Going Overboard: Advance Wars - Dual Strike vs. Days of Ruin - Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

Posted by Sarumarine (1877 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

Advance Wars is one of my all time favorite video game series that uses an effective blend of turn based strategy and colorful graphics. This series started a long time ago known as Nintendo Wars in Japan, but it didn't really take off until a release on the Game Boy Advance. To overly simplify things, it's like chess involving tanks, planes, and battleships with a rock, paper, scissors approach to balance. An RPG-toting Infantry division can crack a tank no problem, but if an attack helicopter buzzes them, they're doomed. If a fighter jet finds the attack helicopter... well that copter is toast. The appeal comes from deploying a well balanced attack force along with a quirky Commanding Officer adding some bonus stats and special powers to mix things up. Couple that with some awesome music and a map editor and you're ready to roll.

I'm positive I could play this series forever. Sadly, Advance Wars has always been overshadowed by Fire Emblem which is a similar series with an emphasis on individual units in a fantasy setting. There's no telling if Intelligent Systems will ever release another game in the series. The last time an Advance Wars game came out was Days of Ruin/Dark Conflict on the DS in 2008. And it hasn't even released in Japan yet. To be fair, when the very first Advance Wars came out on the GBA it was right in the wake of 9/11. And considering how war is still part of our everyday lives I can see how an upbeat somewhat cutesy spin on commanding legions of infantry, tanks, and airplanes into combat might rub people the wrong way.

Anyway, I digress. The point of this blog is to take a look at the last two major releases in the Advance Wars on the Nintendo DS and match em' up 1v1 style. Why? Because I like both of them, but they are pretty different. I don't think this will turn into a contest of "which one is superior?" but more why I think both of them matter.

Basic Intel - Need to Know

Dual Strike and Days of Ruin might be in the same series but they are two very different beasts. It's the difference of balls-to-the-wall action disregarding all balance in contrast to a more reserved but better polished experience. The deciding factor comes down to how you like your games.

Dual Strike

Dual Strike, released in 2005, takes the kitchen sink approach and packs the game with as much stuff as they could fit on the cartridge. Looking back on it, it was like a party blowout for characters that were back for a third and final time. They had new faces, an RPG-like progression system, tagging characters in and out, battles on two screens, new units, challenge modes, and a weird combat mode that would totally be a dual joystick shooter... if the DS had any joysticks. There are 27 commanding officers in all. You know how many they had in the very first Advance Wars? Twelve. There is a lot of stuff to do in Dual Strike.

However, this means that balancing the game was impossible. The dual strike system allowed COs to tag in and out and make use of their various abilities, so you could very well pick the guy who buys cheap units for lower firepower... and then switch to the guy who pays more for his units but gets superior firepower. The number of ways to break the game with crazy CO combinations is more than it should be. No one in their right mind should go up against someone using Sami and Eagle together. You could break this even further by equipping skills COs unlocked from leveling up. Some of the new units also didn't work so great in practice like the Piperunner that almost never gets any use unless there are pipelines it can roll on. Considering pipes are impassible objects, you didn't see them much.

I do have to give major props to this series for killing off one of their major villains (an alien? robot? snifit? named Sturm) and actually keeping him dead. You couldn't get away with that in a series like Zelda or Mario.

Days of Ruin (Cause I'm in the U.S.)

Days of Ruin, released in 2008, was a reboot of the series with a new continuity and overall tone. When Advance Wars first came out it had a colorful, anime style to go along with the turn based military strategy. This game tossed all that out for darker and edgier with a decidedly next gen brown color scheme. It also has less content than Dual Strike, scaling things back and reworking the cost of units, Fog of War, and CO Powers. There are a few new units like the Duster plane, Biker Infantry, the Anti-Tank unit and a totally reworked Aircraft Carrier. It plays a lot better at the cost of slight tweaks to unit behavior, less COs, and a brand new cast of characters.

