This game is the second largest surprise on the system so far (next to Phoenix Wright).
So I'm the guy who finally bought this game (second hand) to see if it was good or not. I must say I am quite surprised, the gameplay is much deeper than I thought it was going to be. I like it a lot more than the PC AoE2 which I felt was fairly good, but not excellent, RTS. This game is in the vein of Dynasty Warriors Tactics, only MUCH better. One thing is for certain, the game feels like it is on a larger and more epic scale than a typical AoE game (as is often the case with turn based war strategy over real time war strategy).
I have already finished the Joan of Arc tutorial stage: troop organization is incredibly fun, it really feels like the player is organizing a medieval army, put the archers in the middle, the Skirmishers on the sides, and the infantry in the back, and hold the heavy cavalry back to smash through their lines; with the light cavalry as scouts (well, there are scout cavalry with a very good sight range). There are only five Empires: The Japanese, the Britons, the Franks, the Mongols, and the Saracens; though through the marketplace you can hire the elite units of all of the other empires missing from the game (such as persian war elephants, Celtic Woad Warriors, Viking Beserkers, etc...). There are a lot of unit types in the game, I think there are more than I remember there being in the original, at least as many. They all serve their purpose too.
The only thing I find the original game has over this one is siege, but the way towns are structured are more fun in the DS version. One large benefit to this version is that you can actually capture towns and farming villages, that couldn't be done in the original. Warfare and conquest overall is much more fun in this game.
Another thing about this game, it has a beautiful soundtrack, very similar to the PC version (AoE2 did have a nice soundtrack on PC, a definate high point of the game).
There are five campaigns, I just finished the first one, Joan of Arc (the tutorial one). I tried playing the open game, but I got slaughtered, this was before I played the tutorial campaign (which I HIGHLY recommend playing, it is very well done and I came out of it knowing the game from the ground up).
The game uses either touch screen or control pad, or both, whichever you decide. The top screen is used to display full 3D models of terrain and units when clicked on, along with all the stats and such. The layout of games menues and such (which is highly important in these types of games) was done extremely well.
Overall, if you're a fan of strategy simulation at all, this is definately a very good buy. It has a very polished feeling to it (that I felt the PC AoE2 lacked in some areas). I wonder if MS will follow this up with a turn based tactical AoE title for PC? I think they could do a very good job with it if they make it like this one. I do hope that Firaxis takes a look at this and brings Civilization 4 over to DS. In finishing, this is the game I didn't even realize was a must have title for me =)
EDIT:
Alright, I have discovered that you can in fact open up more maps, more scenarios, and more units by doing well in the campaign mode. Some of the scenarios that can be unlocked are: The battle of Hastings, Hannibal crossing the alps, The battle of Agincourt, Khyber Pass. Some maps include valley, bridges, France, Asia, etc... fairly self explanatory. Units include War Wolf (which is a powerful Trebuchet), Knights of the Round, Swiss Pikemen, Mons Meg (A giant Cannon), etc...
Maps and Scenarios can be played any time. The bonus units become available during Empire Mode (which is just a random map and you essentially start from scratch (no technology and just one worker).
So I'm the guy who finally bought this game (second hand) to see if it was good or not. I must say I am quite surprised, the gameplay is much deeper than I thought it was going to be. I like it a lot more than the PC AoE2 which I felt was fairly good, but not excellent, RTS. This game is in the vein of Dynasty Warriors Tactics, only MUCH better. One thing is for certain, the game feels like it is on a larger and more epic scale than a typical AoE game (as is often the case with turn based war strategy over real time war strategy).
I have already finished the Joan of Arc tutorial stage: troop organization is incredibly fun, it really feels like the player is organizing a medieval army, put the archers in the middle, the Skirmishers on the sides, and the infantry in the back, and hold the heavy cavalry back to smash through their lines; with the light cavalry as scouts (well, there are scout cavalry with a very good sight range). There are only five Empires: The Japanese, the Britons, the Franks, the Mongols, and the Saracens; though through the marketplace you can hire the elite units of all of the other empires missing from the game (such as persian war elephants, Celtic Woad Warriors, Viking Beserkers, etc...). There are a lot of unit types in the game, I think there are more than I remember there being in the original, at least as many. They all serve their purpose too.
The only thing I find the original game has over this one is siege, but the way towns are structured are more fun in the DS version. One large benefit to this version is that you can actually capture towns and farming villages, that couldn't be done in the original. Warfare and conquest overall is much more fun in this game.
Another thing about this game, it has a beautiful soundtrack, very similar to the PC version (AoE2 did have a nice soundtrack on PC, a definate high point of the game).
There are five campaigns, I just finished the first one, Joan of Arc (the tutorial one). I tried playing the open game, but I got slaughtered, this was before I played the tutorial campaign (which I HIGHLY recommend playing, it is very well done and I came out of it knowing the game from the ground up).
The game uses either touch screen or control pad, or both, whichever you decide. The top screen is used to display full 3D models of terrain and units when clicked on, along with all the stats and such. The layout of games menues and such (which is highly important in these types of games) was done extremely well.
Overall, if you're a fan of strategy simulation at all, this is definately a very good buy. It has a very polished feeling to it (that I felt the PC AoE2 lacked in some areas). I wonder if MS will follow this up with a turn based tactical AoE title for PC? I think they could do a very good job with it if they make it like this one. I do hope that Firaxis takes a look at this and brings Civilization 4 over to DS. In finishing, this is the game I didn't even realize was a must have title for me =)
EDIT:
Alright, I have discovered that you can in fact open up more maps, more scenarios, and more units by doing well in the campaign mode. Some of the scenarios that can be unlocked are: The battle of Hastings, Hannibal crossing the alps, The battle of Agincourt, Khyber Pass. Some maps include valley, bridges, France, Asia, etc... fairly self explanatory. Units include War Wolf (which is a powerful Trebuchet), Knights of the Round, Swiss Pikemen, Mons Meg (A giant Cannon), etc...
Maps and Scenarios can be played any time. The bonus units become available during Empire Mode (which is just a random map and you essentially start from scratch (no technology and just one worker).
Last edited by Julius Seeker on Sun May 21, 2006 7:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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