My first Vanillaware game here, and I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. Honestly, the story was not particularly interesting for all the praises I've heard about "13 Sentinels" ; yet after finishing the game, I already miss watching my little characters doing their little battles.
Because it's the art that really got me hooked on. The game looks fantastic, I was baffled throughout the whole thing. Gorgeous landscapes, tons of great designs, and very VERY impressive spritework ; I'm a bit fascinated by 2D character sprites and how to make them compact yet readable, and the way the artists here played wih shapes and postures, and how detailed these sprites are YET they're fully animated, it's crazy to me.

Tactical-wise, as someone who's only ever played Fire Emblem, the non-turnbased battles and the 2-to-5 characters units felt fresh and new ; all the while still getting some good FE Awakening vibes from the visuals and musics (especially in Cornia/Drakenhold).
I somehow had fun completely reforming my units every ~20 hours, and kinda making my own stories out of these compositions.
Because yeah, most characters don't really have anything to say appart for little gimmicks presented as the uninteresting anecdotes that they are, in cutscenes with no voice and not even using the characters full sprites. Yet I somehow ended up getting attached to them, purely based on their design and because I like watching them move and fight. Their kinda like toys, or maybe insects or fishes in a tank ...

I do think the game was a bit too easy, and I got a better challenge once I passed to Expert difficulty (although even then I rarely struggled, despite not being a very good strategist).
Also I think the game would be perfect if it had just a bit more (and more specific) condition options for making tactics. Would make the game a bit easier but getting the satisfaction of seeing your plan get perfectly executed would be worth it imo.