Im not usually a big VN fan but 13 Sentinels blew me away. The way the story is presented is incredibly unique. Each of the titular 13 characters have their own linear storylines you progress through, but you switch between different characters in a nonlinear way. At most points in the game you will have a wide range of characters to choose from so even the nonlinear order of the story will be different for each player, with some important reveals happening sooner or later. The nonlinearity of the story isnt just there to look good on the box though, its used very well to pace the story out. Many times you will see an event in one characters line, and later see that same event from the perspective of a different character which recontextulizes it. Or other times you will see the aftermath of some event and not know what happened, only to later play as the character that caused it.

The game also consists of combat sections where you control a squad of mechs in half turn-based half real-time combat. At any point when you are selecting which characters storyline to continue from, you can instead choose to do one of the combat missions. The combat missions also contribute to the nonlinear story because they take place after most characters storylines, leading you to wonder how things will progress to reach that point as you play the story sections. Both the combat and story modes use a "lock" system where your progress in one will be halted until you complete enough of the other. If you make an effort to equally space out combat and story this system wont get in your way that much, but if you like to rush through one before going to do the other this could be an annoyance.

The combat itself is serviceable, I really enjoyed the customization of the mechs before each fight and choosing a weapon loadout appropriate for the enemies that would be present. However the combat certainly doesnt carry the game. I found it to be incredibly easy, even playing on hard mode there were very few missions I ever failed, so I cant imagine how it is on normal or easy mode. This isnt necessarily a criticism though, if you find yourself not enjoying the combat and wanting to get back to the story then being able to rush through it in easy mode sounds like a good compromise. I wont spoil the fun of figuring out the meta yourself, but certain mechs seem way more valuable than others, despite the efforts of the overload system that forces you to switch up your team each mission.

Overall 13 Sentinels is a great story experience, the combat doesnt get in the way and its pretty enjoyable but its not much of a selling point either. The story keeps you guessing about the true nature of whats going on until the very end, and its executed in a way that doesnt make it feel like twists for the sake of twists. The biggest issue is that 13 Sentinels is only available on Playstation and Switch, but theres always the secret third option. I highly recommend getting your hands on it one way or another.