"A sequel that outshines its predecessor a bit."

I give it a 8 rating mainly for two reasons. Again those that do not know or like Yu-Gi-Oh may not enjoy this game.But for those who like Yu-Gi-Oh this is a must have game for them. Secondly, although it is an improvement over Yu-Gi-Oh Eternal Duelist Soul, there is only a small amount of improvements made and those that have Eternal Duelist Soul may feel a bit regretful that they did not wait for this to be released.

About this game

Think along the lines of Yu-Gi-Oh Eternal Duelist Soul with more cards + RPG elements. In this game you are still dueling with cards but the main difference between this and Yu-Gi-Oh Eternal Duelist Soul is that now dueling is not so straightforward. Now you have to walk around battle city to battle or to talk to passer-by. Every action you take will cost you one day. There is a great deal of stuff to unlock like secret characters and booster packs and special tournaments. However a note is that you have to scout the areas for on-going tournaments. So be warned that you may not participate in all tournaments. Sometimes talking to passer-by may end up in a duel with Ghouls. That's all about it.

Gameplay

Gameplay is identical to Yu-Gi-Oh Eternal Duelist Soul. Gameplay is hard to understand at first for beginners to the game but it grows on you if you know about the series and the instruction manual helps a lot in understanding the game but I suggest you have a run with it first then you will notice how it is played. It's quite simple after a while. But most of the time it relies on the type of deck you have and a bit of luck. Gameplay would be fun if you know what you want in the long run and aim for it and it will serve as a motivation as well enable you to truly enjoy the game. However the card game tend to be slow and there are some glitches to be noted.

Graphics

About graphics,nothing has changed from Yu-Gi-Oh Eternal Duelist Soul. Therefore graphics wise it is average. Most of the cards are clearly defined and the graphics will help to some extent make this game more enjoyable and soft on the eyes of the player.

Story

The story is about you being yourself in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh in the battle city tournament. During the course of the tournament, you happen to stumble upon the Ghouls who are looking for rare cards .If you lose a duel to them they will take a rare card from you. However the point is that Yugi Muto is not there to help so it's up to you to prevent their evil plans as well as stop their mastermind.

Controls

The Controls are fine and not terrible to use on the normal Gameboy Advance. And there isn't a lot of menus like Yu-Gi-Oh Eternal Duelist Soul. So I do not think you would be complaining about the controls.

Sound

A thing to note the music has not changed, Konami decided to recycle the music from before. As usual different opponents have their own music but the music tend to get repetitive and eventually irritating but some of the music is good and sometimes soothing to the ears. But there's always an option to lower the volume therefore it isn't really a problem.

Replay Value

There is no real replay value it's just one long tournament and the goal to get all the cards and make a deck that will not lose and has few weaknesses.

To Rent or Buy?

Buy it definitely, if you do not own a Yu-Gi-Oh game yet this is one for you. You can play it everywhere but a note to remember is that if you do not have friends who play this game do not play this in front of them as they might have a hard time picking this up on their first try.

Overall

This game is really a great game. I don't see why one should not get it. It is fun and worthwhile. For fans and collectors of the series, IT IS A MUST HAVE game.

Ratings

8 for non-fans of Yu-Gi-Oh (10 for Yu-Gi-Oh fans)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/23/03, Updated 04/23/03