Posts about 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
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Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SP4KLMD/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_dl_7EX6GB675WNKM29ZZ92C_2
What is 13 Sentinels?
13S is a side scrolling adventure with an RTS, tower defence style, battle system. The game is about 80% adventure and 20% RTS battles.
What is the story about?
Japan is being invaded by machines of unknown origin, destroying the world. It's a japanese story, so only a group of highschoolers piloting giant mecha can save the world from annihilation.
Why is the narrative so praised?
The story follows 13 playable main characters, each having their own story line and all the storylines are connected. Not only there are 13 story lines that connects to each other, but the story also takes place in 4 different time periods: the tail end of WWII in 1945; the peak economic bubble in 1985 (the "main" setting); the near future of 2025; the far future of 2065.
The narrative structure is therefore non-linear, a character may be living in 1985 while others will only be born 30 years later, but of course it would be too simple like this so the writers added a twist: time travel shenanigans are constant, and a character may for example travel in time 40 years to the era of another character, but a few weeks earlier or later the events of the storyline of another character from that time period. This creates a fragmented narrative that thanks to the bite-sized lenght of every "chapter" (there are multiple chapers per characters and they are all 20-40 minutes long) will always leave you with a few answer, but also definitely more questions.
In all this organized narrative chaos, the RTS section of the game too is a integral part of the overall story. The very first battle of the game takes place as soon as the machine invade Japan in 1985. How does the battle of 1985 connect to the events of '45 or the story of the people living in 2065?
Play to discover it!
Is the title an hyperbole?
It's the critics opinion!
Ben Moore from Easy Allies
13 Sentinels is not the first gorgeus game Vanillaware made, but the reason it's exceptional is because of how exciting the journey is. Sure there is the mystery boxes as you peel away layer after layer but a giant reason you want to hungerly jump to the next chapter is because the characters are just so charming. It is relatively rare that a videogame story is this captivating and it's absolutely worth making time for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rhTnDROzi0
Eurogamer
Enigmatic and unapologetic even in the face of its most absurd ideas, this is sometimes messy, sometimes boring, but always astounding.
https://www.eurogamer.net/13-sentinels-aegis-rim-review-a-heady-mix-of-sci-fi-passion-and-big-ideas
Polygon
There’s plenty more for me to tell you about this game, like how it stacks twists atop each other like a tower of turtles, without ever collapsing under all that narrative weight. Though reading more would spoil the fun – and trust me, you’ll be doing plenty of reading once you boot the game up anyway. I’ve written so much about why this game means the world to me. Now I leave y’all to decide whether or not to play it.
https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23020989/13-sentinels-aegis-rim-switch-review
TheSixthAxis
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a must-play for fans of Japanese sci-fi adventures. Mixing the strengths of Vanillaware's art with time-travel adventures is a recipe for huge success. A story ambitious enough to have thirteen different protagonists seems bound for failure, yet the game manages to make each story not only incredibly impactful on its own, but adds up to a bigger, brighter and utterly unforgettable narrative. The addictive tactical gameplay that strings these story scenes together, despite a strange artstyle, is just icing on the already massive and delicious cake.
https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2020/09/15/13-sentinels-aegis-rim-review-ps4/
Is there anything special to the game other than the narrative?
Actually yes! The game has gorgeous hand drawn style 2D graphics. Seriously, the game is visually a work of art. Some screenshots of the night city in the '80s or the destroyed world in the '20s or the beautiful portaits during the dialogues in battle mode can attest it.
In my personal opinion, the striking art and the vibrant colors make 13S the best game visually on the Switch OLED, only rivaled by the recent port of Persona 5 Royal.
The soundtrack is also deserving of praise, composed by Hitomi Sakimoto of Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII fame, the game features certified bops like the battle track (LYSINE) or the chill background music to the highschool sections in adventure mode set in the '80s called In the Doldrum.
I wish I could link to more music, but I don't want to ruin the fun of discoving them as you play.
I don't trust random reddit users
That's a good policy, but maybe trust Sakurai!
"There’s never been a work like this before, and I don’t think there’ll be a continuation, either. If you want to play it, it has to be now! Anyone who wants to write a game scenario should play 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim."
https://personacentral.com/masahiro-sakurai-13-sentinels-aegis-rim/
Or Yoko Taro
“I think you must buy this game! The reason for that is—in order to keep the existence of this Japanese national treasure of a company known as Vanillaware, they must sell as many copies possible. I don’t care whether games of other companies sell, and I really wouldn’t care at all if Atlus were to go under! However, Vanillaware games are the one thing we can’t lose in Japan, so let’s all buy 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim!”
Who is 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim audience?
This is not a game for everyone, but I would personally recommend the game to the following people:
-Fans of anything sci-fi related. Not only is the narrative fantastic, there are homages to a lot of sci-fi classics from both Hollywood and Japan.
-Fans of visual novels. It's technically a bit more than a visual novel (I think Visual Novel DB for example doesn't consider it as one), but if you love VN you simply have to play 13S!
-People who never played VNs or side scrolling adventures and are curious about them but are afraid they may find them boring. I don't think there is any better introduction to this style of games really. The pacing is excellent, the art is amazing and battle mode is a nice change of pace in between stories.
-Fans of good games in general. If you love gaming as a media, then this is for you.
If you buy the game and don't end up liking it, maybe it will be of consolation knowing your money is helping a pretty small studio that almost went under developing this game. Vanillaware and its fans will remember your service.
Anything else?