Yu-Gi-Oh: The Falsebound Kingdom Review

Developer	Konami
Publisher	Konami
Genre	Action

Konami’s first Yu-Gi-Oh title for the GameCube isn’t the card-based dual game we were expecting. The addictive and enjoyable cards don’t even make an appearance in the Falsebound Kingdom. Instead, the game focuses on three-on-three monster battles, with a tiny bit of real-time strategy. There are some interesting concepts here, and at times, the game is almost fun to play. There are so many problems here as to not make it worth the trip for even the most hardcore Yu-Gi-Oh fans.

The plot, inconsequential as it is, involves Yugi and his friends becoming trapped inside a virtual world. Yugi comes to the immediate conclusion that the only way to escape is to finish the game, and so he begins leading his resistance army against the evil Empire. It just so happens that Yugi and his friends are Marshals, special people who can command monsters. Because of this, the player will soon be subjected to hundreds of slow-paced and overly simplistic monster battles.

Gameplay - But before those exciting battles can begin, the player needs to set up his team of 3 monsters. Eventually, there are quite a lot to select from, but all the monsters feel kind of the same. Since they level up as you win battles, the incentive to swap them out for new ones is diminished. Oddly, the monsters in your service need to be paid for each mission they take part in. Money can also be spent to outfit the monsters with standard healing items and such, and also spent in-mission on a variety of things.

Think it’s time to battle yet? Nope, it’s not. After being briefed on your mission objectives, generally "Capture a certain town, and avoid being killed", the player and his monster teams appear on the map. In a sort of clumsy real-time-strategy way, your teams can be moved around the map, although they move at a snail’s pace. Capturing towns, if they are empty, is as easy as walking into them. This earns the player some gold, a safe place to rest and sometimes special items. If the town is occupied, or you encounter an enemy while walking to a town (a surprisingly rare occurrence), an actual battle begins.

Your options in battle are slim. Each time one of your monsters gets a turn, he can be ordered to attack, wait, guard, or use an item. Some monsters have special attacks, too. Each monster only gets one standard attack, so be ready to see that same attack over and over again. You can choose which of the 3 enemy monsters to attack, which basically boils down to killing the one with the lowest hit points first. These battles are yawn-inducing. With little to no strategy involved and a horrendously slow pace, any potential for fun is quickly eliminated.

That’s basically the whole game. On the world map, you can add defenses and services to towns you control and occasionally run into wandering monsters that, once defeated, will join your team. There are two full campaigns to play through, one as Yugi and the other as Kaiba. Both are plenty long, although few will want to finish the game once, let alone twice. There’s also a Challenge Mode, which is basically a survival mode. After each battle, your monsters’ health does not regenerate.

Graphics - Visually, the Falsebound Kingdom looks unfinished. The opening "cinematic" features no animation whatsoever. It’s just loads and loads of text, with some portrait shots of the characters. In game, most of the monsters look okay, and it is kind of neat to see your favorite Yu-Gi-Oh creatures in full 3D, but the static camera angles during battle are, quite frankly, boring. Some dynamic zooming or rotating would have improved the game’s battle presentation leaps and bounds. There are some cool special effects, though. Sonic attacks cause the screen to ripple, and there are the explosion effects aren’t bad.

Sound - The musical score is unimpressive, but never becomes annoying. The standard adventure tunes presented here fit the game well, actually, but are unmemorable and most players will probably not even be conscious of it during play. The sound effects, on the other hand, are recycled too often. Many monsters have the same attack sounds, although at least what is here isn’t too bad.

Bottom Line - This is a train-wreck of a game. Doing something new with the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise is a great idea, and there are some interesting concepts presented here that could, if polished, make an enjoyable game. The Falsebound Kingdom’s boring and slow-paced battle system is its biggest problem, as the bulk of your playtime will be spent fighting. The minimalist presentation also does little to excite the player, although this could’ve been overlooked if the game itself was a masterpiece. Simply put, almost everyone should avoid this game.

Review by Katy Wickman