Instead of the simple good vs. evil storyline, Days of Ruin went a more complicated route. It was a survival story in a world totally devastated by meteors. Most of the characters represent various reactions to the end of the world. You have a guy like Waylon, who is ready to party down 'cause rules don't mean a thing in the apocalypse. There's Brenner, who's trying to do right because "where there's life, there's hope". And then you have NPCs like "The Mayor" who is so two-faced and backstabbing that he makes the major villain Caulder look good. It's one of those rare examples where making the game darker actually works in the favor of the story. There's only one character in the entire game who looks like a Mad Max extra and even one of the player characters falls pretty evenly between good and evil because she's the cold and calculating type.

The Cast - Commanding Officers

Dual Strike

While the story in Dual Strike might be simple, it allows for a lot of awesome characters and general insanity that you couldn't pull off in a more grounded setting. Since every nation (with the exception of Black Hole) is somewhat based off a real world military at some point in history, they go through a lot of archetypes. Orange Star is the U.S. Military, Blue Moon is Soviet Russia. Yellow Comet is Imperial Japan. Green Earth is WWII Europe. Air ace Eagle does the Blitzkrieg, and when his CO meter is charged up he can move most of his units twice in one turn. Drake is the British Navy who can also launch giant tidal waves that steal fuel. You also have Sami, who represents all sorts of Special Forces where a single solitary solider can capture an entire city (or enemy HQ) Rambo style. But sometimes you get a really dumb character like Jake, who uses so much slang he could be considered offensive.

Most of my favorites are the villains though, like the crazy Black Hole inventor Lash. She seems to have the most awareness about how absurd Advance Wars is without breaking the fourth wall and generally tries to have as much fun as she possibly can. Why is she evil? Because she can make giant ICBM cluster bombs and tanks with legs. She can produce cannons the size of mountains. While safe science is talking about ethics she's busy blowing up Olaf's hometown and installing self-destruct devices in airports just for fun. There's also Jugger, who is basically a webcam with arms and legs with some of the best dialogue in the game. These guys are gloriously dumb sometimes but always entertaining.

Not to mention, there are a shit ton of characters in this game. You're bound to find someone you like.

Days of Ruin

The cast of Days of Ruin is much more low key compared to Dual Strike but that makes them slightly more realistic if you're into that. Lin is probably my favorite example because she tries to do good things but is pragmatic enough to suggest non-heroic actions like leaving civilians behind if they aren't pulling their weight or shooting villains in cold blood when the opportunity presents itself because they had it coming. Some aren't as great though, like Will who falls into the "never say die, never give up" pothole that most designated protagonists fall into. Brenner, while a decent and kinda cool, pulls and Obi Wan. And there's Tasha who can be summed up in one caps lock word, REVENGE.

Probably the strongest aspect of the cast are the villains who are actually really bad guys. They range from complete assholes to complete monsters. Like I mentioned before, Waylon is one of the biggest dicks I've ever seen in a video game. But he's so good at it, it's hard not to like him. Greyfield is a warmonger who goes the extra mile and nukes one of the protagonists out of spite. And then you have Dr. Caulder, who is downright sadistic. Under the guise of science he pits the remnants of humanity against each other just to see what would happen. Meteors weren't good enough for him, so he creates a virus that causes plants to grow out from under people's skin. He also has a bunch of creepy "children" ( Penny and Tabitha) he's ruined through experimentation that they're more weapons than human. It's stark contrast to the villains of Dual Strike who try to be evil but are not very good at it.

Spoils of War - Outcome

The split between Dual Strike and Days of Ruin comes down to whether you like an exaggerated take on turn based strategy or a more focused affair. I think Days of Ruin plays a lot better with a healthier balance across units and COs... but there's something great about the series origin as an expressive, somewhat goofy turn based strategy game where a commander could drop a meteor on the battlefield and that was perfectly normal. Both games have their fair share of missteps what with two of the new COs from Dual Strike, Jugger and Koal, as slightly modified copies of Flak and Adder. It's clear that Flak and Adder were going to get cut from the game but for some reason were hastily slapped back in. Days of Ruin also has a strange flip-flop where a CO in the campaign, The Beast, isn't playable and Isabella takes his place (who never got involved in fighting). Not to mention the difficulty which can be a little uneven in Dual Strike with terrible missions like Crystal Calamity and Pincer Strike, and soul crushingly hard in Days of Ruin with the final stage. Sunrise is probably the hardest mission in the series history.

