What Time Travel Stories Can Learn From 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is many things, but at its core, it's a time travel story. This is noteworthy because time travel stories are notoriously confusing, especially if multiple timelines and versions of characters are involved. Vanillaware's RTS/adventure game hybrid features both of these elements and plunges gamers into a deliberately convoluted plot that takes hours to even begin figuring out. Despite this, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim manages to be compelling right off the bat and stays that way, even when the player has very little idea of what's going on. Most of this has to do with the very clever way the game is constructed.
Most adventure games and RTS games take a linear approach, but some prefer branching narratives. While this generally serves as a perfectly acceptable avenue of storytelling, adding time travel throws a wrench into things. Shifting between multiple time periods can lead to a lot of confusion, especially in a story that's already set up as a surreal mystery, but 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim's story is immediately compelling. This holds despite, and partly because of, its cold opening and refusal to fully explain what's happening until the player is well into the game.
Atlus Sets Strict Streaming Rules for 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim Switch Version
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has three distinct gameplay modes, but Remembrance mode is the main storytelling venue. There, gamers can play through and swap between 13 different stories chronicling a series of strange events from 13 different perspectives. Each of the game's protagonists has their own story mode with their own unique goals to achieve and obstacles to face. These stories do overlap in terms of setting and often feature the same cast of characters.
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