13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Zero Punctuation)

[@GuyYouMetOnline]

As crazy as he made the game's plot sound, he didn't even come CLOSE to capturing how absolutely batshit it really is.

[@basileusbasil4041]

what?!

[@skooterboots2444]

as someone who played the pre-release demo, can confirm

[@HarrisBoe]

Yet in the end, somehow they manage to make it all make sense. It makes you feel galaxy-brained.

[@skooterboots2444]

@@HarrisBoe you're enticing me to finally buy the full game but i am still broke 😭

[@LeoSiegfried]

played PS4 Version is fucking epic if u like anime tropes vanillaware and Visual novels / SRPG Story is Fucking CRAZY

[@TheEpicGnome]

To those who are unaware; according to interviews, they had to cut like ~40% of their planned story. This ride was supposed to be wilder!

[@Lexyvil]

That's really unfortunate, since it's already epic as it is-, and I could have used more epicness.

[@sunlitsonata6853]

It says a lot that it doesn't even feel like you missed anything.

[@TechnicalOtaku]

@@sunlitsonata6853 Yeah I think they mostly cut out filler. The only thing that I can tell was cut was how some of the characters actually get their sentinels off camera and with a short explanation but that's all

[@Gestrid]

Apparently, most of what they cut was mainly character development stuff. Due to budget, they decided to focus almost entirely on the story instead. *SPOILERS AHEAD* An example of what was cut: Apparently, the Tamao android was supposed to have more development, and the Kisaragi Android still directly refers to this missing plotline in the bathroom scene.

[@Kaisona2017]

Spoilers: There might’ve been an event showing what led to Natsuno and BJ going to Universal Control, at the end of Shu’s story. It’s also never explained how they got out of Universal Control, but I assume Okino, and BJ got them out offscreen.

[@bababanana20123]

At this point I'm fully equipped to call Yahtzee a tsundere when it comes to anime

[@mushijian7839]

Well, he wouldn't be tsundere if most anime games weren't fanservice with lots of anime clichés. His one of the favorite weeb collection Persona is just a rare example what if Japanese devs put more hard work onto their visual novel about supernatural and school. Persona is just a rare example what if Japanese devs would make the game more acceptable for west audience. What am I saying, there are even lyrics in "Engurish" instead of Japanese. (13 Sentinels at this point is just the less beautiful girlfriend of "The Queen of the School" Persona.)

[@imaran1303]

@@mushijian7839 You are saying that as if Persona didn't have cliches of anime and fanservice in it, with one of the characters being a lady in a catsuit... we get it, you elitists are hypocrits and don't know how to shrug off the silly and just laugh at it.

[@imaran1303]

@Benjamin Zwart Nah, I am sick and tired of snobby elitists that get their knickers in a twist over a pair of bouncing tits on a screen. It is so fucking annoying. Or the fact that people throw a hissy fit over the 'hot spring episode' or some other cliche that dumb westerners decide to be strange.

[@desupocalypse]

Being called that would make him retch

[@stephensmith7327]

Come on, 666 likes!

[@jrightly]

the gag of hitting the camera with the broom got me rolling

[@SupaDanteX]

Shame it didn't get the camera rolling.

[@copacelu93]

Ah yes, the game that starts out with time travelling talking cats and gets progressively more and more insane as it goes along, while making perfect sense the whole time. It's an absolute miracle of storytelling

[@arglebargle5531]

And everytime it stops making sense it starts making sense again in another characters chapter! It's crazy.

[@YorkJonhson]

I'd say that there was plenty of stuff that didn't make sense in the moment it was introduced, it just does a really good job of somehow tying everything back together in the end. lol

[@javkiller]

The timeloop bit on the train station, holy shit. How to do a groundhog day right.

[@slvrshore5300]

the western release is mistranslated intentionally to push the localizers views. importing a japanese copy is the only way to go

[@Liam-co2nl]

The story was so good that it made the subpar mech fighting worth doing. He really should have played on Intense. While it doesn't make the combat itself much better at least there's challenge and strategy to keep your brain engaged.

[@Dethmaster64]

“Stick a banana in your ear and drop kick a lesbian” seems like one of the multiverse triggers from Everything Everywhere All At Once

[@drdca8263]

Charlie, you look quite down With your big fat eyes and your big fat frown The world doesn't have to be so grey Charlie, when your life's a mess When you're feeling blue, always in distress I know what can wash that sad away All you have to do is... Put a banana in your ear! [...] Once it's in your gloom will disappear The bad in the world is hard to hear When in your ear a banana cheers So go and put a banana in your ear!

[@ikkenhissatsu8564]

I was hoping someone else would have that line of thought

[@StrikeWarlock]

That's an apt comparison for this game, actually

[@prognosticouture1011]

That's in the director's cut

[@merrittanimation7721]

The fact I can imagine that perfectly says quite a bit about that movie and I don’t seem to mind for some reason.

[@HarrisBoe]

The fact that this game’s plot makes perfect sense by the end is an absolute miracle of storytelling. Nothing makes sense in the beginning, but by the end it makes perfect sense. For example, two childhood friends (who are the same age) find out from a video recording that they are actually parent and child. But the recording shows them both as adults and also in space 200 years in the future. But its actually the past? Yet they pull it off. Absolutely everything makes sense by the end. It is one of the most satisfying narrative experiences I’ve ever had. I felt like I had ascended to galaxy brain status by the end when I finally understood it all. The only thing I can compare it to is the basement reveal from Attack on Titan in how drastically it recontextualizes our understanding of the world. Except this game has like A DOZEN basement reveals.

[@GGun1t]

Couldn’t agree more! One of the best stories in video games.

[@nobodybroda3826]

I haven't played the game, I want you to be real to me are you taking the piss. Cuz the game looks neat and I don't mind bad story but I kind of want to have good expectations for when I go into it.

