War of the Human Tanks - ALTeR

If you've played the first game, then you already know what you're in for. Gameplay, UI, and general visuals are identical to the first, and I mean identical (would've been nice to get some QOL changes like easier tank placement or having attacks with a high target area not take a full minute to execute, but those are all just minor complaints).

First game was great so naturally this one is as well for the same reasons. So I'll simply talk about the differences between the two. ALTeR expands the basic gameplay by adding a large variety of new tank types that both expand the player's capabilities as well as add extra challenge (the enemy gets to use them too after all!). Some new types include control tanks who disable all enemy modules, as well as sniper & fighter tanks whose attacks can't be evaded. These simple additions add a lot more depth and strategy to the general gameplay, which you didn't realize the first game needed until you play ALTeR.

While the first game had a very robust story mode with branching paths, ALTeR instead contains a number of more linear story modes. The main story may look a lot smaller, but that's because it's simply a teaser for the real meat of the game: The Cavern. A massive gauntlet spanning more than 100 missions and multiple story campaigns. ALTeR tests your proficiency with the tanks more than ever with the increased difficulty and sheer number of missions available.

This isn't even mentioning the GREATLY expanded roster of usable tanks, the new main cast who are even sillier than the first, or how the larger amount of content leaves room for even more gags and whimsical moments which this game is great at. Overall, ALTeR feels exactly how a sequel game should be~

Very good if you both like battleship and chess.
Caverns took me days to complete, but was very worth it.
Got the game in 2015, small brain couldn't think tanks, came back in 2022 and 100% the game.

Art looks good
Fun story
Makes you use Strategy
Nice music
The great cavern mode is long and rewarding
This game gives me mixed feelings about cats

Tags: Adventure - VN - Visual Novel
Additional Tags: Delete Local Content & Remove from Library

TLDR: The visual novel segments seemed to offer no choices while the tactical combat was basic, feels like a convoluted version of minesweeper. Unfun.

The second in the Human Tanks series, this game has you playing as an officer and company of the Kingdom of Japon, the enemy force of the first visual novel. However, along with the changes caused by that first game, other mysterious factions are appearing.

Gameplay is similar, and the story is engaging. I do recommend playing the first game... first.

The game is pretty good. You have to think how you gonna pick, move each of your tanks.
The story has many testes on it: humor, sadness drama etc. It'll show how each characters feel about the war and how to deal with it. Sometime the decision is look bad, but it has to be like that.
I play it, and lose many time, that is how you improve your skill. The AI is very smart even in normal mode.

War of the Human Tanks - ALTeR is the sequel to War of the Human Tanks, and the games should be played in order. If you enjoyed the first one, definitely get ALTeR. ALTeR continues the story of the War of the Human Tanks world by following the campaign of a new character, Alter. Some characters from the first game make short appearances throughout ALTeR.

A "side" campaign takes place in the Great Cavern, which is about 100 floors. This is actually where most of the story happens, so don't be surprised by the noticeably short "main" campaign. It's clever that Fruitbat decided to incorporate the main storyline as the "side" story in the form of the long Great Cavern campaign, because it allows the first game's story to connect more smoothly to this one. The two campaigns in ALTeR are largely independent plot lines, so you're on your own with questions you have after Operation Kisaragi (main campaign).

Comparison with the first game: ALTeR is much longer because of the lengthy Great Cavern campaign. Also, the story in the first game develops more linearly while ALTeR develops more quickly later in the Great Cavern. Also, the music in ALTeR is more... innovative, perhaps. The wit, humor, and touching moments are also in ALTeR. Overall, the first game has a more riveting story; ALTeR has more stuff for you to do and discover.

There is a lot of great content in ALTeR; get it if you liked the original War of the Human Tanks.

P.S. If you earned the "Special Save Data" from the first game, you have to import it to ALTeR BEFORE starting a new game to earn the bonus unit.

I love the War of the Human Tanks series. The stories are fun and the gameplay is simple but challenging. It's fun to start out slow and weak and work your way up, earning bigger and better tanks.

The first War of the Human tanks is probably one of the my favorite games of all time. The characters were funny, the story was actually quite interesting, the music was surprisingly good, and the game was fun.

This game falls short of the first in almost every regard. I like the characters in the game, some of which return from the first, but the new ones aren't quite as good I'd say. Alter (main character, you'll meet her right away) is a great character, but at times she's a little TOO snarky and mean. Otherwise she's just fine, though. Not as good as the main character of the first game, but at least we can SEE HER, so that's a plus.

