Over the past couple of
years, card battle games have become an increasingly popular hobby among both
kids and adults. With various games ranging from Magic : The Gathering to
Pokemon to Star Wars, it seems like there’s a little bit of everything out there
for anyone who has an interest in collectible card games. Of course, the more
popular the card games get, the more video game adaptations hit the market.
Recently, PSX has had it’s fair share including a Magic: The Gathering title,
Digimon, and most recently … Yu-Gi-Oh : Forgotten Memories which is based on the
Japanese Anime title of the same name. To be honest, I’ve never seen the cartoon
and had no idea what the game was about, so I called in my 8 year old “subject
matter expert” who has absorbed probably somewhere in the quadruple digit hours
of anime shows and Cartoon Network. He explained the plot and the basis of the
whole thing to me, and I am sad to say that after X amount of long hours and
days of playing this game … I still don’t fully understand it.
The plot of the game
revolves around your character, who is prince of the Amenhotep dynasty, who
leaves the confines of your comfortable palace to go out among the commoners and
play a hot card game called “Duel Monsters”. The story unfolds in cut scenes
and still frame backgrounds with anime characters taken from the animated show
of the same name. Interestingly enough, this game is not just some made up
fiction title, but is actually based around a game called the “Shadow Game” …
which was an actual magic and monsters ritual that was performed in ancient
Egypt many millenia ago. It revolved around the prince (Your character) who held
the legendary Black Magician and his struggle with a priest who held the Mystic
White Beast. As a matter of fact, the instruction manual includes a brief note
from Pegasus Crawford (the chairman of Industrial Illusion) who explains the
developing idea behind the game. Interesting concept, and I was really looking
forward to playing this one since it actually has historic roots to it. That’s
where things took a turn for the aggravating.
Starting off, you can
select either a “story mode” or just a free duel to sharpen your gaming skills
against computer opponents that you have already beaten. The game revolves
around a card battle, similar to Pokemon or Digimon, where you place various
monsters and spells onto a playing field consisting of 10 spaces. Five up front
for your creatures, and five in the back for various spell cards which can be
used to enhance the monster’s attack and defense abilities or to effect your
opponent’s turn. The monsters can be used to attack the opposing player’s beasts
or the player directly, and the battles are done on a simple “attack vs. defend”
number combination as to who wins or loses, and monsters can be fused to create
more powerful beings (Monster attack is 1500, opposing monster’s defense is
1000, so the attack does 500 damage). If no monsters are present or chosen to
defend, the full damage amount targets the player being attacked. The game is
over when either no more cards can be drawn out of a deck of 40, or when a
player’s life points are depleted to 0. Winning matches results in new cards
being unlocked to add to your deck. Sound simple? Read on …
My first major and the
biggest killer complaint of this game is the difficulty. This is a pretty deep
game overall, with the various number of monster and spell combinations, but
there is no tutorial or practice modes anywhere to be found to help the first
time player get the hang of the game. Since I have never seen nor heard of the
game at all, I had no idea what I was doing. So, through “trial by fire” method
and reading the instruction manual, I finally figured out the basics of the game
after about 15 minutes. Now, the progression through the story mode opponents
goes like this … easy – easy – easy – impossible. The fourth card battle I
attempted resulted in a fight between my character and an arrogant priest of the
high temple … so here comes issue #2. Like I stated before, monsters can be
fused to make more powerful creatures. The problem is that there is no
information anywhere in the game or the instruction manual to explain what
determines which monsters can be fused, and which ones can’t. So while my
extremely difficult opponent is fusing like 3 cards together and making some
really destructive beings, I’m trying to figure out what can go with what and
losing a lot of cards in the process. If two monsters can’t combine, one
(usually the stronger of the two) gets knocked out of play completely. Needless
to say, I was quickly defeated. Now, complaint #3 … losing a battle results in
losing the game, so since I neglected to save I found myself back at the very
beginning going back through all of the pre game dialogue over again. Anyway, I
decided to look on the positive and use this time to try and figure out the
fusion thing again with the easy – easy – easy opponents, and found like three
combinations. Well, here comes the priest again … but this time I was ready for
him with my three fusion combinations. Well, I fused a pretty powerful dragon,
which resulted in him making two even more powerful monsters which took my
dragon out and them proceeded to kill me in 3 turns. So off went the PSX and off
I went to play something else due to frustration until a couple of hours later.
