13 sentinels aegis rim is one of those games i saw get really hyped up and picked up because of how much i liked the english VAs in it. after playing like three jrpgs prior to this i much appreciated the break of a 30 hour game even though those 30 hours were completely batshit. Let’s discuss:
- story is really good. and also VERY convoluted. every scene you’re gonna be sifting through plot twists. it does have a slow start (especially when you’re going through six or so different prologues) and i got kind of bored of what i call interactable cutscenes where a long exposition dump is interrupted by you needing to interact w the character again so its not just a 30 minute cutscene (this is a constant throughout the game) but i kept coming back every day just because i was HOOKED and finished the game in under a week. juggling 13 stories is no easy feat and i think this game does so very well in a way that’s very well… characteristic for each character. the stories riff off and shout out a lot of other media (even outside of sci-fi) so most of the references fly over my head but i still enjoyed it? it’s absolutely helped by the analysis mode which recaps events in chronological order and sticks specific reveals in mystery files; looking at that alone answered most of my lingering questions about the plot when the story itself wasn’t quite clear. it actually made more sense to me than some simpler stories i’ve gone through (eg. persona 2 innocent sin, a game i played not long before this, where i could not tell you what the hell in lak’ech was about) which is SURPRISING
- you need to know AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE about the story going in though. to get the best experience
- characters: this cast fucking rocks. there’s only one character out of the main cast i really didn’t like and even then i think her story is cool (even if i think they kind of drop the ball with its resolution it still made me cry for other reasons?!! can’t explain without spoilers) i just got tired of megumi going “juro… 🥺🥺🥺” after the first three times. i would break down what i like about each one but that would take forever and it’s also hard to be spoiler free about it. side cast is cool too though i wish they had the time to do more with tamao in particular. there is so much cut content and ideas for this game it’s not even funny
- gameplay: i don’t have much experience with RTS games so i was worried i would regret buying this looking at the gameplay but it’s pretty… fun?!! it’s like a power trip for me even on normal (i managed to S rank every story stage with.. not that much struggle?!). experience may vary between ports bc i know the switch version made some changes. my personal strategy i settled into was using just the first and third gen sentinels but different stages will call for different team and even armament compositions. it’s quite malleable like that. since destruction all takes place chronologically after remembrance i decided i would play as much of remembrance as i could before i needed to progress in destruction and then go back and since destruction can spoil some stuff it’s not a bad idea but also sitting through story can get kind of tiring especially with the information overload. it’s a balancing act. i also had the occasional performance issue but that was only when my screen had sensory overload levels of attacks and kaiju like the missile rain armament and it runs super well otherwise.
- oh i guess remembrance also had some gameplay too? aside from the extended cutscenes it was pretty easy to get through. i had to look up a walkthrough a couple of times but the system will generally lead you in the right direction
- presentation is AMAZING. this is my first vanillaware game and holy shit they were not kidding that art is gorgeous. character designs are top notch. music is also really good; not mindblowing because a lot of the soundtrack is ambient but some tracks do really stick with me even outside the battle themes. my favorite track is probably the insert song seaside vacation. once again can’t speak for the jp cast but the english voice acting is so good i’m shocked to learn they recorded during covid lockdown and it still turned out THIS GOOD. i firmly believe because of the versatility of these roles that they’re among the best roles for many of these VAs. allegra clark (one of my ALL TIME FAVES ❤️) and mick wingert (who i’m surprised i didn’t discover was this good sooner?!) in particular have to do a lot of heavy lifting here and WOW do they exceed expectations!!! but they’re not the only ones who get to show the extent of their range they’re just the biggest examples
- unfortunately this is not a five star rating. there are two things that bump it down for me though not enough to be just 4 stars. they are the needless high schooler fanservice (ESPECIALLY the girls… the staff’s perverted tastes are embedded so far in down to how they summon their sentinels compared to the boys…) and the obligatory pairings between all the protagonists. with story in mind i can sort of get why it’s there and appreciate how they play with some characters having multiple different love interests depending on their Circumstances but they feel kind of shoehorned in (like “this is a boy and this is a girl so they have to kiss!”) so really not all pairings are created equal.
- the bright side to these forced pairings is that we do get a queer romance that is MY personal favorite but honestly even if it was a straight couple and thus we didn’t get the comphet dilemma it would still be the best couple in the game.

to sum up: if you can sit through a lot of mind melting story (probably the biggest barrier) focused on high schoolers i highly recommend this game. lived up to all the hype For Me. peak fiction. 4 and a half hemborgers