13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PS4)
Uncover a deep story through visions of the past and the future
Beautifully rendered in Vanillaware’s signature hand-painted visual style
Become a Sentinel Pilot, customize your Mech, and fight waves of kaiju in Top-Down tactical combat
| Dimensions: | 13.6 x 1.5 x 16.9 cm; 80 Grams |
| Model: | ATLA24.UK.22ST |
| Origin: | Austria |
Amazing game that is painfully underrated. You explore 13 stories across intersecting character stories, and delve deeper into the mysteries surrounding them and the time loops. All while fighting in giant robots too. I can’t give more without spoiling it really but if you like story based games with a lot to offer and multiple characters to love, this is for you! Game play consists of about 70% visual novel and choice based interaction, %20 kaiju battles, 10% unlocking information to help understand key parts of the whole story better.
A Japanese visual novel. Has a strong time travel story. It’s also a turn based 2D strategy simulator. You play as multiple characters in almost any order you like, experiencing the stories of each character and their interaction with each other. Yes, the story is mostly about high school students at school.
The story starts slow and takes a while to introduce each of the many playable characters. If you stick with it the story becomes deeply compelling. Can also fast forward through parts that are less interesting if you wish.
The puzzles in the visual novel part of the game aren’t very challenging but are interesting. The voice acting in English is pretty good, didn’t play it in Japanese. Artwork is great, the game looks good.
The turn based 2D strategy part of the game isn’t difficult but is enjoyable. It adds instead distracts from the somtory telling.
Highly orginal game, set in an clich environment of a Japanese high school.
I bought this after hearing them talk about it on the Trash Taste podcast as I’d never heard of it and the premise sounded intriguing. I am SO glad I did, this game has left a real impression on me and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s a crime that it has been so hidden. I hope the Switch release changes the tide on that! My review is spoiler free but other than reading some Amazon reviews I’d go into this as blind as you possibly can. Do NOT go on YouTube for reviews/gameplay because I’ve seen so many thumbnails on my suggested that I would have been really unhappy to see before I finished!
A few easy things to note first. If you like Spike Chunsoft style games (Danganronpa, Zero Escape, AI Somnium Files) there is a really high likelihood you will love 13 Sentinels and you should stop reading and just buy it already. Obviously this is not a SC game, but the themes are similar, you already know the level of reading to expect, yet better story than in any SC I’ve played (imo). If you’ve never played a SC game or were on the fence, I’d think hard about how much you enjoy reading as the biggest portion of this game is visual novel style and that definitely isn’t for everyone. 13 Sentinels has been labelled as a JRPG by fans yet I’m not sure you’d be impressed if you went in expecting a JRPG.
So the game is split into story and battle. You choose when you want to do chunks of either depending what you’re in the mood for. It needs to be said that the story is 13S’ focus and is masterfully done. The battle…wasn’t my favourite. I actually turned the difficulty down to casual about two thirds of the way through as I was so eager to see the story pan out I really didn’t want to sit through the battle sections which felt like a chore to me. The battle is, I guess, strategy RPG-lite. Which would normally be my sort of jam but I don’t know… I find it hard to explain why I didn’t like it. It felt very repetitive. There are small chunks of dialogue within battles which are essential for the story still, and the story is locked if you fall too far behind on battle, hence I said it became a chore so I could continue with story.
The story. I am in awe of the quality of writing with the story. It is really hard to go into detail for why it is so good due to spoilers. I think I am just super impressed at how they managed to make something so confusing yet the confusion feels right. Within the first ten hours or so I was constantly surprised at the amount of sci-fi tropes being used in the same plot. But then they just kept adding in new elements right until the last 5% of the story. A story using an almost stupid amount of sci-fi tropes as well as trying to tell this story through the eyes of 13 protagonists should absolutely not work – and just to clarify, it isn’t like everything is cleared up at the end. After all there is a video called “piecing through the story of 13 Sentinels” on YT that is ten hours long!! It’s a complicated and confusing story but the writers know this which is why there is a third segment in the game called “analysis” which lets you constantly look through the lore and scenes you’ve unlocked. I really enjoyed looking at this constantly theorising and then at the very end a bumper amount of codex unlocks which clears a lot of stuff up. There is tonnes of foreshadowing in this game from the very first scene and I can’t wait to replay knowing what I know now. I compared 13S to Spike Chunsoft above but there is no SC game that has the depth and quality of story that 13S does.
