Line #30 VideoGame/YuGiOhForbiddenMemories


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3	''Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories'' is a Franchise/YuGiOh video game for the Platform/PlayStation. The game takes place in both modern times and Ancient Egypt, and the player character switches accordingly. Throughout most of the game, the protagonist is Atem, the Prince of Ancient Egypt. After the high priest Heishin and his right-hand man, Seto, overthrow the Pharaoh, he sets out to free Egypt from Heishin's tyranny and is accidentally transported to modern times, where Yugi is dueling in a tournament. The prince must find his way back, collect the Millennium Items, and defeat Heishin and Seto once and for all.
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5	The game serves as an AlternateUniverse to the manga and anime. It has two sequels, ''VideoGame/YuGiOhTheDuelistsOfTheRoses'' and ''VideoGame/YuGiOhTheFalseboundKingdom''.
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7	The game uses a slightly upgraded version of the ruleset and card pool from the Game Boy ''Duel Monsters'' series (specifically, the second game), and as such, uses prototype rules that were originally considered for the TCG. Major differences include no tributes being necessary to summon level five and higher monsters, all monster cards being normal monster cards, only one card being placed on the field each turn, fusion being done without the card Polymerization, and the majority of the possible fusions not being actual fusions in the TCG. The game is additionally poorly balanced, with the vast majority of cards being monster cards, and the few magic and trap cards having simple effects that are [[UselessUsefulSpell usually not useful]], while the ones that ''are'' useful are nearly required to beat the game.
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10	!This game provides examples of:
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12	* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: The max amount of Star Chips you can get winning a duel is five, and any decent card costs hundreds or thousands of Star Chips. Additionally, many cards, including most of the unobtainable Pocket Station-exclusive cards, cost 999,999 Star Chips each[[note]]'''999,999 / 365 = 2,739.72''' which means, assuming one plays the game for one year non stop, they have to obtain '''2,740 starchips for each day''', requiring ''548 duels a day at minimum'', and that is to unlock '''''one''''' card[[/note]].
13	* AdaptationalBadass:
14	** In the actual card game, Gate Guardian is known for being perhaps the most impractical boss monster ever devised, due to being just a normal beatstick that requires the tribute of three specific monsters on the field (Sanga, Suijin, and Kazejin), ''all of which require two tributes themselves to get on the field each''. In this game however, where being the biggest beatstick reigns supreme and any monster can be slapped down onto the field willy-nilly? Gate Guardian is the biggest crusher of dreams and becomes the dreaded bane of all players.
15	** Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth is similarly infamous in the actual card game for being nigh-impossible to get on the field and then doing nothing but be a really big beatstick, while in this game it will be one of the most notorious obstacles to every player.
16	** Many fusion and high level monsters in general, that were outclassed or utterly useless in the actual card game even in its early days, are far more useful in Forbidden Memories. Some of the biggest examples include Skull Knight, Zoa, Thousand Dragon, and Mystical Sand. The Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon and Meteor Black Dragon can count too; while they were among the best fusions in the early OCG/TCG, fusion in general wasn't very viable at the time, while here they're among the best cards in the game, to the point that every player associates them with Forbidden Memories.
17	* AdaptedOut: Of the duelists that appeared in both the manga and anime at the time of the game release, Tristan and Mako are not present in the game. In addition, since the game was made before Battle City and the Ancient Egypt arcs were finalized, Marik and Thief King Bakura don't appear, with Kaiba having the Millennium Rod in the present day instead.
18	* AdaptationInducedPlotHole:
19	** In order to Ritual Summon Black Luster Soldier, you need to have on the field Gaia the Fierce Knight, Kuriboh, and [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Beaver Warrior]] and then activate Black Luster Ritual. In the manga, Yugi used Gaia, Kuriboh, and Griffore for the ritual. While Griffore does appear in-game, Beaver Warrior is used for the ritual, catching manga readers off-guard.
20	** Fusion monsters:
21	*** In the real TCG, [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Crimson_Sunbird Crimson Sunbird]]'s fusion materials are ''Faith Bird'' and ''Skull Red Bird'', neither of those monsters have any fire affinity. In the game, however, a fire-based monster is required, confusing the players who are already familiar with TCG fusions before playing the game.
22	*** Likewise, in the TCG, [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Skull_Knight Skull Knight]], [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Bickuribox Bickuribox]], [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Labyrinth_Tank Labyrinth Tank]], and [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Aqua_Dragon Aqua Dragon]] are fusion monsters while in this game they are normal monsters. The players cannot fusion summon these monsters despite these respective cards' fusion materials actually existing in this game, which, again, confuse the players already familiar with TCG fusions before playing the game.
23	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Due to the game being released before Battle City came out, Ishizu/Isis and Priest Seto are majorly different than their manga and anime counterparts. Isis is fierce and proud, while Seto's an outright villain.
24	* AdaptationalVillainy: This version of Priest Seto rivals Death-T era Kaiba in terms of villainy and pettiness. He serves as Heishin's right-hand man and was responsible for seizing all of Egypt, kidnapped Teana as a hostage to lure you into a deadly Shadow Game, was fine with the murders of the Prince's parents and prevented him from seeing his parents' bodies, and is descended from evil sorcerers and plans to renew a pact with [=DarkNite=] in order to rule the world. His stated reason for doing all this is because he's nobility and deserves to rule.
