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Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh! Video Game Reviews
Power of Chaos - by Baneful

Power of Chaos is a series of three YGO video games for the PC:

- Yugi the Destiny (released in January 2004)

- Kaiba the Revenge (released in April 2004)

- Joey the Passion (released in July 2004).

Card Promos

Yugi the Destiny:

Windstorm of Etaqua

Anti-Spell Fragrance

Thousand Knives

Dark Magician

Kuriboh

Kaiba the Revenge:

Blue-Eyes White Dragon

Aqua Chorus

Seal of the Ancients

Joey the Passion:

Red Eyes B. Dragon

Sebek's Blessing

Sword of Dragon Souls

Quick Review

The first and most important thing you should know is that all three of these games are practically the same with exception to purely cosmetic design choices.  

One difference to note is that with each iteration, the card pool gets larger.  Yugi the Destiny includes the first three booster sets.  Kaiba the Revenge adds a fourth and Joey the Passion adds the fifth.

Otherwise, the differences are mostly thematic.  Yugi's game has an Ancient Egyptian aesthetic.  Kaiba's game has a cyber technological vibe to it.  Joey's game is derived off of an urban city.  These themes are mostly just interface and wallpaper.  They really don't change what the game actually is.  Each game features one of the three characters, and no more characters otherwise.  It feels lonely.

 

Unlike the other YGO games, these characters have a little bit more focus to them.  Voice actors from the original anime lend theirauthentic voices as they comment on every move of the duel.  There are also simple animations to accompany them.  

For example, if you use Trap Hole to destroy Yugi's monster he will interject "Oh No!  A Trap Card!".  Or, if you attack Joey, he'll sarcastically say "Oh, I'm defenseless.  What do I do?  Just kidding.  I have a trap card.".  There are also specific triggered events such as Yugi being excited as he draws Summoned Skull and immediately tributing his monster to summon it.  Sometimes I wonder if the programming of the AI was tailored to accomodate their dialogue.

But after a while, their 30 or so phrases start to repeat.  Once you've played a couple of duels, the constant interruptions from the AI become annoying.  Every time you play a Spell card or perform the most basic task, your opponent will express a really over-the-top dialogue as if they were impressed and surprised.  This breaks your immersion.  It doesn't feel like you're dueling a character.  It feels like you are pushing a button on an electric toy.

Since this game was made for the PC it has better visuals than most of the YGO games on consoles and handhelds.  However, better looking doesn't mean better.  This game lacks both the heart and the depth of the others in the series.  There is no story or overworld.  There is only character to play against in each game, and that's it.  All there is to do is build your deck and face against the one opponent.  Then you earn a new card.  That's all there is to do.  Nothing else.  There's nothing to break the monotony.  There's not even the pretense of freedom here.  

The sound is pedestrian and perfunctory.  Basically, the music is as appealing as elevator music or the kind of melodies you hear when a company puts you on hold when you call them.  One good feature that the PC has is that you can record replay footage and save it to your computer as a video but other than that this game does not offer much.

There's not much of a reason to own this game unless you are a collector.  If you must have this game, at least get the Joey version because it has a big card pool.  Most of the other YGO games do exactly what this game does, except better.  This game lacks depth, and despite focusing on a single character/theme in each iteration, it still doesn't exude any real personality either.  Avoid this one.

3/10

- - -

- Baneful

Contact: banefulscolumn@gmail.com