"Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelist of the Roses" 遊戯王真デュエルモンスターズII 継承されし記憶 (Yu-Gi-Oh Shin Deyueru Monsutazu Tzū Keishō Sareshi Kioku Game King New Duel Monsters II Inherited Memories) is a video game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, developed by Konami and released on PlayStation 2 format on 6 September, 2001 in Japan. This is the first game from the series to be released on PlayStation 2 format.
The video game has loosely been based on the real-world Wars of the Roses. Yami Yugi (Yugi Mutou in the English anime and the original Japanese adaptations) could assume the identity of the head of the Tudor dynasty, Henry VII of England, while Seto Kaiba would represent the head of the House of York clan force as Christian Rosenkreuz.
Upon its release, "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelist of Roses received mixed reviews from most game critics, with many critics praising the game for its graphic design and appeal, but criticizing its tedious gameplay and lack of fair challenge. It was a commercial success though, being recognized as one of the best-selling PlayStation 2 games to date, selling over one million copies worldwide. In mid-2006, The Duelists of the Roses was named a PlayStation 2 Greatest Hits title.
Plot and story[]
If you choose to side with the Lancastrians, the map where you play over is on England. The game gives you two opponents to start with, Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor, and depending on which one you defeat will determine what opponents you can battle next. If you defeat Weevil, you unlock Pegasus Crawford and Bandit Keith, and if you defeat Rex you will be able to defeat Necromancer and Panik (Darkness-Ruler). Players of the game often consider the latter the easier opponents, which usually leads to defeating Rex before Weevil. Defeating Rex's path unlocks, Panik and Necromancer, grant you a Rose card in which you need 8, but do not offer new opponents. Defeating Weevil's path unlocks however grant another duelist, respectively, Labyrinth Ruler and Ishtar. Defeating Pegasus Crawford does not grant you a Rose card and is the only duelist in the game besides Rosenkreuz and Mannawydan fab Llyr to do so. After defeating those opponents, a battle with Richard Slysheen of York is granted for the next rose card. A cutscene and extensive dialogue highlighting Richard's fall in battle is given unlike most other characters, giving a climactic, almost boss like feel to Richard despite him not being as proficient a duelist as other Rose Crusaders. Richard however is not considered a boss as he does not have unique background music in his match, but the traditional castle icon over his mark is replaced by two swords clashing together. After defeating Richard, Yugi suggests you defeat Rosenkreuz, and Crawford, who has now sided with the Lancastrians, reveals Seto is at the Stonehenge. The respective map for this battle features a layout akin to the Stonehenge, featuring walls surrounded by meadows. After defeating Seto, he uses the 16 rose cards to summon the "Card Guardian", Mannawydan fab Llyr. Featured on both sides, fab Llyr is established as a near undefeatable opponent in the game and uses many cards unobtainable in the game even after completion of both sides. On this side, fab Llyr's Stonehenge map is filled with the crush terrain that destroys any over 1500 attack level card. His strategy is to surround the outskirts of the field with powerful monsters while laying the middle with intensely high power trap cards.
If you choose to side with the Yorkists, the game features a more linear gameplay. Each opponent you defeat leads you to one new one, removing the option of choosing an opponent that seems easier to defeat, making it more difficult for those stuck on an opponent. The game starts in England, and progresses towards the docks. You first face Tea Gardner, a weak opponent. The game then progresses with T. Tristan Grey, another weak opponent with a higher deck value. After these two are defeated, Margaret Mai Beaufort is the final opponent to face in England, and features a much stronger deck than both previous opponents, in addition to a map tailored entirely for her deck unlike the previous opponents. After beating Mai, Mako takes you to France, but stops you on the way to battle you. The map features terrain to match the straight, having meadow in the top right and bottom left corners, the rest consisting of seawater to compliment Mako's water based deck. When you beat Mako, you land on France to face Joey (Christopher Urswick). Unlike the two previous two opponents but like the first two, Joey does not have a map that specifically compliments his deck, making him an easier duelist than Mako and Mai. Continuing, you face Shadi Morton who is considered a staple in the game to receive higher powered cards such as Zoa. Shadi also has no specific map terrain bar one corner wasteland for his rock monsters, and the other corner forest for pyro cards. The enemy after Shadi is Jasper Dice Tudor (Yugi's grandfather). His strategy is two block both sides of a labyrinth box with traps and spellbinding flip effects while trying to successfully summon Exodia to win instantly. If this strategy is deprecated, he is easily defeated as he does not have powerful cards. Bakura is the next opponent and has a low cost deck of low power monsters on a field consisting of many crush pieces and forest terrain. Terrain changing cards and high power monsters are an easy way to over power him if you can bring your deck cost down low enough. Yugi is then depicted as a semi-boss, having his own unique BGM. The field for Yugi has a pattern of all terrains that continue from the top left of the board to the bottom right. Yugi gives you the 8th rose card after being defeated, and Kaiba uses the 16 Rose cards yet again to summon fab Llyr. On the Yorkist side, fab Llyr's deck features high powered, sometimes undefeatable monsters. The middle of the stonehenge is filled with Dark terrain, and the only strategy used is to overpower you with high attack monsters.