[@SnakebitSTI]

Eh, overall things make a surprising amount of sense, but some of the details don’t hold up under scrutiny. E.g. as Yahtzee alluded to, the explanation for why the teenagers don’t get to wear clothes when piloting the giant robots doesn’t account for the fact that they keep their glasses and hair decorations. Nor is there an explanation for why the cockpit designs pay more attention to fan service than ergonomics. The game’s attention to detail is generally very good but falls short of perfect.

[@jellyfishjig]

Somewhat vague endgame-ish Spoilers: How about the two-dimensionally evil corporate dude who shows up with one line of dialogue in the last act to make one of the main instigators of the plot seem less responsible, likely because she's a woman and this game only lets women do plot-centric evil stuff if a man used them. Never mind the fact that said main instigator had a fairly solid reason for doing what she was doing in a manner that was thematically appropriate (taking action without understanding the entirety of a complex situation, even if the means seem acceptable in the moment, can lead to a pileup of tragedy). There was no need to inject a Saturday morning cartoon maniac who cackles about wanting to live forever and then is never really discussed again into the situation. I know this is really particular, but this almost ruined the final battle buildup for me. A brilliant game in many respects, but it definitely doesn't fit as well together as it could in places.

[@FistOfTheBeastKing]

@@nobodybroda3826 he is not taking the piss, this is one of the best sci-fi stories I've ever read, and if you end up liking the combat once you get used to it, even better. I will caution you to lower you expectations, however. It's a very long story, and it isn't a constant roller coaster of excitement. More like a mysterious intrigue that keeps adding more and more information that seems irrelevant at the start until the end when you finally grasp the thread that ties it all together and come away satisfied overall. It's a little less anime than the usual weeb game, which helps, like how Zero Escape games are less anime than Danganronpa.

[@PhantomShadow224]

Basically almost every Sci-Fi plot in one game. Highly recommend

[@mosark6554]

Even if the gameplay is ass?

[@asdbanz316]

@@mosark6554 Gameplay is fine. Visuals are questionable because you expect to see real mecha fight, not abstract shapes, but you get used to it.

[@justsumCrumbs]

@@asdbanz316 "Gameplay"

[@asdbanz316]

@@justsumCrumbs beat all 9999 waves or your opinion doesn't count

[@justsumCrumbs]

@@asdbanz316 Sorry I can't hear you over your anime pfp.

[@Evanz111]

I heard the strategy segment was tacked on so I expected the worst most barebones mode like a mobile game, but damn I actually enjoyed it and found some battles really difficult. Fantastic incredible story, and pretty decent gameplay both!

[@taikan5]

And great soundtrack as well

[@Knoloaify]

I enjoyed the RTS part as well even though I did find it too easy on normal, so I can understand Yahtzee's PoV. It's definitely not something to be afraid of though, especially when you get to the final battles which have some great moments.

[@ExImperialDragon]

The strategy segment is radically different from the visual novel part of the game, but the combat missions are absolutely fun as hell, and there's story reasons for the combat missions that ultimately tie everything together with a neat bow. Drones and turrets hard carried me through the tower defense gameplay lol

[@swedneck]

Also: Dropkick Lesbians would make a great name for a parody band of Dropkick Murphies

[@javkiller]

I loved the battle parts. I dig that the dialogue in them implies a lot of the plot that you have to unlock towards understanding the characters getting to them, and the mechanics you get to learn by cakewalking the earlier ones really help towards the later bits were they crank up the enemy outflow and you gotta get by barely.

[@megabubfish]

That final joke was so good, and the visual accompanying it was spot on. Your writing never fails to get a laugh.

[@iamLI3]

dude i laughed hard for a solid minute at that XD

[@Rockman9830]

I'm so happy to see this on a new console. I hope they bring the others to switch to. I'm sick of only being able to play some of my favorite games on a vita.

[@Kaunte]

Wait, Switch is a modern console but not PS4?

[@TheNameIsSR]

@@Kaunte the game isn't on the vita either

[@BottomOfTheDumpsterFire]

Vita? The game came out on the PS4.

[@Rockman9830]

@@BottomOfTheDumpsterFire I'm talking about vanillaware's other games. And I don't have a ps4.

[@Animated_Artist]

I think he just means the ability to play some good games on a handheld device and that its new to the switch not a new console.

[@nicklager1666]

"anime visual novel crossed with tactical shooting" so basicly Hideo Kojimas wet dream. Got it.

[@avataraarow]

Okay… this game kind of sounds like a fever dream and I’m so down for that. I might have to pick it up

[@Colbrik]

I highly recommend it, if the difficulty is a turn off i would recommend playing on hard mode. It's still not "hard" but it is much more engaging

[@raeryuko]

I recommend playing on medium, it's the perfect amount of tedium since you're most likely most of the time going to just want to finish the battle to get to the story part no matter how decent it is

[@akanta5746]

the story is brilliant. yes its batshit crazy but in the good sort of way, and it has one of the strongest endings ever in a video game. yes the combat is pretty garbage. yes theres way too much fan service. But the story in this game is so good that, if serialized in book form, it probably would be one of the best light novels of the decade.

[@CaptWolfy]

If anyone gives this a look and is interested, but worried the combat will make your eyes glaze over, I recommend Hard mode. I got through the first fifth of the missions on Normal before realizing I was just coasting through and switching. It's still not a massive challenge, but later on you do need to apply a proper understanding of mechanics and team composition, and the final battles became very memorably intense. And if you don't like the sound of the combat at all but think you can bear with it, I'd strongly recommend the game anyway. The story and presentation are a thing to behold.

[@The1WithoutFear]

Absolutely, Hard Mode is the way to go. Although I will admit that even on Normal, that next-to-last fight (with the pop songstress singing until one of your allies gets halfway across the map) is like love-tapping your d**k with the spring-hand from Jackass 2.

