This might unironically be the best written piece of media ever. Not joking, managing to seamlessly connect 13 character stories, how they intertwine with each other, builds up misteries and plot twists every few hours and manages to create moments that want you to KEEP PLAYING even though there's barely any gameplay... This game singlehandledly got me into VNs
This game can be separated into 2 parts, the story and the combat. The sci-fi story is like a visual novel that leans heavily into time-looping tropes similar to the show "Dark." You play as 13 different characters with branching narratives as you relive certain moments and make different decisions. The writing here is interesting, and throws major surprises, even if it often relies on standard anime hi-jinks. It can sometimes be frustrating, as you often have to keep clicking on people in a certain order, or clickables can be hidden, and you spend time trying to figure out what you're supposed to do next to advance the **** combat can be thought of as a minigame where you control pieces that represent mechs, and battle other pieces representing kaiju on a warboard reprsenting a city. This part is just ok. It's basic, and not great, but it works. Overall 13 sentinels is a bit of an odd duck, but creative and well-executed. It took me 34h17m to complete 100%.
Story was fun but extremely convoluted. Hard to keep track of everything, but it is cool how they can make a cohesive story amongst 13 different protagonists without some stories feeling inconsequential. My main gripe is the rts gameplay portion. Not very fun and was just a means to an end for me to unlock more story
13 Sentinels is two games in one: An epic visual novel where you play as a rotating cast of high school-aged protagonists, and a tactical combat game where those same characters pilot giant robots (“Sentinels”) to defend your city against waves of kaiju.
The visual novel is where you’ll spend most of your time. It’s a lavish production: beautiful art, excellent voice acting, and tens of hours of content. The only problem is… it’s boring. The story is convoluted even by the standards of sci-fi anime. I tried my best to follow it, but at a certain point I just stopped caring who’s a clone of who, whose dreams are whose implanted memories, and so on. And the gameplay is tedious. There are no choices, just steps you need to take to advance: talk to X, think thought Y, touch item Z. Usually the next step is obvious, but occasionally it’s a frustrating exercise in trying to read the dev’s mind.
The combat is actually pretty fun, though it doesn’t require much strategic thinking. Usually you can just spam your rockets at the incoming waves and call it a day. (If you like your kaiju fights to be more cerebral, go play Into the Breach instead.) Also, your performance in combat doesn’t affect the story at all, so there’s no sense of stakes.
Overall, 13 Sentinels is a unique, ambitious genre-bending experiment that fails to cohere as a gaming experience.
SummaryA departure from the studio's traditional fantasy style, the game takes place in a modern setting punctuated with giant mechs. Although the world may be bleak, Vanillaware's signature artistic shine and gorgeous aesthetics will bring the characters and story of 13 Sentinels to life.