finally put in the time and beat this today. was pleasantly surprised to see that a new area (albeit, on intense) is unlocked. not sure if i’ll jump into that right now, but cool to know there’s more to play.
don’t really have much to say that hasn’t been said; the game is a lot of fun to play and the story and characters are fun to hang with.
Somebody sb-adjacent on Facebook mentioned this game was on sale on PSN the other day, so I finally bought it. Thanks for the QoL tips, everybody. Haven’t actually started playing yet, but I’m looking forward to it.
From the GYPT thread:
Yes you do. A lot get unlocked through achieving special battle conditions as well but no file can either be bought and/or unlocked.
Be straight with me if the story is it’s all a simulation I will get a Japanese driver’s license (eta six months), rent a car, drive to Ibaraki, and shoot a farmer’s cow (I’m American we all have guns.)
That’s literally what the game is training you to do. Kamitani really hates cows.
I am still worried this game is gonna pull some bullshit on me but I have been spending my evenings with it.
Just unlocked the Source Code story. I remembered how much I liked Source Code except it made the same mistake as Live Die Repeat and to a lesser extent Pacific Rim (absolutely one sided love but what if it just made sense emotionally but not structurally.)
I’m at 50% on both Destruction and Remembrance; I’ve played through the prologue and at least the first little bit for each character other than Gouto, who I can’t make any progress on until I’ve nearly finished every other character. I’ve been watching these guys play through each segment after I’ve completed it, and this has been a pretty enjoyable way to review the story and see how my predictions compare to theirs.
There was one part that kinda frustrated me because I had to keep redoing it. If it feels like you’re stuck, maybe try standing still and not doing anything during the moment of crisis? I figured that was the solution, but I still managed to mess that up more times than I needed to.
I’ve been trucking along with confidence, taking revelations in stride, assured I’m not about to be completely blindsided by anything, when suddenly: BOOM. Kyuta Shiba introduces himself. I really should have seen this coming; I had all the pieces, but I never quite assembled them in time. I’m REALLY liking this game.
I got distracted from this game for a few weeks and was afraid I wouldn’t be able to follow the story after resuming. But there are plenty of reminders of what’s going on. I’ve reached 50% on a couple characters.
Either I simply didn’t notice before that sentinel weapons can be upgraded or that ability is not present from the beginning. Just like the story, managing who enters battle and what they are equipped with seemed like it might be a little convoluted but it really isn’t at all.
This reminds me of things like Shadow of Destiny and Raw Danger. I like the way repeated scenes gain significance and are expanded upon from the perspectives of other characters.
Last night, I kept starting one more chapter until it was 3 a.m. I think I ended up sleeping nearly four hours before I had to get up for work, which is fine.
I’ve reached the end of a few characters’ stories but there are other characters I haven’t even started yet. I get the impression that the narrative impact of some of the revelations can vary based on the order you happen to experience the story pieces.
The weapon upgrades are mentioned as soon as you have access to the loadout screen, in the same tutorial that tells you how to unlock weapons.
The revelations definitely can be impacted by your story piece order but also when you did the battles or even unlocked some bits of the in-game wiki, as an observant reader can suss out quite a few things if they pay attention to details.
One of my favorite things about the way it’s structured is how well it lends itself to the theorizing, connecting the dots, speculating that’s going on in your head, until a story beat happens or you receive new information or notice a new detail, which makes you feel smart because you were right or more often confused and excited because you weren’t. Adding the in-game wiki struck me as a simple but immensely effective way to give the player an opportunity to recap and refresh knowledge and facilitate the theorizing.
I really enjoy the storytelling method this game employs, and that they built a story that makes ample use of it throughout. Also that they put in the time to make the combat a real element of the game (which has seemed real touch and go with gamey elements of most visual novels).
But I still stared at the screen, put down the controller, and looked out the window for about five minutes when the game dropped the worst plot element in that it could have 80% of the way through.
and I get where it comes from, because the only kind of person who can write a story like this is the same kind of person who can’t make an antagonistic force that can just be overcome. They need the meticulous rules of the universe they’re written to also explain why the antagonist can be defeated. but videogames are embarrassing, and if you make any story in any medium about videogames it’ll be embarrassing, so you ESPECIALLY should not make a videogame about a videogame.
I don’t get how you’d come to that conclusion but that’s probably best saved for when you’ve finished it.
I feel like we’re kind of at the point where a videogame can incidentally feature in the plot of a game and not be ‘about games’ in the same way a film can incidentally feature in the plot of a film and it not necessarily be a film about film. It’s also not inconceivable that strategy-sim video games centuries from now might be complex enough to be included as part of/inspire the codebase for a sophisticated simulation project. Simulations are kind of a staple scifi concept of many (alien invasion, time travel, giant robots, etc) which this game makes liberal use of without issue as a part of an homage to other scifi works.
13 Sentinels operates on so many levels of artifice (school nostalgia, nationalist narratives, toying with the past in your own head, nerdy fantasies come alive…) that the [REDACTED] twist some people felt disappointed by never bothered me. Fits the overall emotional logic of the game, adolescence as simulation, yadda yadda. Wouldn’t mind a more bittersweet ending tone, though, even Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One was better and more incisive on that front with Rylance’s character being visibly conflicted about the geeky paradise he’s created.
just started playing this and wow it’s like the platonic ideal vita game that never happened, every part of it is pleasant and nostalgic but flexible and interesting
Really wish it was on the vita.
Title material. Also selectbutton.net tagline material.