Mr. “subject matter expert” came in and tried it for about an hour after I
stomped off huffing at it, and came out with the same overall statement … “I
can’t beat the fourth guy”. Eventually, I managed to move forward but ran into
the same problem over and over again which seems like no matter how powerful the
monsters you fuse tend to be, the CPU always manages to do one better. Most of
the game consists of saving, trying the same opponent over and over again, then
saving, then trying over and over again, etc. Thus, I started calling the game “Yu-Gi-Oh-My-Gosh-I-Am-So-Frustrated-I-Don’t-Want-To-Play-Anymore-Right-Now”.
Graphically, the game is
pretty solid for a PSX title. The animated characters and opponents in story
mode are bold and colorful, and the cards and monsters depicted during battles
are pretty clean. When going into a fight, there is an option to just have the
damage displayed or go into a battle screen where the monsters go at it in full
animation. The animated graphics are more pixilated and have some choppy
movements, plus it tends to slow things down overall since it goes through a big
deal summoning the creatures and then having them move around and attack. Big
thumbs up to Konami for giving us the option to just play or go though the full
deal. The music, while not spectacular, does a good job in setting a background
tone which sets the mood for the overall game experience.
Overall, this game could
really be a good addition to the PSX gamer’s library who is a big fan of card
battle games or the Yu-Gi-Oh anime series on TV. It has a numerous amount of
monsters, spells, and card combinations, so the possibilities of a strong deck
are endless. I would ultimately recommend this for either someone who has played
the card game before or someone who has a lot of time to go through and write
down or memorize the card combos and fusion results, since everything is trial
and error. Anyone, like me, who has not seen the show or played the game before
will possibly find this extremely difficult and ultimately frustrating overall
due to the amount of time which has to be put into searching various card combos
and fusions. That is an essential part of moving forward and progressing through
the game, so if it’s not done, you won’t get very far. Ultimately, be prepared
for a long ride filled with repeated “do overs” … so buy with caution.
Gameplay: 6.1
A really deep game with an
interesting concept that can be traced back about 5000 years ago to ancient
Egypt. Unfortunately since there is no tutorial or initial walkthrough to help
learn the game mechanics and card fusion elements it can be extremely difficult
and may cause frustration to be the overall feeling. The gameplay is simple one
button presses and is very easy to pick up and play control wise, and the story
is linear enough to get you where you need to go.
Graphics:
8.0
Solid and colorful anime characters
and interactions with detailed pictures on the cards themselves are really good
looking for a PSX title. The 3-D monster animations in battle mode are a little
choppy and pixellated, but not bad compared to some other games I have seen.
Sound: 7.5
Not bad at all. The music actually
does a good job setting the tone for the scenes and game as it moves along, and
is made up of Egyptian sounding melodies. The battle sounds consist of slashing
sounds and occasional crashing.
Difficulty: Hard
This game is extremely difficult and
very time consuming. Since it throws you right into battling other people with
no practice or tutorial mode, the first amount of time will be spent learning
the basic gameplay mechanics, then the rest of the time will be used trying to
memorize different card combos and fusions. Definitely not for the player who
just wants to hop in and go.
Concept:
8.5
A really interesting concept which
is based on historical facts dating back to Egyptian times. It’s similar to
Pokemon and Digimon, but also has a lot of differences which make it unique,
such as the monsters, fusion abilities, and spell effects.
Multiplayer: 8.0
Definitely the better point of the
experience, and can be a lot of fun. Since two people can get on and find
combinations, trade cards, and ultimately help each other out, it can be a lot
smoother overall.
Overall:
6.0
A great and unique concept which
unfortunately is way too difficult and frustrating to be worth the price of
admission for most. Definitely rent before buying or purchase with caution.
