Why 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim Is The Best Game That's Barely A Game

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Thanks for checking out my first video! I have plenty of other video essays planned for the future. Keep an eye out!

[@-my4skinwastakeninasickjew426]

What a strange gimmick for a KZbin channel 😂

[@jnoinm]

Man, I love how you articulate yourself, and the structure of the video was great. Love this game so much

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Thank you so much! I appreciate it!

[@D4L41L4M4]

Great video. I've got some slight Tim Rogers vibes there during the intro section, which is always a positive in my book. Personally, I was blown away by how elegantly they've managed to tie all of the narrative together. Especially considering, that in the beginning it might seem to be filled with tropes and cliches. You have your mechs, kaiju, multiple memory loss related plotlines, time travel, a talking cat, aliens, etc. By all accounts, the story should've been a total mess. But not only does it deliver a satisfying narrative with all those elements, it also manages to subvert some of these tropes - the Sailor Moon-style talking magic cat one for example. And later on, it even subverts the subversion (mahou shoujo madoka magica) of the same trope - it's like some sort of an insane subversion merry go round. Yet, it doesn't come off as having these twists or shocking revelations just for the sake of it, it's always furthering the overarching narrative/fleshing out characters and their motivations. And by the end, not only did all of the story neatly tie up, Vanillaware even went beyond that and explained purely gamey things like "Meta Chips". As a side note, being a huge Vanillaware fan since GrimGrimoire on PS2 - I implore anyone reading this, who've liked 13 Sentinels to check out Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade. While not as narrative-heavy as 13 Sentinels and being a sort off a blend between an RPG and a bet-em-up, they both still have in my opinion, pretty great stories. And if you're in a market for a gorgeous co-op 2D beat-em-up, don't sleep on Dragon's Crown.

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Yeah my inspirations were a little bit more apparent here than they are now 😂 thanks dad!

[@BloodSerpentJKR]

I have just started playing this game and I am already blown away, this game had passed my radar completely until one of my friends mentioned it and I looked into it and upon looking into it I was excited to play it but had to wait for a sale. I had honestly passed on this the last two sales and finally Black Friday is among us and I am like"You know what, I think it is time to pick up this game." I am really glad I stumbled upon this channel and you sir deserve a subscribe and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[@gzmo5538]

Great Stuff! I liked when the funny pictures came up. excited to see what you do next.

[@Lesandira]

I get you. I played through 13 Sentinels in a frantic 2-day haze of revelation after revelation. One of the best stories in video games ever. Oh, also there is a secret ending hidden in Analysis after you've unlocked everything.

[@Xizax41325]

Ogata was my goto for damage. That upgraded demolisher blade paired with limit removal was *chefs kiss*. I'd just leap him into the center of a deimos drop point and unload on it. Killing everything in one shot and getting all that EP back. Amaguchi was my black sheep character for destruction. Yuki was my favourite character all around though. Love me some delinquent females. Also ogata got bonus points because of jojo. Rip in peace jotaro.

[@Xizax41325]

I also find all of vanillaware titles to be in a niche. They all seem to be those games you tell your friends to try over and over again. My favourite still being muramasa.

[@bloom0411]

Great video. Can't wait to see what's next. Comedy hit all the right beats.

[@CarlMakesVideos]

When I played 13 Sentinels, I took notes throughout in order to try to piece things together as they happened, and I highly recommend doing this. It really adds to the detective feeling of playing the game, and I think one's experience can really benefit from seeing a familiar term or name, recognizing it, and digging through your notes to figure out how it connects to what you already know.

[@dustineckert7458]

Just from watching the first 5 minutes of this video I knew I needed to watch everything you have. You earned my Sub

[@syoca]

"RTS, Tactical, Mech, Visual Novel, Story Based, Sidescroller." Needless to say, you have my attention. With this as your starting point, I'm going to have a fun night of working my way through all your videos.

[@ARIXANDRE]

Here in 2023. Your first video and the first Aegis Rim analysis I watch. Thanks, Son.

[@dalisosa3309]

Fell in love with your dragons dogma video n now im watching all your videos the amount of content and detail u put in your video i am lookin forward to it all

[@theother1s220]

“This is one of the only pieces of media I wish I could experience again for the first time.” Perfect description of playing Castlevania Symphony of the Night.

[@Maggerama]

You eat bananas like a real man should, I'm proud of you. And yet again, insanely compelling storytelling style, interesting subjects, and clever takes. With such a serious approach and rapidly rising production quality, I'd be very surprised if your channel doesn't blow up soon.