[@asdbanz316]

Sentry gun and interceptors go brrrrrrrrrrrr

[@imightbebiased9311]

Disagree with you on the challenge part. I set this to Hard from the beginning. S-Rank first go on all missions aside from the 3rd to last. Sentry Guns, Repairs, and Interceptors are basically auto-win.

[@javkiller]

Also the stress management of the team forcing you to try less orthodox team comps was an interesting twist. Added to how the farming element compounds into the later battles so you can get chonkier damage outputs on your star players.

[@crazy10bears]

@@imightbebiased9311 Ok, I'm out. This is a big problem these days with most games being too easy. If you have levels of difficulty in your game there's no excuse for it.

[@sunlitsonata6853]

Ngl I really hope he does finish the game eventually to see more of the crazy interesting plot. If the battles seem too easy, there is a Hard difficulty setting and even on Normal, the battles near the end of the game can get pretty difficult and long if you don't properly manage the specific functions of each mech type.

[@jessetucker3997]

He doesn't even finish the games he likes. There's no way he's ever going back to 13 Sentinels, unfortunately.

[@sunlitsonata6853]

@@jessetucker3997 I think he mentioned in at least one video he did eventually go back and finish Persona 4 Golden even if he didn’t like it as much as P5

[@gustavohuehue7460]

@@sunlitsonata6853 there isn't a video where he said he beat p4 like 3 or 4 times? Couldn't tell if it was a joke at the time tho.

[@sunlitsonata6853]

@@gustavohuehue7460 See in his Bugsnax/Super Meat Boy Forever video

[@regalvas]

Probably won't since any free time would go to finishing Elden Ring or working on the game he is making.

[@manamaster6]

"YET ANOTHER SENTRY GUN!" Me, the entire second half of the game.

[@maroXUprising]

That is unless you play the switch version which nerfed sentry Guns along with other gameplay balances. Which honestly makes the battles more challenging and fun instead of simply letting sentry guns do the work, lol. I’m all down for that.

[@javkiller]

@@maroXUprising I dunno, on hard it seems like plopping sentries is one of the few things that lets you get by while the railguns and mass bombardments take care of the large waves, letting the melee guys punch the large factory bots. It feels like it's overkill until it's not.

[@maroXUprising]

@@javkiller if anything else sure it’s still useful but not broken as before because of those nerfs. There’s definitely better strategies that are more effective to do in the intense difficulty for those later missions then heavily relying on sentry Gun now.

[@krado76]

Question : Do I need to play Sentinels 1 through 12 to understand the plot of the 13th one ?

[@alan62036]

Yes, but you can skip 6 and 11 with no worries

[@mightythunderfoot]

Don't forget "Sentinel Zero: Resurgence!" But you can skip "Sentinel Rebirth," as its just a combination of the first three.

[@talltroll7092]

There is an anime crossover series (with Miss Kobyashis Dragon Maid, and Your Lie Last April, and, for some reason Captain Planet season 2) that takes place between 8 and 9, and after 2, plus the epilogue which actually happens 10,000 years before the rise of human life on Earth, which isn't *compulsory* watching, but does make understanding the ending of 4 much easier, obviously therefore explaining the beginning of 11 much better too. OK?

[@noizepusher7594]

1:31

[@AraiiarA]

I really enjoyed playing through this insane story. It was extremely confusing in the beginning but by the end everything made sense, and the nonlinear way you can tackle the bulk of the game was the highlight. Chatting with my friend about it and hearing the things she found out and her theories was the best part.

[@barsx7634]

This is my personal most favorite game of all time. The fact that it creates one of the most convoluted plots I've ever seen and then manages to actually make pretty much all of it make sense by the end is nothing short of a miracle.

[@Animated_Artist]

13 Sentinels literally became one of my favourite games, visuals are fantastic as well. Combat mode is the only down point but as you progress through it, it does get more interesting especially as the story mode makes it more interesting overtime as there is "future" story dialogue that makes you wonder how they got to this point. Difficulty does spike halfway though i was on hard though. Even more interesting seeing a early combat event play out in a characters story, or crossing paths in the story seeing what jojo like adventure another character was going through while you were doing whatever you were doing with another. There was even a good reason for the nakedness and the way combat & upgrades exist. It blended every sci-fi element together in a insane story with constant twists that actually wrapped up pretty well. Although you may have to read the in game wiki which was incredible helpful it was fun trying to be a detective figure out the mysteries and making predictions them being wrong but also right. Constant mind blowing. All i can remember is being pissed when the last of us 2 won a award for storytelling/writing when this was nominated daylight robbery.....Ah *MY HEAD*

[@dsilva369]

@@LK_tutturu that will spoil the final, most important twist of the game that you only learn after the final boss. Are you sure?

[@Cosplaythief]

@@LK_tutturu That's the biggest twist in the game. Best not to get spoiled on that.

[@Animated_Artist]

@@dsilva369 Exactly I could not possibly do that to someone. Its not a spoiler that can just be thrown away.

[@MiaWinter98]

I can't wait to see gameplay on the post-zp stream. This game just can't be how he described it, it sounds like darlin in the franXX with less clothes and more random and that shouldn't be possible. I need to see this like that child I've seen years ago that crashed their scooter into a wall, fell comedically slow and then cried.

[@motozirillo]

darling is exactly where my head went when he started describing it. i hope i one day get the opportunity to explain it to yahtzee while he is confined to my personal space

[@MiaWinter98]

@@motozirillo I rather spare anyone from experiencing darling in the franXX...

[@sunlitsonata6853]

Don't insult 13 Sentinels like that; it had substantially more actually effort and forethought into it than FranXX

[@SuccubiPie]

I started this game just so I would be ready for this review but it is a very BIG game and I'm still not ready because literally every aspect past the actual prologue becomes a spoiler.

[@sunlitsonata6853]

Yeah you're gonna want to avoid the internet on this game as much as you can.

