GameCube

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Falsebound Kingdom

Overall, the game is definitely worth buying if you are fan of its genre and you have some extra money lying around. However, if you aren't a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh, and you have other games in mind you'd like to buy, this probably isn't the game for you.

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom, has been handed a beating from most publications. Even though its true that TFK won't bring relief from the GameCube RPG drought, that doesn't mean it has nothing to offer. Its technical shortcomings are easy to ignore and once you grasp the unique gameplay, it turns out to be quite a lot of fun. Definitely recommended for fans, they're sure to have a ball. As for everyone else should at least have a rent.

For its GameCube debut, the Yu-Gi-Oh series is taking on a more traditional RPG format, and the results are mixed. Card-based grid battles are gone in favor of a real-time map and three-on-three combat. Although healing and unit movement with the clock ticking is kind of cool, I don’t like how the title breaks battles into multiple rounds when they could be taken care of in a single skirmish. Even with relatively few RPGs on the GameCube, Falsebound Kingdom’s relatively simple approach isn’t that captivating – unless you’re a Yi-Gi-Oh fan who is a newbie to the RPG genre.

I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable when it comes to card games. I played Magic for a long time; I’ve played Pokemon, and even still have about 1000 cards from back in the day when I played Spellfire and Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. Well, I will admit that I did not understand Yu-Gi-Oh when I first tried to play it with my 9 year old, and it took him tutoring me for a couple of hours to try and figure out the first couple of video games that came out based on it. Well, I do have a much better understanding of it, so I was ready for Konami when they released their newest Yu-Gi-Oh title named The Falsebound Kingdom (TFK from now on for laziness reasons) for GameCube … only to have them completely change it up on me.

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom presents players with a departure from the card-based battles that popularized the franchise. While there are still plenty of monsters to collect, a real-time strategy game has been grafted onto a shaky combat system in this experiment gone awry.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise has been an unmitigated success in so many forms of media that videogames based on it are nothing less than inevitable. The manga, anime, and collectable card game based on the property have been selling consistently at an alarming rate and is showing no signs of slowing down. But when it comes to videogames, Konami just can't seem to get it right.

Yu Gi Oh: Falsebound Kingdom's problems are numerous and really not worth going into. Overall, the game is just really bad and lacking in nearly every aspect. Maybe if the game had stuck to the Duel Monsters card game format, or at least borrowed some elements from successful card-based RPG's like Lost Kingdom or the upcoming Magic the Gathering: Battlegrounds, it could have gone somewhere. The more I think about it, the rules introduced in the shows the plot is ripped from would have worked. In the end, even the power of the Egyptian God cards can't save this one.

Konami is dropping a mother lode of Yu-Gi-Ohsity on gamers this holiday season. For the handheld crowd, there's The Sacred Cards, the roughly one-millionth franchise-related GBA cart. PC gamers will be able to duel in their office cubicles with The Power of Chaos. And, for the first time, game cubists will be able to assume the role of the spiky-haired one in The Falsebound Kingdom -- a turn-based strategy game unlike any that Yugi and pals have appeared in.

I'm all for taking established franchises in new directions, but if the developer's heart isn't in it, then what's the point? That's the question that still lingers with me after playing through Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Falsebound Kingdom.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Falsebound Kingdom is a departure from the card based nature of the Yu-Gi-Oh series. Unlike prior videogames based on this popular franchise, Falsebound isn't a straight conversion of the card game and cartoon show. Instead, Yu-Gi-Oh has been adapted into a RPG -- you guide your team of monsters in a traditional turn-based arena.

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom is Konami's latest use of Kazuki Takahashi's inexplicably popular manga, anime, and collectible-card game. Though the current standards set by previous Yu-Gi-Oh! games aren't particularly high, The Falsebound Kingdom is one of the most poorly realized Yu-Gi-Oh! games yet, and it almost seems to be testing the limits of what sort of monotonous, dreary games the fans are willing to tolerate.

Premier épisode de Yu-Gi-Oh! sur GameCube, ce titre a non seulement l'indécence de bannir les règles des duels de cartes, mais il s'attaque en plus au RPG stratégique sans parvenir à proposer quelque chose qui tienne la route. Honnêtement, rien dans le jeu ne donne envie de s'y investir. La réalisation est monstrueusement laide, les combats sont sans intérêt et la stratégie est absente. Monsieur Konami, on attend maintenant un vrai Yu-Gi-Oh! sur GameCube.

I cannot for any reason recommend this title to any fan of the series. Collectors may want this for the special 3 pack of cards inside, which is more valuable than the disc that you pay the 40 bucks for. There just didn't seem to be much care put into this title, and if I were a fan of the series, I'd consider this title a slap in the face. You are capable of much more Konami.