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[Manji Uzuki]

Finally got to start playing the game and... Its amazing so far! I'm not to advanced in the story yet but it already had some interesting twists and I really like most of the characters.

The battle system felt too simple on the tutorial but it got lot more interesting after it opens more options and you have real battles.

Seems that Vanillaware never dissappoints

 

[Mister Wolf]

Pulled the trigger and bought this yesterday.

 

[StylishMGTOW]

I'm already having a nostalgic feel rush over me when listening to the music in this game. If you haven't played this game yet and you're a Vanillaware fan, you owe it to yourself.

 

[SinDelta]

I am legitimately worried this game has set the bar insanely high for any VN or narrative focused game, and that few games if any I play going forward will come close.

 

[Komatsu]

I am legitimately worried this game has set the bar insanely high for any VN or narrative focused game and few if anything I play will come close.

It has basically ruined VNs for me, and I am the kind who only used to play the high budget ones.

 

[MeteorVII]

Played this game for the first time last week.

Just came here to say...wow. It is fucking awesome!

 

[Coconutt]

I'm already having a nostalgic feel rush over me when listening to the music in this game. If you haven't played this game yet and you're a Vanillaware fan, you owe it to yourself.

All the music from 13 Sentinels is great but Phenylalanine definitely takes the cake for me.

 

[Termite]

I'm at 75% story completion and 80% fighting completion and I have to say the story better have some seriously good tricks up its sleeve from here on out or I'll consider it a disappointment. Glad I waited for 50% off as I suspected that would be the case.

I've enjoyed it due to the frankly insane art and good music, but the story is really just every major sci-fi trope bundled with every anime high-school trope. I know that it wears that on its sleeve, but as someone who doesn't like anime, I'm struggling with that.

And so far those tropes haven't been used in very interesting ways - the main point of interest here is how the story unfolds so haphazardly, but I'm not sure that makes the story better. In fact, in a way it makes it worse. I have 9 characters completed with 4 still to start (okay, I've done two of those prologues). And I already feel like I know what's going on, so now I have to traipse through these last 4 stories and keep relearning things I already know that the characters in these stories don't. It's gonna be a slog.

I guess this rant is partially because my last character was Takatoshi, and having unearthed so many secrets already it was a huge pain in the ass playing as this hobo scrounging up change in the most boring story so far, this fucking dude that can't even figure out that he's gay with a recurring joke (Yakisoba pan) that has not one mote of actual humour in it. And I have to plod through this stuff to figure out how the writers intend to wrap up the core mysteries here.

I mean, the only main question I feel I have left outstanding is:

Spoiler

Are they on a phsyical colony in space / another planet OR are they in a matrix-esque computer simulation of such a colony - the looping part and backing up of data into Sector 0 makes me think that it's a sim.

And I feel like I've been at that point for the past 10 hours. Game needed to be like, 9 sentinels instead of 13, lol. Oh well, let's see how it wraps up this weekend - it's possible that it has more to show once all the stories are completed.

Strangely, I've really enjoyed the RTS sections, even if they're visually a mess and the lack of actual level design hurts it badly.

 

[Con_Z_ǝdʇ]

13 Sentinels caught my eyes in the last weeks with its art style.

I started to look for infos about Vanillaware and their games.
I'm already convinced that I will buy either Dragon's Crown, Odin Sphere, or 13 Sentinel: Aegis Rim in the coming weeks.

I know this is not thread related but i would like to get some suggestions on which one i should buy.
Since the enthusiast are here i thought it is better to ask one of you than to open up a new thread just for this.


13 Sentinels seem more on the story side whereas the others seem to be deeper on gameplay.
That is just my impression.

I'm leaning towards Odin Sphere but Dragon's Crown is cheaper.

Any advice is welcome.


Sorry for the derailment.

 

[Zeeed]

Just finished the game and I would give it at 9/10.

What does a 9/10 mean coming from a non-reviewer?
It just means out of all the games I have played in my life, this game felt like a 9/10 compared to them.