[@BenedictMHolland]

I got the platinum in about 14 hours. It's not that long. It is good though.

[@marcusbayley5126]

You must have played the game on easy ( I recommend playing on the hardest difficulty) and read very fast! took me about 30 hours to platinum.

[@BenedictMHolland]

Naw, I did it on hard. I dunno. I think I sped through a lot of it. The last few battles were unfair and took a bit but even at 40h this isn't a huge game. It's really good though. I highly recommend it.

[@rusty9705]

For those that need to know what to do to stay spoiler free on this review: Finish Kurabe’s prologue. Get Iori to ~75% Finish Megumi’s prologue. Finish Hijiyama’s prologue. Finish Keitaro’s prologue.

[@KickedBackL]

The ending to 13 sentinels is one of my favorites in all of video game history, that game gets fucking bonkers and the last hour just throws so much crazy shit at you. Hope he finishes the game one day

[@armandostockvideos8386]

Watching Yahtzee reviewing a jrpg is like watching Dunkey talking about one, You know what to expect but it's really fun.

[@sid6645]

On point lmao. Now that dunkey upgraded his script he reminds me of yahtzee now lol

[@lazydroidproductions1087]

Nah, Yahtzee does his best to give the games a fair chance, and generally doesn’t review them unless he does have something to actually say about them, for positive and negative, we all know they aren’t generally his taste so it’s always interesting. Dunkey just shits on them and refuses to engage, like that time he complained that Octopath Traveler’s combat was slow while refusing to engage with a major aspect of it that made it both better paced and more interesting

[@TheSentinelStone]

At least with Persona 5 it was more teenagers harness the power of friendship and the seven deadly sins to summon Satan to shoot god in the head and save Christmas.

[@royce536]

calm down edge master

[@jorgenjorgensen2739]

@@royce536 oh you thought it was a joke? That's the actual plot LOL

[@royce536]

@@jorgenjorgensen2739 my statement still stands. You think that's bad persona 3, door kun literally locks away death so humanity collective will to die won't reach death. But ok.

[@kingdomkey581]

Personally I LOVED the combat missions. But I can see how other people might find them boring. I did them for fun

[@shiknobi2055]

-how many anime tropes can you fit in this game? -director: yes

[@ThatMatt85]

This is the first time Yahtzee has taken a game I had no opinion for and made me want to play it. That's not to say anything bad about Yahtzee, we just usually have the same opinion of games. And by the time I finish this game I'm sure I'll feel the same way he did. But I want to experience the craziness for myself.

[@akanta5746]

dude youll love it, the story might seem crazy at the beginning but at the end it becomes cohesive with one of the greatest endings in video game history

[@Sponsie1000]

did you end up playing it? just curious

[@ThatMatt85]

@@Sponsie1000 I bought it but haven't played it. It was next on my list but got bumped down for FF7Reunion

[@dcen465]

about the combat mission and the main story, I realised that I would end up need to go through them all before being allowed to finish the characters stories so I spaced them out- did a few character chapters then a few combat missions, that way the combat missions didn't feel like a pain to slog through

[@leothewhiteranger]

This game sounds like Yahtzee got high with a box set of NGE on auto play in the background but it kept changing every so often to Haruhi and he wrote down the results. And I'm kinda on board for that.

[@1monkey1typewriter]

As someone who loved 13 Sentinels, this review is 100% accurate.

[@affinityforanime]

I'm honestly kinda shocked Yahtzee even played this game. I've been thinking about checking it out and now that I've watched this video, my thoughts on whether or not I'm going to play the game haven't changed.

[@varsoonhks3211]

It's good, play it. The fact it manages to pull off it's plot is wild. It is a narrative experience you could only have in a video game and is among the best ever realized.

[@meapickle]

the fact that it had yhatzee saying good things despite having every JRPG troupe present is a really good sign

[@HellecticMojo]

It's great at best, inoffensive at worst. It beats out the usual dreck of video game releases on a lot of fronts so if you are on the fence, I say get it. It's likely not going to be the worst thing on your game library.

[@Karakuioshi]

Call me crazy but I kinda liked combat missions. I even S-ranked all of them on hard to get all of the archive stuff.

[@Lexyvil]

You're not crazy, I absolutely love them, and Intense is the right difficulty for me. I do wish there was a harder difficulty than Intense though.

[@johnwrath3612]

I’m just waiting for the day when Yahtzee finally comes out as a weeb. You like anime and jRPGs. It’s ok. We accept you.

[@E1craZ4life]

His review of Devil May Cry 4 offers an in-depth explanation of his opinion of anime in general.

[@SnuSnuDungeon]

the Great Ace Attorney ZP review Perhaps you should give that one a watch for his opinion on anime and it's fans

[@ShalathePrinny]

Yahtzee sees weebs the same way fundamental Christians look at LGBT+ people

[@a2pabmb2]

Liking anime/jrpg and being a weeb are not the same thing. I think Yahtzee has no problem admitting he likes some anime/jrpg, it's just he doesn't want people who self-identify as weebs specifically to latch on to him as if he's one too.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@a2pabmb2 Fair point. I hope he reviews Triangle Strategy since he likes tactics games.

[@johndoejapan6295]

I honestly found the mech combat really fun and refreshing. Just play on the hardest difficulty. Also these missions are like what 5 minutes long?

[@Blacmorecito]

I cannot believe that he reviewed it.

[@lazydroidproductions1087]

I actually quite enjoyed the combat, but yeah it does feel kind of easy a lot of the time, even on insane I was S ranking most of the missions early on, but when I got to the second act of the combat difficulty really started to kick up and I was reliably getting C’s and D’s on initial and even repeat attempts

[@GAPIntoTheGame]

What I love most about this game is that inspire of how bonkers and little sense the story makes, by the end of it it all makes sense and is perfectly cohesive. This story is an absolute wild ride as long as you are willing to be confused about most of it for a good chunk of it.

