13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim mixes smart design with superb storytelling, then slathers the whole package in gorgeous style.

I love Vanillaware games! True story: Odin Sphere Leifthrasir was the first Platinum trophy I unlocked on PS4. You couldn’t tear me away from that game; it was all I did for days on end until I cleared it. Everything about it was magic, from the beautiful design to the engaging combat and enticing story. Here I am, four years later and head over heels for the studio’s latest endeavor. A grand sci-...

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim pairs together a sci-fi anime storyline told from 13 different perspectives about giant Mech battles and time travel, with arcade strategy combat as you seek to protect your city. While convoluted at times 13 Sentinels delivers an incredible story.

The fact remains, though, that 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is an absolute triumph for Vanillaware. Not many games have stories as ambitious as this. Even fewer manage to bring things together without resulting in disappointment. And while the real-time battles may be the weakest element, they’re still very much engaging, and offer a nice change of pace when required. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim might just...

A tale of love and war machines.

While looking perhaps a bit too ambitious on the surface with two distinctly different gameplay elements, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a captivating sci-fi adventure set across multiple periods of time. There is no question that the game will have people very confused during the first few hours, but the split story really starts to come together and is well worth playing through to unravel the ongoi...

Wow, what a ride 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is. Vanillaware — the talented Japanese developer behind impressive action games like Dragon's Crown Pro and Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir — is back, and it's trying something totally new with its latest release. 13 Sentinels is primarily a visual novel with some very light puzzle solving, topped off with addictive strategy-based battles. At its best, it's a cap...

To call time travel stories complicated is to label the ocean as damp. While this can be a cursed gift, sometimes there are real gems among the thumbtacks and red strings. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, the latest project from Vanillaware, pulls this off with easy grace. You are, almost at once, dragged into an epic tale you can barely grasp. Complex as it was, I loved this story. There’s even a proper ...

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is an action-packed mech epic for the ages. The narrative is some of the strongest ever seen coming from Vanillaware. While there are a couple plot holes and gameplay can become repetitive in certain missions, the title is a strong and original work of art that's packed with content. There are thirteen different protagonists with their own branching stories based on player ...

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim isn't going to blow your mind with a smart story that pushes the tired boundaries of the science fiction genre. What it does offer instead is a jawdroppingly beautiful visual novel experience, intercut with satisfyingly fun gameplay sections where you get to rip apart a bunch of monsters with huge mechs. And you know what? I'll take it.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is an emotional rollercoaster packed in a visual novel style gameplay that is excellent from start to finish. The lackluster battle system lets it down and at times, gets in the way of a game that would be better without it.

There’s plenty more for me to tell you about this game, like how it stacks twists atop each other like a tower of turtles, without ever collapsing under all that narrative weight. Though reading more would spoil the fun – and trust me, you’ll be doing plenty of reading once you boot the game up anyway. I’ve written so much about why this game means the world to me. Now I leave y’all to decide whet...