But the one things both games do well without fail is the soundtrack. Dual Strike might be a little less impressive considering a bunch of CO themes have been carried over three games, but there are some good ones in there. I'll finish this (probably overly long) blog with a selection of my favorites. You know, just in case you're into it.

#1 Posted by Sarumarine (1877 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

Advance Wars is one of my all time favorite video game series that uses an effective blend of turn based strategy and colorful graphics. This series started a long time ago known as Nintendo Wars in Japan, but it didn't really take off until a release on the Game Boy Advance. To overly simplify things, it's like chess involving tanks, planes, and battleships with a rock, paper, scissors approach to balance. An RPG-toting Infantry division can crack a tank no problem, but if an attack helicopter buzzes them, they're doomed. If a fighter jet finds the attack helicopter... well that copter is toast. The appeal comes from deploying a well balanced attack force along with a quirky Commanding Officer adding some bonus stats and special powers to mix things up. Couple that with some awesome music and a map editor and you're ready to roll.

I'm positive I could play this series forever. Sadly, Advance Wars has always been overshadowed by Fire Emblem which is a similar series with an emphasis on individual units in a fantasy setting. There's no telling if Intelligent Systems will ever release another game in the series. The last time an Advance Wars game came out was Days of Ruin/Dark Conflict on the DS in 2008. And it hasn't even released in Japan yet. To be fair, when the very first Advance Wars came out on the GBA it was right in the wake of 9/11. And considering how war is still part of our everyday lives I can see how an upbeat somewhat cutesy spin on commanding legions of infantry, tanks, and airplanes into combat might rub people the wrong way.

Anyway, I digress. The point of this blog is to take a look at the last two major releases in the Advance Wars on the Nintendo DS and match em' up 1v1 style. Why? Because I like both of them, but they are pretty different. I don't think this will turn into a contest of "which one is superior?" but more why I think both of them matter.

Basic Intel - Need to Know

Dual Strike and Days of Ruin might be in the same series but they are two very different beasts. It's the difference of balls-to-the-wall action disregarding all balance in contrast to a more reserved but better polished experience. The deciding factor comes down to how you like your games.

Dual Strike

Dual Strike, released in 2005, takes the kitchen sink approach and packs the game with as much stuff as they could fit on the cartridge. Looking back on it, it was like a party blowout for characters that were back for a third and final time. They had new faces, an RPG-like progression system, tagging characters in and out, battles on two screens, new units, challenge modes, and a weird combat mode that would totally be a dual joystick shooter... if the DS had any joysticks. There are 27 commanding officers in all. You know how many they had in the very first Advance Wars? Twelve. There is a lot of stuff to do in Dual Strike.

However, this means that balancing the game was impossible. The dual strike system allowed COs to tag in and out and make use of their various abilities, so you could very well pick the guy who buys cheap units for lower firepower... and then switch to the guy who pays more for his units but gets superior firepower. The number of ways to break the game with crazy CO combinations is more than it should be. No one in their right mind should go up against someone using Sami and Eagle together. You could break this even further by equipping skills COs unlocked from leveling up. Some of the new units also didn't work so great in practice like the Piperunner that almost never gets any use unless there are pipelines it can roll on. Considering pipes are impassible objects, you didn't see them much.

I do have to give major props to this series for killing off one of their major villains (an alien? robot? snifit? named Sturm) and actually keeping him dead. You couldn't get away with that in a series like Zelda or Mario.

Days of Ruin (Cause I'm in the U.S.)

