Let's address the elephant in the room; yes, this is a game about teens who save the world piloting giant mechas, and they do so without wearing any clothes. Some might say this is just fanservice, a gimmick to make people—especially the male audience—drool for their favorite waifu/husbando, but we only played the prologue, so we can't know for sure if this is something they explain later.

If you ask us, that's not reason enough to call 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim an ecchi game as the only reference to that are the avatars you see when in combat. Regardless, combining the mecha genre with sexy characters or situations is not new to fiction, with the anime Darling in the FranXX as a recent example. Considering the circumstances, we're intrigued to know these characters' backstories and everything, so we're really looking forward to the full release of the game!

One of the most fascinating things about this game is how these 13 characters' lives intertwine, not only in their present but also in other timelines. Thankfully, there's a log where you can keep track of all the characters and their stories, something that comes in really handy when you can't remember all these names and details. All 13 characters have something in common, but at the same time, they are all very different and unique in their own way, a reason why it's so interesting to see how they react to everything that's happening.

Some of them seem to know a lot about this kaiju invasion, but most of them were dragged into this situation and are clueless as to why they happen to know how to pilot a huge killing machine. Some of them are there because they find it exciting given their love for science fiction movies and books; all of them are there because it's their destiny.

Although most of the time you're interacting with other characters as you would do in every other visual novel, when it comes to fighting the kaiju, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim turns into a fantastic turn-based strategy game. We got to discover only a few characters, but all of them have different weapons and skills, so it's safe to assume there's more than just one way to approach things according to the units you can control on every mission.

Some units can only attack in a straight line, while others can only attack at a certain distance. The same goes for the kaiju, as there are several classes, all of them with distinctive attacks and their own advantages and disadvantages. All in all, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim looks like a fun tactical game, so we can only hope it gets even better once we are far into the story and more units become available.