Quick Look: 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

This looks like a great genre mix! Thanks for covering it Ben and Jan!

Wish this was on PC or Switch, looks neat.

On the one hand, this game looks amazing and I sort of get a Frozen Synapse vibe from the real-time with pause combat and needing to lead or anticipate shots. And the, presumably, time travel aspects of the story sound pretty cool.

On the other hand, damn those character portraits make me feel skeevy and I can only imagine how bad things get when the visual novel parts start embracing that.

And on the third hand (... don't think too hard on this. Please): It just sounds like way too much. Probably order ten or twenty hours of plot spread out across three different modes just sounds like something I will get distracted from (possibly while turning my car into a mad max death macfhine to survive the apocalypse in a few months...) and never get back to.

It's weird how the Western, English-speaking world are A-OK with glorified, ridiculous, unrealistic violence but if you imply something vaguely sexual with a cartoon teenager, they get all squeamish and would rather leave the room.

Anyway, I think the art style in the side-scrolling visual novel-y part of the game looked great but then the naked teenagers piloting mechs made me raise an eyebrow and want to go watch the Hades Quick Look.

The gameplay in this actually seems like a pretty neat evolution of the RTS stuff that Vanillaware did in Grimgrimoire, and coupled with the visual novel / narrative bits, this definitely seems up my alley. The different character perspectives they have done in Odin Sphere as well, although the implementation in this seems better. Odin Sphere got a little repetitive by the end playing through the same levels with different characters.

Thanks for the QL, I was genuinely curious what the structure of this game was.

12 Sentinels? Is one of them that Mango Sentinel?

Been playing this game over the past few days and have been really enjoying it. I feel like the story has already had several moments that would have been earth-shattering plot twists in any other game but are just another cut-scene in 13 Sentinels. I'm constantly going "wait, what?" in a good way. The battle segments also add some nice action and verity but are not the main focus of the game for me (even though I really enjoy them).

The game is call a "dramatic adventure game" in Japan which is the same genre title given to the Sakura Wars games and, just like with the SW series, 13 Sentinels is mainly an adventure game with battles punctuating the narrative.

@bowl-of-lentils: I think Sakura Wars is a good comparison point for sure (and I had never heard that genre moniker before), feels like a similar ratio of narrative/visual novel segments to gameplay bits. I think it's a nice evolution from visual novels that are strictly just reading, it's nice to mix it up from time to time. That, or you need to do something very clever like 428: Shibuya Scramble, where it has a very smart structural design such that how/when/what decisions you make are a puzzle in and of themselves, even though the game is 99% reading.

Been waiting for a new Vanillaware game for years. I remember seeing the concept for this years ago, so it's interesting to see how the structure turned out.

I'm currently deep into Spelunky, Hades, and THPS. But at some point I'll surely get way into this.

Muramasa: Rebirth: Rerelease, please!

Pretty sure that episode description could apply to at least half of all anime.

@beard_of_zeus: Honestly "Dramatic Adventure Game" is a genre title that was basically made up by Sakura Wars. I think 13 Sentinels just used the term in order to explain the type of balance they were going for between their two gameplay styles.

I feel like 13 Sentinels definitely took some cues from Chunsoft's sound novels like 428. The multiple protagonists and the way the story is structured reminds me a lot of 428 (although the decisions you make do not effect other characters). Even 13's character select screen looks very similar to 428.

@matthewgm: feel seen :)

Does anyone else get a heavy PS Vita vibe from this? like I want this on my vita I dont know why, I just want it there

25 hours into this game and i'm loving the story. Thought the story was gonna be a generic high school kid in mech vs. aliens but holy shit it go places. RTS system is pretty simple but its fun and you get tons of upgrade points and plenty of things to pour said points into so it definitely scratches the right itches in that aspect.

Also add me to the list of those clammoring for another re-release of Muramasa.

It's like the Zero Escape games but with cool tactical battles instead of frustrating puzzle rooms, it kicks ass, I was worried when I saw it wasn't going to be an action game but I should have trusted Vanillaware to make choosing 'missile' on a list feel as good as stabbing a dude in Muramasa.

I already bought this prior to watching the Quick Look (just based on it being a Vanillaware game) but I think I may have gotten more than I bargained for. This looks EXTREMELY dense.

This game looks interesting, but this is really an underprepared quicklook. I like Jan, but he seems overwhelmed with the game and that doesn't help with the viewer understanding what the game is about. I don't mean to be a jerk about it, but I suggest perhaps not recording a QL if it's not ready.

According to Wikipedia, it was originally going to be a Vita game but the Vita version got canned.

wow, Ben seems completely the wrong person for this

I get the impression that Jan doesn't know what Suikoden is. Enjoyed the QL, guys. Look forward to playing this in like...three or four years.

@justin258: oh dang appreciate you doing the research for me!

Jan's character walks on screen

Me: ...is this made by Vanillaware?

Mere seconds later

Jan: So this is made by Vanillaware

I reviewed this game for Game Rant and I can totally empathize with Jan attempting to explain what exactly 13 Sentinels is. It seems super overwhelming at first but like Jan says, it does a wonderful job of walking you through all of the game's systems. It's a top contender for my GOTY.

I'm only one minute in, but Front Mission crossed with Suikoden sound like a game tailor made for me.

Every time I see the word Aegis now, I pronounce it like Aigis. Thanks Persona 3! Agree that I want this on a Vita (or Switch.)

Looks neat.

Should have been called Defense of the Aegis.

I am very funny.

Mech-Teens: PUT ON SOME DAMN CLOTHES

Huh, I figured it was more of a visual novel with some basic tower defense gameplay bits, but both sides seem more involved than I thought.

This looks neat.

But I am so tired of anime high school.

That title screen was just,

LEGS

I really hope they do a PC port soon cuz I sold off my PS4 a month ago. I'm guessing this is only a platform exclusive "by default", by virtue of it being from a niche Japanese dev with no awareness of the global market. I'm hoping Sega (via Atlus) can prod them into expanding their reach beyond PS4 but who knows.

Just started this last night, it's fantastic. It also wears it's Pacific Rim inspiration on it's sleeve which is really awesome.

I generally despise tower defense games, but some of the concepts here are pretty intriguing.

A bit too UI heavy for me though, I think these battles would've been much more engaging to watch without all these glowing green circles and numbers popping off.

Wait

wait wait wait

Is this game anime Atom Zombie Smasher? That's not the worst idea I've ever heard.

For some reason the look of the city screen gives me heavy PS1 vibes. It makes me think about Front Mission, G Police, Viewpoint, Maybe some Armored Core as well. It could be the isometrical cam or the simplified look of this city. Perhaps it's the abundance of grey & black. Anyways, this looks sort of cool. I do dislike the resizing of the anime lady in the adventure part though. Surely there's a way to make that look better?

man, after watching all of GOTY I was pretty sold on this game, the story sounds freakin' amazing. After watching this though, I don't think I can do this. I wish I could get into anime, i've tried so many times - the only think I actually enjoyed was spirited away.. I know, I know.