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Rating: E
Features:
-Card Movement Battle System enhances the strategy
-Side with either Yugi or Kaiba
-680 monsters in 3-D
-3 exclusive cards included!
Review by Matt Keil (from www.techtv.com)
Historical times
In a departure from the story line of the anime and the previous games, "Duelists of the Roses" casts the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" characters in brand-new roles. For some reason the characters are now all historical figures from the War of the Roses period in Medieval England. No explanation is given as to why European history is now being determined by the outcome of collectible card games, though at one point Yugi (still decked out in his schoolboy/bondage slave outfit) requests that he not be called by his given name of Henry Tudor because "I find it tiresome." Whatever you say, Yugi.
Of course, the story of any "Yu-Gi-Oh!" game is simply an excuse for dueling. The object of the main game is to defeat a series of enemy duelists in order to acquire the Red and White Rose Cards, which hold the key to ultimate power, or something of equally great importance. The campaign mode lets you side with either Yugi or Kaiba (Lancaster and York, respectively) and carve a bloody swath through the English landscape as you battle for dominance. Well, there's not actually any blood, since you're just playing cards, but it's still no easy task.
Dueling difficulties
The most distinguishing feature of "Duelists of the Roses" is that the game is really freaking hard. You begin with an exceptionally weak deck and building up to a decent power level is difficult to say the least. This is partly due to the "Perfect Rule" unique to this version of the game. It incorporates two new elements reminiscent of chess.
First you have a Deck Leader, a "king" piece that puts cards into play. Lose your Deck Leader and you lose the game. Second, the cards move around the playing field like pieces on a board. Unfortunately, while this setup is fine in chess, it doesn't work particularly well in "Yu-Gi-Oh!" In chess, both sides are of equal power. In "Yu-Gi-Oh!" opponents often have very different decks, and it can be very difficult to make any headway when you're outmatched by a few really powerful monster cards. Similarly, once your deck is at a high power level, the game can become spectacularly easy.
Except for the Perfect Rule, "Duelists of the Roses" will be familiar to players of the original card game. Most card effects and abilities are roughly the same as their real-life counterparts, although some are altered to take the movement of the pieces into account. There's considerable strategy and technique to be mined from the game, if you can get around the Perfect Rule balance issues and the occasionally questionable AI. Expect to be at a disadvantage early on thanks to the AI knowing the intricacies of the rules and which monsters make the best fusions. The AI opponents also seem to draw extremely good cards nearly all the time, which can make battling them frustrating until you figure out the weaknesses in their game plans.
Long loads and repetitive noise
Another first for the franchise is the inclusion of decent 3D models for each of the monsters. When two monsters fight, a battle sequence will show flashy attack moves and the outcome of the fight. Unfortunately, these little scuffles take a long time to load and far too long to play out. Most players will turn them off after seeing a few of their favorite cards in action.
Sound is minimal and music is occasionally maddening. The repetitive tunes played during matches are more irritating than anything else, although we must give credit to the developers for finding a way to work a harpsichord-driven track into a card-based strategy game.
"Yu-Gi-Oh!" fans will probably already have this game by the time they read this review. The unwashed masses will be lost if they dive into "Duelists of the Roses" without any previous "Yu-Gi-Oh!" experience. The tutorial is decent and the manual thorough, but the intricacies of the game can only be learned over time and with much patience. This is a somewhat successful variation on the franchise formula, and it's worth trying out. Due to the rule changes and the overall complexity, purists and newcomers would do well to rent first.
Cheats
Unlock Map Edit Mode Complete both White and Red Rose modes.
Card Passwords
Press R3 at the deck building screen and enter one of the below passwords
to unlock the corresponding card:
Ancient Tree Of Enlightenment: EKJHQ109 Aqua Dragon: JXCB6FU7 Barrel Dragon: GTJXSBJ7 Beast King Of The Swamp: QXNTQPAX Birdface: N54T4TY5 Blast Sphere: CZN5GD2X Change Of Heart: SBYDQM8B Crush Card: SRA7L5YR Dark Hole: UMJ10MQB Dragonseeker: 81EZCH8B Earthshaker: Y34PN1SV Elf's Light: E5G3NRAD Exodia's Head: 37689434 Fairy King Trusdale: YF07QVEZ Fairy's Gift: NVE7A3EZ Goblin Fan: 92886423 Gravity Bind: 0HNFG9WX Greenkappa: YBJMCD6Z Harpy's Feather Sweep: 8HJHQPNP Horn Of The Unicorn: S14FGKQ1 Left Arm Of Exodia: A5CF6HSH Magician Of Faith: GME1S3UM Meteor Dragon: 86985631 Mimicat: 69YDQM85 Mirror Wall: 53297534 Mystical Capture Chains: N1NDJMQ3 Robotic Knight: S5S7NKNH Royal Decree: 8TETQHE1 Seiyaryu: 2H4D85J7 Serpentine Princess: UMQ3WZUZ Slate Warrior: 73153736 Swordsman From A Foreign Land: CZ81UVGR Swordstalker: AH0PSHEB Tactical Warrior: 054TC727