It has been a while since I did one of these, but hey, the classics don't deserve to be forgotten. Turn Based Strategy is a genre which only ever works on two platforms for some reason. The computer which has gems such as Civilisation, Galactic Civilisation and the Total War series. The other platform is the handheld, particularly the GBA which had Strate-Gems (excuse the pun,couldn't resist) such as Advance Wars and Final Fantasy Tactics. Both spawned sequels and spin-offs (Onimusha Tactics is a carbon copy for Christ-sake.) and gained recognition in the community. Advance Wars is currently the highest ranking game on IGN with a review of 9.9/10. I don't think I'll be that generous.
As some of you may know, I already reviewed FF:Tactics a few months back when I was cutting my teeth in this review buisiness,but I thought it would do me good to have another look and compare it to Advance Wars 2:Black Hole Rising. The sequel was chosen because a) it was released at the same time as Tactics and b) we all know how awesome the first one is.
The turn based strategy versus the turn based strategy with a bit of RPG thrown in for good measure, this should be good. Well I suppose the first thing to do is to compare the storylines, which seeing as how I'm treating both these games as TBS games should not be a big factor in deciding my final verdict. Final Fantasy puts you in Marche the slightly feminine looking boy's shoes who is trapped in the dream world of Ivalice searching for a way home. Not a great storyline and although the characters in your team have their own names, the simple avatars used for each character makes it less than memorable. Although I'll never forget when Zoik the gladiator was killed in a Jagd. More on that later.
BHR on the other hand, shows the conflict between the island nation of Black Hole and the other nations of Orange Star,Blue Moon,Yellow Comet and Green Earth. You play through the game as each of the latter nations although I can't understand why a small island would attack the superpowers of the world. The characters actually have a personality here and the dialogue isn't that bad but the avatars for the characters look like generic Anime so no points there.
Whereas BHR allows you to issue orders from a top down view, Tactics throws you into the battle with your clan, a team who you pick and customize to your satisfaction. Mind you, because its turn based, I don't mean throw you into the battle like Dynasty Warriors or the Total War series. The real difference between Tactics and every other Final Fantasy is the ability to move on the battlefield even if it is turn-based. This calls for some serious flanking manoeuvres.
Any good strategy allows you to immerse yourself in a single battle for hours. This isn't the case with Tactics however, the AI is simply given a route to defeating you and rarely strays from that route. Advance Wars 2 however, has one of the best AI I've ever seen on the handheld. It is programmed to pressure you till you give in. One level told me to take the enemy HQ on the other side of the map. There was only one way to the HQ though and that was through a chokepoint with a base beside the HQ churning out enemy units. By the 15th turn I had managed to halt the enemy advance and kept the pressure on by sending in tank after tank from a nearby base. The enemy constantly built anti tank infantry (called Mech units) to push me back. I surged forward with a lone tank breaking through the defenses and positioning itself on the base, thus halving the enemy's unit production.
Only infantry can capture cities,bases and headquarters, so the race was on to get some infantry over there. The enemy was churning out the big guns at its other base on the north side while I concentrated on getting a lone Mech unit to their HQ. On the 56th turn I captured the HQ and I saw something that disturbed me at the enemy's North base. A Neotank, the most expensive and arguably best unit in the game. I realised that because the enemy's unit production had been halved, it was saving a lot more money allowing it to build such monstrosities. I didn't have the technology or the cash to fight that, if I hadn't captured the HQ there and then it could have been a terrible ending to a tough one and a half hours.
Battles in Tactics are still fun however, atleast the major battles are. The game fires repetitive clan battles at you to keep you on your toes but these are insanely boring because of the AI. The story however is one of several bad parts of the game, Marche realises that the only way out of Ivalice is to destroy it and your clan which has dozens of members by the time this is realised make no effort to stop you from destroying their world, rather they assist you in breaking the crystals that hold the world together.
The major battles however, are good fun because they provide a challenge and a reward in the form of a Totema. They are the bosses you are asked to beat in these battles and beating them allows a single character from a race to use them in the battlefield. This makes the harder battles later on in the game ludicrously easy though, 3 totemas and you have a battle at the high end of the scale won.
Tactics also saw a Judge system, a biased set of rules which hindered you in battle. Probably the most hated part of an otherwise fun game. Jagds however are a welcome sight. Parts of the game without judges where if an ally dies in battle, he or she really dies. Pooft, gone, never to be seen again. This is how I lost poor Zoik the gladiator, who took with him the totema for his race and I don't think it is possible for another character of his race to use the totema. Ever.
Both games provide a solid 30 hours+ of fun, Tactics throws too many battles at you though and comes with 300 obscure quests often requiring a quest item which is practically non-existent. Advance Wars 2 however, gives 34 great levels with levels ranging from 10 minutes of play time, to hours and hours on end. Although I praise Black Hole Rising for the AI, the fact it doesn't know when to give up makes a few of the longer battles tedious. If I hadn't won the 56th turn battle there and then, it could've gone on for another 50 turns.
