ġ3 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a video game where players take control of thirteen different characters, who interact with each other to build a larger narrative. Critical reception has been generally positive, with praise going to its narrative and art design, though several reviewers faulted the RTS segments as the weakest part of the game.ġ3 Sentinels: Aegis Rim divides its gameplay between adventure game sections (above), and real-time strategy battles (below). It saw a slow start in sales upon its release in Japan before eventually exceeding Atlus's expectations, going on to sell over 500,000 copies worldwide by November 2021. The English localization by Atlus West proved challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled for a 2018 release on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, the game was delayed to 2019 with the Vita version being canceled.
Hitoshi Sakimoto and his studio Basiscape, who handled the music for Vanillaware's past games, revisited their roles. Contrary to previous works, Kamitani both worked on the script alone and handed character design duties to Yukiko Hirai and Emika Kida. The production proved challenging for Vanillaware, as the studio dealt with workload and development challenges. 13 Sentinels began production two years later, discarding the toy line element under Atlus. The game is divided between side-scrolling adventure segments and real-time strategy (RTS) battles, and follows thirteen high-school students in a fictionalized 1980s Japan who are dragged into a futuristic war between mechas and hostile Kaiju in a nonlinear narrative.ĭirector and writer George Kamitani conceived the game in 2013 following the completion of Dragon's Crown, originally pitching it for a toy line. It was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in November 2019 and worldwide in September 2020, with a Nintendo Switch version scheduled for release in April 2022. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a 2019 video game developed by Vanillaware and published by Atlus.