Athena Crisis

Seems like it has potential. Good for little bite sized games. However, any potential it had is ruined by an always online requirement. I only want to play the campaign, so why is an internet connection required? How am I supposed to play this on my steam deck? I literally like games like this so that I can play some turn based strategy on the go on my steam deck and then put it down when I need to. If an internet connection is required, it ruins the whole point. Why do so many devs insist on ruining otherwise decent games games with completely unwanted online requirements?

Man, I have. Really mixed feelings about this game. On the plus side: It feels like a pretty solid step towards a more complex, wackier version of advance wars Has several campaigns that try to introduce mechanics/units/interesting scenarios Supports online play with or against other players, including teaming up against AI if you don't enjoy PvP content On the downside: The game is always online. yes I know why it is, but I think compromising your game's vision for this QoL feature would be worth it. I don't know if it's feasible to implement at this point, but it is a problem I appreciate the weird non-conventional units, but damn are they super polarizing. Some of them are completely game breaking, and others are literally almost unusable by design. Even having the ability to use them is not always an option, it's not like they get added to your roster, you have to equip a skill that lets you use them, and at most you can have two skills at a time, meaning you have to build a strategy specifically around having that unit, or just use defaults and have more generic powers The online community seems almost entirely non-existent. Unless you have friends to play this with, I'm not sure you'd even be able to engage in the multiple online systems implemented for the game. I know the game is also mobile, but steam charts says the all time peak player count is 24, and a daily average of 2. For a game that requires you to be online for these features, it's just kind of a hard sell if there's literally nobody online to engage with. Also, for some reason, anyone can just decide to spectate your single player campaign missions. When they do it causes ungodly lag, to the point where you have to wait what felt like minutes between each individual action of a turn. I don't know if that was just a me issue, but I literally had to quit out to kick the spectator and re-launch the mission to be able to continue playing. This game isn't bad. I would probably play it with friends if literally anyone I knew owned the game. However it's very, very difficult to recommend in its current state.

[h2]This is hands down, probably the best Advance Wars clone you'll find on steam, bar Wargroove, and has positively surprised me. But it has it's fair share of problems.[/h2] [h3]Pros[/h3] [list] [*] [b]Fully customizable campaigns and editor[/b], easy to make and access player generated content. [*] [b]Fully customizable faction[/b], down to character names and portraits [*] [b]Very large building, unit and CO power variety:[/b] dragons, dinosaurs, tanks, trains, planes and zombies are all encountered in the campaign, to give you an idea. [*] [b]Soundtrack is (mostly) quite enjoyable.[/b] [*] [b]Player invasion system is unique and can generate a lot of fun chaos.[/b] Though I suspect some players might be controlled by CPU. [*] [b]Shake up on AW meta:[/b] as expected, the units here behave wildly different from what an AW player is used to, it seems to be reasonably balanced, as well. [/list] [h3]Cons[/h3] [list] [*] [b]Online only:[/b] Bizarrely, it requires an internet connection to be played. Why this game was made online only is beyond me. [*] [b]Confusing menus:[/b] The game probably has an option for what you're looking for, but it's very unintuitive to navigate, for example, the retry button. [*] [b]"Incomplete" main campaign:[/b] The base campaign ends on a strange note, without a satisfying conclusion. [*] [b]Inconsistent difficulty:[/b] another problem with the main campaign, which will have extremely easy missions interlaced with very hard ones, seemingly at random. [/list]

This play like an Advance Wars clone. Though they added alot of units, it still doesnt change the combat in a meaningful way and at times it even detracts from the experience. That being there is a huge custom map experience. Though the campaign focuses way too much on gimmicks to be ground breaking. Its so so as far as turn based games go

A Fun Advanced Wars-esque tactics game. Plenty of content and a built in map editor with a friendly but small community on discord. Progression is gained via offical campaigns that grant Skills, Account Portraits and Stars via objectives. Stars can also be gained "Chaotically" by invading other players (who opt into invades) by either aiding or hindering them. All the stars gained by both methods can then be spent in a shop (NOT MONITIZED) for profile images, unique skills, unit skins and more invade materials! PvP games can both be real time (still turn based) and up to a week between turns for those with a busy life schedule. Not to mention the game is cross compatible with mobile devices! If you have the money and an itch for a classic tactics game with fun twists then please pick this up! On sale it's an absolute steal!

i've gotten 200+ hrs out of this game and have plenty more ahead. the rebalancing of AW mech rushes, for instance, feels so nice :) the devs are great with giving QoL updates, and their curation of player campaigns is a very nice feature for solo players like me

Perfectly adequate advance wars clone with most of the fat trimmed and a focus on gameplay.

This game is awesome.

При запуске игра показала, что она не куплена и предложила купить снова, с 3-ей попытки запуска, я увидел долгую загрузку в принципе всего - начиная от попытки увидеть кампанию, либо новую игру начать.. по итогу ничего и не увидел. Может дело в том, что экстремисты блокируют, но мне хватило банального вышеописанного.. а также крайне отвратно сделанное меню и шрифтов, может на мобильном телефоне и нормально, но что на ПК, что на стимдеке - глазу точно вытекут.

[h1]A Worthy AW Successor?[/h1] The answer is it isn't just a good AW like strategy game. It supersedes AW in spades with lots of unique design choices for a perfectly streamlined flow. This game comes packed with two built in campaigns, a multiplayer mode with skirmishes and scenarios, and a full fledged level editor where you can also make custom campaigns. If the multiplayer or level editor aren't your forte, you can always play all of the community campaigns where the creativity of the game shines the brightest. There's also tons of unique units and skills that can be unlocked to shake up your playstyle. The AI can be an issue, spam spawning the most powerful unit, destroying buildings when there's a capture objective or vice versa, doing nothing on certain CPU behaviors, or outright making mistakes players can or can't avoid ([spoiler]*Cough* *Cough* Showdown[/spoiler]). Invasions is the highlight of the experience, though some campaigns grant the ability to initiate them and others don't. Whether you'll enjoy them, however, will be a dice roll, but it's another way to earn stars which is a huge plus. Overall, I highly recommend you play this if you're looking for an Advance Wars game with both the familiarity and added gameplay flair with units, skills, invasions, and more. It's a complete package made by a passionate developer.