13 Sentinels: Aegis Rimis a science fiction adventure game withvisual noveland tower defense elements. It came out initially in 2020 on the Playstation 4 to a fair amount of critical acclaim. Its story features a group of high school students who must use giant machines called Sentinels to fight off the kaiju Deimos destroying their world.
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Recently,13 Sentinelswas ported to the Nintendo Switch, giving the game a much wider audience. A lot of people will be playing13 Sentinelsfor the first time, so here are some mistakes to avoid making while playing13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
10Ignoring The Display In The Upper Right Corner
In Remembrance, players may notice a display in the upper right corner of the screen, consisting of several green and red rectangles. These rectangles are related to the thought cloud; green rectangles refer to thoughts the player can consider, and red rectangles refer to thoughts that can be used to interact with other characters. If a thought has already been considered, it will be represented as a greyed out green rectangle.
The thought cloud is one ofthe most important parts of Remembrance, so this display can help players figure out exactly what they need to do. Ignoring this can make the game a lot more complicated, so make sure to occasionally take a look in the upper right corner.
9Not Checking The Flowchart
Like many visual novels and visual novel-type games,13 Sentinels: Aegis Rimfeatures a flowchartthat shows players how a story progresses. Since certain scenes can often split into different paths depending on a player’s actions, a flowchart is useful for figuring out exactly how to get to a specific point.
The flowchart can also provide clues on how exactly to proceed. Hovering over a part of the flowchart reveals what keywords are necessary to move on to the next segment of the story. It’s a great reference tool if the next step seems a bit confusing.
8Overusing The Same Characters
With thirteen characters available to use, it can be tempting for players to only use the characters they like. However, this is not recommended due to a mechanic called Brain Overload, which forces characters to sit out of battle at least once.
This encourages players to change up their line-up so that they can stave off Brain Overload for as long as possible, as well as avoid a situation in which players are locked out of certain units needed for a certain stage.
7Not Using Meta-Skills
The Sentinels are not the player’s only weapon against the mighty Deimos. Each stage has a terminal that can be accessed in order to use a Meta-Skill which can turn the tables in an instant. While Meta-Skills can initially only be used once a stage, upgrades can unlock more uses and different Meta-Skills.
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Meta-Skills are a powerful tool, and when the situation on the battlefield gets out of control, it’d be a waste to not try and use them. Meta-Skills can mean the difference between life and death, especially in the more difficult stages.
6Not Clearing Bonus Objectives
Every stage has the same objective; to fight off the Deimos until they are defeated or until enough time has passed for the terminal to activate. Occasionally, the player will need to kill a certain specific enemy in order to clear the stage, often as a boss battle.
However, bonus objectives also exist and are optional to completing the stage. However, successfully completing themwill grant the player mystery filesthat cannot be obtained anywhere else. Completionists will want to make sure to clear these objectives to obtain all the files.
5Not Obtaining S-Rank
After clearing a stage, players are given a rank based on exactly how well they played the stage. Being quick and mitigating the damage to the city, the terminal, and to the Sentinels will grant the player an S-Rank score.
While the player does not need to S-Rank every stagein order to beat the game, there are mystery files locked behind S-rank that cannot be obtained any other way. Players who want to have all the mystery files unlocked will need to obtain S-Rank in all stages as well as complete all bonus objectives.
4Overextending Sentinels
Sentinels are powerful machines with great capabilities, but they have their limits. If they take too much damage, they’ll be disabled, and the pilot will have to survive for a while on their own until their machine is repaired. In this vulnerable situation, they can be attacked and killed by nearby kaiju, which will cause an immediate game over.
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Because of this, it’s important to avoid sending Sentinels too far out by themselves. This can be tempting since some Sentinels have close-range skills that work best in the midst of a swarm of kaiju. While these Sentinels do need to stand on the front line to be effective, overextending can cause an offensive to turn into a premature end.
3Ignoring EMP Skills
Many Sentinel models have some kind of EMP ability. EMPs send a wave throughout a certain area that stuns all kaiju in range momentarily. They also ground flying kaiju, which normally cannot be targeted by close-ranged attackers.
EMP Skills are incredibly useful, andignoring them only makes the battle harder. While they may not do any damage, they can easily turn the tables and are one of the most powerful support skills in the game. Players should make sure to have at least one character with an EMP skill in every battle.
2Skipping Over Upgrading Neurolink
As the game progresses, players will obtain new ways to upgrade their characters, including directly upgrading their Sentinel’s stats. While the player may be tempted to put their points in Armor or other aspects, they should make sure to upgrade the Sentinel’s Neurolink.
Upgrading Neurolink provides boosts to not only accuracy and speed, but also to their EXP gain. It also reduces Brain Overload, which allows characters to take part in more battles before needing to take a break. While players shouldn’t focus only on Neurolink, they also shouldn’t ignore it.
1Not Using Sentries
Not every character has the same skills; the Sentinels are separated into four generations, and each generation has their own specialties and weapons that they can use. The 2nd-generation Sentinels (used buy Juro Kurabe, Iori Fuyusaka, and Ryoko Shinonome) have an action that allows them to summon Sentry Guns.
Sentries that are placed on the field will deal massive damage to any kaiju that enter into its range. In addition, one character can place multiple sentries, allowing them to cover a large range with just sentries. While sentries alone won’t win the game, they can definitely make any stage much easier.
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