Days of Ruin, released in 2008, was a reboot of the series with a new continuity and overall tone. When Advance Wars first came out it had a colorful, anime style to go along with the turn based military strategy. This game tossed all that out for darker and edgier with a decidedly next gen brown color scheme. It also has less content than Dual Strike, scaling things back and reworking the cost of units, Fog of War, and CO Powers. There are a few new units like the Duster plane, Biker Infantry, the Anti-Tank unit and a totally reworked Aircraft Carrier. It plays a lot better at the cost of slight tweaks to unit behavior, less COs, and a brand new cast of characters.

Instead of the simple good vs. evil storyline, Days of Ruin went a more complicated route. It was a survival story in a world totally devastated by meteors. Most of the characters represent various reactions to the end of the world. You have a guy like Waylon, who is ready to party down 'cause rules don't mean a thing in the apocalypse. There's Brenner, who's trying to do right because "where there's life, there's hope". And then you have NPCs like "The Mayor" who is so two-faced and backstabbing that he makes the major villain Caulder look good. It's one of those rare examples where making the game darker actually works in the favor of the story. There's only one character in the entire game who looks like a Mad Max extra and even one of the player characters falls pretty evenly between good and evil because she's the cold and calculating type.

The Cast - Commanding Officers

Dual Strike

While the story in Dual Strike might be simple, it allows for a lot of awesome characters and general insanity that you couldn't pull off in a more grounded setting. Since every nation (with the exception of Black Hole) is somewhat based off a real world military at some point in history, they go through a lot of archetypes. Orange Star is the U.S. Military, Blue Moon is Soviet Russia. Yellow Comet is Imperial Japan. Green Earth is WWII Europe. Air ace Eagle does the Blitzkrieg, and when his CO meter is charged up he can move most of his units twice in one turn. Drake is the British Navy who can also launch giant tidal waves that steal fuel. You also have Sami, who represents all sorts of Special Forces where a single solitary solider can capture an entire city (or enemy HQ) Rambo style. But sometimes you get a really dumb character like Jake, who uses so much slang he could be considered offensive.

Most of my favorites are the villains though, like the crazy Black Hole inventor Lash. She seems to have the most awareness about how absurd Advance Wars is without breaking the fourth wall and generally tries to have as much fun as she possibly can. Why is she evil? Because she can make giant ICBM cluster bombs and tanks with legs. She can produce cannons the size of mountains. While safe science is talking about ethics she's busy blowing up Olaf's hometown and installing self-destruct devices in airports just for fun. There's also Jugger, who is basically a webcam with arms and legs with some of the best dialogue in the game. These guys are gloriously dumb sometimes but always entertaining.

Not to mention, there are a shit ton of characters in this game. You're bound to find someone you like.

Days of Ruin

The cast of Days of Ruin is much more low key compared to Dual Strike but that makes them slightly more realistic if you're into that. Lin is probably my favorite example because she tries to do good things but is pragmatic enough to suggest non-heroic actions like leaving civilians behind if they aren't pulling their weight or shooting villains in cold blood when the opportunity presents itself because they had it coming. Some aren't as great though, like Will who falls into the "never say die, never give up" pothole that most designated protagonists fall into. Brenner, while a decent and kinda cool, pulls and Obi Wan. And there's Tasha who can be summed up in one caps lock word, REVENGE.

Probably the strongest aspect of the cast are the villains who are actually really bad guys. They range from complete assholes to complete monsters. Like I mentioned before, Waylon is one of the biggest dicks I've ever seen in a video game. But he's so good at it, it's hard not to like him. Greyfield is a warmonger who goes the extra mile and nukes one of the protagonists out of spite. And then you have Dr. Caulder, who is downright sadistic. Under the guise of science he pits the remnants of humanity against each other just to see what would happen. Meteors weren't good enough for him, so he creates a virus that causes plants to grow out from under people's skin. He also has a bunch of creepy "children" ( Penny and Tabitha) he's ruined through experimentation that they're more weapons than human. It's stark contrast to the villains of Dual Strike who try to be evil but are not very good at it.

