You’re probably already aware that Vanillaware’s director George Kamitani has a tradition of publishing a brand new piece of artwork in order to wish everyone a happy New Year. Well, he tweeted 2019’s artwork today along with a message:
２０１９年、今年もよろしくお願いいたします。
年賀絵は久々にファンタジーを描いてみました。冒険者と水の精霊ウンディーネです。こういうゲームを…いや、まずは十三機兵だ。（神谷） pic.twitter.com/f9IC6kP6bD— ヴァニラ坊や (@vanillaware_boy) January 7, 2019
Happy New Year everyone. I haven’t been drawing any fantasy lately, so 2019’s New Year artwork is fantasy themed. It shows a group of adventurers and the water spirit Undine. I’d love to make that kind of game… but we need to finish 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim first. (Signed Kamitani)
Judging by his message, Kamitani and Vanillaware are hard at work on 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, which is set in a fictional 20th century Japan featuring mechas. Nearly all of the previous games handled by Kamitani, from Princess Crown to Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, have been fantasy themed, so it’s easy to tell his preferences.
While we don’t know much about 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, we already know it will also differ with past Vanillaware games when it comes to its overall experience. It has the usual beautiful artworks and atmosphere, the usual 2D side-scrolling, but it doesn’t seem to be a frenetic action RPG. 13 Sentinels is described by Vanillaware as a “Dramatic Adventure” game, meaning it’s a visual novel-like game, with less constant action, besides the mechas, and more talking.
All the previous happy New Year artworks by George Kamitani can be found on Vanillaware’s official website. As a matter of fact, the first look we’ve got on 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim was with Vanillaware’s 2013 happy New Year artwork, before the game was announced in September 2015. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the game was already planned at the time. However, that artwork seemingly hints at a piece of lore, which is currently speculation on my part and wasn’t officially revealed yet: it seems each character needs to touch a specific part of their bodies to activate or summon their mechas. And for the girl with the flower hairband, it’s her right thigh, as she does at the start of the latest trailer. In any case, you can read more about the game’s story in a previous article.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim was supposed to release for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2018, but the game was recently indefinitely delayed along with the cancellation of the PlayStation Vita version.
The post Vanillaware and George Kamitani Wish You a Happy New Year and Teases 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is Coming by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.