Memento Mecha, Part 2: All of This Happened, More or Less
13 Sentinels' "Remembrance" mode is a gorgeously illustrated visual novel whose charming exterior belies the intensity and complexity of its story.
If you're just jumping on board—or need to refresh your memory—check out part 1 here.
Some quick notes before beginning: I will be taking care to avoid spoilers throughout this series, though there will be some broad plot descriptions of both 13 Sentinels and Memento as well as some discussions of early scenes. The specific gameplay mechanics that I will be covering are explained in the manual and shown to the player throughout the prologue. Finally, all images are screenshots from my copy of the game unless otherwise noted.
"All of This Happened, More or Less"
—Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
Roughly two-thirds of 13 Sentinels’ 30 hour campaign is spent in the "Remembrance" game mode, a gorgeously illustrated visual novel whose charming exterior belies the intensity of its story. This is where players interact with the bulk of the dialogue and exposition: thousands upon thousands of lines divided among the 13 pilots, who are gradually unlocked as the game progresses. The protagonists' journeys overlap to create an intricate mosaic of love, hatred, loyalty, betrayal, hope, and nihilism. No one is who they seem, but that's to be expected when most of the characters aren't even sure of who they are. Just as Leonard's amnesia is exploited throughout Memento by practically everyone (including himself) the diverse cast of 13 Sentinels can seldom trust their own memories...or what is left of them.
This theme is hard-coded into the very mechanics of the ironically named Remembrance mode. Each chapter of Remembrance is advanced through the “thought cloud,” an expanding word bank of clues, plot points, and relevant items. This is perhaps the most overt similarity to Memento, not just on a superficial/aesthetic level, but on a thematic one as well. To bring up the thought cloud, players can hit △ on Playstation 4 or X on Switch whenever they have direct control of a character. Hovering over an entry plays audio of the protagonist whispering the title of that entry, and "Examining" the thought triggers a brief monologue from the character's point of view.
In an interview with Famitsu, Kamitani revealed that the thought cloud was created with the limitations of the human brain in mind. The team had to pare down the initial lists of keywords, some of which could include up to 20-30 items, down to more manageable numbers. The guiding question at the center of the process was “How many words can a human handle at once?” (“Developers’ Talk 1”). This becomes even more relevant when the characters in question suffer from memory loss. Every time I engaged with the Thought Cloud, I was reminded of how Leonard relies on his tattoos and photographs, perhaps too heavily for his own good. His system is meant to be disciplined and reliable, only containing what he deems to be “the facts”. However, Leonard is only human, not to mention suffering from a condition that directly impacts his ability to accurately piece together his myriad notes or properly put it into a larger context.
This isn’t to say that 13 Sentinels’ thought cloud and Leonard’s notes are entirely misleading, though. They do contain information relevant to their respective owners' quests, but because the characters seldom have all the facts, one bad thought can easily spoil the bunch. Both systems expose the inherent subjectivity of memory—one could go so far as to say that they reflect the subjectivity of the individual human experience (maybe I’m pushing my luck here). The protagonists in 13 Sentinels and Memento genuinely believe that they are fighting for what is right, even when reality begins to contradict their (and the player’s) previously held assumptions.
Another helpful yet subtly tricky mechanic is the text log of spoken dialogue and scene information (both location and time) in each chapter. By pressing Select on PS4 or – on Switch, players can pause to revisit the chapter’s script thus far. This becomes extremely useful, as there are times where players will need to pause the game to let dramatic revelations sink in. However, the log is somewhat coy in its handling of certain information since each chapter is still presented from its protagonist’s point of view. The most obvious knock-on effect is that the player will not be able to see a character’s name in the log until that character is specifically identified, which is to be expected considering the subjective nature of these remembrances. There are also cases in which different protagonists appear to know the same character but by different names, as well as moments when a protagonist may have simply forgotten or misremembered the character in question. and we reach a point where even the players will have to check themselves when faced with such conflicting information.
