Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 5 (phew) is a game for the PSP based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's manga/anime and the collectible card game. The game features a standard duel based on the official rules of the card game, with a few small tweaks, but also has many of your favorite (?) characters from the show available as partners and duel opponents.
Now, I'll admit that I did watch this spin-off several years ago, and remember precious little about it. I absolutely loved, however, the mechanics that the show introduced into the game, and specifically loved the concept of synchro summoning, which the show focus on to a great extent. These synchro summons added a level of strategic depth, variety of deck building, and ability to overcome a stacked board to a game that was remarkably momentum based. Before the introduction of these quick summon monsters, it was pretty tough to take back a strong board, but now you have a host of new options to help to turn the tide and win against the odds.
When I think about this game, I think about it in tandem with its counterpart on the DS, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus (phew). The focus in this game is definitely more on dueling, and significantly less on story. From the beginning, you have access to a half decent deck, and just wander around dueling people. The more you duel against them, the more you build their affection, and as their affection reaches higher levels, you'll be able to participate in little cutscenes with them, along with a single tag duel to advance their story. This gives you a remarkably open experience, but also a frustratingly difficult one, at times. Your basic deck really can't hang with the higher level opponents, which makes a more linear approach, like in the DS game, a bit better. In that one, you go through a rote series of increasingly difficult duels, following an original story featuring the characters from the show. It also is a bit more friendly to beginners, as the shop in the DS game sells structure decks which are increasingly unlocked as you complete the story, while the shop here only sells booster packs.
There are a few nice things about this game compared to the DS version, however. It's been a while since I played that one, so I believe all of this is accurate, but it may be slightly off. First, there are significantly more cards and dueling opponents in this one, likely due to the increased space possible on a UMD compared to the DS cartridges. Second, there are a ton more animations in this game for the monsters and duelists, giving it a feel more similar to that of the show. It also skips the stupid minigame in which you must ride your motorcycle, which hewed a little bit to close to the show's hyper dramatic hook of dueling while also racing motorcycles (yawn).
I would have hoped that the game would have a bit better AI, given the increased power of the PSP and the storage capacity of the UMDs, but it still struggles at times. To be sure, the card game is hyper complex, and no AI could probably replicate the experience of dueling a human, particularly with the dozens of different deck archetypes and tactics for victory. Usually, the AI will make the "right" play, but only after a long time of thinking. This is exacerbated when the AI is playing against more defensive or stall tactics, as the AI could sometimes take upwards of 5 minutes just to take a single turn against my Exodia deck, which relies on stalling the opponent while also attempting to draw all 5 pieces of a monster from the deck, at which point you win automatically. Sometimes these lags were at times in which actions were very simple. For example, if I have a card out on the field that prevents you from attacking, and you can't remove that card, play any monsters and traps/spells you want on the field and end your turn. There were times in which the AI would think for 5 minutes, and then just end their turn without doing anything. This, functionally speaking, completely ruined playing any kind of stall decks in the game.
The game's mechanics are also frightfully strange to someone who hasn't played this series before. I picked story mode, and was basically given no story. No one explained to me what I was supposed to do, or how I was supposed to do it. Fortunately there were good resources online to guide me in the right direction, but the approach of the DS game was significantly better.
And yet, I really enjoyed this game! The basic mechanics of the card game are awesome. You have tons of cards to choose from and tons of strategies to play. The addition of a Destiny Draw feature (allows you to pick a specific card if you're on the brink of defeat) makes it feel more like you're actually a character in the show who can feel the Heart of the Cards and draw the card you need for victory. There are so many opponents to duel, and so many tactics to face, that fans of the card game will enjoy themselves for many, many hours. I'm above 70 hours already, and have completed the main story for the main character, but am just loving having someone to duel against, even if they are slow and sometimes stupid.
So, I think that for newbies to the game, they should probably focus on Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus on the DS. But for seasoned pros who want a new dueling experience, this game gives you most of what you could want, without having to buy real cards, shuffle them, swap out actual cards from your deck, etc. It's not a good video game, but it is a good card game, and for me, that matters more. I'll give it a 7.0/10.
I've already teased my next handheld game, although I'm frankly still going to be playing this one until I get bored. See you back soon for a console game I've been working very hard on!
-TRO
