| 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Vanillaware |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Director(s) | George Kamitani |
| Producer(s) | Akiyasu Yamamoto |
| Designer(s) | Kouichi Maenou |
| Programmer(s) | Kentaro Ohnishi |
| Artist(s) |
|
| Writer(s) | George Kamitani |
| Composer(s) |
|
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | PlayStation 4
|
| Genre(s) | Adventure, real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim[a] is a 2019 video game developed by Vanillaware and published by Atlus. It was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in November 2019 and worldwide in September 2020, with a Nintendo Switch version released in April 2022. 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.
Director and writer George Kamitani conceived the game in 2013 following the completion of Dragon's Crown, originally pitching it for a toy line. 13 Sentinels began production two years later, discarding the toy line element under Atlus. The production proved challenging for Vanillaware, as the studio dealt with workload and development challenges. Contrary to previous works, Kamitani both worked on the script alone and handed character design duties to Yukiko Hirai and Emika Kida. Hitoshi Sakimoto and his studio Basiscape, who handled the music for Vanillaware's past games, revisited their roles.
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. The English localization by Atlus West proved challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It saw a slow start in sales upon its release in Japan before eventually exceeding Atlus's expectations, with shipments and digital sales reaching one million units by 2023. 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.
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