13 Sentinels: Aegus Rim

***13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim***, is a 2019 Side Scrolling and real-time strategy game.

## Game Info

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a 2019 side scrolling and real-time strategy game developed by Vanillaware and published by Atlus and Sega for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

Players take control of thirteen different characters, who interact with each other to build a larger narrative. The gameplay is split into three sections. They are Remembrance, with exploration and dialogue taking priority and advancing the narrative; Destruction, where characters equip mecha and engage in battles against enemies called Kaiju; and Analysis, a glossary which documents event scenes and important items and characters.

## Plot

In 1985 Japan, Kurabe, Fuyusaka, and Amiguchi experience shared dreams, either of themselves fighting previous wars against the Kaiju or of what appear to be older versions of themselves in the future. They are later seen by Morimura, who Kurabe learns is administering an unknown medication to some students; Kurabe is referred to in Morimura's notes as "Juro Izumi", an identity he cannot remember. Takamiya is blackmailed by SIU member Ida into monitoring students at Sakura High School. Takamiya's friend Minami finds a robot called BJ; assumed to be an alien, BJ is an AI robot from 2105 searching for its Sentinel. Yakushiji, from 2025, is approached by Fluffy, who says he can bring back "Izumi" if she shoots select people with a special gun. Gouto and Shinonome both work for the SIU, recruiting Kisaragi from 2025 after the Deimos attack her time period. At a later point, an amnesiac Sekigahara wakes up next to the murdered Morimura, ending up pursued by SIU operatives. In 1945; Miura and his little sister Chihiro live with Tamao Kurabe, and are friends with Hijiyama and newcomer "Kiriko Douji", later revealed to be the cross-dressing Okino. Shortly after Okino takes Hijiyama to 1985, the Deimos attack 1945. Tamao vanishes upon being "killed", Gouto kidnaps Chihiro, and Miura accidentally travels to 1985 using a Sentinel. Each playable character has dedicated intertwining story arcs, revealing more about individual pieces of the plot.

It is gradually revealed that rather than time periods, the protagonists inhabit five different areas, or "Sectors", which replicate a specific era. In the real-world 2188, a nanomachine virus ravaged the Earth, leaving only fifteen survivors; the thirteen protagonists, as well as Okino and Tamao. The survivors initiated Project Ark, sending their DNA and records of their history to a new planet where they would restart humanity. The events of the game are happening on a distant terraformed planet and the simulation housing and training their minds is otherwise populated by human-like AIs. Project Ark and its population are managed by Universal Control, an AI which erases inconsistencies and falsifies information to preserve the simulation. The 2188 Shinonome, disillusioned with humanity, secretly implemented the Deimos Code; this would cause Shikishima, a mega-corporation that exists in all Sectors, to produce the Deimos. Once the Deimos invades all five Sectors, the simulation resets to sixteen years prior to protect Universal Control, with the fifteen humans losing their memories of the events, trapping them in an endless loop. Some characters survive loops with their memories intact using "Sector 0", a non-spatial area at the system's core.

Some key plot threads are scattered through each character's narrative. Ida, an earlier version of Amuguchi, seeks to perpetuate the loops in an attempt to restore an earlier version of his lover Kisaragi, who exists in the current world as Inaba. He loses hope and is killed after learning that Sector 0 will be erased in the next reset. Juro Izumi, the original version of Kurabe, uses extreme measures to change events and is dubbed Prisoner 426, going on to use the avatars of Aiba, Fluffy and Shiba to further his plans and ending up directly aiding the thirteen pilots. The current Morimura—a former associate and lover of Izumi—is determined to trigger Operation Aegis, which will cut off Universal Control from the Deimos while trapping them in the ruined simulation. She is killed by the preserved personality of the original Chihiro Morimura, who exists in the avatar of Miura's sister. Initially pessimistic of their chances, she is persuaded by Gouto to aid them. Fuyusaka is revealed to be another avatar of Morimura. Minami, Takamiya, Kisaragi, Ogata and Miura cross paths repeatedly and end up discovering several aspects of the backstory through travels to different sectors. In Hijiyama's route, it is revealed that the originals in the space colony eventually descended into violence over resource disputes.

Each arc concludes with the protagonist joining the final battle. When the Deimos arrive, the 13 pilots band together to fight them, with remote assistance from Inaba and Chihiro. The pilots fend the Deimos off long enough for Inaba to contact Universal Control and shut down the simulation, allowing the pilots, together with Okino and Tamao, to awaken from their hibernation pods in the real world. Five years later, the pilots have formed families with their loved ones on the new planet. They restore the simulation and all its inhabitants, and plan to use the pods to create bodies for the AI humans so they can all live in the real world. Inaba and Ida plan to live in Universal Control, while Izumi and Morimura are reunited in the simulation. A secret cutscene shows self-replicating machines sent into space by Project Ark have colonized at least one other planet, where the game's events are repeating with some differences.