Spoils of War - Outcome

The split between Dual Strike and Days of Ruin comes down to whether you like an exaggerated take on turn based strategy or a more focused affair. I think Days of Ruin plays a lot better with a healthier balance across units and COs... but there's something great about the series origin as an expressive, somewhat goofy turn based strategy game where a commander could drop a meteor on the battlefield and that was perfectly normal. Both games have their fair share of missteps what with two of the new COs from Dual Strike, Jugger and Koal, as slightly modified copies of Flak and Adder. It's clear that Flak and Adder were going to get cut from the game but for some reason were hastily slapped back in. Days of Ruin also has a strange flip-flop where a CO in the campaign, The Beast, isn't playable and Isabella takes his place (who never got involved in fighting). Not to mention the difficulty which can be a little uneven in Dual Strike with terrible missions like Crystal Calamity and Pincer Strike, and soul crushingly hard in Days of Ruin with the final stage. Sunrise is probably the hardest mission in the series history.

But the one things both games do well without fail is the soundtrack. Dual Strike might be a little less impressive considering a bunch of CO themes have been carried over three games, but there are some good ones in there. I'll finish this (probably overly long) blog with a selection of my favorites. You know, just in case you're into it.

Dual Strike

Jake's Theme
Koal's Theme
Sami's Theme
Lash's Theme

Days of Ruin

The Owl's Flight
Flight of the Coward - Waylon's Theme
Mr. Bear - Penny's Theme
Supreme Logician - Lin's Theme

Advance Wars 2 (Bonus)

Sturm's Theme

#2 Edited by NegativeCero (2494 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

I own both of these and love them. I still haven't beaten them, though, super hard at some point in the story. Still, with the amount of content they packed into these games, I'll still occasionally go back to play the War Room.

#3 Posted by EVO (3506 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

What a timely thread. I was think the other day about finally getting Days of Ruin, since I loved Dual Strike. I played the shit out of it a few years ago on a holiday to Tahiti, where not even a beautiful tropical island could break that games hold on me.

Online

#4 Posted by ArbitraryWater (8952 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

Dual Strike is stupidly unbalanced. Yes, that's true. Even without the simple gamebreakingness of a Dual Strike or any of the postgame COs (Nell and Hachi, specifically) it's not one for being especially fair. It throws everything out there, and not everything sticks. The campaign is probably the best in the series and, despite every effort of Jake to be the most obnoxious brodude in the world, it's still an enjoyably goofy experience.

In contrast, Days of Ruin is very much a "One step forward, two steps back" kind of game. I think the extremely grim and dark and edgy aesthetic is forced, and thus kind of unappealing (the character themes especially suffer from this. How much rockin rock music does one man need?). The campaign isn't anywhere as good, as it's a lot of trial and error and introduces concepts at a fairly sluggish pace. The story? Ehh... no. Nonetheless, despite all the vitriol of those previous sentences, the actual gameplay is still really good. There aren't any real gimmick units, the way COs are implemented is pretty smart, and it has online, so I guess that's cool.

#5 Posted by Red (5893 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

Thanks for reminding me of my love of Advance Wars. Even though I've never managed to actually beat an AW game, it's probably my favorite pure strategy series out there. I do prefer Fire Emblem, although that is more because of the better stories, characters, and leveling system than core gameplay. Simply put, some of my favorite moments in gaming come from Advance Wars. Pulling off the Sami-Eagle move you mentioned, completely decimating an enemy that had an obvious upper hand is immensely satisfying. However, my favorite moment comes from a time I was playing Multiplayer with my cousin. In a fog of war match, I managed to set up a perfect sneak attack on his base that made it physically impossible for him to kill my infantry. He didn't see it coming at all, and the look on his face was priceless. Truth be told, I vastly prefer the turn based combat of Advance Wars over every RTS I've played.

