Damn, sounds good! Thanks!
This will probably be my Christmas game.
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George Kamitani (Vanillaware) has always been known for his artwork. 13 Sentinels has shown that he's also one of the best writers in gaming.
- Thread starter ScOULaris
- Start date
This will probably be my Christmas game.
I love their games, maybe when I get a PS5 I'll pick up a copy of 13 Sentinels.
Dragons Crown is my favorite game from them, wish I could play it again.
Dragons Crown is my favorite game from them, wish I could play it again.
OP
OP
I think if you liked Evangelion and Xenogears then this game is right up your alley.
Agreed.
It's a shame how little it is going to be recognized by major outlets, though.
OP
OP
This is a really helpful breakdown, thanks! To what extent does this game recycle assets? That part really put me off of Odin Sphere back when it came out on PS2. I was stunned at how few locales were actually present in that game.
I see - a pity. Didn't they do some HD remaster one of these years? That also never left Playstation?
Maybe I'll go for a let's play then and give it a look. It's too late in the game for me to get a PS4 and I might go without any next Gen console by this point so it would be years until I'm able to play this in the best case.
OP
OP
13 Sentinels easily features the largest number of unique assets of any Vanillaware game. That's not to say that certain areas aren't used extensively throughout the game, as it does center around a particular city (and school). But there are definitely more unique backgrounds, animations, and character illustrations in this game than there have been in previous releases like Dragon's Crown and Odin Sphere.
Exactly, and IMO are their best games thanks to this.
Odin Sphere or Oboromuramasa have more interesting stories than Dragon's Crown, but both games make the player play countless times the same exact sections (same stages, same enemies, repeated bosses) while spreading some story content through all the lenghty playthrough.
Dragon's Crown is a blast to play with friends, the gameplay mechanics are far above any other Vanillaware game and the repetitive use of the stages is more tolerable due to the arcade beat-em-up nature of the game.
13 sentines goes the opposite way and puts all the effort into the narrative sections, that are simply outstanding. Again, the repeated use of assets is more tolerable as VN have always re-used the same backgrounds again and again, and the stars of the show are the writing and voice acting.
So Vanillaware seems to understand their strenght and are using it in a more efficient way on their latest games. 13 Sentinels has surprised me with a story that is not only intriguing, it's also structured in a really smart way and makes you want to know more all the time. The 13 playable characters are also well-written and the way the game slowly adds more depth layers with each new reveal and each new playable character is really good. I don't think the story and writing reach the heights of the best games on the genre like Stenis;Gate or the 2 first Nonary Games titles, but the game has other strenghts, like the art and the surprisingly fun combat sections. One of the best games of the year without a doubt, I always loved Vanillaware games, but after two consecutive masterpieces I'm now confident enough to say that they are one of the best studios right now.
Thanks!
Listening to the OST and it is pretty good, will definitely buy this!
OP
OP
SEGA should really make a little effort and port Odin Sphere, Oboromuramasa, Dragon's Crown and 13 Sentinels to Switch and PC/Xbox. I do think the games will be fairly easy to port due to their reliance on 2D assets and this will help Vanillaware be more popular.
It's not that I have a problem playing the games on my Ps4, not at all, but this gems are too good to be stuck on a single platform, and knowing that SEGA is slowly opening to porting games it would be a shame if they don't try to make all those games available to more players.
I highly doubt it will be even listed in any category during TGA. Not that I care, but this kind of game is always ignored during the big western events. I'm highly surprised that the game has 60+ Metacritic reviews tbh.
I love this criticism, especially when this is THE most toned down Vanillaware game 🤷♂️
Ah yes ignorant shit posting on Era the height of a good post.
You should probs play the game before presenting bad hot takes 😎
Agreed OP, it's an amazing game, with a great story, art and music, and even the combat part is more fun than they seemed in the videos.
And this was my first Vanillaware game in a HD screen (played everything past the PS2 on Vita), I was blown away. Thought about getting Dragon's Crown Pro after that but I still feel burnt out from that after leveling 3 characters on Vita, ha.
And this was my first Vanillaware game in a HD screen (played everything past the PS2 on Vita), I was blown away. Thought about getting Dragon's Crown Pro after that but I still feel burnt out from that after leveling 3 characters on Vita, ha.
OP
OP
Can't go wrong with Dragon's Crown Pro. It looks amazing in 4K and is one of the best beat 'em up/RPG hybrids around.
Maybe you should play the game and do less uninformed hot takes.
Great thread, it's so true. This is my favorite Vanillaware game ever, thanks in large part to the story and characters. It's amazing how deftly they managed to flesh out all of the main cast and weave the various stories together as part of the overall narrative. I was a little unsure about it before release, but Kamitani and co. did not disappoint.
The whole naked thing does look like it will be one of those Kojima shame and deeds stuff. Two characters have an art that lookss sexualized (but not the rest weirdly enough). I usually complain abou this issue a lot but the game definitely earns the excuse they put out. I don't know how else they would have done it.
It is really weird it turned out as it is. They could have easily gone all the way but thankfully they didn't.
It is really weird it turned out as it is. They could have easily gone all the way but thankfully they didn't.
I'm about halfway through and it's one of the most brilliant things I've ever played. Everyone needs to play this game.
The writing in this game breaks my brain. 13 storylines from 13 protagonists, all interwoven and presented out of chronological order, generally letting you play them in any order you please, in a story where significant twists happen every twenty minutes or so for over 20 hours.
It upends everything I know about writing structure, and leaves me in awe that the human brain can still easily follow along something so complex.
It upends everything I know about writing structure, and leaves me in awe that the human brain can still easily follow along something so complex.
PLAY GRIMGRIMOIRE, PEOPLE!
So many people slept on that game and that also has great writing (was my favourite Vanillaware game for story for a long time).
13 Sentinels really is excellent though. Loving it and GOTY for me.
So many people slept on that game and that also has great writing (was my favourite Vanillaware game for story for a long time).
13 Sentinels really is excellent though. Loving it and GOTY for me.
The fairy archer voice is still stuck in my mind.
"Here I go!"......"Okay"
"Okay, fine." "Okay, fine"" "Okay, fine" "OKAAAAAAYYYY"
*hear dragon footsteps*
Shit...
For sure.
It is like 999 and VLR but on another level. Going back and reading the files without feeling lost is an amazing feeling.
Am I the only one who thought Odin Sphere was lovely written? Yeah it's a simple little fairy tale, but that's why it works.
I don't know why devs don't want my money. I get Vanillaware probably can't port them themselves, but another company could be hired to
Can't wait to play this, hope I can get my hands on a PS5 in the next couple of years (never had a PS4, might as well get a PS5 at this point).
How hard's the plat? I'm assuming not much because of the nature of the game but you never know.GOTY Hands down.
My Vanillaware streak continues to this day...
PS: I only got Odin sphere's :(
I love Odin Sphere as well. Mercedes is my favorite character, but the other four are very good too.
Nah
Odin Sphere was an awesome story. I especially love Gwendolyn's. Her story was so damn good and badass.
Every character had a great story.
Nope. It's good.
GrimGrimoire has a great mystery plot with a great cast.
Muramasa's storylines were good too.
The Muramasa DLCs had great writing too, to be honest (the villagers DLC especially was really well done).
Kamitani was always really underrated as a writer. It's only now he's getting his dues since he made a VN game.
Well it's a very Sci-fi story full of different sci-fi tropes. The uniqueness of the game is that it uses the medium of being a video game incredibly well to create a story that can't really been done in another medium and gain the same kind of satisfaction from putting pieces together.