-Art is beautiful obviously.
-An under-rated and importantly, NOT-annoying soundtrack
-The English voice acting is great(Persona 5 level), will try Japanese next playthrough in a couple of years
-This game is very story driven
-The fighting mechanic is just as good, but I came for story
-Has a very good satisfying ending with no cliff-hangers
-Flawless execution, experienced no bugs

 

[Con_Z_ǝdʇ]

Just finished the game and I would give it at 9/10.

What does a 9/10 mean coming from a non-reviewer?
It just means out of all the games I have played in my life, this game felt like a 9/10 compared to them.

-Art is beautiful obviously.
-An under-rated and importantly, NOT-annoying soundtrack
-The English voice acting is great(Persona 5 level), will try Japanese next playthrough in a couple of years
-This game is very story driven
-The fighting mechanic is just as good, but I came for story
-Has a very good satisfying ending with no cliff-hangers
-Flawless execution, experienced no bugs

Can you ge deeper into the gameplay?!

How deep are the mechanics?
Does tactics play a role?
Can you mess up?
What happens if you do?

I heard just good things about the story and what it means to experience it.

I'm just curious if there is enough gameplay to warrant the price tag.

 

[Zeeed]

Can you ge deeper into the gameplay?!

How deep are the mechanics?
Does tactics play a role?
Can you mess up?
What happens if you do?

I heard just good things about the story and what it means to experience it.

I'm just curious if there is enough gameplay to warrant the price tag.

You are basically a war commander and will be leading your force of up to 6 mechs using a map with friends and enemies represented by icons on the battlefield.
You will have different objectives in each mission. most of them will be the same objectives, Kill all enemy, Kill certain enemies, defend the base.
There are addition bonous objectives (achievements, you don't have to do them) like this person must be on the team, etc.

The first few missions, I thought the game mechanics were basic and they wanted you to enjoy the story. But once those missions were over, you will gradually get access to:
-Upgrade mech technology that improves attack, defense, accuracy, etc.
-Get new weapons/technology to add to the mechs
-Improve on those weapons/technology to make them stronger

Let's just say I spent more time prepping in the mech config screen then the battle itself, LOL
There are tactics to consider:
-You will eventually be in charge of many mechs and pilots, but you can only bring up to 6 at a time
-Pilots get tired so they will be out of commission until they are recharged again
-Different mechs can carry or NOT carry certain weapons onto the battlefield
-Some mech operator gel better with others and give extra fighting bonous if they are fighting together
-If you don't bring the right mechs and technology, the battle can be a real pain
-Achieving certain objectives gives nice little bonouses to the pilots like "atk increases as hp decreases"

As far as my experience, I could save at any point in the battle over and over again.
There are 38 battles and I probably had to redo a mission 3 times. Note: It looks like they added another 10 new bonous missions after you finish the game.
When I had to redo, I either changed tactics and bring in other weapons and tools. Or decided sending in ground forces was needed and just not stay back and use missiles only, etc.

I bought the game when it was 50% off. I saw it go 50% off twice. I caved about got it on the second 50% off even when I had so many games in my back catalog.

Is it worth full price? For me and the person I am and the games I ususally play, I would have bought it full price if it never went on discount.
But if you are into fortnite/COD, this might not be a game you pay full price to see if you like it or not.

 

[Con_Z_ǝdʇ]

You are basically a war commander and will be leading your force of up to 6 mechs using a map with friends and enemies represented by icons on the battlefield.
You will have different objectives in each mission. most of them will be the same objectives, Kill all enemy, Kill certain enemies, defend the base.
There are addition bonous objectives (achievements, you don't have to do them) like this person must be on the team, etc.

The first few missions, I thought the game mechanics were basic and they wanted you to enjoy the story. But once those missions were over, you will gradually get access to:
-Upgrade mech technology that improves attack, defense, accuracy, etc.
-Get new weapons/technology to add to the mechs
-Improve on those weapons/technology to make them stronger

Let's just say I spent more time prepping in the mech config screen then the battle itself, LOL
There are tactics to consider:
-You will eventually be in charge of many mechs and pilots, but you can only bring up to 6 at a time
-Pilots get tired so they will be out of commission until they are recharged again
-Different mechs can carry or NOT carry certain weapons onto the battlefield
-Some mech operator gel better with others and give extra fighting bonous if they are fighting together
-If you don't bring the right mechs and technology, the battle can be a real pain
-Achieving certain objectives gives nice little bonouses to the pilots like "atk increases as hp decreases"

As far as my experience, I could save at any point in the battle over and over again.
There are 38 battles and I probably had to redo a mission 3 times. Note: It looks like they added another 10 new bonous missions after you finish the game.
When I had to redo, I either changed tactics and bring in other weapons and tools. Or decided sending in ground forces was needed and just not stay back and use missiles only, etc.

