God, I Hate You Already.

[rionaleonhart]

My increasingly incoherent notes on 13 Sentinels continue! I talk here about Ei and Yuki's storylines up to the first lock, and about Miura and Tomi's prologues. (I've also played Ryoko's prologue, although I don't think I go into that here.)

I've warmed slightly to the battle segments, although I'm not sorry that the game spends so much more time on story than on battling.



Is that Fluffy talking to Ei on the walkie-talkie? I suppose it makes a sort of sense, given that Ei also seems to have a 'magical gun' of sorts. Stop making deals with the cat that wants you to shoot people, guys.

(Having played a bit further: it might instead be Mr Ida. (Amiguchi also sometimes gets called Ida, right? I hope he's a different Ida.))

I love Ei's carefully concealed awkwardness and discomfort over Fuyusaka clearly being so familiar with him when he doesn't remember her.

Wait, activating the Aegis will trap all the major characters in the ruins of their world, the only ones there? Characters being isolated together in a hopeless situation, where they could theoretically sadly bang? I'm not sure this game could become any more designed for me.

Yuki: Don't call me that. I don't like being called by my name.
Amiguchi: But I just heard—
Yuki: I didn't ask your opinion. Shut up. It's fine if it's her.

And then 'she's the only person I really care about'! Intriguing potential for Yuki/Minami. (Intriguing potential for everyone/everyone, frankly. I'm way too confused by the plot to speculate on anything, so all I can do is ship indiscriminately and roll around in suffering.)

I like Amiguchi a lot more when he's interacting with other boys. He's not great around girls; he's not hostile at all, but he's a bit unbearable. With boys he's perfectly pleasant!

(He is, at least, better than Ogata with girls. Don't be creepy, Ogata.)

Seeing Miura's interactions with Juro's grandmother caused me to wonder whether he'd end up being Juro's grandfather, and then I remembered that his sister was Chihiro, who may be Fuyusaka. If Miura is both Juro's grandfather and Fuyusaka's brother, I may be slightly shipping Juro with his own great-aunt, but I accept this.

(Nobody is allowed to point out that I said this straight after telling Ogata not to be creepy.)

I think Miura's probably not Juro's grandfather, but you never know. In this game in particular, I never know anything.

Delighted by Miura's awkwardness on first meeting Minami. 'U-uh - shouldn't you be wearing pants?'

WHY IS JURO'S GRANDMOTHER ALSO SHOWING UP IN DIFFERENT TIME PERIODS WITH A DIFFERENT PERSONALITY AND A DIFFERENT NAME, WHERE DOES IT END

There’s fantastic potential for guilt and horror in Ryoko learning that her older self destroyed humanity, but I’m not as into it as I’d have expected to be, perhaps because I don’t feel I really know Ryoko yet (or perhaps just because I’m not a fan of stories where humanity is entirely destroyed; what’s the point if nobody is left alive to be unhappy?). We’ll see how I feel once I’m better acquainted with her. (I do like Yuki being uncharacteristically nice to her after seeing her break down.)

Tomi's enthusiasm about the past is magical, as is the way she's absolutely unintimidated by Ogata. I really enjoyed Tomi's entire prologue, actually, more than I'd been expecting to!



Plot speculation: this game concludes with me making this game and travelling back in time to make sure I play it.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I’m glad you’ve warmed a bit to the battle segments! Plus, I like that you get little story scenes to the beginning and end of each one.

But look how cute Fluffy is! Could you really resist?

I did spend large portions of this game thinking how made for you it was, I won’t lie.

In the battles, Shu has that occasional voiced line that’s something like, “Gonna put on a show for Yuki-chan!” and the voice actor delivers it (unintentionally?) in the most weirdly sinister way possible, so him interacting with girls in Remembrance mode is always a plus on using that creepy voice line.

If Miura is both Juro's grandfather and Fuyusaka's brother, I may be slightly shipping Juro with his own great-aunt, but I accept this.

