It was a slog. Glad it's finally over.
Truly a one-of-a-kind experience. While this game may not be for everyone (i.e. those who enjoy a bit more "game" or who can't tolerate anime tropes in their stories), it truly excels as one of the most interesting narrative experiences I have ever seen in a game. The art style is gorgeous throughout, and while the animations are limited, they never fail to be expressive. While narrative is the clear focus of the game, and its greatest strength, the pseudo-RTS "Destruction" mode is still a rather enjoyable pallet cleanser in between all the dialog heavy interactive cutscenes. As a package, 13 Sentinels is just so unique, and so ambitious with how it presents its story that you can't help but be in awe of it.
On the gameplay side, you have 2 options. "Remembrance", which are the 13 individual character stories for each of the main characters, and "Destruction", the RTS mech combat mode that involves about 90% of the actual "gameplay". Destruction is a relatively simple game mode, with S ranks for the missions being almost trivial to achieve without any challenge, but the core mechanics are actually quite strong and fun to play with, and as you progress, further upgrades and enemy types manage to actually push you a bit in the late game, forcing you to stategise to achieve those S ranks. That depth to the gameplay comes a bit too late to really make the mode stand-out for most people I imagine, and that fact is not helped by the absolutely horrible in-game UI, and even moreso the upgrade menu. The amount of visual clutter makes it so easy to miss unlockable upgrades which offer some of the most enjoyable mechanics to really make the 13 characters stand-out from each other. In-game, the simple digtal map aesthetic is functional for the most part, but doesn't really convey the cool factor of the mech combat, and at worst it can become downright headache inducing to keep track of all the things on screen. In the end, Destruction does provide some casual fun, and there is depth and optimization to be found, but the game takes too long to ramp-up to it, and never really demands that much out of the player, which is a shame.
Despite this, the real meat and potatoes of this game is the Remembrance mode. This mode plays out as a visual-novel crossed with a point-and-click adventure game, though it lacks the puzzles that make-up the bulk of the experience in the latter. Instead, this mode feels a bit more like a television show than a real game, with most of the time being watching cutscenes with minor interactivity to give the player something to do. While that fact may deter a more casual audience from playing this game, the sheer ambition of the narrative and the bold way it presents itself is what elevates this game into greatness. You get 13 character stories to explore, and each one will reveal bits and pieces of the greater narrative, but you can explore those stories in almost any order, and with a narrative that throws as much information and concepts at you as this game does, that player-determined order can lead to you making wildly different predictions on where the plot if going, and THAT is the most fun part of this game. I liken the experience of this game to a show like Lost in that most of the story unfolds through flashbacks, but placing those flashbacks together in order, and using them to try and solve the greater mysteries, is just an absolute blast. Truly, the story of this game is one of my favourites to have experienced, and even if it can't always wrap itself together with how insanely dense with information it is, the journey was one I will never forget.
I haven't experienced many other visual novel or point-and-click adventure games, so a lot of the charm of this game comes from the sheer quality of the delivery of the mechanics of those genres. Everything from voice work, to animations, to art design, to music, it all creates a solid bedrock upon which the rest of the game can unfold. The narrative is breathtaking in scope, but still manages to take time to ensure the characters themselves get fleshed out. The RTS Destruction game mode is a good time, with a decent amount of player expression to be had, even if it fails to really push those mechanics to their fullest extent. Overall, it's a truly one-of-a-kind experience, and one that I will forever cherish as an all-time favourite.
