GameCube

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Falsebound Kingdom

Advertising Blurbs

Description
Yugi and his friends are trapped in a virtual reality world gone crazy! The dueling field comes to life with living, breathing monsters and 3D environments as you form teams of three monsters and delegate commands in real time to conquer each mission. Characters and monsters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! animated TV series appear in the most visually stunning and greatest Yu-Gi-Oh! videogame adventure ever!

Features
• Choose to play as Yugi or Kaiba in 2 different scenarios
• Open Field Monster Battles allows strategic 3-on-3 team battles
• Over 175 full 3D monsters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! world
• Spectacular battle graphics with combination and special attacks



Contributed by Joshua J. Slone (4625) on Apr 13, 2007.

A real-time strategy game at heart, Falsebound Kingdom follows the adventures of Yugi and Kaiba as they strive to escape from the sinister virtual world in which they have been trapped.

Features

• The GCN debut of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise
• Play with your favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and monsters
• Story or Battle modes
• Melds elements of real-time strategy games and RPGs
• Unleash special and combo attacks

The S.I.C. corporation has called in Yugi and Kaiba to help test its latest version of the Duel Monsters game. But once they start playing, something goes terribly wrong. Trapped in the game, they'll both need to beat their virtual opponents and conquer the mythical land of Rondeval in order to escape.

Yugi leads the rebellion and Kaiba helms the Imperial Guard. You can also practice your combat chops in a one-off Battle mode.

The gameplay mechanics of Falsebound Kingdom have little in common with the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game. Instead, you serve as a field marshal, guiding teams of three monsters across Rondeval to liberate villages and castles.

You start the first stage with two marshals under your command. From a pool of low-level monsters -- all from the card game or TV show -- you choose three teams of three monsters each: one for you, and one for each of your subordinates.

In real time, you direct your subordinates to seize villages. You also set up fortifications and trade routes in the villages you control. Once a subordinate actually engages the enemy, you control his team of monsters in turn-based combat. In some cases, after you've defeated a monster, it decides to join your pool.

Falsebound Kingdom is more RPG than RTS, but the real-time segments make you think about which marshal's team you want to send into battle. Well-designed defenses, which you build during the real-time section of the game, can also weaken an enemy before it enters combat.

Once you engage the enemy, you duke it out in basic RPG-style turn-based battles, casting spells and, eventually, special combos to chip away at your opponent's Life Points. Succeeding in battle increases a marshal's experience points and his monsters' experience level, attack points and hit points.

If a marshal's team has taken significant damage in battle, you'll need to retreat it to a village to lick its wounds. As the game progresses, you'll manage the movements of many marshals.

When choosing a team of monsters, go for a team of two strong attackers and a good defender who can take some hits while casting spells. Unfortunately, you can't change teams after the start of a stage. While it would be nice to switch team members before a battle, you must wait until you've captured all the towns in an area.

Bottom Line

The deliberate pacing makes Falsebound Kingdom a nice introduction to RTS and RPG. The artwork and special effects are excellent. You don't need to be a fan of the Yu-Gi-Oh! show or card game to give Falsebound Kingdom a whirl.


Contributed by Evil Ryu (31685) on Aug 15, 2005.