The story is, sadly, shorter and with less branching. There's also a hidden, and quite cruelly so, mechanic which can make the final level HELL if you don't respect it.

SPOILER

- (if you kill too many enemy tanks [while say grinding for supplies] the final boss will be harder to kill... much harder... infuriatingly so if you max it out) -

END SPOILER

But at least we get to play with the cute Royal Tanks now! Don't worry, you can also use the old Imperial Tanks if you want... in some cases it's actually recommended. The tanks of each nation vary slightly at higher tiers.

Thankfully, we have the Great Cavern of Fuji. At first you might think, "you can't just put that in and say it's ok to have a worse main story." And maybe you'd have a slight point... however, the Cavern has it's own story, with silly lines of dialogue and new characters and everything. So I'd say it's a fine way to add content and story to the game.

You could say this game simply has two campaigns, which gives it plenty of content. Perhaps more than the first. The Cavern is HUGE.

There's just one problem. THE CAVERN IS ****ING BRUTALLY HARD! I'm betting there are people who will never see all of that content because they'll simply rage and give up. I personally haven't even made it half-way. (But I will never surrender!)

Here's the problem, and it's a complex one in a way -- control tanks. I hate these things, but I understand them.

In the first game, you could take your lovely assault tanks, mod them, and wipe out entire stages in one or two shots. In this game, control tanks will DISABLE YOUR MODS. You might as well send your tanks in unmodded to ensure you don't lose any expensive equipment. This makes the game brutally hard (final level for example...) and when you throw in lots of tanks with evasion (that mechanic was in the first game as well, but it was easier to deal with when you could carpet bomb the whole map every five seconds...) the game will destroy you until you figure out the best way to deal with each situation (*cough*line-mon*cough*).

So yes, it's a way to keep you from grinding and then hitting the "easy button" like in the last game, but it's sort of a slap in the face to know that all that equipment you worked so hard to earn is now about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. Your s***'s been bricked yo.

At least you can buld your own and brick the enemy's s*** too.

Conclusion:

Is it as good as the last game? No, some of the charm is missing. But being only SLIGHTLY worse than an amazing game is still pretty good.

There's plenty of content and challenge. Even more than the first in that regard. If you loved the first game, you'll enjoy this one.

P.S. The cats are back too. Ahaha... *sobs*

If u want buy this game, i recommend you play War of the Human Tanks before, since this one is the 2nd game from their serie. So to understand better the story, play War of the Human Tanks first. In this game have more tankfus models and the story is very funny as well.

The artwork is still cheap, but that's okay. I think the artist must be one of those that are better at drawing females for some reason

Overall, I recommend it as a budget game. You play Alter, the cousin to the acting Queen. There's something interesting about her face, and hearing Alter-Sama from the characters. It's determined, but somehow has a neutral expression by default.

Alter doesn't seem as smart as Shoutaro Daihon'ei, yet she's somewhat less lazy. The game is a continuation of a particular ending, so playing the first game and getting all of the endings would be a good idea.

The caverns are the Blue, Black, and White DLC.

Pro's
-if you played the frist game, you dont need relearn how to play
-Very simple controls
-Lot's of levels
-If you love a game with a lot electronic based music, you will love the music in this game
-if you love cute anime, you will most likely enjoy the art in the game
-lots of backstory
-at times funny
-CATS
Con's
-if you have not been exposed to Japanese culture much, there will be thing's that you dont understand
-there will be levels that ♥♥♥♥ you off
-some units late game have no use
-very short main story
-kind of remove the branching path main story system
-DA CATS

Overall a very good game. The main story will probably take you 6 to 10 hours to beat. The Side Story took me around 60 hours to beat but i kind of suck at strategy, so you time may vary and probably 5-10 hours of side battles that are 95% optional. The game is worth the money in my opinion.


P.S. i also recommend you buy this game in its the soundtrack bundle

Really great follow up to the first game. If you want more of what kept you playing the first game look no further. The dodge mechanic now has a nice counter in the form of sniper tanks, but in return we have the very annoying command tanks which disable all your hard earned modules.

Overall though, the game is great, the story is just as strange yet captivating as the first game and the new gameplay elements give you more tanks and mechanics to play with.