Now I feel like picking up Days of Ruin.

#6 Posted by ZombiePie (4789 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

I feel like 1UP's video review of Days of Ruin accurately reflects how I feel about this. Although I will say that Days of Ruin got stupidly hard at a certain point where it wasn't fun anymore.

Moderator

#7 Posted by ryanwho (12083 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

I liked how Days of Ruin was like "we're dark and gritty" then they're like "dudes are turning into plants".

#8 Posted by Chop (1708 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

Duel Strike is way too easy.

Days of Ruin is arguably the best in the series and Duel Strike is arguably the worst.

#9 Posted by Dany (7877 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

@ZombiePie said:

"
I feel like 1UP's video review of Days of Ruin accurately reflects how I feel about this. Although I will say that Days of Ruin got stupidly hard at a certain point where it wasn't fun anymore.
"

Going to your profile page reveals the text. Also I can see the text in the white background

#10 Posted by bobafettjm (1003 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

@ZombiePie: OMG new spoiler highlighting thingy.

To stay on topic I really love these games, but for some reason I only end up playing them for a small amount of time before not going back to them.

#11 Posted by ryanwho (12083 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

@Chop said:

" Duel Strike is way too easy.

Days of Ruin is arguably the best in the series and Duel Strike is arguably the worst.
"

I'd say Battalion Wars is the low point of the series, if that even counts as an entry.

I would love a balls out HD console Advance Wars. But if Fire Emblem is any indication of how Intelligence Systems would handle it, maybe its not the best idea.

#12 Posted by FancySoapsMan (5411 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

Damn, a new Advance Wars would be pretty awesome.

#13 Posted by TurboMan (5467 posts) - 2 years, 7 days ago

@ZombiePie: I'm freaking out over the new spoiler feature.

#14 Posted by Sarumarine (1877 posts) - 2 years, 6 days ago

@ArbitraryWater:
Yeah, I think halfway through Days of Ruin's campaign they finally give you CO abilities, which is crazy. Not to mention they have missions where you use COs in some strange capcities. There's that mission where you play as Gage... but it's some weird pre-deployed puzzle mission where you have to hold off a horde of 1HP units.

And that's a good point. There is a lot of rock theme music.

@Red said:

"I do prefer Fire Emblem, although that is more because of the better stories, characters, and leveling system than core gameplay."

I like Fire Emblem, but I find it really high stress with the emphasis on individuals in an army. If a person gets killed in battle... they're dead, end of story. I find myself replaying missions over and over again just to make sure everyone gets through alive. It takes me ages to get through Fire Emblem games. I like Advance Wars a lot more because I can just roll with an army without stressing casualties.

@ryanwho said:

" I liked how Days of Ruin was like "we're dark and gritty" then they're like "dudes are turning into plants". "

Yeah, the plant virus is very hit or miss for people (more miss judging from what I've heard). But I find anything growing beneath my skin gross so I didn't find it totally ridiculous. But yeah, flowers.

#15 Posted by Tordah (2369 posts) - 2 years, 6 days ago

Good blog! I don't own a DS so I haven't played either game, but I do love the GBA games. Really great and fun series.

#16 Posted by buft (3142 posts) - 2 years, 6 days ago

I loved the original advance war games, i played the first in canada all those years ago and the dual wars was great , i didnt like the serious setting of days of ruin though.

#17 Posted by Sarumarine (1877 posts) - 2 years, 5 days ago

@buft said:

I loved the original advance war games, i played the first in canada all those years ago and the dual wars was great , i didnt like the serious setting of days of ruin though.

Part of me likes the serious tone of Days of Ruin because war is obviously nothing to party about, but I also love the bright colors and cartoony style of the first three Advance Wars game. I guess I appreciate they tried something new. Fun games through.

#18 Posted by mgray5159 (43 posts) - 2 years, 5 days ago

Those are fantastic games. Days of Ruin is one of my favorite games of all time!!

