i couldnt dislike it as much as i told myself i would, mostly because it is really fun to experience as something i thought i couldnt stand anymore: a story of constant reveals with the eventual goal of having everything explainable in the end. i was not ready for the sheer /volume/ of this 13 sentinels was bringing to the table, in its way more impressive than other plot twisty adventure games it gets compared to, like uchikoshi-written games or danganronpa. it is better at being this kind of thing than those mostly for the unique thrill of being so overwhelmed from many angles, and the way this overwhelmingness works in tandem with being a story about memory and perception is more potentially interesting to me.
but i also could not love 13 sentinels as much as i would like to because, just as i was afraid of, it chose a path of plot dumping at the cost of its character writing. many characters' motivations feel unexpounded on past their tropey origin point, and maybe you can argue theres some sincerity to exploring these tropes but i am not sold by that alone. you are bombarded with information and that means the game doesnt try hard enough to give many of its characters time to breathe beyond moving plot forward. this results in their scenarios often lacking impact as you reach their conclusions, giving me no reason to come around to characters i didnt care for (yakushiji) and sucking the wind out of some of the ones i did (shinonome). and one late game character is barely a character as much as an excuse to tie up loose ends, and the game mechanically admits as much.
this game is genuinely fun when i was there, playing it, and even the combat wasnt a hindrance to that. i dont regret playing it by any means. but looking back i feel like its just an especially good version of strictly concrete [100 intriguey setups = 100 explanation pay offs] type narratives that are always valued as "Best Story" in games, and thats all there was. maybe im not giving credit to its themes expressed thru its kaleidoscope of sci fi ideas but still, would like to have felt something outside of its intellectual exercise.
but i also could not love 13 sentinels as much as i would like to because, just as i was afraid of, it chose a path of plot dumping at the cost of its character writing. many characters' motivations feel unexpounded on past their tropey origin point, and maybe you can argue theres some sincerity to exploring these tropes but i am not sold by that alone. you are bombarded with information and that means the game doesnt try hard enough to give many of its characters time to breathe beyond moving plot forward. this results in their scenarios often lacking impact as you reach their conclusions, giving me no reason to come around to characters i didnt care for (yakushiji) and sucking the wind out of some of the ones i did (shinonome). and one late game character is barely a character as much as an excuse to tie up loose ends, and the game mechanically admits as much.
this game is genuinely fun when i was there, playing it, and even the combat wasnt a hindrance to that. i dont regret playing it by any means. but looking back i feel like its just an especially good version of strictly concrete [100 intriguey setups = 100 explanation pay offs] type narratives that are always valued as "Best Story" in games, and thats all there was. maybe im not giving credit to its themes expressed thru its kaleidoscope of sci fi ideas but still, would like to have felt something outside of its intellectual exercise.