Despite what the field and blurbs may inform you, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is not actually a sport about piloting large robots. I imply, certain, you do battle off large swarms of building-sized creatures hellbent on whole destruction in an alternate-universe 1980s Japan at some factors. But these seemingly model-kit-ready steel fight fits are only a plot machine, a cog within the story. In actuality, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a personality drama: a twisting, turning sci-fi epic leaping by time and dimensions because it follows the lives of its quite a few teen protagonists. Missiles, Gatling weapons, and armor-crushing steel fistcuffs are merely a facet occasion to the on a regular basis drama of highschoolers who discover themselves unwilling pawns in a much bigger sport with the destiny of the world at stake. And you recognize what? That’s nice. Once the narrative of 13 Sentinels sinks its hooks into you, you need nothing greater than to go alongside for the trip up till the very climax.13 Sentinels is a novel, genre-mixing experiment. It takes parts of point-and-click journey video games, visible novels, real-time technique video games, and tower protection video games, mixing them collectively to create an expertise that is fairly not like anything on the market. Things get rolling when younger Japanese highschooler Juro Kurabe is named upon to battle a horde of alien invaders in 1985, just for the story to flash again to earlier that 12 months, then over to younger troopers in 1945 wartime-era Japan, then to 2 schoolgirls witnessing a disaster within the 12 months 2025. You instantly meet an enormous solid of characters throughout completely different eras, studying that there’s one fixed: the existence of Sentinels, large human-piloted robotic weapons who exist to guard the world from otherworldly monsters.The sport is cut up into three components: a Remembrance mode the place you uncover the story piece by piece, a Destruction mode the place you utilize large Sentinel mechs to guard the town from invasion, and an Analysis mode that collects all the data and story scenes you could have found by gameplay. Remembrance is introduced as an episodic sequence the place you discover and work together with varied environments and characters to advance the plot. Destruction, in distinction, is an overhead-view technique phase the place you utilize the Sentinels to defend a important underground entry level from invading forces.The narrative sequences of Remembrance take up the nice majority of the sport’s playtime. Each of the 13 most important characters’ particular person adventures happens at a unique time and place, however each story finally intertwines, with some essential occasions enjoying out by the views of a number of solid members. Gameplay is pretty primary: You can stroll round to speak to different characters, stand round to watch the setting, and look at explicit objects in an space. Occasionally, key phrases can be added to a personality’s “thought cloud,” which acts like an merchandise stock; you possibly can ruminate on the matters by way of an interior monologue, deliver up thought cloud matters to others, or make the most of bodily gadgets. Progress occurs while you hit on the correct dialogue or motion.You solely management one character at a time, however you possibly can swap between characters’ tales as you see fit–though you might end up locked out of a personality’s path till you could have made vital progress in others’ storylines and the mech battles. The nonlinear, non-chronological storytelling presents you with many mysteries and questions which it’s essential to piece collectively to get a much bigger image of what’s really going on–and how you can save every thing from absolute damage.13 Sentinels does a fantastic job telling an attractive story from a number of views; not solely does every thing match collectively, however the characters have distinct, well-defined backgrounds and personalities to keep away from complicated the viewers. Each of those 13 characters’ particular person adventures is a deal with to unravel as increasingly necessary occasions, revelations, and romantic entanglements come to mild.There’s Juro, a nerd who loves obscure sci-fi B-movies and hanging out together with his finest buddy after faculty. He shares a category with Iori, a considerably clumsy lady who retains falling asleep throughout faculty as a result of terrifying desires preserve her up at night time. Meanwhile, resident UFO and conspiracy nut Natsuno could have simply discovered the key of a time-travelling alien civilization within the ladies’ locker room. She simply met Keitaro, a man who appears to have been spirited right here from wartime Japan, and who additionally may need a factor for her. Shu is a spoiled child with a factor for the varsity’s resident robust lady, Yuki, who is just too busy investigating mysteries round faculty to take care of his advances. But why is Ryoko bandaged up, consistently monitored, and step by step dropping her sanity? And why is Megumi listening to a speaking cat ordering her to assault her classmates?13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim captured on PS4That’s only a sampling of the various character mini-dramas you see all through the sport, because the extraordinary lives of those youngsters get flipped the wrong way up and a large, reality-changing thriller unfolds. Ultimately, nevertheless, the story works as a result of the person character drama is so nicely carried out, with every character’s story enjoying a key function within the greater, overarching sci-fi plot.It additionally helps that the story sequences in 13 Sentinels are incredible to take a look at. Developer Vanillaware is understood for its vibrant, colourful 2D paintings in video games like Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown. While 13 Sentinels takes place primarily in a extra “real-world” setting than these fantasy-based video games, the fantastic thing about Vanillaware’s 2D paintings continues to be on full show. The environments are stuffed with little particulars that basically make them come alive, from the reveling drunken bench-squatters by the prepare station entrance to the crumbling, shaking foundations of ruined buildings within the apocalyptic futures barely standing among the many husks of lifeless invaders. Character animation can also be glorious, with many characters that includes enjoyable little facial and physique motion quirks that deliver out parts of their personalities.13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim captured on PS4Perhaps the largest drawback with the story segments, nevertheless, is that they’re notably extra gratifying than the real-time technique portion, the place the big Sentinels are supposed to essentially shine. The Destruction portion of the sport is a mixture of quasi-RTS and tower-defense mechanics: You command as much as six particular person Sentinel models in a usually-timed battle to guard a defensive node from a prolonged enemy onslaught. Each unit has a specialised function (equivalent to melee, assist, flying, and so on.) and offensive and defensive expertise, which may be individually upgraded to your liking by “meta-chips” earned in battle and from finishing story episodes. If you both wipe out all the enemies or handle to carry the fort for a selected period of time, you win.These battles definitely have their moments. It’s immensely satisfying to plan out a technique and watch it play out–or to resolve to go HAM together with your finest weapon and watch a pair dozen enemy drones explode concurrently in a flurry of fireworks (that are sufficient to make a regular PS4 mannequin decelerate). Eventually, nevertheless, the sport stops introducing new and attention-grabbing threats, making these technique bits really feel much less thrilling as you progress. The attractive 2D visuals and animation are additionally changed with a bland, blocky 3D map that is not anyplace close to as nice to take a look at for lengthy stretches of time. While there is a good quantity of inter-character bantering and key story revelations earlier than and after these fight sequences, you possibly can’t assist however really feel like they will usually be a roadblock to having fun with the extra attention-grabbing story components of the game–especially since clearing sure enemy waves in Destruction is critical to open components of the story in Remembrance.But finally, the largest drawback with 13 Sentinels is {that a} chunk of the sport is merely good whereas nearly all of it’s excellent. The tales of those youngsters and their large robots completely consumed me throughout my playtime, and even now, I’m ruminating over sure plot factors, occasions, and relationships, questioning if I ought to return by the archives to see what I’ve missed. I do not suppose I’ll overlook my time within the 13 Sentinels world, and I doubt you’ll, both.