[@Spongeman25]

If the game had combat similar to Ring of Red I might consider playing it. But I looked up the "Combat" and it's almost completely accurate to how Yahtzee portrayed it.

[@manamaster6]

To this day the DEOXYRIBOSE song is my "Let's get to work song" So good.

[@spaghettiman512]

1:37 : So you DID try the camera angles.

[@bens5093]

I would definitely recommend the hard difficulty for this game. It makes the battles quite more engaging than on normal without being frustrating

[@serenity8839]

Just remember Eva was a boy riding a clone of his mum along side another clone of his mum who he is attracted too an due too that ignoring the girl who had a crush on him who he later *Fucks up" around AHEM while sitting inside a huge capsule full of amniotic fluid so they can pilot there mums clones of mums all too try connect with Adam an make humanity transcend with the power of an angel, sort of. Kinda of. Maybe. I think i need that metal gear magic hammer.

[@FioreFire]

Every time I've ever heard of this game, it's only to talk about how amazing and deep the story is in combination with it's unique visuals, I never once heard anything else about... the other stuff, with the perhaps-barely-of-age girls stripping and such. "It's totally a great story, I totally watched/played it for the plot"

[@Kelvinsnothere]

Its the boys as well to be fair and its not exactly stripping.

[@alsaiduq4363]

Same. NO ONE mentions that part like wtf.

[@ampharos6420]

It's Vanillaware so this is actually exceptionally plausible. Female gamer and while I'd generally be fast to eyeroll, here I'm just hyped to get the game and see these teen girl's stories, even if they are severely underdressed. Odin Sphere was just that good, found the themes of overcoming abuse and trauma, including gendered abuse, generally well-done within the fairytale context, and very touching.

[@thegoochinator2246]

Its probably because no one does any stripping lol, and the nudity he talks about is something you forget about during the prologue. Like i didn't even know what he was talking about until I remembered that the characters are nude in the mechs, its just a detail neither me nor the game itself focused on. The game is 99% less horny than he makes it out to be.

[@victorsimmons6769]

I mean, it's pretty much a given when it comes to anime tbh

[@auralunaprettycure]

0:24 I did a double take when I thought that said “Narutaru” for a second. I would’ve been impressed by such a deep cut, but then again who’s even heard of that one lol.

[@OrigamiShinigami]

That one is pretty obscure... bokurano was really good too

[@vashanoid]

When this came out all I had to do was glimpse the art style to know it always a vanilla ware game lol glad to see the story telling and characters are as great as ever

[@DmitriLowell]

I think I need to buy this game now after hearing how crazy it is.

[@jnoinm]

Dude, you have no idea

[@varsoonhks3211]

This game's biggest accomplishment is actually pulling off its plot despite how impossible it sounds, on paper, to make a coherent experience out of 13 character stories you pick-and-play at your leisure. Every new piece of evidence you get thickens the mystery while also recontextualizing the events of what you've already played through. It's amazing that this story actually sticks its landing and works--absolutely worth playing to experience a great narrative that could only exist as a video game, too. I am miffed that this review doesn't mention the visuals at all. The 2D art and animations are among the best that the genre has ever seen. The color palette is used to such rich extent in lovingly rendering many of the environments that it is a joy to just see the game. While it isn't as fantastical as Vanillaware's previous works, it is easily among their best in terms of actualizing its style. It's a shame that Yahtzee overlooked that the game is, in truth, a point-and-click style adventure game where your inventory isn't random slapdash items you got in the environment but instead conversation topics that your character can think on and share with people. That aspect felt very well implemented--so much so that people say the 'gameplay' is just the robot sections when they don't even consider the 'visual novel' segments to have gameplay despite there being whole systems there.

[@phnexOice]

The plot does a good job of letting you see the same thing from different perspectives in a meaningful way, and it does this multiple times. The plot is fairly convoluted but it's quite good and interesting, and i found all the characters very engaging and likable in their own ways

[@oldsaddad7274]

Bro the 2d sections look like a flash game

[@varsoonhks3211]

@@oldsaddad7274Is that meant to be disparaging? The fact that there are several fantastic games that have been made in adobe flash aside, the character designs, environments, animations, and artistry on display in 13 Sentinels are a treat. The intention of the social segments is to express settings and character interactions--to this end, it achieves everything it needs to do with aplomb. I have no idea what you'd prefer for that kind of gameplay, either, given that several other hugely praised games have much flatter social scenarios than this. Even the Persona series, which is chiefly praised for its social link structure, is only ever dialogue boxes and portraits more akin to a visual novel experience with the 3D assets doing the bare minimum in the way of contributing to the scene. Again, I'm at a loss of what you're even trying to critique here--what do you think this kind of gameplay *should* look like?

[@oldsaddad7274]

@@varsoonhks3211 I love that you're jumping to defend a year old comment on a niche game, and didn't bother to try understand what I meant. You're praising the hell out of the 2d visuals. They literally looks like they fell out of a practice swf file I made in java 15 years ago. Like salt and sanctuary but anime. Janky af

[@varsoonhks3211]

​ I still stand by what I wrote a year ago--wild--I know. You're the guy who feels the need to disparage the art of a several-years-old-game on a year-old comment, yourself. Internet discourse, am I right? Salt and Sanctuary has a genuinely disgusting aesthetic and looks even worse in motion. The two games aren't comparable. You're allowed to be wrong about art, though, ​@@oldsaddad7274 , that's why they call it subjective. The context of my original post still stands--Yahtzee failing to address the unique visual style of the game is baffling given it is so core to the game's identity. It doesn't matter if you have had an education in art and appreciate one of the only modern 2D games made leveraging a masterful use of its palette or if you're someone who can't parse the difference between Pico's School and George Kamitani's work.

