Memento Mecha, Part 3: Mutually Informed Destruction
13 Sentinels was designed so that no two players will experience its story in the same order, but there is method to the madness.
If you're just jumping on board--or need to refresh your memory--check out the previous parts 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.
Mutually Informed Destruction
The "Destruction" mode is an interesting change of pace from the dialogue-heavy visual novel at the game's core. It takes the form of a tactical strategy game in which up to six of the titular 13 sentinels can be deployed to fight waves of kaiju. Because this piece is more focused on the game's narrative design (and because there are major plot implications to be found in the battles' mechanics), I will not be discussing Destruction mode in much specific detail. The bottom line is this: the events of Destruction mode comprise a single battle that occurs at the climax of 13 Sentinels' story, which is at a specific point in the game's timeline. The exact time and place is one of the overarching mysteries that players must solve.
This is where the game once again evokes Memento while also spiraling off in its own direction(s). As mentioned in Part 1, half of Memento's story presented chronologically and in monochrome, and half is presented backwards and in color. The effect is similar to that of reading a sestina or reciting the alphabet as "Z, A, Y, B, X, C, etc.—the film starts from the opposite ends and works it way towards the middle. To maintain cohesion, major plot points are referenced and developed concurrently in both halves. One example of this is Sammy Jankis, a mysterious man whose name is tattooed on the back of Leonard's hand. Sammy's story is revealed in bits as pieces as the film progresses: in the black and white sequences, Leonard recalls his interactions with Sammy and how they influenced his own worldview, while the color scenes reveal the truth about why Leonard is forcing himself to remember Sammy in the first place. Each half of the timeline has something different to offer on this subject, both with significant implications for Leonard.
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| IMDB |
13 Sentinels achieves something similar with its Destruction and Remembrance modes, which use their unique mechanics to explore topics from different angles. For example, the neurolink that allows the protagonists to pilot their sentinels is mentioned in the first Destruction battle as a clever means of introducing the basic controls (e.g. movement, selecting armaments, etc.), but the Remembrance chapters show how the characters became "compatible" with the sentinels in the first place as well as how the limits and risks manifest in their lives. There are also moments in the game where the relationships forged in the visual novel sections bear fruit on the battlefield, with protagonists' abilities synergizing in ways that reward particular groupings or loadouts. Despite the differences in gameplay, the two modes work in tandem to move the story forward.
Things become even more interesting once players complete the prologue, as they are given the ability to freely switch between Destruction and Remembrance modes at will. Not only that—large chunks of Remembrance can be tackled in any order. Some may opt to focus on a particular character for several consecutive chapters while others may bounce between multiple characters' storylines based on personal preference; players can also choose to focus exclusively on one particular mode for several hours or switch modes when they want a change of pace. As a result, it is highly unlikely that two players will take the same path.
Compared to the set progression of a film like Memento, this seems like a recipe for disaster. How could the developers, let alone a first-time player, navigate 13 overlapping nonlinear plotlines split between two game modes? This is another area in which Vanillaware had to delicately balance narrative with gameplay. Director George Kamitani intended for 13 Sentinels to be “A work whose scope is so wide, your impression of it will change based on who you pick.” Character designer Koichi Maenou echoed this sentiment, remarking that "we wanted players to form their own biases based on the order in which they experience the story." To the team's credit, it is impossible to play through 13 Sentinels without becoming attached to some if its protagonists. However, the tightly interwoven ensemble cast made it difficult to create “a system where it wouldn’t matter which route you took first”. The degree of internal consistency required for this seemed impossible. Kamitani recalls how he almost went "crazy from rewriting the plot constantly over three years and yelling into the night" (“Developers' Talk 1”).
The team eventually found a clever way to subtly guide the player and add a loose outline to the game’s progression. The solution was to create temporary roadblocks to prevent players from completely overwhelming themselves. As one plays through Remembrance and Destruction, progress on one track is occasionally (and, depending on the situation, either mercifully or maddeningly) gated by the progress of another. For example, the next battle in the Destruction section may be locked until the player reaches a certain level of Remembrance completion or a specific point in another character's plotline, but the opposite is also true: one may not be allowed to progress with a particular character until they have won enough battles or seen enough of other characters' chapters.
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| Stefan Miguel Lopez, Gamerant |
These prerequisites ultimately work in the game's favor, creating guide rails that ensure that major revelations happen at a regular pace and at points where players are more likely to possess some relevant information that can help clarify what they just learned. If one item is temporarily restricted, there will potentially be a dozen other paths that will progress the plot in other directions. Besides, the charm of the ensemble cast is enhanced by the wide array of personalities and experiences offered by each individual character. "No matter which protagonist’s point of view you take", Kamitani remarked in an interview, "you will only unravel a portion of the mystery" (Developers' Talk 1).
The relationship between 13 Sentinels' narrative and gameplay is an odd one to say the least. It's even difficult to describe the degree to which the game is actually "nonlinear" due to the various connotations of this term. "Nonlinear" can mean that events are presented out of order or from a variety of different viewpoints, but it can also mean that players have the ability to make decisions on behalf of the characters. 13 Sentinels only satisfies some of these criteria. As we will discuss in the next section, there is one canonical storyline, and there is nothing that players can do to change the outcome. However, there is quite a bit of freedom when it comes to how one experiences this storyline. Everyone will encounter the same twists and turns, just at different times and in different orders. The end result is an interesting twist on the concept of nonlinearity that makes both the journey and the destination feel worthwhile.
Next: Part 4: The Facts
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/.
Image of Shu Amiguchi's locked character selection screen. "13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - How To Unlock All The Characters", by Stefan Miguel Lopez, 21 April 2022. Gamerant, https://gamerant.com/13-sentinels-aegis-rim-unlock-all-characters-how/. Accessed 23 June 2022.
"Memento (2000)". IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/mediaviewer/rm2749694976?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_110.
Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan, performances by Guy Pierce, Joe Pantoliano, and Carrie Anne Moss. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2002. Limited edition DVD.