13 Sentinels Aegis Rim Reviews
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.
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 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 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 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 phenomenal visual novel - and a surprisingly great strategy game. In trying something different, Vanillaware has crafted one of its best games yet. It's got an engrossing story that's absolutely packed with mind-blowing twists and endearing characters, all wrapped up in a gorgeous visual style. Don't sleep on 13 Sentinels - it's one of 2020's finest.
An accomplished mixture of sophisticated story sci-fi story beats, off the wall absurdity and satisfying tactical battles, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a rare sort of genre crossover that ends up being far more than the sum of its parts. Vanillaware's latest is simply unmissable.
In any case, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is absolutely wonderful all around. Each of the 13 protagonists gets relatively equal screen time, and they’re all brought to life by both the great English and Japanese voice tracks. You’re sure to have your favorites, but it’s incredibly satisfying to see how each of their stories intersects through time and space and coalesces into the battle for mankind against the alien invaders. This is one adventure you simply don’t want to miss.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is quite exciting. The story, whose destinies of the different characters intersect, fascinates.
Review in French | Read full review
Just when you think you know the answers, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim changes the questions as you’re left guessing with how its sci-fi mystery unfolds. Admittedly, the game’s non-traditional narrative approach can be confusing and its reliance on popular science fiction themes can also make it feel derivative at first. Stick with it, however, and you just might find an unexpected treat. Add some fun giant robot tactical combat to the mix and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim actually lets you have your peach tart and eat it, too.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is the best game Vanillaware has ever made. This entrancing tale of teenagers thwarting the apocalypse through the means of giant robots and time travel is truly one of a kind, subverting the tropes we’ve come to expect from anime and science-fiction to craft a story that easily sits amongst the genre’s best.
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.
Ultimately, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim remains largely unchanged on Nintendo Switch minus the platform's strengths and weaknesses that exist independent of title. That's for the best, as 13 Sentinels remains one of the most intriguing releases in recent years and a game that's been slept on by a large number of people turned off by its anime or mecha-inspired origins. Underneath that coat is a resonant tale spanning generations and dealing with some interesting, innovative subject matter - and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim comes highly recommended to anyone as a result.
The Nintendo Switch version of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has very little to envy to the PS4 edition. On the small screen of the hybrid the drops in frame rates are a little more frequent and the colors are less bright than we remembered, but these are absolutely negligible minutiae and counterbalanced by the possibility of enjoying even in portability the most ambitious title so far made by the Vanillaware team.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Although the development of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has encountered great difficulties, forcing the studio to postpone the PlayStation 4 version and cancel the PS Vita version, the Vanillaware team has still returned to the scene with an incomparable and intriguing title, which once again aims to shake up the terms of comparison of the two-dimensional video game, already largely redefined by their past works.
Review in Italian | Read full review
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is an amazing experience, and not just for Sci-fi or Mecha fans. Its unique combination of genres is refreshing and exciting, and its art style is the most gorgeous thing I’ve seen all year. The combat doesn’t quite match the majesty of the rest of the game, but it’s more than good enough to see the player through. It’s definitely worth it to see the ending which, while complex and difficult to fully understand, is a masterpiece.
The sprawling, complex sci-fi epic of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is one of Vanillaware's best games to date, despite the passable RTS combat that can't compare to its brilliantly interconnected narrative.
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.
Bold, ambitious, and stirringly unique, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is shockingly excellent, and a game that demands that you immerse yourself fully in it, in return for a rich experience quite unlike anything else on the market.
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 be remembered as one of the greatest games of all time, and so whether you’re into sci-fi or not, you should certainly add it to your collection.