Title: 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Platform: Switch
Genre: Visual Novel + RTS
Language: Japanese
Company: Vanillaware
Summary: I had mixed expectations for this game from Vanillaware but they very much exceeded overall!
Story:
Characters: Careful with this one. Not only is there a really large cast (aside from the pilots of the “13 Sentinels” themselves), there are other characters to remember, and even the pilots themselves will have multiple names for plot reasons. It can get VERY confusing, but as long as you keep your head in it, it’s manageable.
Graphics: Aside from the RTS side, the Light Novel/Adventure side is full of Vanillaware goodness. The details in the animations, backgrounds, everything… love it.
Sound: The soundtrack didn’t immediately win or lose me for a majority of the game, but in retrospect, playing it on its own… It’s nice! xD This is in part due to all of the sound effects that are added into the RTS mode clouding over the battle music, which I don’t mean to say negatively, because those sound effects are important to the immersion anyway. Upon replays, the music ages even better, as I start realizing certain motifs coming in for particular scenes… kyun.
It just goes to show that the game and music are both strong enough each on their own.
Gameplay: Hubby’s one complaint is that everything looks very generic in the RTS mode. In a way, that probably has its reasons as well however… Spoiler territory lol. Apparently, some “re-balancing” was done for the Switch version–overall more nerfs than buffs however, making certain objectives more of a pain to achieve.

I’ve heard wind that the frames are actually smoother on the Switch version compared to PS4 which is rare?? But if so, would go to show the care Vanillaware takes into properly optimizing their later versions. All-in-all, the PS4 version is still excellent, and I might have more things to say in comparison at a later point that would support getting either version (or even both, because it deserves all the love).
Replay Value: 10.
Um… I’m not used to seeing this much production put into a Vanillaware piece. I mean, I played Dragon’s Crown for over 400 hours, but you end up seeing the same things over and over in there easily still. There’s… a lot in this game. A lot of good things.

I recommend.

LIGHT SPOILER AHEAD, but at some point I will definitely want to rewatch the whole thing in chronological order.

I've been enjoying this LP as a new look after our original playthrough https://t.co/xklcX7BKeN & think I would be ready for the full chronological run at some point after. but dang it's one of the good ones. he's well aware of Vanillaware goodness & everything that comes with it

— Splash (◕ᴥ◕し) ⚽ (@SplashTOMATO) October 28, 2022

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