[Unicorn Overlord] Vanillaware Tactics and Spherical Continuity

cj iwakura

This has been out in Japan for several months, and by all accounts, it's fantastic.



There's also murmurings that the long-awaited reveal of the US version is coming soon, possibly tomorrow!

https://twitter.com/HDKirin/status/1265298014727331840

Yoko Taro thinks it's pretty good:


This guy did, too:


The OST was composed by Basiscape, Hitoshi Sakimoto's company, and is stellar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlmYYyzek48

So what on earth is it?



13 Sentinels is a hybrid of visual novel, and, as far as I can tell, tower defense mecha game.



Complete with the super detailed 2D visuals that Vanillaware specializes in.

Artereis

I've been waiting for this news since the first teaser appeared.

Frozenzen

I remember seeing a trailer for this what seems like forever ago and wondering wtf it was. Vanillaware always has me interested, even their bad games are interesting at least.

cj iwakura

Crap, looks like it was delayed to the 10th. I might not be on for the fireworks.

cj iwakura

Confirmed for September release!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrwxpyTw2_c

El Fantastico

I still have no idea what the gameplay is going to be like and I'm intrigued for more.

ArcTangent

El Fantastico wrote: »

I still have no idea what the gameplay is going to be like and I'm intrigued for more.

It's a really basic tower defense type deal. You have units that you direct around a point with health and MP, and can use a small set of skills. Enemies wander towards the objective. There's not a whole lot more than that. It's very bare bones.

El Fantastico

So the appeal is for the gorgeous Vanillaware design, and probably like, 80% story.

I may have to sit this one out.

But l really love the song they use in the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWxf5IruMQ

Orogogus

ArcTangent wrote: »

El Fantastico wrote: »

I still have no idea what the gameplay is going to be like and I'm intrigued for more.

It's a really basic tower defense type deal. You have units that you direct around a point with health and MP, and can use a small set of skills. Enemies wander towards the objective. There's not a whole lot more than that. It's very bare bones.

From this description and the OP I thought this was a mobile game, but I guess it's PS4?

cj iwakura

El Fantastico wrote: »

So the appeal is for the gorgeous Vanillaware design, and probably like, 80% story.

I may have to sit this one out.

But l really love the song they use in the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWxf5IruMQ

More like 90%, by all accounts, the story is phenomenal.
(The OST, too.)

cj iwakura

So uh... it's out today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvjt30BNZtY&t=5s


In case you were on the fence:
https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/13-sentinels-aegis-rim

https://twitter.com/Nibellion/status/1305886966194544640

Shenl742

I caved into pressure due to all the glowing reviews and got it, and I am enjoying it!. Even though the actual "gameplay" sections are still BAD. But it's kind of brainless, so I can just power through it!

But it's still less than ideal. And really incongruous with the rest of the game.

This game is like...what if in Night in the Woods, you HAD to play Demon Tower every now and then in order to progress through the actual story?

Dragkonias

Yeah I read some reviews and the way they talk makes the game seem more like a visual novel with gameplay segments than the action oriented stuff we're used to from VW.

I'm gonna be honest I'm not the biggest VN fan but I will pick it up eventually

pyromaniac221

Only played about an hour last night but I really like the music and sound design (visuals are obviously gorgeous)

Polaritie

Yeah... PS4 though... hmm.

I'll grab it eventually for sure with those reviews. Vanillaware does good work.

Renzo

Getting my copy tomorrow!

Beezel

The game seems easy at first but the prologue is just very long.
A small detail concerning the sentinels themselves

I do like that the armament progression on the sentinels between generations kinda tells the tale of how the rules of engagement changed for humanity over time.

Beezel

Haha, okay that's the catch.
The game does this Darkest Dungeon thing where pilots you use one mission have to sit out the next. The sentinels are highly specialized and you want to keep at least one of each type active in order to address mixed threats or you might get overwhelmed.

cj iwakura

Just got my copy. Sorry, Steins;Gate spin-off, I'll get back to you one day...

