A little over a year ago, I made this thread:
I'm worried that Vanillaware has wasted the last four-plus years on 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
I'm a big Vanillaware fan, but as you can see in that thread I really didn't think that 13 Sentinels was shaping up to be my kind of game after all those years of development that the team put into it. Since they're a small studio that could possibly be sunk by one commercial failure, I genuinely worried for them given that this big six-year project looked like it would ultimately be a very niche visual novel-esque game with some visually ugly and confusing RTS gameplay tacked on. I don't like visual novels whatsoever, and the abstracted visualization of the RTS battles seemed like an acknowledgment that animating these big mech battles in Vanillaware's signature style would've just been too difficult.
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The RTS battles looked terrible in pre-release footage, but they turned out to actually be fun and engaging.
That was last year, and right up until the game's release a week or so ago I had the same low expectations as I did then. None of the new footage or information had changed my view of what the game looked to be, and the only reason I kept my pre-order was out of pure loyalty to Vanillaware and a desire to support their creative endeavors. The positive reviews also piqued my curiosity as they exceeded what I expected from a Western release of a game like this.
So I got the game the day after release, and now I'm about 89% of the way through the main story. And, well...
This is one of the best games I've played this entire generation! Jesus Christ, man! Talk about surpassing expectations. I honestly can't think of another time where I was truly convinced that a game wouldn't even appeal to me but then floored me with its quality after actually playing it. I've always loved the action-RPG combat design of Vanillaware's previous works and didn't think I'd like this drastic deviation away from that, but as I near the end I can easily say that this is probably their overall best game to date. I don't think we're likely to see another game like this either because it's so uniquely constructed and executed. It's truly one-of-a-kind, and I'm so glad that I stuck to my pre-order and played the game despite my grim predictions for the game.
13 Sentinels is a milestone in videogame narrative structure and execution. The praise for its story is 100% justified.
______________________________
What are some examples of games that you thought you'd straight-up dislike that ended up being incredible?
I'm worried that Vanillaware has wasted the last four-plus years on 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
I'm a big Vanillaware fan, but as you can see in that thread I really didn't think that 13 Sentinels was shaping up to be my kind of game after all those years of development that the team put into it. Since they're a small studio that could possibly be sunk by one commercial failure, I genuinely worried for them given that this big six-year project looked like it would ultimately be a very niche visual novel-esque game with some visually ugly and confusing RTS gameplay tacked on. I don't like visual novels whatsoever, and the abstracted visualization of the RTS battles seemed like an acknowledgment that animating these big mech battles in Vanillaware's signature style would've just been too difficult.
The RTS battles looked terrible in pre-release footage, but they turned out to actually be fun and engaging.
That was last year, and right up until the game's release a week or so ago I had the same low expectations as I did then. None of the new footage or information had changed my view of what the game looked to be, and the only reason I kept my pre-order was out of pure loyalty to Vanillaware and a desire to support their creative endeavors. The positive reviews also piqued my curiosity as they exceeded what I expected from a Western release of a game like this.
So I got the game the day after release, and now I'm about 89% of the way through the main story. And, well...
This is one of the best games I've played this entire generation! Jesus Christ, man! Talk about surpassing expectations. I honestly can't think of another time where I was truly convinced that a game wouldn't even appeal to me but then floored me with its quality after actually playing it. I've always loved the action-RPG combat design of Vanillaware's previous works and didn't think I'd like this drastic deviation away from that, but as I near the end I can easily say that this is probably their overall best game to date. I don't think we're likely to see another game like this either because it's so uniquely constructed and executed. It's truly one-of-a-kind, and I'm so glad that I stuck to my pre-order and played the game despite my grim predictions for the game.
13 Sentinels is a milestone in videogame narrative structure and execution. The praise for its story is 100% justified.
______________________________
What are some examples of games that you thought you'd straight-up dislike that ended up being incredible?
