If you are looking for a little Japanese Mecha flair, you may want to check out SEGA’s 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. With the presentation of a launch trailer, a cross-genre game previously out only in Japan is now out in the West. SEGA’s 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim‘s Worldwide trailer was shown, with a surprise release alongside it. So prime those blast cannons and get ready to battle towering monstrosities.
Kaiju Leaving Japan
The game is a curious mix of side-scroller action and real-time strategy. The story tasks 13 high school students in the 1980’s with becoming “figures in the ongoing war between giant robotic mechs and monstrous kaiju.” The students will discover the world through exploration, and will recruit allies for the fight.
When a kaiju attacks, they are the ones tasked with defending portions of the city. All 13 of the students have full story, and players “rewind and fast-forward through sequences to discover different variations.” All 13 of them intertwine, effectively creating 13 protagonists. The battles are in real time, and have 6 Sentinels defending against waves of kaiju.
The game has been in active developments since 2015. Developed by Vanillaware, they use traditional 2D elements with 3D environments. They also wanted to change the setting from their usual fantasy to a more urban, industrial place.
The Vanillaware director, George Kamitani, said “I doubt we’ll ever be able to create a game the same way we did with this one.” So if you are hoping for a unique take on kaiju/mecha or even just gameplay, you might want to try this game. Fortunately, while it released in Japan on November 2019, it is out now in the west for PlayStation 4! While it may be too late now, pre-orders also came with a bonus Art Book.
SEGA’s 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is available now on PlayStation 4 worldwide. As always, for more reviews and gaming news you can keep up to date at Informed Pixel. Want to speak to the team and interact with other gamers? You can do so over on the Informed Pixel Facebook page or on the Informed Pixel Twitter account.