[@Black_Death_AU]

Loved the rolling gag of every robot was a random object with giant mech legs 🤣

[@Faeree]

This game is one of my favorites (Persona being another so I guess I have a type) but despite HOW MUCH you think you know where this plot is going (I have a BA in literature and story analysis I'm pretty good and figuring plot out) - there will be quite a few things, if not everything that you will be wrong about. I want to say the reveals and ending are so left field it's crazy, but the way they/you tell the story is so genius that everything does make perfect sense by the end. I will admit I felt a little...empty (?) about the end? Idk if I was expecting more for doing all those neuro acrobatics to get to this point or if I was just sad it was over. Definitely a "it's the journey, not the destination" type of story. The combat does take some time to get "difficult" - in the sense that there is strategy and planning on your part if you want to s rank with all the battle achievements, but that was the fun of it for me. I will say there may have only been one battle (hard mode) that I had to do more than twice, but then again I don't think the combat is a big focus (though I personally think it's implemented well and I had fun with it.) But even the combat is telling the story (not in line with the one you are learning) so story is absolutely the main focus. Highly recommend and I may have to get this on switch now. (Edit: Not to say I disagree with yatz I found this absolutely hilarious and can 100% see his point XD )

[@akanta5746]

idk i found the ending to be the best part of the game - it kind of reminded me of a pynchon novel, or nabokov's "pale fire" in a wierd sort of way. It's almost like the ending is too genius, too brilliant, too perfect. It's just so fitting that it feels scriped in some aspects because it's just TOO good.

[@Faeree]

@@akanta5746 I can also agree with this. I don't think they could do it any better, I think I moreso have a problem finishing things I loved lol

[@matthewfunk6435]

i really liked the visuals for this review. the robots constantly rotating in made of everyday things was hilarious

[@desireesatterlee1070]

I loved this game. It played well on the ps4 and made me want to try Yakisoba pan soooo badly.

[@mint5438]

1:31 Wait, new zp face? I don't think I've seen this one before.

[@bfranciscop]

Everyone is busy praising the story, which is fantastic. But can we please take a moment to appreciate the _absolute banger_ of a soundtrack.

[@lildrawhub1025]

Amino Acids have never been such bops.

[@hotnuggs]

Cant forget about the artwork either. Just about any screenshot of the story gameplay can be a damn wallpaper

[@jonathansotelo4877]

1:27 hardest I've laughed in awhile. Thanks Yahtzee.

[@fodv93]

The smug snarky line was hilarious

[@Lexyvil]

I just bought this game a few days ago, and it's already one of my favourite Sci-Fi mysteries in how it tells the story. For anyone planning to buy this game, definitely get it! It's worth it. And make sure you play on "Intense" difficulty for the battles, as it the equivalent of "Normal" for how the in-game normal feels easy. I'm so glad it's on Switch, and hope it comes to PC too so I can recommend more people to play it.

[@Lexyvil]

I finished the game, I can't say it's my favourite anymore due to spoiler reasons, but it's still definitely up there as an amazing game.

[@TomMcMorrow]

"My enjoyment of normal life juxtaposed against the bizarre as a theme" *Welcome to Night Vale has entered the chat*

[@drowningin]

I heard about the combat road blocking you before playing so I had the opposite problem. The combat said stop go complete story before coming back. Luckily I liked the combat. You can change then difficulty (normal isn’t hard to s rank everything fyi) so if you just want story put it on easy and fly through it. So any time I opened up combat again I did a lot of it so I could focus on story for multiple days

[@jakethompson8281]

Man that last joke got me more than I thought it would.

[@s0niKu]

One of the rare games I fully recommend everyone play on hard mode from the outset. The combat really is balanced for people who find reading to be riveting gameplay.

[@losersbecomewinners2043]

This is on Switch? Whelp, guess it’s time to try it out. Never played an anime Visual Novel before, and i’ve always wanted to.

[@Wingman1024]

I also found the tactical combat missions far too easy, even on hard, but then the last battle hit where they cranked that handle way too hard.

[@phnexOice]

It's really only hard if you're going for the S ranks, but even that can be mitigated by some light grinding

[@TheBatsu84]

I actually liked the missions. Even though I would have preferred to see the machines like a SRW game I liked the idea that everything is actually happening in a split second and they only fight for something like 2 reall time minutes. And honestly if you stopped after the first lock point you didn't get even close to how crazy the plot is! It just gets crazier and crazier until one big revelation that puts everything into place and you just stare at the screen shouting "No fucking way!!!"

[@phnexOice]

Gameplay wise i do think this is a step down from Murumasa Rebirth and Odin Sphere Levistar, but it does have it's own fun to it, though the plot was the more engaging part of the game to me. So many 'WTF" moments

[@HappyZavulon]

Let me guess, it's one of those "it was all a dream" stories.

[@phnexOice]

@@HappyZavulon nope, lol

[@ishakuraigami6171]

Insane to me that that is the EXACT DeLonghi model I was gifted last week @1:09

[@terrenal2092]

Hope Yahtzee does a Grimgrimoire review when the remaster gets an English translation or Odin Sphere

[@srbrant5391]

0:24 - They're so majestic in flight.

[@lordgenerias]

I might rent this. I like games where I can see the action, and know what damage I'm doing and how it's happening. Not "red thingy movin' toward the green thingy". That's why Super Robot Wars and SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays are better. Less tactics and it's all but too easy to easy to make even your weakest machines absolutely bugnuts OP, but I can enjoy the spectacle of watching a Mazinger using Breast Fire to burn an enemy to ash while remembering quoting the phrase "Ah, that's adora-SHIIIT!" from DBZ Abridged.

[@Sponsie1000]

if you like japanese sci-fi stories, you should give this a shot. It's not getting much more japanese sci-fi'er than this. Also the artstyle in the story-parts is genuinely really pretty

[@AlphaOblivion7]

If it helps, the original release/PS4 version had more difficult/strategic combat missions (until you found a way to cheese them, at least). But they made it easier in the Switch port that you played

[@Knoloaify]

Oh yeah, I've just checked and the Switch version has fewer enemies. No wonder Normal was way too easy since the original game wasn't that difficult to begin with, no wonder Yahtzee found the missions boring on Switch.

