Klagmar's Top VGM #3,900 - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - (ISOLEUCINE)
56These X00 VGM spots are always reserved for my favorite series or individual games, but this time I'm featuring something much less well-known than usual. It’s a shame more people aren’t talking about 13 Sentinels, since it really is Vanillaware’s masterpiece and deserves way more attention.
This is a JRPG that tells a complex, heavy sci-fi story involving time travel and giant mecha, with all the events shuffled around and the timeline unclear. Piecing together all the details of the story is certainly a game in itself! The highlight, though, is the gorgeous hand-drawn visuals that embody Vanillaware’s strengths. They do a great job painting the picture of a small town in 80s rural Japan, with a soft, almost nostalgic feel.
Ironically enough, the weakest part of the game is its actual mecha battles. They are a little too easy, and the zoomed-out, techy feel of them loses some of the charm of the visuals. Luckily, they don’t overstay their welcome, and there’s a certain joy to be had in taking on the role of a small number of extremely powerful units against a seemingly endless horde of weaker ones, obliterating dozens of targets at a time.
That said, the story really is the piece of the equation that makes me rate the game so highly, especially its characters, so it’s a shame I can’t discuss it more without spoiling it! Suffice to say that you will find many characters to love among its 13 main heroes and supporting characters alike. I’m really hoping more people give the game a shot with its recent Switch release.
Finally, the soundtrack is a treat, featuring a variety of composers. There’s a very clear difference between the relaxed tracks accompanying the visual novels segments of the game and the fast-paced, sci-fi tracks for the battles; this one is obviously the latter. Since there isn’t really a well-defined main theme or motif to feature for this video, I decided instead to simply showcase one of the game’s best battle themes, as well as the “-Branched-” version from the 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Remix & Arrange Album.
Systems: PlayStation 4, Switch
Game: 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Music Titles: "(ISOLEUCINE)" & "(ISOLEUCINE)- -Branched-"
Composer: Yoshimi Kudo
0:00 - (ISOLEUCINE)
5:31 - (ISOLEUCINE)- -Branched-
Also see Klagmar's Top VGM #3,569: https://youtu.be/LOE29zEy_8E
and Klagmar's Top VGM #3,717: https://youtu.be/TsD_-ghxjUg
A list of my favorite video game music. It's not in any order, and is intended purely for entertainment. Perhaps it will also introduce a few obscure titles or unknown songs. Enjoy!