4 localized entries into AW and I've seen this series go from 'war games satire' to 'found family beats the shit out of the ginyu force' to 'power of friendship beats the shit out of carbon emissions' to 'western apocalypse drama'.

As IntSys drifts further away from the original's meta-contextualization of tabletop strategy, the weird balance issues feel at odds with its tone: You have this depression-age slaughterhouse conflict happening amidst the franchise's most overly-balanced entry. Feels off. The new unit types and revisions to power/pricing levels help cover all the utility-based gaps from 1/2/DS - Dusters as an all-purpose budget plane, Gunboats for cheap sea damage, Antitanks to block vehicles from sniping indirects, - but I could not tell you how many times a match became a borderline stalemate.

AI is defensive to a fault, doubly so with Air units. If they get a chance to set up their field with 1-2 of each major attack type (air, tank, indirect), they'll just make an impenetrable wall. Often times, there was no way to win without poking holes in the enemy front until they screwed up. I'm aware the game isn't balanced once you get into PvP and bring in the new CO power system (what were they thinking), but in story mode, it's too sterile. But more than anything, it clashes with the feral characterization of the world and its resources. For a story about 99% of infrastructure getting bulldozed by God, you sure do build more units than any game preceding it. I LIKE spamming my Mechs, B-Copters and Artillery! Breaking things is fun!

Couldn't say one thing or another about the plot. It's not what I want out of AW and I think you could chop the script length in half, but I never 'disliked' it. Very 'political'; a lot of posturing about loyalty and war morale, was surprised how visceral its writing gets for being an E-rated Nintendo gig. They sure do talk a lot about drinking each other's blood for sport. Best part is they finally commit to the 'pull the trigger' bit they cockteased in Dual Strike. Couldn't really name characters or moments I got sucked into, besides Brenner, Lin and Caulder's 'family'. I like Will's convictions and think 'optimistic shonen self-insert' was probably the best foil possible for this setup, but he ain't no Andy.

In spite of balance issues and tonal dissonance this is still worth the time imo. Difficulty feels the lowest of the series up to this point, using expensive units ad hominem is fun, the ways they mix up story battles are cool, and there's bits of QOL/refinement that make it more digestible than its predecessors. Debatably the best starting point, especially since 1/2/DS aren't acknowledged in any capacity here.

Reviewed on Mar 19, 2023


2 Comments


How telling: the most post-apocalyptic form Advance Wars has yet taken is the one where you can overproduce and over-stalemate. It's a kind of warfare as superficially climactic as it is truly banal. It seems like much of the drama and situational theatrics that fit the earlier, more cartoony entries gets refuted in Days of Ruin, contrasting easily distinguished characters and principles with war's harsh ambiguities. That's a lot of adjectives coming from me, Mr. Needs to Play More Advance War, but that's my personal pitch for digging into this entry once I'm ready.

8 months ago

> For a story about 99% of infrastructure getting bulldozed by God

Made me spit my drink. Well done