On the gameplay side, you have 2 options. "Remembrance", which are the 13 individual character stories for each of the main characters, and "Destruction", the RTS mech combat mode that involves about 90% of the actual "gameplay". Destruction is a relatively simple game mode, with S ranks for the missions being almost trivial to achieve without any challenge, but the core mechanics are actually quite strong and fun to play with, and as you progress, further upgrades and enemy types manage to actually push you a bit in the late game, forcing you to stategise to achieve those S ranks. That depth to the gameplay comes a bit too late to really make the mode stand-out for most people I imagine, and that fact is not helped by the absolutely horrible in-game UI, and even moreso the upgrade menu. The amount of visual clutter makes it so easy to miss unlockable upgrades which offer some of the most enjoyable mechanics to really make the 13 characters stand-out from each other. In-game, the simple digtal map aesthetic is functional for the most part, but doesn't really convey the cool factor of the mech combat, and at worst it can become downright headache inducing to keep track of all the things on screen. In the end, Destruction does provide some casual fun, and there is depth and optimization to be found, but the game takes too long to ramp-up to it, and never really demands that much out of the player, which is a shame.
Despite this, the real meat and potatoes of this game is the Remembrance mode. This mode plays out as a visual-novel crossed with a point-and-click adventure game, though it lacks the puzzles that make-up the bulk of the experience in the latter. Instead, this mode feels a bit more like a television show than a real game, with most of the time being watching cutscenes with minor interactivity to give the player something to do. While that fact may deter a more casual audience from playing this game, the sheer ambition of the narrative and the bold way it presents itself is what elevates this game into greatness. You get 13 character stories to explore, and each one will reveal bits and pieces of the greater narrative, but you can explore those stories in almost any order, and with a narrative that throws as much information and concepts at you as this game does, that player-determined order can lead to you making wildly different predictions on where the plot if going, and THAT is the most fun part of this game. I liken the experience of this game to a show like Lost in that most of the story unfolds through flashbacks, but placing those flashbacks together in order, and using them to try and solve the greater mysteries, is just an absolute blast. Truly, the story of this game is one of my favourites to have experienced, and even if it can't always wrap itself together with how insanely dense with information it is, the journey was one I will never forget.
I haven't experienced many other visual novel or point-and-click adventure games, so a lot of the charm of this game comes from the sheer quality of the delivery of the mechanics of those genres. Everything from voice work, to animations, to art design, to music, it all creates a solid bedrock upon which the rest of the game can unfold. The narrative is breathtaking in scope, but still manages to take time to ensure the characters themselves get fleshed out. The RTS Destruction game mode is a good time, with a decent amount of player expression to be had, even if it fails to really push those mechanics to their fullest extent. Overall, it's a truly one-of-a-kind experience, and one that I will forever cherish as an all-time favourite.
Teria sido melhor como visual novel, a gameplay de mechas era a coisa mais fraca. Mas o jogo em si é lindo
story + characters: was good from start to end, with twists. If you want the story to be told chronologically though that is not the case here.
sound & graphics: really good/clean art style and sound design. After playing the game I still frequently play the Ost, and even more so play 2 songs from the game.
gameplay:
this was my biggest worry before playing the game. I liked the combat from the start, and it just became better and better and better the more I played and understood more & unlocked more "weapons".
summary: Really fucking good game
sound & graphics: really good/clean art style and sound design. After playing the game I still frequently play the Ost, and even more so play 2 songs from the game.
gameplay:
this was my biggest worry before playing the game. I liked the combat from the start, and it just became better and better and better the more I played and understood more & unlocked more "weapons".
summary: Really fucking good game
Que jogo incrível. Toda a história e os seus personagens, eu amei.
Boyliker
oh they were smoking somehing FIERCE
This is the RTS spiritual successor to SOMA, and you can't convince me otherwise.
Listen, I was a long time Vanillaware ride-or-die fan, but even I couldnt have anticipated the narrative hydrogen bomb they were cooking up in their basement. They pulled what I could only call a “trope blitz” to craft one of the most confusing (compliment) multithreaded narratives Ive ever seen in video games - and while this came at the expense of the actual gameplay, the inoffensive RTS systems are fun enough to toy around with that I didnt mind much.
