The Only Game to Come Close to Baldur’s Gate 3’s 17k Endings Released in 2025, and Got 0 Game Award Nominations

The standard set by Baldur’s Gate 3 for player choice and playthrough variation is incredibly high. With all the potential choices that players can make during a run of Baldur’s Gate 3, there are allegedly around 17,000 possible ending scenarios that factor in the breadth of these choices. It’s going to be quite a tall task for any future game to even come close to this record, despite the claim from Larian that the studio’s upcoming game, Divinity, will be even bigger than Baldur’s Gate 3. However, one game quietly released in 2025 that comes closer than any other title has to achieving this number of endings, but it’s not getting the recognition it deserves.

In reality, Baldur’s Gate 3‘s 17,000 endings claim is a bit of a stretch, since the game really has 3 “main” endings with several variations depending on how players achieve these endings. To add to the variation, each Baldur’s Gate 3 companion can have one of several different endings, giving the game a vast array of outcomes to be sure, but the 17,000 endings claim mostly stems from the minor differences in choices players can make along the way and not wholly unique ending scenarios. This puts The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy into the conversation of games with the most different endings, right alongside BG3, as 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 Number

Fans of the Danganronpa and Zero Escape franchises are likely familiar with The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy, as it comes from Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka and Zero Escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi. While there are some distinct elements of those franchises in Last Defense Academy, the 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 the destruction of 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 gameplay loop of Last Defense Academy boils down to spending each of the 100 in-game days 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 friendship.

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 utility within combat, from drawing Invader aggro to clearing weaker enemies with AoE attacks. Since there is no permadeath like the 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 Might 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 players can potentially spend hundreds of hours in the game without seeing every ending possible. Thankfully, the game does make achieving every ending somewhat easier with the ability to jump straight to major route decisions and skip combat sections entirely after completing at least one full playthrough.

How Last Defense Academy Pulls Off Its 100 Endings

Like Baldur’s Gate 3‘s endings, Last Defense Academy doesn’t have 100 wholly unique routes. Instead, there are 21 unique routes with different outcomes based on the player’s choices that culminate in 100 possible ending scenarios. Each of these routes can vary wildly in terms of tone and events, including everything from becoming a horror game to a dating simulator. While there are a few routes that reveal more about what is really going on in the story than others, there isn’t really a “true” ending, so Last Defense Academy players are really encouraged to see every ending to get a complete picture of the game.

Although The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy didn’t receive any nominations at The Game Awards 2025, it did win the Award for Excellence at the Japan Game Awards and was nominated for Best Storytelling 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 there are plans to release DLC for Last Defense Academy. While the scope of this DLC is not clear, Kodaka does mention that the nature of more DLC content would likely mean more routes would be added to the game. With these added routes come more endings, so it’s possible that Last Defense Academy could move even closer to Baldur’s Gate 3‘s level of ending variety 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 3, it shouldn’t be overlooked as a brilliant piece of storytelling with numerous consequences for the player’s choices.