I am a afraid that the advance wars people have leading you astray. While duel strike is awesome you should also look at the next one days of ruin. It changes the gameplay significantly while still retaining a lot of the elements of the earlier games.
Days of Ruin has slightly more balanced gameplay, but the horrible self-serious plotting and atmosphere drag it down after a while.
I am a afraid that the advance wars people have leading you astray. While duel strike is awesome you should also look at the next one days of ruin. It changes the gameplay significantly while still retaining a lot of the elements of the earlier games.
Days of Ruin has slightly more balanced gameplay, but the horrible self-serious plotting and atmosphere drag it down after a while.
Happy go lucky > teen angst
The best bet is to just skip the cutscenes and enjoy the gameplay.
While I didn't necessarily grow to loathe any of the characters ...
... except for that stupid girl the main guy saves at the start ...
... there isn't much of a story, really. And you can pretty much get every character's personality by looking at their avatar. Young, optimistic recruit with non-military issue hair is young and optimistic, dirtybag sniper guy with no shirt is a ditbag (and has no shirt), angry girl with goggles is angry and a pilot, etc.
The gameplay is fun, if kind of rock-paper-scissor-y and I like the art style. Plus, some of the campaign missions are actually pretty tricky.
Dual Strike gets the edge, since it's more pick up and play compared to Days of Ruin, which the OP coincidentally wants. Missions in Days of Ruin are sometimes just wars of attrition, especially if you're new to the franchise, whereas in Dual Strike you can turn the tides quite easily. I recall missions where it got over or close to 50 days which never happened to me in Dual Strike. So if it's your first Advance Wars, I'd recommend Dual Strike. I enjoyed it more than Days of Ruin for what it's worth. The COs in particular are a major contribution to the fun. The eagle soars above you, bitches.
dual strike is great, but the gameplay of days of ruin is better in pretty much every way. they stripped out the ridiculous CO powers and tag powers and toned down COs overall, and added in unit veterancy and the on field CO stuff. theyre both incredible games but i think days of ruin is the way to go personally.
also, mystery dungeon shiren the wanderer is a game you should check out OP guy. its a roguelike.
So being a budding 29 year old on the verge of puberty, my mom decided it would be a wonderful idea to get me a DSi along with Brain Age 2 for christmas. Now i really didnt want or need one, but the wifey has taken a shining to it and its a nice distraction from all those horrible educational books i read on the toilet.
So if i were to drop $50 on a couple games, what should i get? Casual put down, pick up would be better than any epic RPG's. Time is a factor when playing since i work and have kids, chores and all the stupid shit that life comes with.
RECOMENDATIONS?
New Super Mario Bothers
Rocket Slime
Puzzle Quest
Yoshi's Island DS
Really though just about anything as you can flip the DS closed pretty much at any time in any game and it automatically pauses the game for you at that point. It also has a ridiculously long battery life when it's in sleep mode like that. I've had both my DS fatty and lite stay on in sleep mode for days :P
I thought EBA was crap. It's a neat concept and it had great presentation, but the only way they could ramp up the challenge was to speed shit up so fast that mortals cannot keep up.
I guess it's better than guitar hero, but not by much.
Posts
Happy go lucky > teen angst
The best bet is to just skip the cutscenes and enjoy the gameplay.
While I didn't necessarily grow to loathe any of the characters ...
... there isn't much of a story, really. And you can pretty much get every character's personality by looking at their avatar. Young, optimistic recruit with non-military issue hair is young and optimistic, dirtybag sniper guy with no shirt is a ditbag (and has no shirt), angry girl with goggles is angry and a pilot, etc.
The gameplay is fun, if kind of rock-paper-scissor-y and I like the art style. Plus, some of the campaign missions are actually pretty tricky.
Kirby's Canvas Curse hasn't been mentioned yet. That was a very good title, one of my favorite games to use stylus controls.
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story was probably the best game in the Mario and Luigi series. It's definitely my favorite DS game.
also, mystery dungeon shiren the wanderer is a game you should check out OP guy. its a roguelike.
New Super Mario Bothers
Rocket Slime
Puzzle Quest
Yoshi's Island DS
Really though just about anything as you can flip the DS closed pretty much at any time in any game and it automatically pauses the game for you at that point. It also has a ridiculously long battery life when it's in sleep mode like that. I've had both my DS fatty and lite stay on in sleep mode for days :P
EBA/Ouendan are the most essential DS games in my book.
EBA is a good suggestion, because you can get it ridiculously cheap now. They pack it in this set with a carrying pouch and some styluses for $15.
Or you can go here and get both Elite Beat Agents and like, Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime (or some other crappy games) for $20: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10730277
I guess it's better than guitar hero, but not by much.
Advance Wars
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy 3
Mario Kart