I would have maybe appreciated a format where you actually get to see the mechs tho; the very distant, sterile treatment makes combat feel very alienated from the rest of the game. Vanillawares usual cheeky depiction of women gets a lil weird here as well when most of the cast is underage (not the best look)
I would have maybe appreciated a format where you actually get to see the mechs tho; the very distant, sterile treatment makes combat feel very alienated from the rest of the game. Vanillawares usual cheeky depiction of women gets a lil weird here as well when most of the cast is underage (not the best look)
I need the CW to go all out and make a five season adaptation of this. I know in my bones that it could make one of the greatest adaptations in history. Each episode like "Skins" focusing on one characters story, overlapping narrative, flash forwards and flashbacks. It would be beautiful.
Findmuck.
Incredible game, probably a top 5 game for me all-time. Alluringly convoluted and enticing mystery that left me pining to delve further into the truth. Every twist made me believe I had figured it out, just to throw another bonkers twist in the mix. Pretty environments, great character design, top-notch voice acting. Combat was surprisingly engaging and fun. Fantastic first VN experience that only makes me want to play more VN's in this vein.
found the story & some of the characters kinda lacking (i loved ryoko shinonome's entire storyline tho). still a gorgeous and super fun game that i couldn't get enough of
One of the weirdest story presentations I've ever seen. I can only imagine the nightmare this was to storyboard, and I imagine it's similar to the haze the game puts you in for the first 5 hours before you can really latch onto any plot threads. It's inventive, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't invested by the end, but two things drop it a bit lower than its similar modern VN peers like Somnium Files.
One, like I said, the game really asks a lot from you starting off. You just have to expect it to get better because it has a BAD first impression. It feels like absolute nonsense and were it not for friends' recommendations I doubt I'd have kept going.
Second: combat is bad. It's like 10% of the game so it barely matters but this combat system is really shit. It's hard to tell enemies apart, leveling up does barely anything, it's unbalanced as hell and this would ruin the game probably if it weren't also insanely easy. This results in, every 5 hours or so, having to play an hour of the combat missions while completely zoned out and effortlessly S ranking every mission.
By the end, though, I was having a great time. The presentation of the story really elevates the plot, picking up the ploy threads in an almost completely nonlinear order makes you feel a lot more invested. It demands you pay attention and, for the most part, rewards that well. It's great! Very easy recommend if you like weird VNs because it doesn't get much weirder.
One, like I said, the game really asks a lot from you starting off. You just have to expect it to get better because it has a BAD first impression. It feels like absolute nonsense and were it not for friends' recommendations I doubt I'd have kept going.
Second: combat is bad. It's like 10% of the game so it barely matters but this combat system is really shit. It's hard to tell enemies apart, leveling up does barely anything, it's unbalanced as hell and this would ruin the game probably if it weren't also insanely easy. This results in, every 5 hours or so, having to play an hour of the combat missions while completely zoned out and effortlessly S ranking every mission.
By the end, though, I was having a great time. The presentation of the story really elevates the plot, picking up the ploy threads in an almost completely nonlinear order makes you feel a lot more invested. It demands you pay attention and, for the most part, rewards that well. It's great! Very easy recommend if you like weird VNs because it doesn't get much weirder.
Melhor adaptação de GRANDE SERTÃO: VEREDAS já feita.
10/10 Visual Novel, 6/10 SRPG, puta tour de force doido.
10/10 Visual Novel, 6/10 SRPG, puta tour de force doido.
This game is so good.
The story is absolutely fantastic, it's very complex and told in an EXTREMELY interesting and unique way but still makes perfect sense. Because of the nature of the presentation, plot revelations can be found in completely different orders depending on the player's choice. I've never seen anything quite like it, and it's really amazing.
The gameplay is also really fun and pretty unique, although not as unique as the story. It's a fusion of tower defense and trpg with a focus on customization. The enemies are pretty standard but still lead to fun situations that force you to improvise.