It takes a lot to get you to abandon ship when it starts. :P This reminds me of some of your Umineko rambling!

In this game in particular, I never know anything.

13 Sentinels is pleased that you have already reached this conclusion.

I really appreciated 13 Sentinels for giving me so many characters with potential for mental breakdowns. The gift that keeps on giving!

Tomi’s prologue was the last that I completed – the Wheel of Fate kept rolling past her for a very long time! I had 8 characters with more than 50% story progress when I finally got to her prologue, which I do wonder if influenced my opinion of her route!

(I can't believe you've worked out the ending.) Your plot speculation sounds interesting troubling impossible plausible.

-timydamonkey

[rionaleonhart]

I think the problem with battles at first was that I felt I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. Now that I've pinned down 'hit small far things with lots of missiles, go up to big close things and punch them' I'm feeling a lot more confident!

This reminds me of some of your Umineko rambling!

Ha, I was thinking a bit of Umineko when I was writing that! The main thing that'll make me abandon a ship is losing interest, and, while 'surprise, it's incest!' isn't exactly a positive development, it at least tends not to make a ship less interesting.

I really appreciated 13 Sentinels for giving me so many characters with potential for mental breakdowns.

It's great! In any other story, I'd be deeply disappointed that I didn't enjoy Ryoko's breakdown more. In this one, it's fine, because there's breakdown potential galore to compensate.

[batman]

I am pretty sure we are meant to ship everyone with everyone else, because if we aren't then why did they make them so shippable! There's a cute sequence later where Iori gets all flustered at how badass Yuki is and is very obviously crushing on her.

Also, I found that battles were a lot more fun after I upgraded Ryoko, Juro and Iori's sentinels to have sentry guns. I definitely giggled gleefully a few times where their sentry guns just killed everything. Sentry guns and interceptors are amazing.

[rionaleonhart]

There's a cute sequence later where Iori gets all flustered at how badass Yuki is and is very obviously crushing on her.

As well she might! Yuki being a badass is delightful. (I'm also glad to hear the rampant shippability isn't just through my eyes.)

I'm also enjoying the sentry guns! I was really confused at one point when the battle ended between my turns and I went 'wait, I wasn't doing anything?' and then realised my sentry gun had wiped out the last enemies for me.

[runicmagitek]

YOU MET MY BOY 😍 Keitaro's first meeting is Natsuno is just *chef kiss* I love them. And yes, everyone is so shippable and it's amazing. Also feel you regarding Shu. I honestly found him way creepier than Nenji with his constant flirting, but he is so much more pleasant when he has guys around vs girls.

Oh and I love that you got that bit with Ryoko so early. I didn't get that until later on, when I had more pieces to the puzzle. So the reveal of that was a lot more !!!!! for me. Can't wait to see your reactions as you find more, tho!

Also, I love Nenji's reactions to anyone who insults his hair. It's perfect. also cannot wait for you to unlock Nenji and do his route - it's my favorite

As someone mentioned above, sentry guns are amazing in combat. As are interceptors with the gen 4 sentinels. Maximizing upgrades for those makes for MUCH easier combat situations.

[rionaleonhart]

My early acquaintance with Ogata included 'Ogata bursts into the changing room and is disappointed that he didn't catch Minami changing' and 'Ogata describes the men in black as "lucky bastards" when he thinks they're planning to strip-search Minami', which wasn't the best first impression. As of my latest entry, though, I've started his route and I've come to like him a lot more!

Also, I love Nenji's reactions to anyone who insults his hair. It's perfect.

Rei was watching me play Tomi's introduction and laughed aloud at Ogata's 'hey, you're that chick who shat on my hair!'

Ooh, I'd forgotten about upgrades! Yes, I should upgrade my sentry guns; so far I've been upgrading multi-lock missiles for the fourth-generation sentinels (my favourite; moving long distances and attacking in the same instant is great) and neglecting everything else.