As one of the best games of 2020,13 Sentinels Aegis Rimbecame the developer Vanillaware’s biggest hit. Now, it has been ported to Nintendo Switch in 2022 the visual novel/JRPG hybrid has another chance to achieve more mainstream success with a release that isn’t being hampered by lockdowns during a pandemic.
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The developers at Vanillaware have always created unique games. The beautiful high-resolution 2D art design has created some memorable moments. Whether it’s the giant dragons fromDragon’s Crownor the Japanese folklore-inspiredMuramasa: Demon Bladethe studio has a style that distinguishes them from the crowd. That visual style continues with13 Sentinels Aegis Rimwith its beautifully drawn characters and brilliant narrative. Now that the game has been released on the Nintendo Switch this list has been created with beginners in mind.
7Change The Difficulty
The visual novel aspects of13 Sentinelsdon’t offer anything that requires a change in the game’s difficulty. However, for those that are unfamiliar with strategy games, it may be a good idea to stick with either Normal or Casual modes before starting.
The game’s Destruction mode is where all the combat scenarios take place. It’s a combination of RTS and the Tower Defense tactics genre. It’s not too complicated but does offer some surprising challenges, especially on the Switch thanks to the updates that are exclusive to the port.
6Just Enjoy The Game
As a game that blends elements from JRPGs and visual novels, there is a big focus on story and character development. As a result,13 Sentinels Aegis Rimcan last the player around 35 hours or more. That’s a lot of narrative with twists, turns, betrayals, and surprises.
So the best way to experience the game is to simply play it and avoid guides, and trophy collecting until after one has finished the game. Play the game as it’s meant to be played because13 Sentinelsis a great game to go into without any prior knowledge. The narrative is the game’sstrongest aspect it would be a shame to ruin the experience with potential spoilers that usually come with following guides.
In13 SentinelsAegis Rim,there is a lot of reading material to unlock and digest with the Mystery Files. The Mystery Files act as an encyclopedia for players to catch up on lore and important events that happened in the game.
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These Mystery Files can be unlocked by playing through the game by progressing through the story or unsealing them using Mystery Points. These Mystery Points are earned through combat in the game’s Destruction Mode. However, it’s better to exhaust all of the game’s story sequences as much as possible before diving into the combat scenarios.
4Talk To Everyone And Interact With Everything
As a visual novel, there are a lot of conversations and interactions to be had in13 Sentinels Aegis Rim. It’s important to explore each area and talk and/or interact with everything by pressing the X/B button.
Interacting with everything on the screen will also move the story forward when one isn’t sure why the story isn’t moving forward, it’s usually because the player has missed something that needs to be interacted with. Some items need to be interacted with by pressing the Triangle/X button this will then be stored in the Thought Cloud.
3Use The Thought Clouds
As stated above, key items and events are interacted with by pressing the Triangle or X button on the Switch. These key moments or comments depending on whom one has conversed with are stored in the protagonist’s Thought Cloud. It’s a way for the game to implement a character’s inner voice and use it as a gameplay mechanic.
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When key moments and phrases are stored in the Thought Cloud the game will notify the player when it has been added. These inner thoughts are important for moving the story forward and for giving the player more insight, into the protagonists, their friends, and the emotional events unfolding around them.
2Focus On The Story First
Much of13 Sentinels’gameplay is split between the combat and the story. However, the strongest aspects of the game come from its visual novel and story elements. Moreover, many of the scenarios and character interactions that happen during the battles correlate to the events that happen during the visual novel sequences.
As a result, it makes more sense to exhaust every aspect of the character’s stories before diving straight into battle. It just makes more sense chronologically to tackle every story segment first.
1Upgrade The Terminal
There are a lot of upgrades in13 Sentinelsto spend Metachips on in the game, but one should focus on upgrading the Terminal first. One should focus on increasing the Meta System to Level 10 as quickly as possible. This will then allow the players to increase their Metachip Magnification by 6 levels.
This will increase the amount of Metachips the player will acquire from winning battles in the Destruction Mode. The increased number of Metachips will mean that players can put more time into some of the other upgrades13 Sentinelshas to offer like the Sentinels' armaments.
13 Sentinels Aegis Rimis available now for the Nintendo Switch and PS4