I didn’t like the art style much at first. I’ve never played a Vanillaware game so seeing their name everywhere didn’t mean much to me but it grew on me really quickly and now I can’t imagine it any other way. The battle visuals/interface could be better though.
Also, if you can appreciate game music as much as I can, this is just another area where 13S really shines. When I love a soundtrack I normally try and purchase the physical OST as I am a collector. I just bought it today for more money than I’d normally consider spending but it needs to join my physical collection.
I was truly absorbed in this game and I have to say it may sound cheesy but when the end credit scene finished, I actually clapped. I’ve never done that before.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim una perla, un gioiello, un fulgido esempio di cosa e soprattutto come un videogioco possa narrare una storia. Vanillaware dimostra di essere totalmente consapevole delle capacit narrative del medium videoludico e di saperle padroneggiare. Anche senza entrare nel merito di ci che viene narrato (che meraviglioso, ben costruito, poco scontato e tutt’altro che prevedibile, eccetto che in alcuni punti, ma sapr comunque sorprendere sempre, risultando alla fine, quando si sapr gi tanto, purtroppo, parzialmente ridondante) quello che il gioco offre un’esperienza narrativa letteralmente unica per ogni giocatore. A seconda dei personaggi che si usano di volta in volta e dell’ordine di svolgimento delle missioni si ha un grado di comprensione della storia e del mondo diverso e informazioni nuove con cui comprendere la verit, e questo sar diverso per ognuno. Questo solo il videogioco e la sua asincronicit possono offrirlo. E gli sviluppatori lo hanno ben compreso.
Non entro nel merito delle battaglie (divertentissime e fortemente legate alla storia, nel quale verr anzi fuori una realt metavideoludica del menu di battaglia) e dell’aspetto estetico mozzafiato del gioco.
Tutto poi condito da un amore per certi tipi di storie e di fantascienza giapponese e non solo, come i kaiju, Godzilla, la guerra dei mondi, E.T. e perfino Evangelion (impossibile non vedere citazioni e analogie con Eva nel gioco).
Phenomenal game with a story too unique to spoil. Go in knowing as little as possible and you’ll get one of rhe best Sci fi stories i years.
Arrived fast and in great condition.
Story is actually like 9.5/10 it’s on par with Nier, Persona or Mass Effect.
Gameplay is interesting enough to be deep but not the star of the show.
Product arrived before ref ‘expected’ date so was pleasantly surprised.
I would definitely recommend playing this game just because there is nothing else like it. It’s a mixture of side-scrolling visual novel and turn-based top down combat. The presentation of the combat is very basic and resembles a tabletop game with a board and various pieces, but you do get some cool animations of the characters talking to each other.
The story is a convoluted bargain-basement sci-fi romp that draws heavily on everything from war of the worlds to the terminator. I felt like it could have been more simple/original and less time consuming with more focus on the mech customisation and combat which I found the most enjoyable part of the game.. so maybe there could have been some mini games or strategising about how to refine your mech such as testing weapons etc.
Be warned that this game is incredibly narrative heavy and involves some oft frustrating repetition of story segments and seemingly endless walking back and forth between the same backdrops. One of the main character event loops was particularly mindless and almost made me quit the game.
But overall it is worth playing, art style and music are exceptional.
Incredible story, highly engaging mechanics. I loved every minute of the 40+ hour play time
Perhaps my only critique would be that it’s either too easy, or too hard dependent which settings you choose – but there is LOTS of replay factor here.
If you love Japanese culture and sci-fi stories – this relaxing adventure game with top-down strategy elements will delight you I’m sure.
13 Sentinels was a bit tough to get into, but the more I played, the more I enjoyed. This is an incredibly deep game in terms of story and will require quite a bit of investment from the player.
The first thing you should be warned of is that this ‘game’ is split into three sections, with only one of them being actual gameplay, similar to a turn-based RPG. The second is a visual novel where you control a series of protagonists to develop the story. The third section is then a library of sorts, with mystery files you unlock to learn more of the lore. This means a brief glimpse could give you a very misleading perception of 13 Sentinels.