I bought the game when it was 50% off. I saw it go 50% off twice. I caved about got it on the second 50% off even when I had so many games in my back catalog.

Is it worth full price? For me and the person I am and the games I ususally play, I would have bought it full price if it never went on discount.
But if you are into fortnite/COD, this might not be a game you pay full price to see if you like it or not.

Thanks a lot for the write up! I really appreciate it!

I'm knee deep into Dragon's Crown Pro right now but will definitely pick up 13 Sentinels after your suggestion.

Your impressions helped me to understand the game and it's mechanics better.
I watched some reviews but non of them put the gameplay in a perspective that made it appealing to me.

But you did.

Thanks again!

 

[Celcius]

Just bought this... time to see what all the hype is about

 

[Celcius]

Just finished the game and wow that was a wild ride. There was one thing I didn’t understand though:

Spoiler

How were they wearing glasses inside the pods?

edit: I just got the Platinum trophy and I'm hyped!
Now I wish the Vita version had been finished so that I could just do those post-game battles on the go for infinite grinding.

 

[Furball]

『十三機兵防衛圏』がSwitchで2022年4月14日に発売決定。英語ボイスや各主人公に2種の兵装、合計26種類が追加 | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com

アトラスは“『十三機兵防衛圏』2周年記念特別番組”の中で、『十三機兵防衛圏』のNintendo Switch（ニンテンドースイッチ）版を2022年4月14日に発売することを発表した。

www.famitsu.com

Switch version annouced . May have some additional thing

 

[TintoConCasera]

Just started this one on the Switch. Played for a while and did three prologues.

First of all: holy shit, the game looks amazing. Even coming from recently playing another Vanillaware game (Dragon's Crown) this game still manages to wow me with it's art and visual effects, specially lighting effects. Looks great on handheld and so far it seems to run almost perfect, only noticed a really small dip on the intro scene.

I like the visuals when in combat too, although I kinda miss attack animations with Vanillaware art. And it's kinda weird since you can actually watch those when selecting the weapon instead of when you use the weapon... Maybe they thought the combat was faster this way? Dunno, but still, it looks great.

Second: I honestly wasn't expecting to like this game, since it's not my type. I've never been too much into games where the main mechanic is pressing A to keep reading (well, not even pressing A here since the text auto-advances) and I think the only ones I've liked up until now are the Phoenix Wright games back on the DS. I'm liking this game tho, it seems it has anime tropes up the ass (which so far vary from cringe to kinda charming) but the story itself is very interesting so far. Like really interesting, I really want to keep playing just to know wtf is going on.

And finally... The actual gameplay seems really cool! Another thing I wasn't expecting. Since the game is story focused I though the combat was going to be some kinda filler but nope, even though I have barely played the tutorial I already can see the depth of it and how fun can it be later on. Hope I'm not wrong.

The music so far is great too, and the english voice actors seem to do a great job too. Also, pantsu shot in the first hour of gameplay, nice.

So yeah, thanks everyone who have said the game is cool encouraging other people to play it, and special shout-out to Danjin44 for flooding the forum with info on the game prior and post release. I could have missed this gem otherwise!

 

[Danjin44]

special shout-out to Danjin44 for flooding the forum with info on the game prior and post release. I could have missed this gem otherwise!

Atlus....

 

[Faithless83]

Just started this one on the Switch. Played for a while and did three prologues.

First of all: holy shit, the game looks amazing. Even coming from recently playing another Vanillaware game (Dragon's Crown) this game still manages to wow me with it's art and visual effects, specially lighting effects. Looks great on handheld and so far it seems to run almost perfect, only noticed a really small dip on the intro scene.

