Age of Empires: The Age of Kings (DS)

“One of the few (good) attempts at a turn-based strategy game on a game system dominated by advance wars. + The game introduces some new mechanics that actually work out really well. Heroes anyone? + Priests. Kinda personal preference but...”

“One of the few (good) attempts at a turn-based strategy game on a game system dominated by advance wars.
+ The game introduces some new mechanics that actually work out really well. Heroes anyone?
+ Priests. Kinda personal preference but seriously, what's more fun than including 2 or so in your force only to steal hostile units? Not so for converting? Don't worry, they heal and collect relics as well!
+ Historic information. I always found it fun to know how all those spiffy upgrades were actually present IRL.
+ Played some batlles and got some points? Spend them on some new maps or even better... unlock completely new units! Nest off all, these units are fun and slightly stronger than normal without being overpowered. They something had trouble when aging up though...
+ Castles. With limited building space there are plenty off chokepoints that are unusuable in defense due to bad terrain... that is, untill you build a awesome castle there! Not to mention they can also produce your faction's best units.
- Buildings. Every city center gives you the option to build in the squares surronding it. That's all. Needless to say this makes skirmishes on open terrain a lot less interesting unless you've picked a good point and wait there and makes cities hard to destroy... unless you simply take out the center and steal all their buildings built around it D:
- One upgrade each turn. Early game is a resource nightmare so often you'll hold back on spending precious resources on the upgrades... setting you back technologically and making the foe tech/age up faster. The choice is yours: face foes years ahead of you in strength or go for the economical disadvantage?
- Cheating AI. "Fog of war? Lack of resources? What are you talking about?"”