#19 Posted by RecSpec (3057 posts) - 2 years, 4 days ago

I didn't think the original series could go any farther as far as a single player was concerned, so Days of Ruin would have been good enough. But the single player was so damn good. It's hard to go back to the other games after that one.

Although, nothing will compare to the Dual Strike CO Powers, Earth and Sky was amazing. If you didn't win after using that, you shouldn't be playing AW.

#20 Posted by Sarumarine (1877 posts) - 2 years, 4 days ago

@RecSpec said:

Although, nothing will compare to the Dual Strike CO Powers, Earth and Sky was amazing. If you didn't win after using that, you shouldn't be playing AW.

Definitely, it's so over the top. The first time I used Earth and Sky I was like "Is this really happening? Three turns and a Victory March? This is incredible!" Of course, it's not so cool when someone uses it on you. I think your best chance of defense is parking a Megatank on your HQ and hoping for the best.

#21 Posted by LordXavierBritish (6233 posts) - 1 year, 11 months ago

I started playing Dual Strike on a whim today and then I found this thread.

I came into this thread to say that I couldn't play through Days of Ruin because the art was offensive to the point that I didn't want to play it anymore.

And then I sold it.

I will never regret this decision and I have no idea how you people put up with it.

God damn I miss Advance Wars.

#22 Posted by Sarumarine (1877 posts) - 1 year, 11 months ago

@LordXavierBritish said:

I came into this thread to say that I couldn't play through Days of Ruin because the art was offensive to the point that I didn't want to play it anymore. And then I sold it. I will never regret this decision and I have no idea how you people put up with it. God damn I miss Advance Wars.

I can understand that. For me, usually if a game is fun enough everything else can slide as long as it's not too overpowering. I didn't find the new art direction in Days of Ruin as crippling as you did. I like they way they handled Fog of War and how they solved the Aircraft Carrier relationship in the grand scheme of things. But I guess I'm not picky. I'll take Advance Wars anyway I can get it.

But if they ever do make a new one, I hope they try something new instead of continuing the Days of Ruin continuity.

#23 Posted by MKnightDH (23 posts) - 1 year, 2 months ago

@ryanwho:

Battalion Wars is actually good. If you're convinced otherwise, maybe you should show me how you play, with a capture card such as the Pinnacle Dazzle and a program like Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder. I'd like to know why you must be hating it. I wouldn't be surprised if it's because of a Wake Up Call Level or whatever.

#24 Posted by MKnightDH (23 posts) - 1 year, 2 months ago

@Sarumarine said:

I like they way they handled Fog of War and how they solved the Aircraft Carrier relationship in the grand scheme of things.

I do wish Fog of War didn't have properties hide stuff. And the Aircraft Carrier has the problem that the Submarine deals 110% base to it, while simultaneously having HORRIBLE AA (when the unit by itself is expensive to begin with) and no way to move and build on the same turn. I do like the other ideas for both, sort of.

#25 Posted by Shaul305 (1 posts) - 4 months, 17 days ago

Great write up. Just happen to come across this when debating which to play (and finish) this time around b/w DoR and FFTA2. Can't wait to get back into DoR its been years, and a good way to quell my recent obsession with Pokemon once again.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is a turn based strategy game in the long running Nintendo Wars series. It features a much darker story and art style than the previous games; as well as online play.

Going Overboard: Advance Wars - Dual Strike vs. Days of Ruin

Basic Intel - Need to Know

Dual Strike

Days of Ruin (Cause I'm in the U.S.)

The Cast - Commanding Officers

Dual Strike

Days of Ruin

Spoils of War - Outcome

Dual Strike

Days of Ruin

Advance Wars 2 (Bonus)

Basic Intel - Need to Know

Dual Strike

Days of Ruin (Cause I'm in the U.S.)

The Cast - Commanding Officers

Dual Strike

Days of Ruin

Spoils of War - Outcome

Dual Strike

Days of Ruin

Advance Wars 2 (Bonus)

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