The game definitely isn't for everyone. You're essentially playing a normal game bundled together with a visual novel that you swap between. They feel rather disconnected, which is definitely intentional but some people might not be a fan of. It's also a bit too anime for my tastes (although the plot and characters more than make up for it). Also, it's a small issue but there's one or two characters who feel a little bit underdeveloped considering their plot significance, even if they only feel underdeveloped because of how good everyone else is. All of these issues don't really matter though, especially considering how amazing it is that this game works at all.
The story is absolutely fantastic, it's very complex and told in an EXTREMELY interesting and unique way but still makes perfect sense. Because of the nature of the presentation, plot revelations can be found in completely different orders depending on the player's choice. I've never seen anything quite like it, and it's really amazing.
The gameplay is also really fun and pretty unique, although not as unique as the story. It's a fusion of tower defense and trpg with a focus on customization. The enemies are pretty standard but still lead to fun situations that force you to improvise.
The game definitely isn't for everyone. You're essentially playing a normal game bundled together with a visual novel that you swap between. They feel rather disconnected, which is definitely intentional but some people might not be a fan of. It's also a bit too anime for my tastes (although the plot and characters more than make up for it). Also, it's a small issue but there's one or two characters who feel a little bit underdeveloped considering their plot significance, even if they only feel underdeveloped because of how good everyone else is. All of these issues don't really matter though, especially considering how amazing it is that this game works at all.
Le jeu est trop nul, ma plus grosse déception je déteste le gameplay avec les robots c'était horrible, j'suis abattu d'avoir dépensé de l'argent pour y jouer
13 sentinels aegis rim is one of those games i saw get really hyped up and picked up because of how much i liked the english VAs in it. after playing like three jrpgs prior to this i much appreciated the break of a 30 hour game even though those 30 hours were completely batshit. Let’s discuss:
- story is really good. and also VERY convoluted. every scene you’re gonna be sifting through plot twists. it does have a slow start (especially when you’re going through six or so different prologues) and i got kind of bored of what i call interactable cutscenes where a long exposition dump is interrupted by you needing to interact w the character again so its not just a 30 minute cutscene (this is a constant throughout the game) but i kept coming back every day just because i was HOOKED and finished the game in under a week. juggling 13 stories is no easy feat and i think this game does so very well in a way that’s very well… characteristic for each character. the stories riff off and shout out a lot of other media (even outside of sci-fi) so most of the references fly over my head but i still enjoyed it? it’s absolutely helped by the analysis mode which recaps events in chronological order and sticks specific reveals in mystery files; looking at that alone answered most of my lingering questions about the plot when the story itself wasn’t quite clear. it actually made more sense to me than some simpler stories i’ve gone through (eg. persona 2 innocent sin, a game i played not long before this, where i could not tell you what the hell in lak’ech was about) which is SURPRISING
- you need to know AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE about the story going in though. to get the best experience
- characters: this cast fucking rocks. there’s only one character out of the main cast i really didn’t like and even then i think her story is cool (even if i think they kind of drop the ball with its resolution it still made me cry for other reasons?!! can’t explain without spoilers) i just got tired of megumi going “juro… 🥺🥺🥺” after the first three times. i would break down what i like about each one but that would take forever and it’s also hard to be spoiler free about it. side cast is cool too though i wish they had the time to do more with tamao in particular. there is so much cut content and ideas for this game it’s not even funny
- gameplay: i don’t have much experience with RTS games so i was worried i would regret buying this looking at the gameplay but it’s pretty… fun?!! it’s like a power trip for me even on normal (i managed to S rank every story stage with.. not that much struggle?!). experience may vary between ports bc i know the switch version made some changes. my personal strategy i settled into was using just the first and third gen sentinels but different stages will call for different team and even armament compositions. it’s quite malleable like that. since destruction all takes place chronologically after remembrance i decided i would play as much of remembrance as i could before i needed to progress in destruction and then go back and since destruction can spoil some stuff it’s not a bad idea but also sitting through story can get kind of tiring especially with the information overload. it’s a balancing act. i also had the occasional performance issue but that was only when my screen had sensory overload levels of attacks and kaiju like the missile rain armament and it runs super well otherwise.