The story of the game is the bread and butter, so let’s review that first. I found that the story took quite a few hours to become engrossed in. In the opening hours having 13 characters quickly introduced made for a lot of confusion and difficulty in making the narrative coherent for me.
However, the mystery of what is happening throughout the game kept me interested enough to become invested in each of the characters. There were only a handful of times where I had to seek online help to find my way through. I won’t say too much more for fear of spoilers, but 13 Sentinels is a very exceptional if complex story similar to films like The Matrix or Cloud Atlas.
The one thing I was left wondering was if so many characters really were necessary. By the end of the game I still didn’t feel like I had a 100% understanding of the story, but I much prefer this than to an incredibly cliche story or a minimal approach, which is the unfortunate approach taken by many mainstream games currently.
The gameplay is very accessible and a tad simplistic, however in a game with such a complex story this is to be commended. In the story sections of the game you are mostly navigating screens similar to point-and-click adventures. You will be doing a serious amount of reading and listening, so I hope that is your cup of tea. With the turn-based battling, this was very enjoyable to me and provided a welcome break from the heavy storytelling, however small cut-scenes were common before and after battles too but this was welcome since battles also get repetitive.
What I really enjoyed in the gameplay was that the difficulty cold be varied without punishment, allowing faster and smoother progress through the game. Your attacks include the proverbial melee and range attacks with some summoning and passive skills. These and attributes can be upgraded which makes for a compelling experience as I could tangibly feel the benefits of upgrades.
The graphics of 13 Sentinels hinge on the story sections, where you can view your protagonist exploring the world and interacting with others. Whilst they weren’t exactly pushing the console to its limits, I found the anime style very befitting, literally like an animated graphic novel. The graphics in battles is very ‘digital’, as every object is represented in pixelated sprites, however this simplicity works really well, I think. But the various environments the story takes you to helps make up for the repetition in the battle mode.
Overall, 13 Sentinels was an amazing game for me, so amazing that it sapped 40 hours of my life to get my second-ever Platinum Trophy. This is something else to be commended as most Platinums are just protracted and tedious attempts to extend a game’s length, but with 13 Sentinels I had most acquired playing the game normally, which enticed me to add a few extra hours to get the Platinum. This is one of the best games I have played in a long time and I can’t see myself ever forgetting the experience, although it will definitely be hard to recall the finer points of the story.
One of the best games I’ve played hands down. There’s nothing else like it.
Vanillaware @ Altus teaming up anyone who knows you’re in for a stunning game. Beautiful graphics and this one is very different to anything currently on the PS4
Can imagine hardcore Cod fans would be bored in seconds but stick with it and you’ve got a game with a good story and has multiple endings
Anything by vanillaware and atlus are sought after games and become collectible too
I absolutely love the story and the gameplay! 13 Sentinels kept me guessing the entire time! This is my game of 2019!
Incredible art, a fantastic soundtrack and an addictive narrative experience which had me hooked to the very end. This is a riveting sci-fi adventure that I would consider an essential PS4 title.
Beautiful art style, compelling characters, intricate plot and a really unique mix of gameplay. The game is half “cut-scenes” – dialogue, mostly walking around, interacting with things and advancing the plot, interspersed with chess-like, turn-based, top-down strategic combat.
Once you beat the prelude (about 2 hours worth of gameplay) you can choose whether to plough through the combat missions, or simply advance the story. Meaning you can get really into the intricacies of the combat and play properly, or if you’re looking for a more casual experience, you can just sit back and enjoy the characters, art and dialogue with minimal effort.
I’ve never played anything like this before, where you can choose which “half” of the game to play, but I really like it, and it’s a quality game to boot. Vanillaware have made some gems in the past and I hope they continue to innovate and create in this way.
This is one of the best games I’ve played in my life
Amazing story
Really interesting & unique Sci Fi multiple choice scenario narrative that is expertly unravelled over 60 odd hours of gameplay
intertwined with a strategy combat
Must have game that will leave you really fascinated
One of (if not the best) stories in game history. This game had me hooked from minute 1 all the way to the last second. The devs deserve game of the decade for this masterpiece and the English voice acting is top tie
VanillaWare nunca decepciona.