[@lildrawhub1025]

I know that Yahtzee along with a lot of other people aren't exactly fans of the Destruction portion of 13 Sentinels and think it's the worst part of the game. And while I don't think that statement is _technically_ incorrect, it's also not exactly fair, in my opinion, to phrase it like that. I actually really enjoy the combat despite its simplicity and think it's very satisfying. I like how it's a good palette cleanser after completing a bunch of story chunks to the point where I don't think I would love 13 Sentinels to such a degree if it _didn't_ have the RTS gameplay.

[@Quizerno]

Yeah I think Yahtzee made a rookie mistake of trying to do ALL STORY and then doing ALL COMBAT. It might be presumptuous on my part, but I really don't think the developers wanted people to to do things in that order.

[@powerhousejp]

I feel the need to clarify, to no one in particular, that Yahtzee said the story was barmy/bonkers, not that it was good. It's a sentiment I agree with. Just felt like an important distinction that required reiterating.

[@MiaowGaiGar]

Fortunately (?), there are more than enough people in the world that don't seem to care as long as it's anime. That said, our host never actually said whether he thought it was good; you extrapolated that on your own. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's dogshit, because storytelling in video games has such a low bar you'd have to dig to find it, but yeah.

[@SohakmetGameplay]

Intense difficulty is not too bad and some missions can easily overwhelm you if you're not prepared. You can switch to it at anytime. Try it out.

[@wearsjorge55]

A note on next week's episode, I love how the "your mum at a buffet" running gag never fails to make me laugh

[@ttnow8214]

The real tragedy is that he didn’t really get into the real meat of the story. Judging from the review he only managed to get to about...hell did he even reach one of big turnpikes in the plot? Admittedly, even on Hard mode the combat doesn’t really get all that harrowing until you start getting a ways in, but then I think this game was doomed to hit his apathy button from the start. From what I can glean, he plays all these games in about a week, and you just CANT do that with this one, trust me I tried. It’s a time investment and requires a little more discipline in how you approach the story/combat than most games come with. Plus his knee jerk disdain for anime style things in general kinda just made this a foregone conclusion.

[@lorddarki9936]

I Spear more games need to be like Yakuza Zero where within the first two hours you have everything good the game offers instead of waiting 20 hours in Tutorial mission until something happens

[@andyholstein237]

Agreed. Also, the story is 100% worth the time required, as it's one of the best in years.

[@leftovernoise]

I mean if you have to slog through over 2 weeks of a game that very clearly isn't up your alley, then it's probably not worth doing so. ZP is rarely a full on critique based on an in depth and complete playthrough of a game, and never has been. Its short quipy impressions on a game. I think we all knew how this review was going to go. This game looks like it's definitely not for everyone, including me. But, I did want to come here to listen to funny talk fast man invent new and interesting insults, as I do every week. I don't doubt that this game is amazing for a lot of people, clearly it has a dedicated following. But it's also very clear that it's in a niche experience, that requires a lot of dedication to really get into. I'm sure there are plenty of people that have made long, in depth analysis videos that can do the game justice, but zp, isn't that.

[@dennydravis8758]

I mean, from a storytelling perspective, you can't expect to use a slow build up unless you're invested in the characters, the plot, or the world. Adam Millard went over this in the "waiting for games to be good" critique he made. Plus, I mean no shit he only plays for a week, if you sat down to a television show and it took two seasons to make your actually want to come back to watch more, then clearly it ain't exactly a great show.

[@TheKrossRoads]

I never bought that "you gotta play for 40 hours before it starts getting good" excuse back when people were trying to explain why Final Fantasy XIII wasn't horrible, and I'm not buying it now. Great games are great most of the time; they don't require you to wade through extended mediocrity to get to a point where they become good. If you can't get to the "good" part in a week, that's a very strong critique in and of itself.

[@level3xfactor]

It's unfortunate that so much of this review is spent talking about the combat, which is the least interesting part of the game, as the story is absolutely incredible and I hope nobody is discouraged by this review from playing it. If you aren't immediately put off by visual novels, I can't recommend this game any higher. Give it a shot, we need more games with as lofty narrative ambitions as this one.

[@level3xfactor]

@GiRayne I've never seen Steins;Gate so I can't speak to that lol

[@thisiswhatilike54]

I’m one of those who are immediately put off by visual novels. I don’t care if it has H in it. Especially when I’m watching someone else do a playthrough on UTüb. I’ll survive without.

[@HappyZavulon]

I am totally skipping the game because of the combat. If you can't make a game with fun gameplay - write a book instead.

[@tomstonemale]

Nothing unfortunate about that. It would be disingenuous to pretend the combat's shortcomings are ok because the story is interesting.

[@aeroga2383]

The combat looks interesting to me though. A fan admitting it's bad doesn't fare well...

[@maskofice9432]

This sounds like a wild time. I think I might need to check it out

[@cathallynch1]

Correct about the story. It's very hard to keep up with how insane it is by the end.

[@raggedcritical]

I have to wonder if that final joke about Terminator 2 is going to make sense to anyone under the age of 25.

[@ReleasedHollow]

Having your favorite recorded series or favorite movie re-recorded over was a heartbreak I can not describe.

[@TheJadedJames]

Heck, maybe people even a little older than that wouldn’t get it, because I’m 36, and I remember years ago showing my now 26 year old sister my Terminator 2 DVD as an example of an “old movie that still holds up”

[@TheCreepypro]

I never thought Yahtzee would ever play this game let alone praise it I must have shifted into another world line....

[@CrimsonHellkite666]

Mine got fuzzy and played a toothpaste commercial during the asylum breakout

[@slashley6106]

I have played 13 Sentinels and can confirm, that is the storyline. Exactly.