- oh i guess remembrance also had some gameplay too? aside from the extended cutscenes it was pretty easy to get through. i had to look up a walkthrough a couple of times but the system will generally lead you in the right direction
- presentation is AMAZING. this is my first vanillaware game and holy shit they were not kidding that art is gorgeous. character designs are top notch. music is also really good; not mindblowing because a lot of the soundtrack is ambient but some tracks do really stick with me even outside the battle themes. my favorite track is probably the insert song seaside vacation. once again can’t speak for the jp cast but the english voice acting is so good i’m shocked to learn they recorded during covid lockdown and it still turned out THIS GOOD. i firmly believe because of the versatility of these roles that they’re among the best roles for many of these VAs. allegra clark (one of my ALL TIME FAVES ❤️) and mick wingert (who i’m surprised i didn’t discover was this good sooner?!) in particular have to do a lot of heavy lifting here and WOW do they exceed expectations!!! but they’re not the only ones who get to show the extent of their range they’re just the biggest examples
- unfortunately this is not a five star rating. there are two things that bump it down for me though not enough to be just 4 stars. they are the needless high schooler fanservice (ESPECIALLY the girls… the staff’s perverted tastes are embedded so far in down to how they summon their sentinels compared to the boys…) and the obligatory pairings between all the protagonists. with story in mind i can sort of get why it’s there and appreciate how they play with some characters having multiple different love interests depending on their Circumstances but they feel kind of shoehorned in (like “this is a boy and this is a girl so they have to kiss!”) so really not all pairings are created equal.
- the bright side to these forced pairings is that we do get a queer romance that is MY personal favorite but honestly even if it was a straight couple and thus we didn’t get the comphet dilemma it would still be the best couple in the game.
to sum up: if you can sit through a lot of mind melting story (probably the biggest barrier) focused on high schoolers i highly recommend this game. lived up to all the hype For Me. peak fiction. 4 and a half hemborgers
- story is really good. and also VERY convoluted. every scene you’re gonna be sifting through plot twists. it does have a slow start (especially when you’re going through six or so different prologues) and i got kind of bored of what i call interactable cutscenes where a long exposition dump is interrupted by you needing to interact w the character again so its not just a 30 minute cutscene (this is a constant throughout the game) but i kept coming back every day just because i was HOOKED and finished the game in under a week. juggling 13 stories is no easy feat and i think this game does so very well in a way that’s very well… characteristic for each character. the stories riff off and shout out a lot of other media (even outside of sci-fi) so most of the references fly over my head but i still enjoyed it? it’s absolutely helped by the analysis mode which recaps events in chronological order and sticks specific reveals in mystery files; looking at that alone answered most of my lingering questions about the plot when the story itself wasn’t quite clear. it actually made more sense to me than some simpler stories i’ve gone through (eg. persona 2 innocent sin, a game i played not long before this, where i could not tell you what the hell in lak’ech was about) which is SURPRISING
- you need to know AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE about the story going in though. to get the best experience
- characters: this cast fucking rocks. there’s only one character out of the main cast i really didn’t like and even then i think her story is cool (even if i think they kind of drop the ball with its resolution it still made me cry for other reasons?!! can’t explain without spoilers) i just got tired of megumi going “juro… 🥺🥺🥺” after the first three times. i would break down what i like about each one but that would take forever and it’s also hard to be spoiler free about it. side cast is cool too though i wish they had the time to do more with tamao in particular. there is so much cut content and ideas for this game it’s not even funny
- gameplay: i don’t have much experience with RTS games so i was worried i would regret buying this looking at the gameplay but it’s pretty… fun?!! it’s like a power trip for me even on normal (i managed to S rank every story stage with.. not that much struggle?!). experience may vary between ports bc i know the switch version made some changes. my personal strategy i settled into was using just the first and third gen sentinels but different stages will call for different team and even armament compositions. it’s quite malleable like that. since destruction all takes place chronologically after remembrance i decided i would play as much of remembrance as i could before i needed to progress in destruction and then go back and since destruction can spoil some stuff it’s not a bad idea but also sitting through story can get kind of tiring especially with the information overload. it’s a balancing act. i also had the occasional performance issue but that was only when my screen had sensory overload levels of attacks and kaiju like the missile rain armament and it runs super well otherwise.