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Always have, always will 😎

[@elipage8967]

If you like this you might like serial experiments lain. Also great videos man, truly. Channels like this save my work week, keep it up.

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

Weird, I was just talking about wanting to watch lain on stream today.

[@shibahacking]

youtube algorithm handed me this video on a silver platter just when i started getting back into consuming content about 13 sentinels, coincidentally on 13sar's fourth anniversary (outside of japan). fate's crazy like that huh? im three years late, but great video man

[@dzolzshorts7649]

Love the detail in your video!

[@AdelleOverton]

And now I want to play it. 😄 I did see the game come out, however, the Destruction Mode didn't look like gameplay I'd enjoy, so I didn't bother. Now I know that the gameplay is a vehicle for compelling storytelling, I might just give it a go. Thanks Son. 💜

[@suddenlycrows]

The way you talked about Yakuza being worth your money is the same way I felt about 13 Sentinels. I don't make much so every new release has to be really worth it but coming from Atlus and Vanillaware? I knew I was going to be in for a good time. Vanillaware has always made some excellent games in my opinion (Odin Sphere Leifthrasir is my personal favorite) and as an artist, I am a huge fan. I stumbled onto your channel while working and wanting some long form videos to listen to while doing stuff. Consider myself subscribed specifically because you covered 13 Sentinels.

[@neroultimate1]

Fuck yeah this man is MAD chill. Glad I found your channel man.

[@toonpacha2396]

I LOVED this game. It wasn’t the “OMG THE GREATEST GAME EVER MADE,” a lot of people made it out to be. the story was great and this was my first RTS game. I would honestly recommend it to people but warn them about the gameplay ahead of time

[@djblaklite]

It's an excellent game. Through and through. Thank you for telling more people about it. Fun fact: you will get to reexperience it in a few years once your brain has degraded with age and you'll forget a bunch of the things that happened lol. Sometimes memory Loss can be fun!

[@dogcounter]

Love your video style. Curious if you’ll be doing video essays on any other media like specific books or movies. Would love to see it

[@joearnold6881]

I had avoided this because I like games not visual novels… But I picked it up on sale one day because of the hype and happened to decide to try it just yesterday. Im a couple hours in now and I was wrong. I should’ve played this sooner.

[@Benjamin-nf2ir]

You're Mr Goodbar metaphor totally spoke to me. Sold!

[@sacta]

I am interested in the game, so I'm skipping the end of the video as instructed. But hey, just leaving a comment to say that I really appreciate this recommendation! I already had this game in my sights since some time ago, but this review definitely sold me on it despite the drawbacks

[@Dermetsu]

When I was about 16 or 17 I tried to get my friends to watch Donnie Darko by telling them how deep it was, so I feel attacked. But it's also the perfect comparison, so it worked. I definitely need to check this game out now.

[@jmitchell6094]

It’s a delight. I was actually surprised they pulled it off and wrapped it up in a satisfying manner. My 13yo kid is playing it now.

[@lnod24]

i give this video a 9/10. -1 point because the dog wasn’t shown during annual shirt change

[@jpsvaluejudgment310]

And this thing came out in america??!! Whoa.

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

It did in fact, dad.

[@victoryakujisawa5528]

its sad that its only PS4 or Switch and a shame that form almost 50k subs not even 8000 saw this video. tsk tsk. i cracked down during the fruit break. :D iam glad you didnt gave up, i really like your essays. now iam waiting for the persona 5 video ... iam counting on you my favorite son XD

[@aRTy1996]

Haven’t finished the vid yet but loving the way you articulate your thoughts and experience with this fantastic game. Just curious whether you’ve played AI: The Somnium Files? It’s a visual novel with point and click style gameplay that I feel catches a similar “experience” type feel to its story and I think you’d really enjoy it. Anyways gonna continue watching later. You’ve earned yourself a subscriber 😄

[@johnarevalo3450]

The feeling u talk about around the 16 min mark is common for a particular type of gamer. Based on what u said, then Visual Novels are what u should play more. I'm sorta new to it myself. After finishing my 1st few, I bought a lot and are on my Playlist. Gamer my whole life and never crossed paths with a visual novel. It's a whole differ world. I didn't even know they had a community and even expo events

[@lylerosen1664]

Nice video. Did you ever try the English dub of the game in your 3 playthroughs? I thought it was really good. Also Megumi's gun isn't a phaser.

