The popular card game returns to your protable playstation once again. It has many improvments and differences from the previous game. The second installment on the PSP is an improvment, but is still lacking. Don't be frightened, this is a good game. To start things off, the storyline takes up where the last one left off. No gap, no confusion, aside from the storyline itself that makes about as much sense as the show. The storyline this time around, is very well writen. It starts out with a long lasting bang. It carries out through the game as you progress in skill. The graphics are nothing to drool over. Nothing special. You can say they need improvments, but you would be too distracted by the events of a card game to notice good graphics anyway. There are various cutscenes with characters performing acts with cards and the useless contraption on their arm. The character designs are a bit on the sketchy side. The fingers are glued together, the mouth comonly dissapears, and there is just about no texture. The characters have captions under then and you have to read what they say. This replaces the voice acting entirely. You read the descriptions on the cards to know what they do, so what's the harm in extra reading in a game like this? The problem is there is no voice acting. It would make the storyline a lot more dramatic. Without it, dramatic music may be played. The problem is they don't have any dramatic music. Barely have any music. The same melody is played every dual. This gets very annoying very fast so you will have the sound off most if not all of the time. The playability is umlimited. You can dual just about anyone. The new feature, allowing you to watch your partner dual is an improvment. This is a great way to see most of your opponents cards before you get your shot at them. Nothing bad happens if they win or lose, so what have you got to lose? You can also decide to either dual by yourself or tag dual with your partner. This brings new possibilities into the game. With relying on your partner at critical times, you need to know about the AI. Surprisingly, it's apsolutely incredible. Your enemies are inteligent, and dual like real players. Your partner, starts off with the AI of a begginer, just like you would. And as you progress through the game, getting your bond stronger inproves his AI. It seems like there is no end to this AI. Soon he will grow more intelligent than all of your opponents. This only means one thing, time to take on an advanced opponent. Enemy AI is limited, so new caracters are frequently appearing and everyone's decks are rapidly changing. This makes for flawless adaptive difficulty I havn't experienced in a very long time. Replay doesn't get too old. You can start the storymode over with all your cards after you beat it and take on a few enemies in free dual mode. The game has a variety of challenges and game modes. This time around, if you actually go to class, unlike the last game where you sat through a boring lecture, you have the opportunity to play a good mini game. You crawl through a dark basement on several floors quickly taking out enemies and finding treasures. If you get tired of that mini game you can play a good board game. They really packed in the mini games in this one. This game is no dissapointment. You probably will be playing it until your batteries run out. The replay value and bonus features will keep you going for a very long time. If you think there aren't enough cards, you need a brain exam. There are over 2800 cards. You will be searching through pack after pack looking for the best cards. The best cards build the best decks. But you can't just stuff a bunch of rare ones in there and call it a deck. It takes time and thinking. Which cards work good with which and which cards just can't be together in a deck. Until you get a better PSP game, you will be playing this for a long time.