- oh i guess remembrance also had some gameplay too? aside from the extended cutscenes it was pretty easy to get through. i had to look up a walkthrough a couple of times but the system will generally lead you in the right direction
- presentation is AMAZING. this is my first vanillaware game and holy shit they were not kidding that art is gorgeous. character designs are top notch. music is also really good; not mindblowing because a lot of the soundtrack is ambient but some tracks do really stick with me even outside the battle themes. my favorite track is probably the insert song seaside vacation. once again can’t speak for the jp cast but the english voice acting is so good i’m shocked to learn they recorded during covid lockdown and it still turned out THIS GOOD. i firmly believe because of the versatility of these roles that they’re among the best roles for many of these VAs. allegra clark (one of my ALL TIME FAVES ❤️) and mick wingert (who i’m surprised i didn’t discover was this good sooner?!) in particular have to do a lot of heavy lifting here and WOW do they exceed expectations!!! but they’re not the only ones who get to show the extent of their range they’re just the biggest examples
- unfortunately this is not a five star rating. there are two things that bump it down for me though not enough to be just 4 stars. they are the needless high schooler fanservice (ESPECIALLY the girls… the staff’s perverted tastes are embedded so far in down to how they summon their sentinels compared to the boys…) and the obligatory pairings between all the protagonists. with story in mind i can sort of get why it’s there and appreciate how they play with some characters having multiple different love interests depending on their Circumstances but they feel kind of shoehorned in (like “this is a boy and this is a girl so they have to kiss!”) so really not all pairings are created equal.
- the bright side to these forced pairings is that we do get a queer romance that is MY personal favorite but honestly even if it was a straight couple and thus we didn’t get the comphet dilemma it would still be the best couple in the game.
to sum up: if you can sit through a lot of mind melting story (probably the biggest barrier) focused on high schoolers i highly recommend this game. lived up to all the hype For Me. peak fiction. 4 and a half hemborgers
absolutely gorgeous art, mindscrewing story that makes sense in the end, beautiful music and amazing sound design, fun character dynamics
and yakisoba pan
and yakisoba pan
The love web was too complicated for me and not nearly interesting enough for me to care. I liked the sentry guns.
As a fan of vanillaware games I knew I just wanted to see the art and enjoy the game second. What unfolded story wise really surprised me and I ended up loving this game more than I thought I would. The RTS sections were enjoyable and the characters were all interesting and seeing it all come together was fantastic. I highly recommend if the game looks appealing to you.
This really is one of the most unique games I've ever played. Aside from its gorgeous art style, it has a stand out narrative that remains surprisingly cohesive despite all the context switching. The gameplay portions are a little too easy on the default difficulty, but are otherwise fun and enjoyable sections that offer a lot of room for unique play styles.
Absolutely mindblowing.
This game has one of the most complex narratives I've seen in a videogame, and by the end, it successfully manages to answer every single question you have, and this is what I call good writing.
The way the story is structured is very fascinating, having to replay the same sections but slowly gathering more information and creating new branching paths is such a clever idea to tell a story, and it never gets boring. Also the way the overarching story is connected via the character stories is incredible, some character arcs conclude inside other characters' arcs, and they make perfect sense.
Reading the mystery files also gives a ton of information about what is currently happening in the game, and it's very helpful.
