I loved the look of the game but looking at it now. It feels like that's the only quality that I really like about it. Probably the thing I'm most upset about is how each faction is a reskin of each other. Literally no difference between them except for their generals but even they have the same stats just different ultimate skills. Will new units be implemented that are unique to different clans? Will different clans units have stat changes to make them feel unique? Cause right now I feel like I bought a 10 dollar game with another 10 dollars worth of skins.
I actually hope they don't change abilities per faction units. Assuming the map you are playing on is balanced, the game is balanced for competitive play. If you honestly feel that the campaign and an incredibly good cutscene and map editor were only worth 10 dollars than I don't really know what to say.
I also was a little disappointed with the 'variety' of units. Most factions do have the same units, renamed - aside from a few changes. That said, I'm not throwing a fit about it, it just was something I did not really like.
I kind of like that they play the same. Sure they could do similar to Advanced Wars, giving passives like Grit's +1 range or Max's bonus with Tanks. But due to how hereos work, and killing the enemy base, I think they'd run the risk of making some characters entirely too weak.
That variation is what made the Advance Wars games fun. The "base units" were all the same but the Commanding Officers changed the functionality of the units to play differently. In this game currently the Commanders change little troop functionality and all the units are the same..... soooo your Commander makes very little difference in the actual gameplay. Don't sacrifice fun gameplay variations for the sake of "perfect PVP balance". You'll end up with a muddy mess where every character is equally boring and the same.
You know, if they just allowed the map editor or campaign editor to individually tailor faction units' stats on a map per map basis, both sides of this debate could be happy.
I previously suggested elsewhere that if they were to add further uniqueness to each faction/commander, then it would still be based on the commanders themselves (much like their groove) while adding synergy to specific units where appropriate/thematic (like Emeric = Mages which already exists in-game). Examples such as: (ignore the balance/numbers for these -- they're just random examples) Caesar: Has +1 movement range but cannot attack/capture after moving 5 tiles. Is also counted as a dog unit himself, so can activate other allied dog unit critical hits when adjacent to an enemy. Sigrid: Only 1 movement cost when traversing mountains (temporary flight) however is weak to anti-air units (+100% damage taken from mages, ballista, harpoon ships) when on a mountain tile. When an allied vampire kills an enemy unit within four tiles, Sigrid gains 15% of her groove charge. Mercia: When below 50% health, she ignores the bonus damage taken from critical hits. Allied soldiers can critically hit when two tiles away from her. Emeric: Can attack from two tiles away for 60% less damage. When healed by an alchemist, removes the damage penalty for the remainder of the turn. Sedge: During his turn, will critically hit enemies (for 150% damage) when there are no allied units within two tiles, or if Sedge attacks an enemy unit after they're attacked by an allied shooter. Valder: At the start of the turn, allied units adjacent to him heal for 20% of their missing health. Allied wraiths' Hex spell also deals 100% increased damage if adjacent to him. Etc... So it still would not be as in-depth as the commanders/factions in Advance Wars, but does give each commander passive benefits that make them feel more unique outside of their groove, while also catering to players who like to use specific units. Could be an interesting addition through updates/expansion. I feel that the commanders are very vanilla currently as an intentional choice by Chucklefish so they can gauge initial balance beforehand and give them room to expand later on.
this THIS THIS IS NICE I really like your ideas, they dont seem to be incredibly unbalanced and would certainly add to the flavor of those COs.
