Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses

"Different - Yes. Disappointing - No."

Y'know, I'm getting sick of reading reviews where games are critised for all the wrong reasons. Rarely does the game seem to have been viewed objectively and most poor scores for this particular game seem to have come from the game not living up to what the reviewer thought it would be like.

To diss a game just because of this, to me, is silly. It should be looked at on it's own merits and downfalls. If it doesn't play how you thought it would, it's probably better to be critising yourself for expecting the wrong thing.

Anyway - on with the review. However, I am going to do this a little differently and review by comparing against the most popular discussion points:

This isn't like EDS/It isn't the proper rules

This is true. This game doesn't use the official rules of the trading card game. Do you know why? It's because if you want to play by the official trading card rules, you can either buy the cards and play it, or buy EDS on the GBA.

I thought this would play like FM on the PSOne

Why? You were wrong, it's not the games fault!

Some reviews have actually said that they preferred that game because it had more strategy. In my opinion, FM relied too much on the strength of cards. Once you had the strongest monsters it was hard to lose. At least monster effects are included in DOTR, which, while they do not mirror the real card rules, certainly add extra strategy to the mix. I find it hard for anyone to argue that FM does not rely purely on power over anything else.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is set in Egypt, why is this in England?

Ok, so now we add 'being original' onto the 'bad ideas' pile as well do we? It really doesn't affect gameplay in any way whatsoever and I don't see how it's fair to class this as a bad point?

You're starting deck is terrible

Granted, this is true. Think about it though, if your starting deck was unbeatable, where's the challenge? Similarly, if all you want to do is rip the game open with a cheat device then to some degree you're missing the point.

I'm hardly the world's greatest player but I'm happily past the half way mark and my deck is progressing nicely. It's a little thing called patience.

Also, winning is NOT the only way to get new cards. Every 5 duels you can gain 3 new cards at random by sacrificing an old one, OR, you CAN use passwords but they are not the ones off the cards.

- - - - -

Well, enough of that sort of thing. It just bugs me how the same arguments seem to get raised time and again... Right, here's the usual breakdown:

Graphics

Considering the age of the title I was really surprised how well they stood up. Special effects are well done (if in some cases, overused) but with the high number of card variations I think they did a very good job all in all. Those of you who played FM will certainly appreciate the difference and the loading times are reduced considerably, making it more worthwhile to leave the animation setting to 'on'.

Sound

It would have been nice to have a few different dueling background tracks but what's there is unintrusive enough. In fairness I don't really think sound is the most important factor in this type of game.

Gameplay

It all depends what you are expecting really. If you are prepared to give it a chance and you don't have too many preconceived ideas, it can become very addictive. The new rules of play are easy to pick up - and for once a long and exhaustive tutorial is included.

Lifespan

Like any game of this sort, the options are almost countless. With no many card combinations possible, no two games should ever be the same. Not to mention that there are close on 900 cards to collect.

If you enjoy the game - this will last you as long as you want it to, but obviously if it's not your cup of tea you're not going to give it the time it needs to blossom.

Rent or Buy

Again - personal choice. It's not like there is a shortage of Yu-Gi-Oh! games is it?

If you want to play strictly by the card rules I would recommend The Eternal Duelist Soul on the GBA (or wait for the Stairway to the Destined Duel in a few more weeks).

If you want a game that brings the characters and cards you love to life in the best looking way so far - go for this so long as you are not a purist

Basically - make an informed decision. Don't jump to the wrong conclusions then blame the game for your lack of foresight.

If you're really not sure - rent it, then see how you like it.

Final Score

I give this game an 8 out of 10. I don't consider that a poor score at all. It's one of my favourite games so far but I just don't dish out 10/10 all the time just because it's a franchise I like ;-)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/06/03, Updated 03/06/03