Japanese side-scrolling city in several versions – architecture in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

Visits to fictional Japanese cities, in several different time periods, are the hallmark of 13 Sentinels. And all made in the once popular side-scrolling technique. I didn’t need any more encouragement! Hand-painted boards effectively attract attention to the screen, set in motion by animators!

The material may contain minor spoilers regarding the location!!!
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It’s hard to describe what 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim actually is. It’s a combination of a visual novel and a tactical game, all bathed in a wonderful sauce of Japanese stories about mechs, students, saving the world and who knows what else. But what I recommend checking for sure is the setting! And that’s what I’m mainly going to tell you about today.

ATTENTION! The text may contain minor spoilers regarding the location and certain events shown in the game! ATTENTION!

The charm of primitive side-scrolling

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim takes place mainly on two types of screens. One shows fights, the other is used to learn about history. The first one, where we fight mechs, is absolutely unreadable, unattractive and difficult to get used to.

I won’t kick someone who’s lying down. If the game consisted only of these fights, it would receive a much lower rating, because although addictive and pleasant in its own way, it is not visually stunning. Fortunately, there is also a second screen. This is where we learn about the story and characters. And the latter can certainly be considered the masterpiece of side-scrolling!

What is the technique of presenting gameplay using side-scrolling? It is nothing more than showing two (or more) flat layers so that they appear uniform. Sounds complicated? We saw this technique in many games of the 8-bit era.

3D? No, but…

There was little three-dimensional effect in these games, but side-scrolling made it possible to show movement on flat boards. The exact same maneuver was used in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim ! Single layers with transparencies are applied to the hand-painted background.

These are, for example, characters. Yuki Takamiya visible at the top is a 2D animated character who moves on an equally flat background, but using the control we can move her slightly up (then she will approach from behind the visible bench, which is another flat image), we can move her left or right . The screen will then scroll and we will see the rest of the board. It may be hard to believe, but it’s the same technique used in Super Mario Bros! released in 1985!

What does this give us? First of all, the effect is reminiscent of viewing a hand-drawn comic book (manga). Secondly, the game offers a movement system. It’s more than just selecting answers and changing pictures like in a typical visual novel game. Ultimately, this production is pleasant to watch even in motion, although the number of animations is limited.

How to make side-scrolling more attractive so that it doesn’t look as primitive as it did in the days of 8-bit computers? Through clever parallax. In the image above we see Tomi Kisaragi and Miwako Sawatari. These are two separate objects. The bushes in the lower right foreground are another object, as is the lamp.

As the characters move, and probably the screen with them, each of these objects will move at a different speed. This is how parallax works in a nutshell. The Holy Grail of side-scrolling!

A Japanese city in several time versions

But what would technology be without amazing drawings? I will try not to reveal too much of the story (although the final explanation of everything is a bit too simple for my taste).

While learning about the plot, we visit fictional Japanese cities (mainly Ashitaba on the Kaede River), mainly in three time periods – 1945, 1985 and 2025. And visiting the same places in different periods gives the same fun as watching the changes taking place in Hill Valley with Back to the Future trilogy. And the story itself also touches on 2065 and around 2105.

1945

The end of World War II is approaching. The Japanese people are suffering and it is shown in the game. The obvious enemy is the United States, but the history presented slightly blurs this monstrosity of history and inserts a completely different enemy into it all. Interestingly, the places we see in this period can also be found in later years, although with some changes.

We see traditional houses with tatami mats on the floors and shōji sliding screens behind the walls. It is worth looking at the details because, for example, in later years the view outside the window changes completely.

1985

It seems to me that the most visited time by our heroes is the wonderful year 1985! It seems that it was then that Japan experienced the apogee of its culture and the dominance of street art and technology. The artists, using only simple drawings, made the most of this year.

Visiting these times, we truly feel the stuffiness of a huge Japanese agglomeration in which teenagers feel quite comfortable. They do not feel overwhelmed by the noise of the streets, the color of neon lights or the multitude of activities. The backgrounds have a lot of different details. We see the characteristic wiring of the streets, a mixture of traditional symbols with a modern (for those times) setting.

Visiting the room of one of the wealthier boys, we see a cross-section of what teenagers from the Land of the Rising Sun dreamed of in 1985. On a large area we can see a European bunk bed with a work desk, a CRT TV with huge column speakers and equipment for playing VHS tapes. There is also a classic sako bag and a guitar standing in the corner.

2025

I don’t think I’ll reveal much when I admit that this is the year in which mysterious forces attack, forcing the heroes to defend their lives with mechs. We then see a Japanese city that is a composite of popular shots. A lot of greenery, modern skyscrapers around, and people everywhere.

Moments later, the buildings are destroyed, and everywhere you can see reinforcing bars sticking out of the crumbled walls. There is dust and glass from broken windows everywhere. There are people flying around not knowing what to do. A beautifully depicted apocalypse.

The same, but different

What I liked most about the authenticity of these world creations was the continuity of places. During the game, we visit the same locations many times, but at different times. These include the Tokisaka Shrine, the house belonging to the Kurabe family and the buildings of Sakura High School.

The same place, but in different times. The changes are visible not only in the completely different view outside the window. Some agricultural wasteland was simply replaced by neighbors. The differences also include the addition of an overhead light, a completely different type of shōji or tatami mats used.

An interesting example of the passage of time is the above-mentioned Sakura High School, i.e. the school that some of the characters attend. The main building is most likely the result of the construction of hundreds of similar schools, which took place in Japan at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s (just like in our country with millennials).

Just behind it there are meadows with a beautiful form of pergola over the path leading to… the old school. I won’t reveal much except to say that for some reason the new school was built not on the site of the old building, but next to it. Thanks to this, the building from 1945 is still available in 1985.

Japan, as painted

Regardless of whether you run as characters in 1945, or 1985, or any other year… you will be captivated by the artists’ craftsmanship. The painted landscapes prepared with parallax in mind are very impressive, you feel like you are watching a high-budget anime.

And there are plenty of places we will visit. The city after dark, school buildings, buildings of the future, a typical suburban platform. Regardless of which place we visit, we will be delighted.

In other words. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is worth playing, if only for the graphics and great voice acting. And the story, which, apart from the ending, is very engaging and really confusing, but in a good sense of the word!

I purchased the game 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim with my own funds.
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