonoff]

Can't tell if this is satire or not (lol) but the game will probably do fine. The marketing effort has gone mostly to the JP side. Nintendo direct appearances, Vtuber and comedians sponsored streams, etc. It has been for some days the best selling game on Amazon JP
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=zg_b_bs_videogames_1

I expect the Switch version to do the hard carrying and PC sales being only a small fraction overall, but we will see.

[jbkilroy]

For this kind of game a lot depends on word of mouth rather than marketing. Visual novels are a relatively niche Western market, even with a RTS stapled on. The smaller the audience you're trying to reach, the more marketing dollars you need. I think the early reviews being positive is a good sign.

Still, strange things can happen. The third Zero Escape happened because VLR was popular enough in the West to warrant a sequel, and I don't think that game got any marketing at all over here - plus it wasn't even out on Steam at the time either.

[Dutczar]

Originally posted by strogonoff:

Can't tell if this is satire or not (lol) but the game will probably do fine. The marketing effort has gone mostly to the JP side. Nintendo direct appearances, Vtuber and comedians sponsored streams, etc. It has been for some days the best selling game on Amazon JP
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=zg_b_bs_videogames_1

I expect the Switch version to do the hard carrying and PC sales being only a small fraction overall, but we will see.

To be fair, I don't know about the general playerbase (especially in Japan, which I do know is Switch-oriented), but I didn't pay much attention to Rain Code because it was Switch exclusive, and even now that it's here I don't feel that hyped to play it.

I'm very happy they are releasing this on PC too.


Also, I don't think this failing is the death of ZR and DR, since they're Spike Chunsoft IP's, right? I'm not sure what the studio going bankrupt means in general for the writers specifically...

[Vethala]

Danganronpa is already done

[jbkilroy]

Originally posted by Dutczar:

Originally posted by strogonoff:

Can't tell if this is satire or not (lol) but the game will probably do fine. The marketing effort has gone mostly to the JP side. Nintendo direct appearances, Vtuber and comedians sponsored streams, etc. It has been for some days the best selling game on Amazon JP
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=zg_b_bs_videogames_1

I expect the Switch version to do the hard carrying and PC sales being only a small fraction overall, but we will see.

To be fair, I don't know about the general playerbase (especially in Japan, which I do know is Switch-oriented), but I didn't pay much attention to Rain Code because it was Switch exclusive, and even now that it's here I don't feel that hyped to play it.

I'm very happy they are releasing this on PC too.


Also, I don't think this failing is the death of ZR and DR, since they're Spike Chunsoft IP's, right? I'm not sure what the studio going bankrupt means in general for the writers specifically...

They released Rain Code on Steam a while ago. It is 100% a Danganronpa style game if you're looking to scratch that itch.

[Rox]

...you do realize that Spike Chunsoft has absolutely nothing to do with this game, right?

It's made by Too Kyo games, Kodaka's own studio, and published by Aniplex.

[AtorfRisha]

what ? have you played tribe nine ?

[shalluka]

Spike Chunsoft could have milked the Danganronpa franchise for all we care, yet they didn't. As much as I love that series and want another entry, Danganronpa is genuinely over.

Also what do vtubers got to do with bankruptcy, what? And tribe nine is a solid gacha game. Very good story and IS NOT exclusively developed by TooKyo Games, they just provide art and music.

[defective pancake]

Too Kyo games is an independent studio, while SpikeChun is mostly a publishing company.
This game doesn't seem high budget at all, so I'm sure they'll be fine no matter what. Danganronpa crowd will latch onto this and vacuum up all the merchandise they possible can, so selling the actual game isn't AS important as making profitable merch deals off it. Seeing how Aniplex is publsihing it, that one is a given.

[Stoibs]

Yeah it's a weird one. Absolutely horrible release window (Lunar last week, Oblivion today, Expedition 33 on the exact same release day tomorrow..) and it feels like there has been zero marketing for this one at all apart from maybe one quick appearance at a direct last year. :/

I enjoyed the demo and might decide to pick this up before launch for that pre-order bonus, but I mean they aren't exactly doing a whole lot to put eyes on it outside of those of us who are already here and aware, sadly.

Guess we'll see how it goes.

[BLA01]

It’s sad

[Pathetic]

Originally posted by defective pancake:

Too Kyo games is an independent studio, while SpikeChun is mostly a publishing company.
This game doesn't seem high budget at all, so I'm sure they'll be fine no matter what. Danganronpa crowd will latch onto this and vacuum up all the merchandise they possible can, so selling the actual game isn't AS important as making profitable merch deals off it. Seeing how Aniplex is publsihing it, that one is a given.

The "danganronpa crowd" hasn't been relevant for nearly a decade. Otherwise Rain Code would have been more successful. Kodaka and his studio have been teetering on bankruptcy for years (in fact they did become bankrupt but were saved by a publishing deal for Hundred LIne), they need this to be a win or they're done.

[icantsee]

This is their last line of defence, its bankrupt if fail.

[Stoibs]

Originally posted by Pathetic:

The "danganronpa crowd" hasn't been relevant for nearly a decade. Otherwise Rain Code would have been more successful.

Don't blame us, blame the brain-dead decision to A) release Rain Code as a timed Switch exclusive that ran like sh*t, and then B) when it did finally come to steam the english version was arbitrarily withheld for ~6 months for no tangible reason even though it was already done and hidden in the code... (Not to mention English was obviously already on the switch version)

It's like they did everything in their conceivable power to *ensure* that one failed and sold like crap.
Seriously wtf were they thinking??