Skimming the artbook took me all of a minute. Just characters and the mechs, no concept art whatsoever. Kind of disappointing.

shoeboxjeddy

Man, Playstation Store is kind of a garbage fire? I went to wishlist this game so I'd remember to buy it later on if the reviews turn out well. Turns out, you can't wishlist games from the console store? Oh... okay. Went to the website. "You can't wishlist this game right now, please try again later." That makes no kind of sense at all, this is really, really bad.

cj iwakura

This game is super heavy on the honorifics... ah well.

pyromaniac221

Playing this game in a post-999 world has me wondering about some very important questions of narrative structure that I don’t think it will answer for a while, if at all!

Renzo

Got about 3h30m on the clock before finishing the prologue and starting the game proper. Got a long haul ahead of me.

Raiden333

screenshotting myself because I'm lazy


I really really fucking like this game so far

ED!

. . . how bad is the actual combat gameplay? Every 9 I have seen has dogged the game in this regard. If the game is basically a VN though it doesn't really matter.

Renzo

I've only finished the prologue, but the combat is pretty cool. It's a mix of RTS, tower defense, and ATB combat.

I'm still going to play on easy because I'm here for the story, but I can see some folks getting into the combat.

cj iwakura

I enjoy the combat just fine, and I had a feeling I would from the first footage, since I like tower defense.

pyromaniac221

Even if you don’t enjoy it, you can trivialize it to where it won’t really take you away from the parts you do enjoy.

ED!

I just found it an odd complaint from a VANILLAWARE game of all things. Wanted to see what non-review impressions of it were. I didn't play 999/Danganronpa/AI for the game sections but I will admit enjoying them for what they were.

Renzo

I don't recall playing a Vanillaware game where I've enjoyed the combat. That was my biggest concern with this game, so it was nice to know you could make it so easy as to be non-existent.

cj iwakura

I've been trying to do the different routes organically, like if it ends on one other character, I'll go to their story next. Seems to work out well so far.


The structure reminds me a lot of Odin Sphere, just way more ambitious.

Zek

I had no interest in the combat and dropped it down to easy. Then I focused on automated turrets which I could just drop and let them win every match for me in seconds.

cj iwakura

Natsuno 50%, this is going to sheer crazy town.


Megumi's my favorite, reminds me a lot of Homura from Madoka Magica(in more ways than one).

ED!

Is this weird double voice coming from my controller? If so I'm not seeing a way to turn it off. It's kind of disorienting.

EDIT: Also yup. . . this is a VANILLAWARE game.

Raiden333

I just finished this tonight.

Holy shit what an amazing story. I don't know how you throw literally every anime trope into the blender, blend for a few minutes, and end up coming out with a coherent, thought provoking story that makes you shout "WHAT?" in increasingly higher pitches at every turn.

I'm going to need to think about this game away from it for a bit before I call it anything but an 11/10 based on storytelling alone.

cj iwakura

I'm still at a snail's pace, but my favorite character is still Megumi, followed closely by Shu(and his amazing idol track).

pyromaniac221

Got the platinum yesterday and am already sad it’s over. Going into it with the zero escape games at top of mind does it a disservice, since it’s not interested in playing with form like that series. The character work is really good and the narrative is shockingly ambitious. If you’ve seen credits, make sure you check the end of the event archive.

cj iwakura

I'm at the 50% mark in most stories, the last bombshell I got was

Yuki being... a mother?!

Dragkonias

Well Gamestop had this game for 30 bucks this BF so I went ahead and got it.

About what I was willing to pay given it sounds more VN than game but I'm also interested to see why it has gotten so much praise.

cj iwakura

Crazy speculation, 50%ish mark:

I think Miwako is 426. At very least she's up to something.

cj iwakura

Well, so much for that.


I'm pretty sure the real reason this game kept getting delayed was because every time Kamitani saw a new sci-fi film, he wanted it thrown into the plot.