The reviews are going up, between 80 and 92, which is good for a strategy RPG. I'm wondering if the gameplay and strategy are as deep as the previous titles. Help me out VGChartz. Any impressions yet?

I cannot put it down. This is far and away the best Advance Wars yet. The touch screen allows for much better movement and I am so glad they took out CO Powers. I am really enjoying the story in this one which is more than I can say for the previous games in the series. 9.5/10 for me.

If i buy this game, will i still get the story and all that if i have not played the other ones?

The story is totally new from the older ones. If it's like the other games the first five or so missions are  tutorials and an introduction to the characters. If you like strategy RPG's then you will most probably like this.

I played Advance Wars on GBA andnever got past the tutorial.

Don't look at me like that. It bored me because it didn't get to the *real* game fast enough.

Always saidI would go back, and I think I will because of DoR.

I got the game yesterday and I love every minute of it
They shifted the focus in battles from CO powers to actual units. COs still have an affect on the battle but they are not nearly as powerful(No tsunamis or meteors for you). There is one CO that doesnt even have a CO power. In days of ruin you have to pay half the price of a unit to mount a CO on it. That immediately makes the unit lvl 10, units can lvl btw, and creates a CO zone which has different sizes and effects depending on the CO.

Before I would build up my CO power and then overwhelm my opponent. Now you have to take a loss. In one battle I rushed my opponent who had 4 anti-airs, 2 missiles, 3 fighters with an all out air attack. I was able to win but my fleet of bombers and fighters was pretty much decimated and I still got a technique score of over 100, so developers expected players to sacrifice their units.

I like the story so far as well. There is a lot more dialog which can get annoying if you restart the mission so I suggest saving often. I cant really talk about the story much without spoiling it but I like the whole every man for himself feel of the game.

I liked the graphic change. I felt like there was little to no difference between Black Hole Rising and Dual Strike in terms of graphics but the style fits the story perfectly and it is very pleasant to look at. Battle animations are cool.

Cool new units and old units were modified. Carriers build seaplanes, battleships can move before attacking etc. New units: bike, anti-tank, duster, seaplane, war tank, flare.

I havent tried the online yet, so I cant tell much about that.

Overall, the game is awesome. I had a 10% off coupon on me so I was able to get the game for a few bucks off but even at 35$ it is still worth it.

^^Dude, push start to skip any dialog^^

I'm playing it. It's really good and I like the change alot. The setting fit the theme of the game much better now, and the story is alot more intresting.

I got it and I have reached Stage 11... Though I need a break now...

Sounds like they fixed everything I disliked about the first 3 (I hated CO powers) and then improved it some, I like the idea of unit leveling.

Whats are the maps like? Can I decide my own strategy or does the map only really allow 1 like in the previous games?

Does it have online multiplayer? If it does it could consume my life.

Amazon had it on sale for $30 shipped. I should have a copy waiting for pick up when I get back. As a AW addict from the GBA, the changes made to the play system sound interesting enough, although I'm hoping the whole RPG grinding element to build up levels for all characters from Dual Strike isn't still an issue.
Overall, it seems a bit less cartoony, which could be an good direction for the series.
AW series: still the best portable time killer on Nintendo!