This game... this goddarn game.
I'm not exactly sure where to start, so first off: this game is absolutely fantastic! I haven't played EVERYTHING yet (still need to get Glitch-Heshiko and play the 2 or 3 optional Floor 90+ Battles), but still. The combination of Visual Novel and (Semi-)turn based Strategy game is beautiful and really well balanced, most if not almost all the tanks have their use and encourage players to figure out their favorite strategies and the Modules and combination of them just add to the fun (I still have fun giving my Peko-Peko a Tank Life ensurance and just making her explode, achieving absolutely nothing... I'm an Idiot.).
While the main story isn't as long and multi-pathed as the first one, this is made up by the addition of the Great Caverns, a 'Side' Story, which is actually about 7-8 times as long as the main one, going up(or rather, down) to floor 101. In said Caverns, you encounter many new enemies, unlock new Tanks and modules and have a HUGE story unfold in front of you. Be warned though, the difficulty of the very last battle in the main story increases based on how many Tanks you have destroyed up until that point, meaning you should play through it at least once or twice before taking on the Caverns.
Speaking about the Story... oh man. War of the Human Tanks - ALTeR has managed to make me laugh, think (strategically and emotionally, If that makes any sense) and never felt boring (unless you get stuck on one fight because you're a total idiot, like a certain WotHT reviewer...) most of the important characters from the first game show up in this one aswell, though only few of them in the Visual Novel part. The new characters SOMEWHAT feel like Daihon'ei and Company, but have their own little traits that make them special.
Now, obviously, this game isn't perfect (though In my opinion, it's fairly close)... some of the tanks you acquire later in the game feel somewhat overpowered, especially the AoE-Sniper (no name because... Spoilers) you get at one point, which kind of take the use out of the previous Models... "but didn't you say that *almost* all of the tanks have their use??" Yes, that's right, crazy voice in my head, I DID say that... that's because even IF the later models overpower the early ones but such an amount, the draw back is, that you get them - as said before - rather late into the game, so before that you have a looong time where your own tanks are state of the art and you keep on using them and switching them up for every battle.
I also said that Modules add a little spice to the game, didn't I?? Well... I lied about the 'little' part, they actually provide HUGE buffs, and to counter that, nearly every battle after roughly the halfway mark of the Caverns will have a Control tank in it, which disables those modules and makes them unusable for that fight, which at some point gets rather aggravating.
Lastly, one flaw that isn't exactly the game's fault, but I still feel like it should be adressed: there are SOME enemies that you'll learn to absolutely hate. SOME enemies just feel completely unfair (though they're not really) and make you want to puke everytime you find out you'll fight them in your next battle... SOME cats--- whoops, meant to say enemies just feel like they have too much mobilty for their firepower...

However, this is definitely one of my favorite games of all time and I would recommend it to anyone who likes round-based strategy games and/or Visual Novels.

even being made in some sort of outdated engine, this game is really great and much fun. i think a faster deploy system and more resolution options would be very good but it's certainly worth the bill.

First and foremost, War of the Human Tanks - ALTeR is a must-buy for those who liked the first game and a must-avoid for those who didn't. While ALTeR improves on a lot of things from the first game, the core gameplay is absolutely identical.

Story-wise, ALTeR uses the same visual novel presentation as the first game. The player progresses along a linear set of campaign missions, and instead of multiple routes, there's a completely optional (and incredibly long!) side dungeon. This dungeon is where you'll find the vast majority of the game's content, so unless you're keen on achievement hunting and interested in the backstory of the series, you won't get all that much playtime out of this game, even compared to the first.

If you played the first without completing every route, I recommend reading up on the summaries of the ones you missed. There's a lot of stuff pulled from there that isn't explained at all in this game.

Gameplay wise, the combat is the same at its core, just with new units added on to flesh it out more. I personally didn't have any trouble with the difficulty until the last dozen or so floors of the extra dungeon (55ish hours out of the 60 shown), and I'm not at all an expert here, so the difficulty is perfectly managable. Just make sure you save before every battle, and don't be afraid to reload constantly - this is a puzzle game, not an RTS.

Music is more of the same - generally very good, a few absolutely odd tracks here and there, one or two that are headache-inducing (including one of the OPs, unfortunately).

All in all, a good addition the series. Absolutely recommend that newcomers play the first game before considering this one, and that all who enjoy it consider buying this game as well.

It's a hell of a lot of gameplay for the price given.

If you played the first game, it's more of the same base game with even more interesting options to play with. Command Tanks with evasion, tanks that bypass evasion entirely, and tanks which shut down modules that aren't built in. You can get every tank you had in the first game (including Heshiko) and more, and even upgraded versions of the Daihonei special force tanks.