I like the visuals when in combat too, although I kinda miss attack animations with Vanillaware art. And it's kinda weird since you can actually watch those when selecting the weapon instead of when you use the weapon... Maybe they thought the combat was faster this way? Dunno, but still, it looks great.

Second: I honestly wasn't expecting to like this game, since it's not my type. I've never been too much into games where the main mechanic is pressing A to keep reading (well, not even pressing A here since the text auto-advances) and I think the only ones I've liked up until now are the Phoenix Wright games back on the DS. I'm liking this game tho, it seems it has anime tropes up the ass (which so far vary from cringe to kinda charming) but the story itself is very interesting so far. Like really interesting, I really want to keep playing just to know wtf is going on.

And finally... The actual gameplay seems really cool! Another thing I wasn't expecting. Since the game is story focused I though the combat was going to be some kinda filler but nope, even though I have barely played the tutorial I already can see the depth of it and how fun can it be later on. Hope I'm not wrong.

The music so far is great too, and the english voice actors seem to do a great job too. Also, pantsu shot in the first hour of gameplay, nice.

So yeah, thanks everyone who have said the game is cool encouraging other people to play it, and special shout-out to Danjin44 for flooding the forum with info on the game prior and post release. I could have missed this gem otherwise!

You're in for a love letter to sci-fi fans out there. Also the japanese voice acting is top notch.
This is one game I wish I could erase my memory to enjoy all over again. Hoping for a "remake" with the proper budget for the battle part of it.

 

[EDMIX]

Atlus....

Seriously, Atlus need to make an affiliate program for Danjin!

 

[TintoConCasera]

Okay so I finished some prologues and ended the battle tutorial.

Now I can choose between combat or story. Am I supposed to play it at my own leisure or should I advance the story before battling to much, or vice-versa?

 

[NanaMiku]

The music so far is great too, and the english voice actors seem to do a great job too. Also, pantsu shot in the first hour of gameplay, nice.

Yeah, Basiscape always delivers. They always did the music for Vanillaware and everything is great.

Okay so I finished some prologues and ended the battle tutorial.

Now I can choose between combat or story. Am I supposed to play it at my own leisure or should I advance the story before battling to much, or vice-versa?

You can choose at your own, but sometimes the game will restrict you. You need to reach xx% clear for certain character or reach certain stage at battle. My recommendation is play the story until you cannot progress anymore and then do the battle until boss for each round.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Got up to this part last night

Spoiler

More pieces of the mystery are coming together... I also played more of Hijiyama's story, which I had mostly neglected up until this point, and man, Okino is crazy! I really felt bad for Hijiyama when he was tied down and having his memories/reactions read aloud to him.

Gonna play more tonight. Thinking I can finish this game with in the next few days.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Finished the game and I absolutely love it. The game is like a matryoshka doll of plot twists, there's always another ready to pop out. Although they tend to be bigger than the ones that came before so maybe a matryoshka mixed with the Tartarus from Doctor Who. Juggling the twists between these asynchronous branching paths was a mean feat and it's incredible that Vanillaware pulled it off. What may be even more impressive is that I genuinely enjoyed all 13 protagonists, the only one that I wasn't as excited to switch to was Ryoko Shinonome but I still didn't think she was bad. The only significant drawback to the game is that I wish there were more clever uses of the thought cloud system. The game peppers a few sections throughout where the interactions require a bit more thinking, but IMO there was a lot of potential left untapped.

On the whole it's a 9/10 for me, I was getting misty eyed during that epilogue sequence. It's a masterpiece Japanese adventure game and the RTS sections, while a fairly minor part of the game, actually got pretty fun by the 3rd wave of battles. I imagine it could be an enjoyable challenge to go through them again on hard mode.

 

[ValiantTraveler]

I finished this game in January and would be hard-pressed to do it justice. Ended up one of my top 4 games I played in 2021 (with Nier Replicant, FFXII The Zodiac Age and Fantasian).

A true sci-fi masterpiece not just in video games but all media. The plot went so far beyond what it presented itself as in the early hours. I had fun guessing what was going on and having a friend confirm my suspicions. I can only imagine how hard the story must have been to write and put together in a way that the player remains engaged with new reveals and questions without spoiling the major twists too early. I liked all of the 13 protagonists and fell in love with Megumi.

