That’s already a lot of moving pieces. Now add that some of those teenagers are time travelers, while others are alternate-dimension versions of themselves, clones, or robots, and it starts to become apparent why the game’s fans might have a hard time explaining it to others.
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Yet despite that, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rimworks. The story is told through a series of visual novel scenes that follow each of the 13 individual pilots and can be played in practically any order. Most players who fully complete the game will see nearly all of what It has to offer. However, there are still a few hidden secrets for truly dedicated players to track down. Not all of them are significant; some are Easter eggs and others are hidden tactics or character traits, but some have a significant bearing on the game’s narrative, and most importantly, its conclusion.
7 Fluffy Is Hiding In The Game’s Physical Release Case
Fluffy the cat is a major character throughout 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and is often seen as a devil-like figure influencing events from the shadows. His relationship with Megumi, in particular, is one filled with blackmail and manipulation, yet for many other characters, Fluffy appears to be a normal street cat.
It’s fitting, then, that Fluffy would be hidden within the game’s physical release on Switch. When players remove the game card from its case, an image of Fluffy is revealed hiding beneath it, foreshadowing the events to come in the game itself.
6 Shu Amiguchi Has Multiple Personalities
Those who have completed the game may have noticed that one character, Shu Amiguchi, changes drastically at different stages of his life. Young Amiguchi is a kind-hearted flirt, while older Amiguchi (known as Ida) is a cruel misogynist, and as a middle-aged man, he is a goal-driven narcissist.
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According to the game’s writer and director George Kamitani, this is because Amiguchi has three different personalities which are in control at different points in his story. While Kamitani does not fully commit to outright diagnosing Amiguchi with DID, he does confirm that the character is an entirely different person at different stages of his life.
5 Mistranslations Alter Renya and Yuki’s Relationship
Oftentimes when a game is first released in Japan before being exported out West, some writing is mistranslated in the process. That remains the case with 13 Sentinels, yet while most of those changes are minor, one, in particular, is significant.
In the English version, Renya Guoto claims to be recruiting Yuki Takamiya to the Sentinel program because of her “particular set of skills.” However, in the original Japanese version, he says he simply chose her because of her “strength.” The Western version suggests Yuki has some previous experience that made her a viable candidate, something which is never explained further and isn’t supported by what we know about her beforehand. The original dialogue makes clear that that was never the case.
4 Juro Kurabe’s Favorite Movies Mirror His Storyline
Truly eagle-eyed players will have caught this detail, but Juro Kurabe’s love of ’80s sci-fi movies is not just an endearing character trait. They directly affect the events in his life, or perhaps he is watching them because of his latent memories regarding events to come.
While Kurabe’s story is not the only one shaped by references to movies like Groundhog Day, E.T, Wall-E, and more, he is the only character that specifically names the movies being drawn from. Game director George Kamitani may just be winking at his audience by including the films he was influenced by, but given how the game’s story plays out, Kurabe having a sense of the future is not a far-fetched idea.
3 The UFO’s Countdown Timer Is Fully Functional
During Iori Fuyusaka’s storyline, players will stumble upon a UFO buried underground. It is filled with decommissioned androids and creepy technology, as well as a video message from the future recorded by a major character.
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However, once it powers up, the UFO begins displaying a timer counting down to disaster. Most players will simply carry on with the scene, but those choosing to wait will notice that the timer continues to count down. As of this writing, no player has been dedicated enough to wait for the full 3 million seconds (or 35 days) to see what happens when it reaches zero, but the developers did cheekily ensure that the option was available in their game.
2 Players Can Auto-Farm Metachips
Metachips are one of the main currencies earned in 13 Sentinels and are used to upgrade characters’ abilities in the Destruction game mode, an RTS-like battle between the Sentinels and the invading aliens. These battles are the war that takes place following the end of the game’s narrative but are played simultaneously with the visual novels found in Rememberance mode.
To farm metachips, players must have reached Wave 5 of the third Destruction stage. Once there, simply build a team of exclusively 2nd generation Sentinels and make sure they all have the Sentry Gun ability. Start the battle, place the Sentry Guns around the map, take out the Drum Mines but leave the RPF alive, and let the sentries go to work farming waves of respawning enemies.
1 There Is a Secret Ending
As stated earlier, players who reach the 13 Sentinels’ conclusion will see nearly every piece of story content the game has to offer. However, after completing the Rememberance and Destruction modes, there is a single cutscene that quietly unlocks in the game’s third mode: Analysis.
After the credits have rolled, players can go to Analysis mode and scroll to the very bottom to find a new file titled “Infinite Possibilities.” Without spoiling the reveal too much, the cutscene implies that the events which occur on Earth in the game have been occurring on several other planets simultaneously. While the scene doesn’t necessarily imply a sequel, it does suggest that there are more stories to tell in this world.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is available on Nintendo Switch and PS4.
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