13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Finally Comes to North America This September

It's been seven years since we last played a Vanillaware game. The Osaka-based video game developer, known for the likes of Dragon's Crown and Odin Sphere, is known for its stunning painterly art direction and 2.5d graphics. Its newest game 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim released only in Japan last year, and is a departure from the studio's past games with its sci-fi setting. And as revealed during today's IGN Summer of Gaming livestream expo, it's finally coming to the west this year.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a side-scrolling adventure game with real-time strategy combat. In it, you play as 13 different characters, all teenage mech pilots who are battling a war against kaiju—a.k.a., big monsters. It's primarily set in 1980s Japan, and also has mysterious time-traveling quirks as well. Setting wise, it's quite different from the studio's past games, which are typically in the fantasy realm. Even with the departure, it still looks very Vanillaware-y in terms of its art style and graphics. Familiar staff, like longtime Vanillaware composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Basiscape, are also lending a hand to crafting the atmosphere for 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim's unique, mech-filled world.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim was originally announced in 2015 for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, before the latter version was canceled and the former version delayed from its original 2018 release window. Upon its release in Japan in 2019, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim received positive reviews. Its worldwide release will be published by Atlus USA.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and its beautiful art is coming to PlayStation 4 on September 8 in North America, and will get an English voice acting patch post-launch.