The visuals are incredible as per Vanillaware tradition and the music matches the setting perfectly. The final battle theme had a part that sounds straight out of FFXII and I love it. The vocal tracks are so beautiful, particularly the tilte screen theme which uses chaos language like Nier. I played the game in Japanese, with the voice acting being impeccable, but I checked the English version on YouTube and it sounds brilliant as well.

As a fan of mechas, the combat is amazing and surprisingly different from the Super Robot Wars games (which play a lot like Fire Emblem). Showering countless enemies with a rain of missiles never got old. The final battle had my PS4 working to the bone to display all the crazy shit going on. This battle system deserves to be used again and expanded upon in another game.

Really, as much as I'm praising 13 Sentinels, I'm not doing it justice - anyone who played it can confirm. I feel lucky to be alive in an era where this game was made, and I am thankful that it was made and released in the recent years. It gives me hope that the truly special games can still be made in the present and future.

I've been enjoying watching videos of YouTubers explaining what makes this game marvellous. I just wish someone would make a clear and succint story summary so I can show it to my brother who doesn't play this sort of games. We've watched pretty much all the great sci-fi movies in history and I know he would love 13 Sentinels if it were a film or anime.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

I've been enjoying watching videos of YouTubers explaining what makes this game marvellous. I just wish someone would make a clear and succint story summary so I can show it to my brother who doesn't play this sort of games. We've watched pretty much all the great sci-fi movies in history and I know he would love 13 Sentinels if it were a film or anime.

Just send him this image, he will understand on a subconscious level.

 

[adamsapple]

Started this after buying on the fantastic gamestop sale, this is way more of a visual novel than I expected. I thought this was gonna be an SRPG but in the first few hours I've had only mostly scripted tutorial battles and its 95% story/visual novel. Let's see, the story is interesting at least.

 

[NanaMiku]

Started this after buying on the fantastic gamestop sale, this is way more of a visual novel than I expected. I thought this was gonna be an SRPG but in the first few hours I've had only mostly scripted tutorial battles and its 95% story/visual novel. Let's see, the story is interesting at least.

They divided the game into three parts: visual novel, the strategy game, and the archive.

 

[ValiantTraveler]

Started this after buying on the fantastic gamestop sale, this is way more of a visual novel than I expected. I thought this was gonna be an SRPG but in the first few hours I've had only mostly scripted tutorial battles and its 95% story/visual novel. Let's see, the story is interesting at least.

After the prologue you can advance with the story or the battles at your own pace. But yes, this is a story-heavy game, though it allows for more interactions than the typical visual novel with the thought cloud system and being able to move around and talk to NPCs.

 

[adamsapple]

After the prologue you can advance with the story or the battles at your own pace. But yes, this is a story-heavy game, though it allows for more interactions than the typical visual novel with the thought cloud system and being able to move around and talk to NPCs.

Yep. I'm kinda digging this games anarchic order of displaying events, though I hate it when a persons story is getting interested and I get a "you must do X to unlock the next chapter" lol

The hand drawn art is great.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Vanillaware, Basiscape, and Atlus have posted an official preview video for the upcoming 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Orchestra Album – Atlus x Vanillaware Works Collection. The album will cost ¥3,520 physically and ¥2,750 digitally and be released on May 10, 2024.



Source - Noisy Pixel

Edit: Danjin44 since I know you're a big Vanillaware and 13 sentinels fan.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

CC Danjin44 just in case you're interested in this Megumi Yakushiji figure.

 

[Danjin44]

CC Danjin44 just in case you're interested in this Megumi Yakushiji figure.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

 

[Danjin44]

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Me

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Me

 

[phaedrus]

Iori best girl:

Iori Fuyusaka | GOODSMILE GLOBAL ONLINE SHOP

From 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, the popular simulation adventure game by Atlus and Vanillaware, comes a scale figure of one of the main characters, Iori Fuyusaka! Iori, known for her rich expressions in the game, has been recreated based on her main visual illustration in stunning 390mm tall size...

goodsmileshop.com

 

[Garibaldi]

Just started properly piling into this since my water pump is busted on the PC and I can't be arsed to fix it atm. Just gotten thru Yuki's (the tough girl) first proper multipath section after her prologue. This is proper chef's kiss. I love how each character has a sort of different spin on its plot genre and how they are all mashing together. Yuki is my favourite though so far. Proper sassy and I'm enjoying detective time.

