"Is it the new and best YGO game? I imagine you've already guessed..."

In Yu-Gi-Oh Nightmare Troubadour, the designers have designed a new system of touch-screen technology that could destroy the world...I mean make a good game! Whether it succeeded...

Plot: 7/10
As you might have heard, games based on card games are notoriously lacking in plot. This game makes a decent effort towards a plot. Basically, it follows the Battle City/Virtual Reality Saga, with some oddities thrown in like Para and Dox, Panik, and Pegasus. It manages to produce a goal.

For once, you can almost feel like your character is a person. He isn't a nameless entity, like he has been in the previous games. The characters talk to you, and you respond. Although this may seem like an obvious thing, I don't think any other Yu-gi-oh game has managed to ALMOST cause you to care about the fate of your character.

Gameplay: 10/10
This game does the best job of imitating the YGO card games to date. There are several cards missing for crucial deck types, but all in all, this game has a massive selection of cards for your decks. Also, as in WCT2005, you can have a plethora of decks at the same time, using the new Deck Recipes.

Also, this game is strong in modern rulings for the most part. Although many complain about chaining oddities, I've noticed some amusing features! For example, when your opponent uses a card that allows them to search for a card from their deck, and the type of card specified doesn't exist, you are allowed to look through your deck to verify that! This is a recent ruling from Upper Deck.

You collect cards through a point system, which works in two ways. First, you gain Experience Points to raise your level. At certain levels, you receive new and more powerful booster packs to buy. Secondly, you gain Kaiba Corp. Points to spend on packs, based on the level of your opponent and special bonuses achieved during play, such as winning on your opponent's turn or winning without the use of Trap cards. With Kaiba Corp. Points, you go to the shop and buy packs.

A personal favorite feature is the puzzle system, which is even more challenging at times then it's last incarnation in WCT2005. Puzzles range from the beginner puzzles to incredibly difficult advanced puzzles, with your KC Point bonus depending on the level of the puzzle you beat. They mostly deal with exploiting rule anomalies, such as using Big Bang Shot's removal ability to remove your opponent's defending Mystical Elf from the game.

A last thing of note is the ban list, which is complete and effective as of when it was made. Some might find it annoying that the ban list is no longer recent, but you can often customize your decks for that while facing fellow players. You can eventually use one banned card in your deck, which might even be the infamous Egyptian God Cards!

Audio: 8/10
The previous games had horrible sound and effect noises. The battle music consisted mostly of one song repeated over and over, and the effects were just bleeps and bangs. These songs are almost catchy, and the VS Noah song is very dramatic. The effect noises have been revamped, like a crash when a card is destroyed. Once more, this may seem obvious, but it is a large step up from the previous games.

Graphics: 9/10
This is a major strong point of this game, unexpectedly, mostly due to the addition of 3-D models of the monsters when summoned. Monsters that are summoned have an image of them that changes depending on whether it is defending or attacking. Also, certain 'character' monsters, like Dark Magician for Yugi and Baby Dragon for Joey, have neat summoning animations. The Egyptian Gods have a fantastic animation that really fits with their power, and their massive size. Obelisk has the largest model of them all!

New Features: 9/10
Nightmare Troubadour has used the innovative touch screen well. In the duels, the touch screen is a picture of the duel field like you might see it in a real duel, while the upper screen features the Duelist Info, Life Point counts, and monster animations. This game is almost reminiscent of Pokemon with the addition of a day/night system, where Shadow Duelists and story events typically occur at night, allowing you to train and prepare for them by day.

One of the possibly less enjoyable features of this game is that to find duelists on the map, you play a game of Hot, Cold, where the color of the cursor changes depending on how close you are to a duelist, with the purple/red being the closest. This is still interesting, but tends to get somewhat boring after a while.

Replay Value: 9/10
As in most collecting-type games, this game has massive replay value because you just won't stop until you've built your favorite deck, or even collected all the cards! Doing so will take a very long time, so be prepared with a recharger and a natural disdain for electricity bills...Seriously, though, it's really difficult to get bored with this game. You could have been playing this game for years, and still not know all the secrets(probably an exaggeration, but...).

FINAL SCORE:
9/10. This game is extremely original compared to previous games, and is quite consistent with the Yu-Gi-Oh rules. The only pet peeve of players is some inconsistency with certain rules and sets.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/05