Still, my recommendation for a great Turn Based Strategy would go to Advance Wars 2 this time, but for those of you looking for a great Turn Based Strategy with some good RPG elements thrown in....may I recommend Pokemon? Tactics gets my no.2 vote though.
As some of you may know, I already reviewed FF:Tactics a few months back when I was cutting my teeth in this review buisiness,but I thought it would do me good to have another look and compare it to Advance Wars 2:Black Hole Rising. The sequel was chosen because a) it was released at the same time as Tactics and b) we all know how awesome the first one is.
The turn based strategy versus the turn based strategy with a bit of RPG thrown in for good measure, this should be good. Well I suppose the first thing to do is to compare the storylines, which seeing as how I'm treating both these games as TBS games should not be a big factor in deciding my final verdict. Final Fantasy puts you in Marche the slightly feminine looking boy's shoes who is trapped in the dream world of Ivalice searching for a way home. Not a great storyline and although the characters in your team have their own names, the simple avatars used for each character makes it less than memorable. Although I'll never forget when Zoik the gladiator was killed in a Jagd. More on that later.
BHR on the other hand, shows the conflict between the island nation of Black Hole and the other nations of Orange Star,Blue Moon,Yellow Comet and Green Earth. You play through the game as each of the latter nations although I can't understand why a small island would attack the superpowers of the world. The characters actually have a personality here and the dialogue isn't that bad but the avatars for the characters look like generic Anime so no points there.
Whereas BHR allows you to issue orders from a top down view, Tactics throws you into the battle with your clan, a team who you pick and customize to your satisfaction. Mind you, because its turn based, I don't mean throw you into the battle like Dynasty Warriors or the Total War series. The real difference between Tactics and every other Final Fantasy is the ability to move on the battlefield even if it is turn-based. This calls for some serious flanking manoeuvres.
Any good strategy allows you to immerse yourself in a single battle for hours. This isn't the case with Tactics however, the AI is simply given a route to defeating you and rarely strays from that route. Advance Wars 2 however, has one of the best AI I've ever seen on the handheld. It is programmed to pressure you till you give in. One level told me to take the enemy HQ on the other side of the map. There was only one way to the HQ though and that was through a chokepoint with a base beside the HQ churning out enemy units. By the 15th turn I had managed to halt the enemy advance and kept the pressure on by sending in tank after tank from a nearby base. The enemy constantly built anti tank infantry (called Mech units) to push me back. I surged forward with a lone tank breaking through the defenses and positioning itself on the base, thus halving the enemy's unit production.
Only infantry can capture cities,bases and headquarters, so the race was on to get some infantry over there. The enemy was churning out the big guns at its other base on the north side while I concentrated on getting a lone Mech unit to their HQ. On the 56th turn I captured the HQ and I saw something that disturbed me at the enemy's North base. A Neotank, the most expensive and arguably best unit in the game. I realised that because the enemy's unit production had been halved, it was saving a lot more money allowing it to build such monstrosities. I didn't have the technology or the cash to fight that, if I hadn't captured the HQ there and then it could have been a terrible ending to a tough one and a half hours.
Battles in Tactics are still fun however, atleast the major battles are. The game fires repetitive clan battles at you to keep you on your toes but these are insanely boring because of the AI. The story however is one of several bad parts of the game, Marche realises that the only way out of Ivalice is to destroy it and your clan which has dozens of members by the time this is realised make no effort to stop you from destroying their world, rather they assist you in breaking the crystals that hold the world together.
The major battles however, are good fun because they provide a challenge and a reward in the form of a Totema. They are the bosses you are asked to beat in these battles and beating them allows a single character from a race to use them in the battlefield. This makes the harder battles later on in the game ludicrously easy though, 3 totemas and you have a battle at the high end of the scale won.
Tactics also saw a Judge system, a biased set of rules which hindered you in battle. Probably the most hated part of an otherwise fun game. Jagds however are a welcome sight. Parts of the game without judges where if an ally dies in battle, he or she really dies. Pooft, gone, never to be seen again. This is how I lost poor Zoik the gladiator, who took with him the totema for his race and I don't think it is possible for another character of his race to use the totema. Ever.
Both games provide a solid 30 hours+ of fun, Tactics throws too many battles at you though and comes with 300 obscure quests often requiring a quest item which is practically non-existent. Advance Wars 2 however, gives 34 great levels with levels ranging from 10 minutes of play time, to hours and hours on end. Although I praise Black Hole Rising for the AI, the fact it doesn't know when to give up makes a few of the longer battles tedious. If I hadn't won the 56th turn battle there and then, it could've gone on for another 50 turns.
Still, my recommendation for a great Turn Based Strategy would go to Advance Wars 2 this time, but for those of you looking for a great Turn Based Strategy with some good RPG elements thrown in....may I recommend Pokemon? Tactics gets my no.2 vote though.
