I’m a kind of irritating individuals who has to guess what will occur in a e-book, movie, or sport whereas the story continues to be unfolding. I annoy my family and friends to no-end by loudly declaring my predictions continuous and I’m not even sorry. Whereas I like having the ability to brag about appropriately guessing a plot, nothing beats the sensation of being stunned by twist that you simply didn’t see coming.
Regardless of my finest guesses, I discovered it inconceivable to foretell the place issues have been moving into 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. The sport follows 13 youngsters throughout totally different time intervals who all share a typical thread — they uncover they will pilot massive Sentinel mechs to defend the world from invading kaiju generally known as Deimos. Because the story progresses you start to peel again the layers of the sport’s many occasions and characters, coming to grasp that this isn’t simply one other simple mech vs alien storyline.
The narrative is non-linear and jumps forwards and backwards between numerous timelines and between the 13 protagonists. Occasions typically overlap from totally different factors of view, so after you play a sure scene as one character, you may swap to a different that appeared in the identical occasion and see what occurred from their perspective. The storytelling is already complicated within the shuffled approach by which it’s being delivered, however on high of that, the central thriller is a sophisticated net of various components that’s solely really unravelled when you’ve totally accomplished the sport.
13 Sentinels is crammed filled with references and nods to basic sci-fi movies, manga, and anime, a few of that are brazenly mentioned or alluded to by the characters, whereas others are mirrored in occasions that happen all through the sport. Even in the event you’re not the largest sci-fi fan, there’ll undoubtedly be a couple of that you simply recognise and it’s attention-grabbing to see how they’re used to additional the plot and supply a couple of compelling purple herrings by means of every particular person character arc.
Certainly one of 13 Sentinels’ most distinguishing options is its stunning hand drawn artwork that Vanillaware has turn into famend for with the likes of Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown. Although the sport utilises side-scrolling 2D environments, it creates a sense of depth through the use of totally different layers and the spectacular lighting results create unforgettable scenes starting from sprawling 80’s cityscapes to burning villages within the midst of World Warfare 2. The visible aesthetic is ripe with surprises that I’d be a idiot to spoil it right here, however this sport goes locations.
The sport is break up into three totally different modes: the Remembrance side-scrolling visible novel sections, the Destruction RTS fight sequences, and at last, Evaluation mode, which helps you to relive previous occasions and dig additional into the world’s lore. To start with, you turn between the visible novel sections and fight at common intervals, however when you’ve accomplished the prologue, you may select which mode you need to play, in addition to which character route you want to discover relying on who could be your favorite.
Some protagonist paths are extra attention-grabbing than others, however the much less thrilling ones nonetheless gave additional perception to characters I used to be extra invested in whereas advancing the general plot. They weren’t a chore to finish, however I undoubtedly left the duller characters till the final doable second. I normally discovered myself following whoever intrigued me essentially the most till they crossed paths with a extra attention-grabbing character/occasion that caught my eye, which might then make me pivot to following one other route the place I’d rinse and repeat.
Although occasions are pretty linear and you’ll’t have an effect on the result of the story, there are slight detours you may take for extra scenes. For instance, selecting the “incorrect” selection would possibly see you having to repeat a sure part in an effort to attain the specified end result, however you’ll see further character dialogue or occasions within the course of. There have been sure elements the place I used to be a bit stumped and it took me a short time to grasp how one can progress, which largely meant determining who to speak to and by which order to finish the reminiscence correctly, in any other case I’d get caught in a time loop.
At sure intervals, you’ll be blocked from progressing any additional in sure Remembrance routes and Destruction battles, and can be prompted to succeed in a sure milestone earlier than persevering with. This may be finishing a set battle, seeing a sure Remembrance occasion, or unlocking a selected variety of Thriller Recordsdata — further lore you should buy within the menu with factors you earned in Destruction skirmishes.
I didn’t thoughts these limitations to progress as they served as a reminder to to not get too carried away within the Remembrance sections. Switching between the 2 predominant modes breaks up the gameplay so that you don’t get too bored of doing the identical factor continually. Destruction battles have been a welcome distraction at instances, even when it’s sadly the weakest a part of the sport when all is claimed and carried out.
Destruction is actually a tower protection sport the place you need to defend a central terminal whereas defeating waves upon waves of Deimos. You management your pilots on a 3D map of town, using totally different methods to defend and assault as wanted. You decide and select which pilots to ship out into the sector, all of whom have totally different roles, corresponding to melee, long-range, all-rounder, and many others. Every character and their Sentinel will be upgraded with new talents to additional combine up the way in which you play too. But it’s really easy that such enhancements typically really feel like an afterthought.
Whereas the fight isn’t inherently unhealthy, it simply isn’t very thrilling and is definitely overshadowed by the way more attention-grabbing Remembrance mode. It was good to drop out and in of battles to interrupt up the story segments, however fight actually isn’t the primary attraction right here and could be higher described as a palette cleanser between meals, or on this case, story segments.
I’m a giant fan of Vanillaware video games, however I’ve at all times most well-liked to play them handheld. Whether or not it’s an RPG or a beat ‘em up, its library has at all times felt higher within the palm of my hand. When 13 Sentinels initially launched in 2019 for the PS4, I sorely missed having a PSVita model to play on the transfer, however with the port to Change it lastly feels as if steadiness is restored.
You may play it docked in the event you want, and both approach the sport seems to be beautiful, however you may’t beat the sensation of getting an thrilling new world at your fingertips no matter the place you might be. Vanillaware has dealt with the port completely; there have been no stuttering framerate drops and the graphics look as attractive as ever, which is de facto all you may ask for when shifting to inferior {hardware}.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has discovered its excellent house on the Nintendo Change with its mash-up of two genres that work finest when on handheld — visible novel and RTS. I ended up carrying my Change with me for days on finish as 13 Sentinels was like e-book that I couldn’t put down. The attractive hand-drawn graphics and intricately layered storyline pair fantastically collectively to create a love letter to basic sci-fi.
Rating: 4/5. A assessment code for Nintendo Change was supplied by the writer.
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