What’s out there?
Do you want tactics games as well as strategy?
I’d say there’s plenty of good stuff for the GBA if you didn’t already own one of those.
It’s not the same.
I had hoped DS would have a lot of great turn-based strategy stuff making good use of the stylus, but outside of the Advance Wars DS game (which wasn’t spectacularly different than the GBA stuff), I haven’t seen much that’s my cup of tea. The GBA had a trove of riches (Advance Wars 1&2, Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, Rebelstar Tactical Command, etc. etc.). I’m looking to the PSP (as we’re babbling in that other thread here) for turn-based stuff where there’s a lot releasing the next few months.
Yeah, as far as I’ve found, there’s Advance Wars DS and then there’s Age of Empires. If there’s anything else specifically for DS, I don’t know about it. I did hear they were making a Super Robot Taisen game for it, and I’d be surprised if a Fire Emblem game didn’t come out sooner or later, but…
Battles of Prince of Persia.
Luminous Arc comes out next week on the 14th/15th.
Panzer Tactics and the Front Mission 1 remake are both scheduled for October. (For those not in the know, Front Mission is Final Fantasy Tactics but with mechs, also from Square.)
There are a few CCG’s which technically fall under the umbrella of turn-based-strategy. Same with RPG’s of course. Some of these veer closer to traditional TBS territory than others.
There’s Battles of Prince of Persia, which is a fairly crappy Advance Wars/CCG hybrid based on the PoP universe. (To be specific, the gameplay is not bad, it’s the interface and controls which are horrible.)
Front Mission sounds fun.
But then again, I like 'mech games.
90% of DS games are still licensed (and usually kid-related) garbage, but the 10% that isn’t, is gold. Re: TBS gba games, has anyone tried Rebelstar: Tactical Command? I saw it at EB the other day and it basically looks like it is meant to be an X-Com clone, which would be awesome if realized properly. Anyone have any actual impressions of it?
78% score on Metacritic for Rebelstar: http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/gba/rebelstartacticalcommand?q=rebelstar
We had a brief thread on Rebelstar in the old days. I searched and dug it up for ya :)
Should I buy Rebelstar Tactical Command?
http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=30444&highlight=Rebelstar
I bought it and liked it (I’m sure it’s cheap now and certainly worth a whirl), but please don’t buy it expecting it to be X-COM and have massive bases, interceptors, complicated researching, randomized maps etc. etc. It’s a cute, cartoony little turn-based, sci-fi squad combat game with some weapons variety and an overwatch mode that most fans either loved or hated, but it’s not in any way, shape or form X-COM (which was so much more than a “turn-based strategy game”). Not even if it says “From the Makers of X-COM” in big shiny lights. :)
This was the official Web site fer it:
Rebelstar: Tactical Command
http://rebelstar.namco.com/
Some articles links were at:
http://rebelstar.namco.com/featured.php
To be honest, I had more fun with the now pretty much impossible to find Tactics Ogre; the better known Final Fantasy Tactics Advance; and the very different Fire Emblem.
I’d love to see Codo try to do something a little more ambitious and gritty on DS and/or PSP, but I’m not holding my breath at this point.
I was very disappointed by Rebelstar.
The only part of the x-com experience it even attempts to replicate are the squad-based battles. And even then, they’re pre-constructed, and in some cases are just outright puzzles. (Move a guy through territory infested by strategically placed aliens without being seen.)
Also, I just fired up Tactics Ogre for GBA the other day, and was reminded of its really cool ‘badge’ system, but it suffers from a few flaws. I personally thought the story was way too complicated and alienating. (Garblookah of the Hilpennen knights is attacking the Blargonnon territories to dethrone King Dooshbahg… whatever.) But my biggest single complaint is that there are no HP bars. Which means you can never tell how much damage a unit has taken. You can easily see Unit X has 141 hit points, but what was its max? Does it need healing? Will I overheal if I heal it? Which of my units is hurt the most? HP bars are universal in solving this problem, yet this game doesn’t have it and it’s a major decifiency.
The Super Robot Taisen game has been out for awhile, and is probably not going to get localized. It’s pretty good, although (like most of the licensed SRTs for the GBA) the game tends to be overly-easy. The trade-off is that you get a more interesting story and better attack animation than the licensed GBA games ever managed.
Warlords is supposed to be out this summer.
That’s probably why I never liked Fire Emblem. It reminded me too much of Warlords. Without the stacking.
Hate on Warlords? Inconceivable!
Speaking of, go play Puzzle Quest if you haven’t. That game is like crack mixed with Warcraft. Mmmmm.
What the hell ever happened to Disciples for the DS?
Yeah, but minus the Warcraft.
The same thing as Jagged Alliance 2 for the DS.
Meaning, no idea.