Gracias al apoyo de los fans (y de compaias como Amazon que han ayudado) se reeditada a finales de febrero esta joya en nuestro Pas
This is a fantastic gaming experience very different to most other things out there. It’s mainly a sci fi story told from the different viewpoints of a cast of characters with strategy battle sections. The plot seems crazily disjointed jumping all over the place, but as you proceed you slowly unlock more facts and things fall into place. It is really original and looks beautiful. If you like action games it’s probably not for you, but recommended for anyone else. It’s my game of 2020.
Absolutely phenomenal gaming experience, one of the greatest narratives I have ever seen in a game. The visual format fits this game perfectly and its RTS mecha battles are very well done as well.
Package arrived quickly and was in perfect shape, although I would have liked to have received the art book with i
The gameplay is split into three sections: Remembrance, with dialogue taking priority and advancing the narrative; Destruction, where characters equip mechs and engage in real-time battles against enemies; and Analysis, a glossary which documents event scenes and important items and characters.
These three sections (or more generally the game’s unique blend of genres) probably caused the slow sales initially before word of mouth spread about this great game.
Don’t take my word for it, the Metacritic reviewer / user scores are at 8.5/10 and 9.0/10 respectively.
Even though the first thing you notice every time with their games is the art and unique game-play that feels like a moving painting. But beyond that exist the music, the story the majesty of it all combined puts every other medium to shame.
Really I implore anybody reading this to try out ALL of their games – cause magic has a name, and it’s Vanillaware.
Robot fight aren’t bad, and alot of fun. but i do feel they run there course before you get to the end. tho still alot of fun.
The story is ‘complicated’ and probably the main selling feature on account of how detailed, interesting and ‘unique’ (with a small u) this is. Taking place in time periods from 1944, 1984, 2024 and more, it tells the story of 13 teens that are steadily woven together with time travel to face a kaiju treat to destroy the world. This includes suiting up in giant robots only they can control (more on that later).
Anyway, play this game for the story – its a blast. Makes me think of Chrono Trigger + Persona + Full Metal Panic (or something). Note that this is more ‘visual novel’ then Persona style JRPG. After a lengthy prologue the game gives you the options of perusing the story segments (picking each characters story to advance) or taking the combat segments (using the giant robots to take on the kaiju). Progress in the story segments unlocks more combat segments and so forth.
Combat is…interesting. Its more tower defence then anything, as you defend a generator (‘The Kaiju are approaching the generator!!!’) that will eradicate all kaiju. Its presented in a completely different graphical style – top down, isometric where everything is replaced with blips and symbols.
The robots come in 4 different flavours with different abilities to match to enemy types (long range/close range, support, assault etc), battle pauses when a robot can take its turn – more powerful attacks require longer ‘rest’ periods. Typically you control a few robots against a lot of enemies. Battles look flashy, but so far are quite easy – and let you get back to the meat of the story.
To be clear, the story segments are the reason people will most likely play this. The graphical presentation is excellent, with a beautiful soft, hand drawn style that will retain its quality for years. English or Japanese voiceovers are available and personally I think the English voiceovers do a great job here. The soundtrack is done by the composer of the much maligned FFXIII – one of the few good points of that game was it soundtrack which is put to much better use in Aegis Rim.
I find it odd that battles are so deliberately split from story segments…I guess you can switch depending on your mood? I also wish the robot battles were animated (you get teased with some flavour videos of your robots abilities). A bit more money and time making the combat systems half as visually impressive and impactful as the story segments would have really gone a long way. It just seems odd to go from some a fantastic hand drawn graphics to…top down, digital graphics that look like something on the 3DS…
To conclude though – the combat is fine, its fun enough, but play for the story, characters and time periods. I would say this game is for probably a smallish subsection of fans, as follows:
– Do you like anime/JRPG’s?
– Have you enjoyed Chrono Trigger/Steins Gate or similar time travel stories in the past?
– Are you ‘okay’ with visual novels?
If you clear the above, check the game out – its something special with a great story to tell. Note that its not told chronologically – it jumps all over the place (took me an hour or so to settle), so give it a chance – you won’t regret it!
Also, no art book in case you haven’t already noticed (sad face)