Sadly the game has only one specific flaw, which is honestly quite major, and it's the gameplay. The Destruction mode itself is a decent idea, having combat in between keeps it fresh considering how the vast majority of the game consists of pure dialogue, however, the combat itself is very shallow and mediocre, even though it can be fun sometimes, there are barely any interesting mechanics, and it's frustratingly repetitive. It only gets worse when you are forced to progress the Destruction mode so you can progress the story because it hurts the pacing.
Personally I didn't expect to love this game that much, it's a very unique experience, the plot hooks you from the beginning and slowly unravels in a way I've never seen before, the overall story is just phenomenal, and the characters are very well written.
Final Rating: "Amazing" ~ 9/10.
This game has one of the most complex narratives I've seen in a videogame, and by the end, it successfully manages to answer every single question you have, and this is what I call good writing.
The way the story is structured is very fascinating, having to replay the same sections but slowly gathering more information and creating new branching paths is such a clever idea to tell a story, and it never gets boring. Also the way the overarching story is connected via the character stories is incredible, some character arcs conclude inside other characters' arcs, and they make perfect sense.
Reading the mystery files also gives a ton of information about what is currently happening in the game, and it's very helpful.
Sadly the game has only one specific flaw, which is honestly quite major, and it's the gameplay. The Destruction mode itself is a decent idea, having combat in between keeps it fresh considering how the vast majority of the game consists of pure dialogue, however, the combat itself is very shallow and mediocre, even though it can be fun sometimes, there are barely any interesting mechanics, and it's frustratingly repetitive. It only gets worse when you are forced to progress the Destruction mode so you can progress the story because it hurts the pacing.
Personally I didn't expect to love this game that much, it's a very unique experience, the plot hooks you from the beginning and slowly unravels in a way I've never seen before, the overall story is just phenomenal, and the characters are very well written.
Final Rating: "Amazing" ~ 9/10.
I put this game off for the longest time. I wish I didn't. This game needs way more attention than it gets :(
Cons: sadly you can tell that the developers had to cut content and skip over extra-shit which is a shame considering the circumstances surrounding this game...
Pros: The cast are great, Gameplay might seem like a turn your brain off type-beat but can take you by surprise with some curveballs, The story is very good, and even more satisfying when you piece together the entire timeline.
Recommend this game to more people please ;(
Cons: sadly you can tell that the developers had to cut content and skip over extra-shit which is a shame considering the circumstances surrounding this game...
Pros: The cast are great, Gameplay might seem like a turn your brain off type-beat but can take you by surprise with some curveballs, The story is very good, and even more satisfying when you piece together the entire timeline.
Recommend this game to more people please ;(
This review contains spoilers
My only question is why did they only have 15 humans, not only is that so little to repopulate, but that is an ODD number.
Brilliant game. Highly recommend. The story is pure mad sci-fi JRPG goodness. Even if the RTS elements aren’t top notch, it’s still absolutely worthy of your time.
I'm like 10 hours in but Shu Amiguchi is literally me.
Edit: 20 hours in... Never mind
Edit 2: Finished the game. I'm good 💪
Edit: 20 hours in... Never mind
Edit 2: Finished the game. I'm good 💪
If I'm being honest, I was initially quite skeptical as to whether I would like this game. After all, it's a Japanese visual novel about 13 teenagers in oversized mecha battle suits fighting a horde of alien robots. This led me to fear that I would be dealing with a whole bunch of stereotypical anime clichés. Teenage drama, pseudo-intellectual ramblings about the meaning of life, seemingly complex storylines that make absolutely no sense on closer inspection and stereotypes as far as the eye can see. I was pleasently surprised that my fears were unfounded.
