Game:

Advance Wars (2001)

Duration: 1:38:20

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2

And so... we shall go to war!
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Bean Island
Sami vs. Andy

So, this isn't EXACTLY the biggest or strongest start to my little slice of this game's presence on YouTube... but I will say that it is uncannily... ... ... typical of a great many things? At least per my experience.

For starters, the map and CO choices are quite critical to determining how things will play out. "Where should we go?" "I don't care." "Who do you want to play as?" "It doesn't matter."

I mean... it DOES matter, and you WILL care, even if you don't want to be decisive about it at right this moment.

"Oh, you have all these strong abilities, Andy gets... nothing? That doesn't feel fair." "There's so much property, what do I spend it all on?" "Oh, Artillery only shoots that far? ...I was thinking of Rockets." "This game isn't going to be over very soon at all."

I think Advance Wars has immense natural appeal, but the actual finer details of war itself are... oddly tedious?

This extends well beyond a general game plan, but encompasses all day-to-day aspects of conducting a properly ordered and orderly battle. What units do you produce? Where do you move them? When do you strike? How far do you retreat?

Suddenly, the fight is far more detail-oriented than click unit, move spaces, blow stuff up. Although that last part IS what sticks with you, its actual execution and the results thereafter just happen to be the least intrinsically significant part of the process all the same.

And, eventually, through the orderly movements turned into chaotic and winding skirmishes all over the place, there emerges a clearer picture. Someone has the upper hand.

Seeing as how this is war, one side will be happy about that... the other, not as much. Honestly, it's a bit reductive, since there's plenty the defender can do to make the siege miserable and the attacker has a lot more latitude to muss things up. But, at a certain point, it's a bit like a chess endgame, and it doesn't generally get more hopeful and the room for surprising turn of events diminishes dramatically.

So, then. What kind of commander are you? Do you dig in your heels and deny them every step of the way? Do you start moping and getting defeatist about your future? Do you tip over the king preemptively? Do you throw the table across the room?

Is it even "honorable" or "respectful" to surrender in the first place? There are as many mixed feelings about the act as there are players, as it'd be a bit conceited to feel purely one way or another with your absolute entire being.

All I can say that I definitely know is... these games are LONG. Even on small maps with limited capacity for battle. And when one side feels it's exhausted whatever means exist to press on before time makes fools of us all and abhorrent phrases like "I think I'm done here" or "what time is it?"band "I think I don't really like playing this right now" start flying loose and carelessly.

Well, it's frustrating enough to make you want to pop a desperate last-second strategy just to see what might happen.

Mistakes were made on both sides.

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