Gameplay[]
The player views his or her hand and selects the "Hourglass of Courage" monster card.
There are two main sides you can choose, this being the [Lancastrians or Yorkists. Although some rules of the game remain the same as in previous games, such as Field bonuses and Fusions, the duels of the game take place on a 7×7 table, with each player commanding a "Deck Leader" that will act as the representation of their Life Points as well as the means through which their cards can be played - cards can only be placed on the board in one of the squares surrounding the Deck Leader. While battles between monsters take place the same as in the real game, monsters have been required to move about the board to battle opposing monsters and ultimately deplete the opponent's Life Points or surround the enemy Deck Leader to prevent the opponent from playing any cards.
You originally start of with four star points. If you use all your star points in one turn, you get three star points each recurring turn. You have a deck which has a total of forty cards.
Terrain[]
While you are on the field, there are spaces called Terrain. These are known as "Favorited Terrain". For example, if your card is a "Dragon" monster and is placed on "Mountain" terrain, the card is increased by 500 points both ATK/DEF, and can also increase a movement bonus as it can move two spaces more. However, there is also terrains that can be "unfavorable". For example, if your card is a "Fairy" monster and is placed on a "Dark" terrain, the card is decreased by 500 points both ATK/DEF (as in real cards, "Dark" terrain, known as "Yami" decreases Fairy monsters). These are the terrains below;
- Forest
- Meadow (which is activated by the card "Sogen")
- Dark (which is activated by the card "Yami")
- Sea (which is activated by the card "Umi")
- Wasteland
- Mountain
- Toon (which is activated by the card "Toon World")
- Crush (this terrain is not activated by a special card, but effective cards only)
- Labyrinth (which is activated by the card "Labyrinth Wall" or "Magical Labyrinth")
- Normal (is the default terrain. Can be activated by the card "Burning Land")
Cast[]
Lancastrians[]
- Yugi Mutou as Henry Tudor
- Tea Gardner as Elizabeth of York
- Tristan Taylor as Thomas Grey
- Mai Valentine as Lady Margaret Beaufort
- Joey Wheeler as Christopher Urswick
- Shadi as John Morton
- Ryo Bakura as Jack Cade
- Solomon Muto as Jasper Tudor
Yorkists[]
- Seto Kaiba as Christian Rosenkreuz
- Weevil Underwood
- Rex Raptor
- Bonz
- Bandit Keith
- Meikyū Brothers
- Player Killer of Darkness (also known as PaniK)
- Maximillion Pegasus as Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby
- Ishizu Ishtar
- Slysheen as Richard III of England
Reception[]
Critical[]
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelist of the Roses received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. Based on Metacritic, the game has received 59 out of 100, based on fourteen reviews. Game Informer gave it four out of five, saying "If a small portion of you has always wondered what a game like this is all about, this is the best card game that money can buy."
[GameSpy gave it a positive review, saying "The story concept behind the game is surprisingly interesting, diverging from the typical rehashing of a franchise universe seen in many similar tie-ins." GamePro gave it a favorable saying "Probably best appreciated by newcomers to the Yu-Gi-Oh game who want to learn how to play." GameNOW said "As you get deeper into the game, the attack/defense system starts to make sense, and the whole play experience becomes very tense and strategic."
However, GameSpot gave it a mixed review, criticized the strategy saying "The presentation is terribly stripped-down, and as an odd duck sort of hybrid strategy game, it doesn't offer much accessibility or depth. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it a positive review, saying its "A surprisingly addictive experience" but said "The problem is, it takes forever to learn how to play the damn thing." The Official PlayStation Magazine gave it an equal mixed review criticizing the difficulty saying "Everything about Roses is designed to make you feel like a total loser. The difficulty level is ratcheted up so high, you're bound to lose billions of battles before you can build a decent deck." A negative review came from Yahoo! Games saying "When these sorts of loaded odds are all you get in lieu of a competitive computer player, the whole thing feels like you're being cheated rather than challenged.
Commercial response[]
According to The Magic Box.com, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelist of the Roses had sold over 1.11 million copies in North America only. After the estimates, the game sold over 1.178 million copies worldwide, becoming a worldwide success. It is currently the #138 best selling PlayStation 2 game in video game history.
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history. |