Yes, the game definitely has its tropes and clichés, as you would expect from other representatives of the genre or various mecha anime. But overall, I never got the feeling that the story was pulled out of the writer's ass and only served to confuse and surprise the player with one twist after another. Now that I've seen everything in the game, I feel like I've experienced a coherent story. I found it particularly interesting to keep developing new theories as to what the secret behind this world might be. I found it very cool to have already anticipated one of the major twists halfway through the game.
I also enjoyed the gameplay. The RTS interludes motivated me, were sometimes a bit too easy or not super well balanced, but I had fun from the first to the last mission. However, you shouldn't expect an overly complex strategy game. The focus of 13 Sentinels is always on the story.
I would particularly like to emphasize the music. Sakimoto is and remains one of my favorite composers and once again delivers a fantastic soundtrack. Overall, the music had a certain 80s vibe for me paired with sounds that I would also expect to hear in Ghost in the Shell. I always find synth music with choral sounds very cool.
Overall, I had a really good time with the game. I loved gradually unlocking the story, constantly coming up with new theories, only to discard them later and get sucked into this world. Admittedly, it took a while for the game to pull me in. This is mainly due to the fact that, in my opinion, the prologue is too long and switches back and forth between characters too much. For the player, all that happens here is a series of random events, as there is no context to the story and the world at this point. This goes on for almost 5 hours, during which I almost dropped the game. After that, however, it picks up speed. There are a few long stretches in the middle section, which could definitely have been shortened. But the last third is really exciting again and well paced. Due to its narrative structure with 13 characters whose stories you can experience relatively freely in a non-linear fashion, I would not have thought it possible for this game to work so well. A real feat from Vanillaware.
Yes, the game definitely has its tropes and clichés, as you would expect from other representatives of the genre or various mecha anime. But overall, I never got the feeling that the story was pulled out of the writer's ass and only served to confuse and surprise the player with one twist after another. Now that I've seen everything in the game, I feel like I've experienced a coherent story. I found it particularly interesting to keep developing new theories as to what the secret behind this world might be. I found it very cool to have already anticipated one of the major twists halfway through the game.
I also enjoyed the gameplay. The RTS interludes motivated me, were sometimes a bit too easy or not super well balanced, but I had fun from the first to the last mission. However, you shouldn't expect an overly complex strategy game. The focus of 13 Sentinels is always on the story.
I would particularly like to emphasize the music. Sakimoto is and remains one of my favorite composers and once again delivers a fantastic soundtrack. Overall, the music had a certain 80s vibe for me paired with sounds that I would also expect to hear in Ghost in the Shell. I always find synth music with choral sounds very cool.
Overall, I had a really good time with the game. I loved gradually unlocking the story, constantly coming up with new theories, only to discard them later and get sucked into this world. Admittedly, it took a while for the game to pull me in. This is mainly due to the fact that, in my opinion, the prologue is too long and switches back and forth between characters too much. For the player, all that happens here is a series of random events, as there is no context to the story and the world at this point. This goes on for almost 5 hours, during which I almost dropped the game. After that, however, it picks up speed. There are a few long stretches in the middle section, which could definitely have been shortened. But the last third is really exciting again and well paced. Due to its narrative structure with 13 characters whose stories you can experience relatively freely in a non-linear fashion, I would not have thought it possible for this game to work so well. A real feat from Vanillaware.
left feeling very lukewarm about this. a really great premise that you can tell pulls off exactly what it wants almost flawlessly but gets bogged down by insufferable anime tropes and relies just a little too heavily on its use of unconventional storytelling to be unique to the point that in the end it just feels like a gimmick. maybe im just a hardass but mmmmmmsomething just felt missing for me. i have a lot of thoughts about this game. if i dont shut my mouth now i never will, but at the end i was just kind of sat there thinking "that was so fucking generic what the hell" and the post-credits only reinforced that feeling for me. maybe something is wrong with me. guys.
the art style is perfection and the weird diverging time travel story actually worked really well for me. normally im not a fan of RTS games (i think thats what this game is, some turn based mixed in there as well) but this one slaps.