13 Sentinels Aegis Rim Reviews
On 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Vanillaware flexes some serious storytelling chops to go along with its visual flair.
Enigmatic and unapologetic even in the face of its most absurd ideas, this is sometimes messy, sometimes boring, but always astounding.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has found its perfect home on the Nintendo Switch with its mash-up of two genres that work best when on handheld — visual novel and RTS. I ended up carrying my Switch with me for days on end as 13 Sentinels was like a good book that I couldn’t put down. The gorgeous hand-drawn graphics and intricately layered storyline pair beautifully together to create a love letter to classic sci-fi.
Even with lackluster battles, the constantly escalating stakes and evolving story pulled me in
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 whether or not to play it.
13 Sentinels stumbles a bit when it comes to combat, but the story it tells is absolutely superb.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is an action-packed mech epic for the ages.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a wonderful achievement for dynamic storytelling, as it puts forth a compelling and multifaceted narrative that'll keep you guessing right up until the very end. This excellent story, combined with enjoyable combat portions, a striking art style, and some top-notch voice acting make for an experience that you won't want to miss out on. It's the kind of game that'll have you wishing that you could play it again for the first time, just so all its best elements could be new again. We'd give 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim a strong recommendation, then, to anyone who has even a passing interest in visual novels. Even if that doesn't describe you, we'd still say to give it a shot; you might just be surprised at how well it grabs you.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is an incredible feat of narrative engineering everyone should experience, made all the more appealing by it's gorgeous art and enjoyable, deep strategy gameplay.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is one of the most interesting and originals Japanese games of 2020. Vanillaware brings something different thanks to the original way of making the player interact with the narration.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
In a year where new consoles are dropping, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is at risk of falling off the radar. I hope that players avoid that pitfall because this game is something special. It’s unique art and gameplay make it an unexpected treat, and it’s got the makings of an instant cult classic.
Not at all what you'd expect from the makers of Dragon's Crown, but as well as the expectedly beautiful artwork this has some of the most engaging high school melodrama this side of Persona.
Vanillaware keeps being faithful to its own style, and now surprises us with a different adventure, 2/3 visual novel, 1/3 strategic combat game, but with a flawless visual style, a solid sci-fi plot and strategic combats with a nice touch. Maybe 13 Sentinels it's not for everybody, but if you have a taste for different dishes, you will love it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A great narrative game, with good art style. The battle mechanics are simple, the game core is clearly the narrative.
Review in Italian | Read full review
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a must-play for fans of Japanese sci-fi adventures. Mixing the strengths of Vanillaware's art with time-travel adventures is a recipe for huge success. A story ambitious enough to have thirteen different protagonists seems bound for failure, yet the game manages to make each story not only incredibly impactful on its own, but adds up to a bigger, brighter and utterly unforgettable narrative. The addictive tactical gameplay that strings these story scenes together, despite a strange artstyle, is just icing on the already massive and delicious cake.
Had Vanillaware crafted a title where the story and the action wove into one another flawlessly, we'd be looking at the greatest game the developer has ever made, without question. Unfortunately, that's not what this game is, and while what is here is great, it's crushing to see just how close 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim came to perfection.
You know a game has consumed your life when it seeps into your dreams. That's exactly what happened to me. I'm seeing Triangles floating atop heads and planning strategy in my sleep. Not the worst way to sleep but also not the most relaxing. I'm craving yakisoba pan all the time. No other games exist while you're playing 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Don't even bother trying to play anything else. Your brain simply won't let you.
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 ongoing mysteries found throughout.
Vanillaware's latest is a true masterclass in galaxy-brain sci-fi storytelling that will keep you up well past your bedtime. 13 Sentinels thumbs its nose at your expectations about familiar sci-fi tropes to take you somewhere completely unexpected.