[@chowdaire7343]

I know it's yahtzee, but I never understand when people criticize a game for being boring because it's "too easy" when there Is a higher difficulty option available staring you righting the face. It's possible that some people may miss this option but the game asks you upfront about it and yahtzee even acknowledges that there is an easy option.

[@regalvas]

It takes time to play a game enough to determine if the difficulty is unsuitable for you since you have to get pass tutorials and what not, and after that point it's easier to keep going or just drop it rather than go through everything again. It one of the mayor issues with difficulty options, in theory they work for all players but human nature doesn't work in any ideal way.

[@joselarosa2616]

and boy is intense really hard! Some missions really kick your ass

[@danielboyd7810]

Going into a game fresh you don't know what easy or hard is because it's relative. Medium or "Normal" is generally assumed to be the intended difficulty of the game with easy or hard being the modifiers.

[@GL_099]

@@regalvas "Go through everything again"? Oh, you mean like, restarting the game to change the difficulty? I think you don't have to do that, you can change the difficulty in this game at any time iirc.

[@TarksGauntlet]

From a review perspective this is very, very useful information. "Normal" is generally the intended experience and what most people will play on and want to hear about before buying a game. If a reviewer says it's too easy on normal but there's a harder difficulty then that should aid your buying and playing decisions. You'll know now that if you do buy it, you may want to consider starting on hard.

[@Disturbed_PT]

I felt the same way about the combat missions on my first run but as I cleaned up the ranks to get the Platinum I started rather enjoying the combats.

[@aleverettes2789]

Looks like Yahtzee never heard of Gunbuster

[@FLCL_rox]

I wonder if the words per minute average is going down for ZP vids. It kinda feels like it but considering how fast they still are these are solid. Great review even without the speed gimmick.

[@benzur3503]

I like the irony in the banal becoming more interesting than the combat in a game that juggles both

[@mangamanzx]

Lol, so Yatzee has finally played an actual visual novel with wildly branching paths, that's good, he's one step closer to playing one of the tentpole staples of the genre and find out that the genre is filled with games as bonkers as 13 Sentenals but he doesn't have to go through the combat sections

[@SoldierDelta]

Can't wait for the day he plays Zero Escape and actually breaks out the spool and corkboard again. Those games are so hard to explain the entire plot of it's not even funny.

[@mangamanzx]

@@SoldierDelta honestly given a joke he made before, I kinda want him to play Stein's Gate because his first impression of that is "body pillow" so it'll be wild to see him see the actual story

[@SpinningTurtle66]

I only finished the game a short while ago, and I absolutely loved it, but I’m not sure if I agree that story makes perfect sense by the end. It’s still a mess of adjacent and interweaving storylines that you need to spend ages properly unraveling. I got the story, but how it connects isn’t amazingly explained without having to sift through dozens of archive explanations. Maybe I’m just not that good at piecing it together, but I really don’t think it’s as cohesive as people make it out to be. Still loved the game though

[@Adser261]

The gameplay is very hit or miss for people. It gives you a tactical map of the place and gives you control of all the robots against literal hordes of enemies, which is GREAT if you are into that. There is nothing like placing your automatic turrets and see a full wave of enemies melt upon landing, making an entire sector of your map go from red to clean with a single super missile or hearing your PS4 CHOKE as it attempts to render a missile rain, but all of that is shown from high with you as the commander, kind of like the Mechcommander games. If you are expecting to go into the robot and fight yourself, a la Zone of the Enders, then yeah, you are going to be disappointed. The game does have a difficulty issue, with easy and even normal being almost pointless, but if you stay in hard then the difficulty curve is great and you end up sweating by the later chapters as things keep escalating. Post-game levels are honestly challenging, and I had a lot of fun going as far as I wanted (the game gives you infinite post-game levels). There is also important story elements in later chapters, and those are many of the best ones in the entire game (Area 2 Wave 10 is going to be stuck in my mind forever)

[@Knoloaify]

That mission was such a wonderful reference, it makes me want to play some more missions.

[@imightbebiased9311]

Thank you for the shade on Fresno.

[@barry-vandelierwilson4618]

I think you are great Yahtzee

[@milletmongoose]

"Men's-shoe-for-a-face-chan" is one of my favorite anime tropes.

[@espio87]

The game sounds so insane I don't know whether Yahtzee is describing a real game or not, kinda like when he did the first Duke Nukem Forever review.

[@darkdragoness5]

Considering that he's likening it to anime, it probably is. Anime is just a weird confusing mess, there's one where teenage girls turn into buff men when announcing their crush, one where robots start coming out of a guy's head after being hit with a bass guitar, and one where a girl with a scissor blade fights students and strips them naked. This is normal for anime. (Look up Magical Girl Ore, FLCL and Kill La Kill if you don't believe me)

[@dariuseng]

As someone who’s played this game I can confirm Yahtzee is not exaggerating much and that the plot continues to get weirder

[@LASTCARonBROCK]

This game sounds amazing

[@masterofdoom5000]

Vanillaware have been on a ROLL with their past chain of games it really is a delight to see their artistic talents be matched up with some game design chops and pleasant storytelling.

[@HellecticMojo]

I'd kill for a PC port of ANY of their games, but alas.

[@bdinh3130]

Shout out to Fresno. The city everyone in California forgets or doesn't even know exists. Also the city Bakersfield always says at least its not.

[@hackcubit9663]

I almost burst out loud at the conclusion of the jazz night.

[@fraser7211]

I haven’t played it yet but I do hope that by the end Sempai notices Men’s-shoe-for-a-face-chan.

[@Kumimono]

Almost sounds like the VN story bits somehow strengthen your team. No idea if that is the case, but, would make sense. Do it too much, and the tactics parts lose any challenge.

[@jordanspencer2157]

Sorry about the double bass Yahtz but to be fair you were asking for it