The most major changes to the gameplay are easily the command tanks (which disable modules) meaning you can't be utterly invincible with ridiculous modules all the time as in the first game, and mid-battle saves being disabled for most stages (presumably due to how easy it was to savescum in the original). For the most part, these are rather positive changes that, while they increase the game difficulty, can be overcome by a competent commander that fields his units well, or even just memorising unit positions and planning accordingly. Koharu, which later got outclassed in the first game by Infinite Sight modules, is easily the most powerful vehicle in the game for what it affords you, and there is an improved one available at the end of the game.

There's a fair number of extras, including a sound mode (which actually includes tracks not in the Sound of the Human Tanks OST) and a theatre mode that lets you view every movie sequence in both this and the first game (including all the op/ed versions). Shame there's no CG viewer.

The story is pretty much a direct continuation of the first game, with both east and north routes having happened. It's also shorter, at only 10 battles and no detours. It's largely recommended to rush through your first playthrough due to how the final boss of the main campaign works, which then unlocks the bulk of the game - the Fuji Caverns covered by the Blue/Black/White DLC. As it says, it builds up the history of the world in interesting ways, and gives you more insight on the tanks themselves and snippets of Daihonei in his prime over 90-odd extra levels, and helps understand why the war is fought the way it is.

The quality of translation and English in general remains pretty good, though there's a few minor questionable ones at the end of the Caverns (about 4 or 5 at the late levels. Total.) but nothing particularly major, and you can understand what's being said anyway.

If you liked the first game, there is pretty much no reason to not own this. If you havn't tried, well, it's certainly worth looking into, and the demo covers a fair bit of the base gameplay. Give it a shot.

In short: It's much like the first game, but with more tanks, more modules, and more levels.

I would say the two biggest changes to gameplay are the inclusion of control tanks and tanks with perfect accuracy. Control tanks are tanks that, at the very start of the battle, disable the opponent tanks' add-on (blue) modules. This means that you can no longer rely on overpowered modules to get you through every battle. Perfect accuracy ignores evasion entirely, which means you are no longer completely at the mercy of RNG gods when attacking units with evasion. Unfortunately, units that ignore evasion are mostly snipers with limited attack area. You will still get to see your enemies dodging artillery fire, just like in the bad old days.

The structure of the main story is a lot simpler than in the previous game. Instead of branching into multiple routes leading to different endings, here you will only get a few alternative missions. The final level also changes somewhat depending on your performance as far as gameplay is concerned, but the ending is the same no matter which final level you choose to play.

The main cast is mostly new. The player takes the role of Alter, who - unlike Daihonei Shoutarou - has her own sprite that appears in the ADV scenes along with the other characters. Ruru will be taking Heshiko's place as the wacky Human Tank companion, while Elle inherits Heshiko's cuteness and Choko's tinkering skillz. Finally we have Megumi, whom you may remember from the first game. Overall it has the same light-hearted approach to war as the first game, with some gloomier moments here and there. The story felt bit more personal this time around, while biggest flaw I found was the lack of interesting antagonists.

But while the main story is weaker than in the first game, the bulk of the game actually takes place outside of the main story, within the caverns of Mt Fuji. These caverns are massive at over 90 levels in total, and feature new characters, new tanks to fight and unlock, and story regarding these new characters as well as the nature of Human Tanks. The caverns will take around 20-30 hours to complete.

Review Summary: 4.5/5 A charming Japanese indie game that meshes "Battleship" style pseudo-turn based gameplay and a Visual Novel story. I strongly recommend it.

War of the Human Tanks: ALTeR tells the story of Alter Matsuyukishiro as she fights to eliminate a traitor to the Royal Army, in the midst of their war with the Empire of Japon. This war is being fought with semi-intelligent weapons known as human tanks. If you've played the previous game in the series, War of the Human Tanks, you know about what to expect, as this game has the same charm and quality along with a bit more length.

For those not familiar with the original, this game combines a visual-novel type story (text on static backgrounds with character portraits, as in the preview images) along with gameplay strongly reminiscent of the classic board game "Battleship". Playing the original War of the Human Tanks isn't strictly necessary to understand this game, though it does provide more context; all you really need to know is that the Empire of Japon and Kingdom of Japon have been fighting an extremely long war throughout Japon and, 20 years ago, developed human tanks to replace actual human soldiers in the war. There are two campaigns in the game, the "main" campaign, and the Great Cavern of Fuji, the latter of which is longer, more serious, and has much more depth to it (both in terms of tactics and in terms of character development).

