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.
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.
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.
Beat by beat, you've seen elements of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim's plot elsewhere before, but you've probably never played anything quite like it. How 13 Sentinels strings its complex narrative together is nothing short of astonishing. It operates like a great melodramatic sci-fi TV show, only reworked and shuffled into an interactive format, and it takes full advantage of it. And for that, even with weak RTS battles complementing it all, it's an easy recommendation.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 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
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.
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.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim on Switch receives a small downgrade in resolution and effects, but is largely the same as its PS4 counterpart. The story is still incredible, and well worth experiencing multiple times.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a very unique experience, even in the realm of video games. It's gameplay systems gel well together and the non-linear storytelling could only work in this medium. While some plot points aren't as well explored as others and it uncomfortably sexualizes high school students, it's still a game you absolutely need to play if you're a fan of science fiction or enjoy video game storytelling.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is quite exciting. The story, whose destinies of the different characters intersect, fascinates.
Review in French | Read full review
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a very different game from what Vanillaware has released in the past, but this is a great showcase of what they are capable of. The narrative is a fantastic piece of science fiction that can easily work as an anime or feature film.