Game I've been meaning to play since it came out originally, then postponed checking it out until the Switch release and only now three years removed have I sat down and played through 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Surprisingly, I managed to last all that time without getting myself spoiled so expect the same from this review in case you want to check it out for yourself. It was definitely worth the wait.

Game opens bombastically as a teenage girl amidst the panicked mass summons this giant robot called Sentinel out of thin air and not long after gets thrust into battle. Girl is Iori and she's quickly joined by her classmate Juro with his own Sentinel to fight these mechanical Kaiju destroying their city. Guided by a mysterious voice our pair makes it through only to end up in an even worse place – a 1985 high-school where everything is normal with no ruins in sight. Fast forward and we now see a military youth who appears to be chasing after a girl... in 1944. Something impossible involving blue lights happens and Hijiyama is now living with this not-exactly girl out of an abandoned warehouse in 1985. Just to make things confusing even further this is followed up by yet another battle scenario where our boy is inside a Sentinel of his own. How many of these are out there?

If the above came across as scatter brained that's because 13 Sentinels chose the most ungrateful premise as its core tenet. What would be even more difficult to write than tackling something traditionally seen as challenging like time travel? To approach it with an ensemble cast of THIRTEEN (13) characters, of course. Each of them gets a prologue section intersected with five battle scenarios which culminate in the beginning of The Final Battle. I'll get into it more when I tackle the actual strategy tower defense mode, but there are three modes in the game: Destruction, Remembrance and Analysis. Remembrance is aptly named as that's the majority of the game with characters going through storylines and events that actually lead to the Final Battle itself. Analysis mode keeps track of all events and so-called Mystery Files you can unlock to get greater understanding of what's transpiring.

I want to make something crystal clear so you don't go into the game with misplaced expectations. This is NOT a puzzle game where you'll be expected to solve anything on your own – there are no items to combine and correct action is never beyond your Thought Cloud which acts as inventory and journal in one. Real mystery of 13 Sentinels comes from myriads of perspectives, bite-sized nuggets of information and sheer layers of complexity. You're playing for the story, which I've only scratched in the opening as bait for potential players, and characters who are themselves piecing it all together. I did have fun trying to figure out just what is going on before the game gives you enough pieces to pull the rug from under you with revelation after revelation. Don't be afraid you'll be left in the dark if mysteries are not your forte because game will explain everything rather too neatly towards the end. Perhaps some ambiguity would've helped, but so much of the narrative hinges on crucial information you cannot leave to player's imagination.

If extensive story development is one half of the narrative black then 13 Sentinels' characters are most certainly the other, and I can't tell you which is better. Eponymous characters are naturally not created equal and I had favorites, but they're all highschoolers who may or may not be what they seem. Surprisingly there's a valid reason why this age old anime cliche is in place here. Many familiar archetypes are here from stern, ominous Gouto who really likes to push up his glasses, to UFO nerd Natsu-chan and everything in-between. All their stories are worth playing through... which you'll have to do anyway because you don't really have freedom. Remembrance and Destruction keep tabs on one another to balance story progression. This means you'll juggle characters or go fight some battles to a certain threshold before further stories unlock. At no point was I annoyed by this, but keep in mind you WILL have to do combat.

Speak of the devil...

Enter aforementioned Destruction mode aka tower defense employing real-time with pause and ability cooldowns. In reality I've just summarized the entire thing in that sentence. Sure, holographic presentation of the city and abstracted units give a different aesthetic from gorgeous 2D visuals the rest of the game employs, but all the visual effects from various weapons quickly endeared me to it. After the tutorial you start with the entire roster of thirteen protagonists to choose from with different specializations based on what generation their Sentinel is. Close combat, long range, all-rounders and air support specialists all have a role to play based on their abilities, movement rate and even pilots themselves with their own individual skills. What's the catch? Well, you can only field six characters in any mission, as others are relegated to fixed Aegis defense slots, and characters can do two battles in a row before they're overloaded and you need to bench them. Add optional special requirements missions present and you're naturally trained to rotate your Sentinels. Game even gives you the general gist of what kind of Kaiju you can expect to see in the mission so you can make informed choices.

That would be simple, wouldn't it? We go beyond simple. Completing missions in Destruction mode and going through character stories in Remembrance mode will grant you meta-chips. These are used to pick and customize Sentinel abilities as well as Aegis' aka tower in question you have to defend, own field-leveling abilities you have a limited number of uses with. After you're done with the first block of ten missions you then proceed to unlock another feature – statistical upgrades to your Sentinels via improved armor, generator, etc. For the most part you'll be using the former ability customization way more than the latter unless you're willing to grind missions for meta-chips. In case you're worried battles will get in the way of just experiencing the tremendous narrative don't be because you can REALLY trivialize the mode by playing on Casual difficulty. If you opt for Normal there are missions later on that will test your ability to put together a coherent and stay up to date with your abilities. You know it's go time when theme song starts playing for a particular mission in the style of mecha anime game draws from.

So what's 13 Sentinels like to actually play?

In the effort to maintain sanity you're juggling between Destruction and Remembrance modes. Analysis is something you can take or leave depending on how much attention you're paying to tiny bits of extraneous information. Timeline feature contained therein is handy to reference events, but knowing more about this “hemborger” meal one character likes may not be on your agenda. I forgot to mention you unlock Mystery Points as you complete missions in combat mode and you can use said MPs to gain access to Mystery Files for further clarity. Part of me wishes there was more of that P&C adventure tradition in Remembrance mode, but it's clear developers went for simpler mechanical approach. Since game takes place in certain time periods and characters are constantly shifting about you can expect to re-visit locations aplenty. This only began to grate towards the very end because I wanted to see the finale, but game kept taking me back to flashbacks of earlier routes I'd already done because by god, you will see that scene from every character's perspective. I get the reality of creating all those assets, though.

Production almost always ends up being a footnote in my reviews yet with Vanillaware games they're practically the main appeal. Gorgeous 2D art balanced by futuristic imagery present in battle mode, and strong soundtrack really carry the game on that front. That, however, is no stranger to this developer. Sheer scale of the script is what steals the show. Could it have been done with less convolution? Probably, but you can tell writers really went off the rails with so many characters and motivations that end up working toward one focal point. There's some unevenness among the thirteen protagonists and yet they all get their big moment to shine. I especially sympathized with a certain hoodlum who ends up in a time loop trying to get out.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Ever wondered what navigating a mind-bending story involving time travel with thirteen fleshed out protagonists would be like? 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is here to help. While the story primarily takes place in 1985 Japanese high school, the game's second mode, that being tower defense strategy employing real-time combat with pause, is unfolding during The Final Battle. Seeing through those thirteen interwoven stories with plenty of drama, romance and intrigue actually sets the stage for the former. Both the adventure and strategy bits are on the simple side carried entirely by gorgeous Vanillaware presentation, stellar soundtrack and script that has to be experienced first hand as most of it will overwhelm you. Until everything clicks together and you start figuring out exactly what is going on.