Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards

"Bad Reaction to RPG"

Innovation. It's the life's blood of a long-running video game franchise. As the years go by, and tastes in what's "cool" in games change, games must change, as well, in order to survive scrutiny. This is especially tough when it comes to games that are based around a specific gimmick; with those, the die-hard loyals will throw a fit if anything is changed about it, as to them the changes tears it away from the "true" gaming experience it once had. So, with a game like Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's options are split down the middle: innovate, and risk the ire of thousands of fanboys across the world, or stick with the tried and true formula, and risk each and every latter installment to be little more than an expansion pack to its prequel. The Sacred Cards, though, tries to navigate the third, unnoticed path in this dilemma: mixing in new elements while trying to stay true to the original formula. Unfortunately, as any good cook knows, experimenting with a formula usually ends with disaster, and The Sacred Cards is no exception.

The story, as it was back then, centers around the Battle City story arc of the original series (y'know, the one with Yugi Mutou and the Millennium Items?). You are Yugi's friend, and you accompany him as he relives the Battle City Tournament in all its glory. This actually brings up what I think is the best innovation for the entire series: instead of a static, Mega Man-like screen for you to choose your opponent like other games during that time, there's actually an overview world for your character to walk around and interact with. This, at least, became a staple in the latter games (most noticeably in the Tag Force games), and it really gives you more of the feeling that you're moving about in an actual world instead of just picking out targets at random. You can talk with people before you duel them, take a tour around some of the most "famous" areas of Domino City, and even chill out with Grandpa at his card store. The worlds are also really detailed...perhaps a bit TOO detailed, as I had a hard time trying to find exits to other places on the map, at times.

But the meat of this game is the actual dueling, and here's where you're fed rotten strips of jerky instead of fillet mignon. First, despite playing more or less like the actual card game, most of the cards in the game have been completely overhauled, seemingly randomly; some Normal monsters are given effects, Effect monsters have their effects altered or removed, monsters that weren't Fusion or Rituals are now such, spell and trap cards working nowhere near how they should... Anyone playing this game, and expecting a rehash of Stairway to the Destined Duel will be sadly disappointed. Also, for some inexplicable reason, a roshambo-sort of element system has been implemented, where monsters of one element will take out a monster with an immediately weaker element automatically in battle, regardless of how strong they are. In essence, this means a lowly Kuriboh can take out a mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon. I think they meant for it to add to the strategy, but in reality, it's just a detriment that hinders the game. Fortunately, the AI are all morons, so unless you really suck at the game, you shouldn't have that much problem winning duels...yeah, right.

And don't get me started on the "RPG" elements they threw in here; As you duel, you gain levels and experience points, but while you can get cards from the shop that have a higher level than you, you cannot play them until you've meet or surpassed its level. Also, each card has its own experience point total, and when combined, the total experience points of your 40 card deck (and it HAS to be 40, no more or less) CANNOT exceed your own limit, which means that you're pretty much stuck with a crappy ramshackle deck of weak cards for most of the game. And to add a final insult to injury, your life point total does NOT reset each time you win a duel; you have to return to your own room (in either your house or on Kaiba's blimp) and REST in order to regain them. That's pretty unfair, if you tell me.

The graphics, as I said, are great in the overworld, but in-duel, they're utter crap; the card pictures are so tiny, you can barely see which card you're paying, and there's nothing in the way of interesting animations going on in the duel itself to keep your interest. The sounds are pretty bland, too, nothing too memorable.

Personally, I found this game to be greatly inferior to Stairway to the Destined Duel or even The Eternal Duelist Soul. Konami just tried too hard to combine innovation with the traditional gameplay of the franchise, and failed in almost all respects. I couldn't even get through the game, it was so frustratingly hard with all of the restrictions. I think Konami had learned their lesson after this, as the PSP and DS games are more or less exactly like the real world game, and the innovations THERE (like the tag dueling for Tag Force) are actually entertaining. Get one of those instead of this garbage heap; it's the Cyberdark Impact of the game series.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/07

Game Release: Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards (US, 11/04/03)