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

I did! It's actually my preferred way to play, it helps that there's an absolute stacked cast. Cristina Vee, Laura Post, and Zach Aguilar, etc. knocked it out of the park tbh.

[@lylerosen1664]

@@YourFavoriteSon1 I've found the closest I can get to the feeling of playing it for the first time is watching other people play through it for the first time. So far I've infected four people with nanomachines.

[@YourFavoriteSon1]

@@lylerosen1664 that's exactly how I feel haha

[@seanhoedlmoser1739]

You deserve so many more subs, son.

[@joearnold6881]

I especially liked near the beginning when generic hot anime girl turned out to be hot anime femboy. (Don’t worry that’s no spoiler. It really is right near the beginning and not a twist... which makes it even better, now that I think about it)

[@Cammies0402]

Handsome!

[@stinkbanana2522]

Do a long algorithm pleasing one on some obscure series like Jade Cocoon or something! Niche audiences are better!

[@Ov3rmind1]

OH MY GOD! Robot Jox! I totally forgot about that flick.

[@114Freesoul]

Absolutely loved my first time playing 13 Sentinels, the process of putting together the puzzle pieces, figuring out the bigger picture behind the events, how everything tied together... SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER ...That is, until the very last revelation. When it turns out that there was another layer to the simulation and that the truth that got revealed was actually all happening in VR, it felt like a huge undercutting of the whole story. Kind of in a 'it was all a dream' twist kind of way. And the thing is, the game already went to such lengths to provide reasonable explanations for pretty much all the more ridiculous plot elements, it could've just tied up a few loose ends and have a satisfying finale - whether a victory or defeat - yet, instead the actual ending you get feels like a cop-out.

[@Kaisona2017]

The simulation reveal makes a lot of the weirder things make sense. The loops are just the simulation resetting itself. Universal Control is the computer that manages the whole simulation. Miwako, being an AI, can be deleted and rewritten, to avoid inconsistencies in the program. It even explains why a video game’s code can be used to create the world they’re living in.

[@DogWithGuns]

Any chance of doing a full story retrospective on this game now that it's been out for a few years?

[@YokedDrunkard]

Love your videos

[@GodzillasTodespranke]

I wish they would make a pc version of it, so i can replay it. I don't play a lot of games anymore and sold most of my collection, keeping only the PC and Steam Deck.

[@MrDapreacher]

All I got from this video is I have the worst taste in candy bars….😅

[@БродягаТатарский]

what is the story behind "hi dad'? Does your dad actually watch this videos?

[@oneofnone7947]

So son when do we see more venilawere games odensphere is good

[@maruiman3182]

Loved this game.

[@flow1194]

reverse adoption

[@cybunny25]

This game is a god game Thank you for covering it

[@THaB4DGuY]

omg i finally finished the boring prologue of the guy and thought i was done and ready to start fighting NOPE! NOW TO START ANOTHER BORING PROLOGUE OF A BORING GIRL NOW! TF! DONE WITH THIS JUNK. might as well plau peppa pig at this point

[@THaB4DGuY]

i dont care about video game stories, especially this one all i care is they shut up and let me play finally before i stop trying and play an actual game thats fun and not force feeding me blah blah story sections that i cant skip might as well be a game novel at this point

[@THaB4DGuY]

someone that beat the game tell me, how many of these boring talkin sections are there? nothing more i hate in games than unskippable cutscenes and this is all ive been seeing in the 1st hour and i alrdy want to delete this crap and never look back

[@katriga8886]

Just pirate games

[@raulrojas9253]

After all recommendations, I play it. Overrated as fuck. won't play again, I'm a gameplay guy, Story should never be more important than gameplay, never. 6/10. A game with excellent gameplay and bad story is 4ever replayable, a game with an excellent story and so-so gameplay is a one-time thing.

[@THaB4DGuY]

just started it and absolutely HATE IT ALREADY all this boring back and forth talking then mgo to menu to consider thoughts to think to find more things t o talk more about JUST MAKE IT ALL A CUTSCENE THAT I CAN SKIP its feeling more like a game video graphic novel than an actual video game and i dont even want to play anymore and didnt even get to a real battlemission besides the lil 1 minute training battle that wasnt even very fun either way to bore me out of giving the game a chance cus you flooded me with boring interactive text cutscenes that i cant skip so early in the game

[@nobodythisisstupid4888]

The story is literally the main attraction of the game, it’s definitely worth going through