Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tagforce 4

Rating Everyone Genre role-playing Publisher Konami External Links

I’m a big fan of Collectible Card Games, have been for years. I have competed in such well know titles like Magic, V:TeS, and WoW; as well as lesser known titles like Animagic and .Hack. So when it comes to a Digital version of CCG I’m always filled with equal parts anticipation and trepidation. While a CCG is rather straight forward, despite the complication of game mechanics, most game companies feel the need to add RPG elements to their digital versions. While this is understandable, to a degree, rarely do these combinations work out as well as one might think. To really give Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Tag Force 4 an appropriate review, we have to look at it in 2 perspectives; that of a CCG and a Video Game.

As far as the CCG aspects of Tag Force 4 go, I have to admit, I am impressed with the setup. The game board is displayed in a 3D environment identical to the setup that Table Top version requires, which is a nice touch, although it is impossible to really get a good look at the cards being played. To combat the size restrictions of a portable version Tag Force 4 provides both an information window to the left of the screen, with scrolling text, and a view option to allow players to properly view each card that exists in the game. And with a reportedly 4000 cards in the game, this feature is extremely important.

Unlike the real CCG, which usually starts players off with a beginner’s deck to introduce players to the game, Tag Force 4 starts players off with a fairly decent deck to combat seasoned players with. The problem with this is simple; if you have never played Yu-Gi-Oh before you are going to lose, a lot, until you get used to the player mechanics. Unfortunately there is no in game tutorial for the game, requiring new players to go through a lengthy menu based tutorial outside of the game to learn the basic mechanics of Dueling. While this is fine for the more linear thinking players out there, those like me would have appreciated a more hands on approach to the learning process. Otherwise, fans of the series and of CCG’s will find this a solid and we designed game. At least, as far as the CCG side of the equation goes.

Sadly the Video Game side of things is highly lacking, and comes from Konami’s attempt to create an environment similar to an RPG in which to allow gamers not used to long hours of CCG playing a sense of achievement. Unfortunately, an RPG requires a story to progress, and there simply is no story evident within the entire Tag Force 4 game. To begin with, your nameless Man Character starts out walking around random locations retrieving cards that have been tossed to the ground like trash. During your walks you run into many of the characters from the newest Yu-Gi-Oh television series, though you never actually interact with them in any meaningful way. The rest of the game is a series of locations where you walk around, dueling super-deformed 2D characters in order to create relationships with them and progress into harder and harder duels.

And unless you’re a fan of the series, dueling is the only way you can progress through the game. A conversation challenge is available for each character, allowing you to talk to them to increase your relationship, but unless you have a rather in-depth knowledge of the Yu-Gi-Oh universe, all of this will be a guessing game. Even the Summoning Cut-scenes, which in essence are supposed to give players a sense of battling in the television series, quickly become nothing more than an irritation that frequently interrupts the flow of the game. Overall, Tag Force 4 would have been better off with a much simpler gaming system, much like the Magic game available on XBOX live, rather than complicated RPG elements that go nowhere.

Bottom line: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Tag Force 4 is a great game, as far as Collectible Card Games go, but the RPG elements greatly hinder the enjoyment of the overall game play. While fans of the television series and card game will certainly enjoy the experience, new players need to be prepared for a lengthy series of losses, based on their individual learning curves. On brief warning, during my review of this title I repeatedly had trouble getting my PSP to recognize the disc, often resulting in the disc drive itself shutting down until the unit was restarted. While this problem never progressed beyond a simple reboot, those of you still buying Disc based games might want to be aware of this annoying, but relatively harmless glitch.