I do NOT like the direction Advance Wars is heading towards. While the AW series is one of my favorite game series of all time, the new upcoming game, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, might make my impression of the series take a turn for the worst. The replacing of the entire cast of CO's, the CO's whom I have grown very attached to and loved so much, has permantly scarred my impression of AWDoR. I also liked how the CO powers in the worked a LOT better. Not to mention the fact that excessively dark and gloomy storylines have never been my cup of tea. Also, the fact that CO's no longer seem to have strengths and weaknesses (or at least, that's what I've seen) greatly waters down the strategy in this game, which is what AW is all about, right?

Perhaps I would be more optimistic about this game if IS would countinue with the old style, and have two separate storylines (one with AW1, AW2, and AWDS, and the other with AWDoR). However, since there has been no indication of the "old" storyline continuing, it is quite possible that we may never see Andy, Sami, Max, and all the other CO's, who made the previous three games so charming, ever again. And if that happens, I will hate AW for the rest of my life.

That is not to say that everythng in this upcoming game is awful.The increased strategic and tactical options, and the incorporation of RPG elements into this game is great. However, as of now, Days of Ruin seems to be throwing away more than it is giving. I don't know, perhaps I'm a big pessimist, but I am NOT looking forward to Days of Ruin, and I wonder if there will never be another Advance Wars game that I like.