Both 13 Sentinels and Memento introduce these concepts almost immediately, teasing the audience with dozens of potential clues and red-herrings that are intentionally obfuscated by the protagonists’ shortcomings, including but not limited to memory loss. Take, for instance, one of the first scenes in Memento, in which Leonard meets Natalie in a local diner. Despite the fact that neither Leonard nor the audience recognize Natalie, her body language implies some sort of prior relationship between the two. The initial question–what Leonard has forgotten about Natalie?–quickly leads to a larger, even more frightening question: what has Leonard forgotten about himself? The cast of 13 Sentinels is similarly hamstrung by information that they should possess but nonetheless remains tantalizingly out of reach. They feel connections to other characters despite never having interacted with them and recall events that may or may not be real. In the scene screenshotted above, Iori Fuyusaka, runs to school and collides with a mysterious boy. Despite the fact that she and the player do not recognize the young man (hence the question marks in the log), he briefly appears to recognize Iori—at least, until he picks up the student ID that she dropped. Who is this boy, and to whom does Iori bear “an uncanny resemblance”? These uncertainties proliferate as more playable characters are unlocked and, by extension, more potential histories are uncovered. However, all will become clear over time.
The final tool available in the Remembrance mode is thankfully more forthcoming than the text log or thought cloud, though it is still a far cry from straightforward. At any point during a chapter, players can press □ on Playstation or Y on Switch to bring up a flow chart of the choices and story beats thus far (pressing the L/R buttons will also cycle through other protagonists' charts, too). This is another method through which the game alludes to certain causal relationships between events, though there are obviously some curveballs along the way. Regardless, it's much more legible than Leonard's convoluted map of people and locations, which is rarely foregrounded as a reliable resource that viewers are expected or even able to use. Aside from a handful of wider shots at the beginning and end of the film, Leonard’s map is only shown through close-ups of select sections. As much as I would like for the camera to zoom in and linger on the map for a few more seconds, I must also acknowledge that Memento was not designed with constant pausing and scrutinizing in mind (for the most part, anyway).
Luckily, 13 Sentinels is not a film, and thus is able to provide players with several tools that are not just helpful but essential. At first, the thought cloud, text log, and flowchart seem like small touches, but multiplied by 13 and enriched by the connections between characters as the game progresses, the clues begin to add up, just as they do throughout Memento. All it takes is a stray line of dialogue here or a familiar looking location there for the evidence to start forming a bigger picture, slowly but surely.
The final tool available in the Remembrance mode is thankfully more forthcoming than the text log or thought cloud, though it is still a far cry from straightforward. At any point during a chapter, players can press □ on Playstation or Y on Switch to bring up a flow chart of the choices and story beats thus far (pressing the L/R buttons will also cycle through other protagonists' charts, too). This is another method through which the game alludes to certain causal relationships between events, though there are obviously some curveballs along the way. Regardless, it's much more legible than Leonard's convoluted map of people and locations, which is rarely foregrounded as a reliable resource that viewers are expected or even able to use. Aside from a handful of wider shots at the beginning and end of the film, Leonard’s map is only shown through close-ups of select sections. As much as I would like for the camera to zoom in and linger on the map for a few more seconds, I must also acknowledge that Memento was not designed with constant pausing and scrutinizing in mind (for the most part, anyway).
Luckily, 13 Sentinels is not a film, and thus is able to provide players with several tools that are not just helpful but essential. At first, the thought cloud, text log, and flowchart seem like small touches, but multiplied by 13 and enriched by the connections between characters as the game progresses, the clues begin to add up, just as they do throughout Memento. All it takes is a stray line of dialogue here or a familiar looking location there for the evidence to start forming a bigger picture, slowly but surely.
Works Cited
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Nintendo Switch version, Vanillaware, 2022.
“13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Double Helix – Developers’ Talk 1”, translated by Garm, Garm’s Translations, 21 Aug 2021. Originally published in Famitsu, 12 Dec 2019. https://garmtranslations.wordpress.com/2021/08/11/13-sentinels-aegis-rim-double-helix-developers-talk-1/.
Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan, performances by Guy Pierce, Joe Pantoliano, and Carrie Anne Moss. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2002. Limited edition DVD.
Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. Slaughterhouse-Five. Random House, 2007.