how to even access a specific character.
By focusing on the Destruction section of the game, players can earn Mystery Points to learn more about the intertwining lore. However, to prevent going too far too quickly several “gates” may appear to block progression; if a prerequisite is already met some locks might not show up at all. While one could blindly play through all 13 characters hoping to find more Destruction Waves, it is entirely possible to play a minimum of Remembrance with a few characters.
Ashitaba and Shibugaki City Gates in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Ashitaba City Wave 6
The second half of Ashitaba city is gated by Keitaro Miura’s prologue. There are two routes to unlock Keitaro’s scenario, either via Remembrance or Destruction first. Those that are focused on Remembrance can complete Natsuno Minami’s path “Transcending Space and Time”. This route can be achieved by evading the Man in Black that is patrolling the track and field area - getting spotted will instead automatically put players on the “My Best Friend’s Meddling” path. The second option is for players to complete Destruction’s Ashitaba Wave 2, which will grant more access to Shu Amiguchi’s story. When re-entering Shu’s quest players will be forced along the “Those of Us in a Dream” path, which when beaten will unlock Keitaro if he wasn’t already.
Shibugaki City Wave 1
After beating all of Ashitaba City, players may encounter a new gate preventing them from entering Shibugaki city. This can be unlocked by finishing 30% of Remembrance overall. This percentage can come from any combination of the 13 playable characters. This means players can go deep in a few stories, or spread wide across them all. Some of the most direct candidates include Nenji Ogata, Ryoko Shinonome, and Megumi Yakushiji who all have Remembrance gates more closely linked to Destruction clearance or by spending Mystery Points.
Shibugaki City Wave 6
Later, after beating the Gladiator boss battle of Wave 5, players may come across another gate in the way of Wave 6. This can be unlocked by completing Shu’s “Across the World in 30 km” path ending. Players will be brought on this route under two circumstances: first, they will need to complete two other previous Shu routes “Mind & Body” and “A Spector Reborn”. Second, they will need to complete Natsuno Minami’s “Exterminator” event. However, this event also has the requirement of unlocking Yuki Takamiya and going on one of her early paths.
Yuki has two different ways to open her scenario. The most straight forward is to play as Natsuno and purposely get chased by the Man in Black in order to complete “My Best Friend’s Meddling”. However, if players wind up in “Transcending Space and Time” first then Natuno’s quest will lock with a special gate. Players will instead need to switch to Keitaro and complete his “Where Do We Come From?” route, which is available as soon Ashitaba City Wave 5 in beaten. In either case, players can now embark on Yuki’s “Girl With Red Glasses” route by questioning Nenji on the rooftop after talking to the track team at the athletics building and learning about the incident at the girl’s bathroom.
Himawari and Sumire Ward Gates in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Himawari Ward Wave 1
Entering Himawari Ward will be gated by completing all of Juro Kurabe’s storyline. This can be a bit roundabout as three-fourths of his story has some big prerequisites. To get through roughly the second half of Juro’s scenario players will need to finish 30% of any nine protagonists; this figure also counts Juro himself in the total. Most of the playable characters can be raised to this number fairly easily, the two main exceptions being Ei Sekigahara and Renya Gouto who are both heavily gated by other characters. The best options are Megumi Yakushiji and Yuki Takamiya, as their own Remembrance has links to Juro (either gated by him or unlock his gates).
For around 75% of Juro’s story, players will need to complete the majority of Yuki’s own story. The specific Remembrance route is named “A Conscious Criminal”. But, Yuki’s story is intertwined with Natsuno and players will need to weave between the two to finish all of the former’s. Additionally, Shibugaki City Wave 5 must be beaten to open up portions of Natsuno’s routes, most namely “A Missing Memory” and “A Closed World”. The final bit of Juro’s quest requires completion of Shibugaki City Wave 10, which players may already have finished if focusing on Destruction.
Himawari Ward Wave 6
Himawari Ward Wave 5 contains one of the more nail-biting boss battles that will test one’s offensive strategy. And even after clearing it players may find another gate locking them out of Wave 6. To open this one players will need to finish all of Tomi Kisaragi’s Remembrance. Tomi herself has two different unlock routes. The first is the aforementioned “Girl With Red Glasses” from Yuki, whom players may have found from Natsuno or Keitaro. The second option is to go into Megumi’s storyline and complete all of Fluffy’s early missions, culminating in the “I’m a Liar” path ending. This will open up Nenji Ogata’s scenario. While playing as him, if one waits for Tomi’s train to arrive and finish the “Escape Failed” path then Tomi will also unlock.
Tomi’s own Remembrance has a few hoops of its own to jump through. First, players will need to acquire at least ten Mystery Points to unlock Mystery Files within Analysis. These are directly linked with their score in Destruction. If battles have been going poorly, one may need to retry combat levels to improve score. This can also be assisted by upgrading the Meta-System’s Score Multiplier to level 6 and keep the Win Streak high. While it can be very tempting to recover a character’s Brain Overload, it is typically better to not reset a good streak.
Even after getting enough points, players will need to first beat all of Shibugaki to continue Tomi’s quest. Later, they will also need to finish Shu’s “Idol in Orbit” path. This will be accessible after clearing his “Across the World in 30 km”, “A Spector Reborn”, and “Ignition” routes, all of which have the same requirement of already completing Natsuno’s “Exterminator”.
Himawari Ward Wave 9 and Sakura High School
The final story battles are linked to the completion of Renya Gouto’s Remembrance, which serves as the overall last possible route. To first unlock Renya one will need to complete Keitaro’s “Those to Protect” route. This automatically becomes Keitaro’s only option immediately after clearing the previously touched on “Where Do We Come From?”. Even after finishing Reyna’s prologue, he has another hefty requirement of completing 80% of all 12 other protagonist’s Remembrance routes and Himawari Ward Wave 5.
For the very last Renya scene, players will need to have a full 100% completion of the other main characters. One of the major hold outs is likely to be Takatoshi Hijiyama. While Takatoshi is introduced early in the game, his next scenario is locked out by Nenji Ogata’s “Victims of Poison” route. Nenji can be an elusive character himself, requiring players to head deep into either Megumi or Tomi’s story; the latter also being hidden through several other characters like Keitaro and Yuki. Even after getting past that first portion of Takatoshi, the conclusion of his Remembrance is actually gated by Renya himself, specifically the latter’s “Hypocrisy” route. This means players will need to jump between the two heroes to finish up Remembrance.
Sumire Ward Endless Waves
After beating the Sakura High School battle and viewing the ending of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim players will have the option to save their clear data. By loading up this file one will gain access to Sumire Ward. This area has no story segments and instead serves up an endless assortment of challenges. Completing these fights is purely optional, but maybe the necessary tool for players to gain more Meta Chips and Mystery Points. This might be a good option to acquire some of the more rare PlayStation Trophies like Fully-Armed Meta-System, Supreme Defender, and Analysis: Complete. The requirements for those include buying every weapon and terminal function, gaining 30 S ranks, and unlocking every Mystery file with Mystery points and combat objectives, respectively.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is available on PlayStation 4.