The gameplay occurs on a square grid on which you deploy your human tanks, and seek to destroy the enemy command tanks located in the fog of war. While technically real-time, you may only give orders to any individual unit when they are 'connected', which happens at fixed intervals based on that unit's transmission speed. The tactical depth in the game comes from deciding the composition and position of your forces, as well as movement and scouting once the battle has begun. Most early levels allow for multiple tactical approaches: do you hang back and blind fire with artillery tanks, send a balanced force of scout and assault tanks forward, or rush a couple of self-destructing shock tanks to breach the enemy's defenses? Later levels in the great caverns tend to favor specific strategies, forcing you to adapt; this is especially true for a select few cavern levels where the enemy is so overwhelming that the game becomes almost a puzzle in selecting the correct tanks and placements to survive the onslaught.

Other points of interest:

- The game took me 43 hours to 100%, with all but 8 of them spent clearing the Great Cavern of Fuji.

- The translation was very well done; I encountered no bugs and 3 typos during the entire game.

- The soundtrack for the game is surprisingly good; I wouldn't put it on the level of my favorite game sountrack (Timesplitters 2), but the sound cues here are quite catchy, and I think they'll stick with me for a good while.

- Battling through all the floors of the Great Cavern of Fuji can get a little repetitive, but the new units gained in the cavern and the unique tactical challenges on many of the floors keep it interesting.

Overall, I'd give it a 4.5/5. I really liked this game and would recommend it to anyone who likes Japanese indie games or turn-based strategy games.

A game where ishidaki is pleasure (in more than a few ways) *cough* M *cough*. Helmaniac is supposedly a thing too.

In a slightly serious manner, I have to say that I've always been fascinated with science fictions in the regards of the relationships between humans and androids. It brings up questions such as, "What makes a human, human? Are we so negative about the idea at times because its intelligence level hits too close to home? Here in this game, we explore along with Alter that human tanks are not mere tools, and that the will to protect each other goes both ways. A simple story regarding how "humans" would come to treasure others.

Perhaps an improvement from its predecessor with more units, slapstick, and more straight-man comedy from our little Elle (Satou did a good job too). Again with another lazy protagonist, Alter, where she has quite the bit of monologue where she is read like a book. This time differently, in our beloved Royal army, we get to wreck not only the Imperial army, but also Royal human tanks and the strangest inventions by the nomadic-minded Imperial generals. If not enough, we managed to get Rara, a sister tank that has more than a few screws loose and learning how these tanks manage to survive... by being blasted off (Chiyoko's inventions = best). Getting much more unique scenarios such as having reinforcements, and Rambo missions to help make our battles more interesting while also a refeshing way for the world to expand itself.

The enemy being able to use modules does make it interesting too, also with more counter units for each tank out there. Being worth its every penny, it is quite the enjoyable one. Two complainants though, wish the cards were worth more and that my subordinate officers have better tanks than I do in the first run! Give me a L7 please.

And one final note,

All hail our Royal Queen, Kurara!~

The sequel to the fantastic War of the Human Tanks. This is a Japanese-style turn-based strategy so think Advance Wars or Disgaea. It also has long Visual Novel-style cutscenes between each mission like Disgaea. Some people seem to call it a real-time strategy but it's more of an active time turn-based. When a unit's turn comes up you can either take your turn or wait and other units will ready up in the meantime. It's certainly not real-time, in any case.

Each mission consists of 3 parts: the cutscene/story, unit management/deployment and then the sortie/engagement. Units come in a few classes: Command, Assault, Recon, Shock, Artillery, Intercept and a couple surprises. Each class has a research line so you can produce better tanks as you play. There are also modules you can research, build and attach to tanks to augment their abilities. Tanks can end up ridiculously powerful if you invest the time to upgrade them. It's a rather fun system.

I haven't gotten very far in Alter yet so I'll have to edit this review if anything comes up but I simply couldn't get enough of WotHT1 so more of the same would be perfectly welcome, IMO. There aren't enough Advance Wars-like games on PC so if that's your type of game, this is a must-buy.

Note: The game is locked at 800x600 and when switching to fullscreen your monitor may stretch the window in an ugly fashion. Check the forums for a fix that will allow the game to maintain it's aspect ratio when in fullscreen.