I've only bothered to clear the first battle after the tutorial battle section though. I might see about clearing a full section once I hit story gates on the remembrance section. Getting loads of points to unlock the upgrades so I don't wanna be too OP as it doesn't seem to be the most in depth strategy/tactics system anyway.

 

[NanaMiku]

Just started properly piling into this since my water pump is busted on the PC and I can't be arsed to fix it atm. Just gotten thru Yuki's (the tough girl) first proper multipath section after her prologue. This is proper chef's kiss. I love how each character has a sort of different spin on its plot genre and how they are all mashing together. Yuki is my favourite though so far. Proper sassy and I'm enjoying detective time.

I've only bothered to clear the first battle after the tutorial battle section though. I might see about clearing a full section once I hit story gates on the remembrance section. Getting loads of points to unlock the upgrades so I don't wanna be too OP as it doesn't seem to be the most in depth strategy/tactics system anyway.

IIRC the battle is quite easy. I'm only having trouble in the last battle.

 

[Zheph]

Just started properly piling into this since my water pump is busted on the PC and I can't be arsed to fix it atm. Just gotten thru Yuki's (the tough girl) first proper multipath section after her prologue. This is proper chef's kiss. I love how each character has a sort of different spin on its plot genre and how they are all mashing together. Yuki is my favourite though so far. Proper sassy and I'm enjoying detective time.

I've only bothered to clear the first battle after the tutorial battle section though. I might see about clearing a full section once I hit story gates on the remembrance section. Getting loads of points to unlock the upgrades so I don't wanna be too OP as it doesn't seem to be the most in depth strategy/tactics system anyway.

I wouldn't worry about that, just do everything imo

amazing game indeed

 

[Danjin44]

After all these years this game came out I still think about it….fantastic experience.

 

[Mitsurux]

Just completed my play-though of this, and it was really great, story was great with a lot of twists and turns (yet at the end i felt it was resolved quite well), Characters were a highlight. The battle system while a little bit simple, was kind of refreshing (Some of those last few battle were pretty intense). Over all just a great game.

 

[Twin Drive System]

Last year, I bought a used Switch copy of the game in Akiba and forced a Japanese friend to play through all of it. Given their age and generation, there was no way they weren't going to get a kick out of it. They thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sometimes I would buy some yakisoba pan from the local convenience store to bring to their house and we'd crack jokes about Hijiyama.

I was surprised by how well the game ran on Switch considering how battles sometimes chugged on my PS4 Pro.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

There's a new Iori 1/7 scale figure up for pre-order.

Danjin44 phaedrus

Pre-orders have now opened for a 1/7-scale figure of Iori Fuyusaka from the Vanillaware adventure visual novel and RTS hybrid 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.

Produced by Wanderer, Iori is depicted as if she has fallen on her commute to school. And in classic anime trope fashion, she manages to grasp a piece of toast with her mouth in the process.

The figure is roughly 5.11 inches tall and costs $224.99. Shipments are planned to occur in October 2025.

 

[Hotel Security]

I've got this one but haven't played it yet. I have a weird relationship with Vanillaware. Every game I play I feel they're repetitive and push players to do the same thing over and over. From Odin Sphere to Muramasa to Dragon's Crown, it feels the production values have gone down while repetition has increased. But I still got this one. Hope it bucks the trend.

 

[ValiantTraveler]

I've got this one but haven't played it yet. I have a weird relationship with Vanillaware. Every game I play I feel they're repetitive and push players to do the same thing over and over. From Odin Sphere to Muramasa to Dragon's Crown, it feels the production values have gone down while repetition has increased. But I still got this one. Hope it bucks the trend.

13 Sentinels is very different from the other Vanillaware games. As you must know, it's part adventure game/visual novel and part RTS with mechas. And the story is the highlight of the game, unlike previous Vanillaware entries. Give it a try and let us know what you think.