25	* TheAllSeeingAI: Pegasus, Seto 3, Heishin, [[spoiler:[=DarkNite=], and Nitemare]] can all see your cards and therefore can't be bluffed.
26	* AllThereInTheManual: The manual contains a letter from Pegasus J. Crawford explaining that the game is based on an archaeological find.
27	* AndIMustScream:
28	** It is heavily implied that those who lost in [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame duels for the Millennim Items in elemental shrines]] will experience [[FateWorseThanDeath eternal suffering]] as a penalty game. If The Prince lost the duel, the game would be over instantly. If The Prince won the duel and obtained the [[ArtifactOfDoom Millennium Item(s)]], the mages would simply "disappear" and the shrines would be seemingly deserted, as if no one had ever lived there.
29	** [[spoiler: Heishin is sealed into a card at the end. It isn't very long because [=DarkNite=] then burns the card.]]
30	* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: After the Prince is sealed away into the broken pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, the perspective shifts to Yugi Muto in the present day, where he is participating in Kaiba's tournament. After acquiring all of the Millennium items in the tournament, the perspective goes back to the Prince and stays in ancient Egypt for the rest of the game.
31	* AnimationBump: When attacking an opposing monster with your own, by pressing the square button, you can view a 3D battle sequence between the monsters. Most of the monsters have low quality models, but some of the more popular/noteworthy monsters have higher quality models. Compare the models of the [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EvAQLdICses/UO7K1-SD5JI/AAAAAAAAAJg/3Ya9luTUPNo/s1600/Imagem1.png Blue-Eyes White Dragon]] and [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4EUzNEoeqfU/UO7hsMNA3qI/AAAAAAAAAK0/kMzUivHZVXk/s1600/Imagem9.png Red-Eyes Black Dragon]] to the models of [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XS8uqsmcCS4/UO7hcAnmKGI/AAAAAAAAAKs/1Il-I1dfvVY/s1600/Imagem8.png Tiger Axe]] and [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1MJBIMU5urw/UO7vQRuUy-I/AAAAAAAAAMk/fo0wuiQnE_w/s1600/Imagem16.png Dragon Zombie]].
32	* AntiFrustrationFeature:
33	** Despite how merciless this game can be, one reprieve is that the player will always go first. Besides the natural benefits that come from going first, it's especially important in this game, as due to how the AI works, you can lock them out of being able to fuse and utilize equip/magic/trap cards by establishing board control right from the start, whereas if you went second, the AI would always get at least one opportunity to do so. By going first, you also get the opportunity to lay backrow or play a field card for your first move without going -2 on the field. The only detriment to going first is if the player is trying to S-Tec via winning from deck out, the player will need to exploit the AI into doing more fusion and equipping than themselves, but this is minor compared to the aforementioned advantages.
34	** Every starter deck will always have a Raigeki or Dark Hole, ensuring players will always have at least one form of universal card removal in their deck and thus won't always instantly lose once the opponent summons a stronger monster than their deck can manage. Granted, a player will need to get more removal cards to have any hope of beating the game, but it saves them the painful grind of getting that crucial first removal card.
35	** You do not need to defeat [[HopelessBossFight Heishin]] to unlock him in Free Duel, which is very helpful as Heishin is one of the [[PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling most valuable grinding targets]], but the player won't realistically be able to beat him until much farther into the game than when they face him at the beginning of the game.
36	** Rex Raptor, your first opponent in Kaiba's tournament, is very weak and can be easily beaten with any starter deck. This ensures a player who skips the entirety of the early Egypt arc without dueling any of the optional early game opponents won't be stuck in a frustrating predicament where Rex is too difficult to consistently beat, while they have no other opponents available to grind against besides Heishin and Duel Master K. Rex also has decent card drops for this point in the game, so a player who only has him to grind against can still get cards that will allow them to handle most of Kaiba's tournament without issue.
37	** When you defeat a low mage in Campaign, you're given the option to retreat from their shrine instead of continuing on to the high mage duel. This allows you to unlock each of the low mages for Free Duel and thus open up more grinding targets, without having to defeat their respective high mages first. This is especially helpful for the Meadow Mage, who is the [[PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling most valuable grinding target]] in the game, yet has the most difficult high mage behind him, who you'll probably ''need'' cards dropped by the Meadow Mage to defeat. The only caveat if you do this is you'll have to reduel the low mages when you return to their shrine before you can duel their high mage.
38	* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Your deck must have exactly 40 cards, no more, no less.
39	* ArtificialBrilliance: Seto 3 is smart enough to place Raigeki on the field before summoning a monster so he can defeat you on his next turn.
40	* ArtificialStupidity: The AI in this game has several flaws.
41	** If you have a face-up monster on your side of the field while the AI has no monsters, every duelist except the low mages will always play a single monster card. This can be exploited to ensure your opponent does not fuse or equip their monsters, and prevents them from using magic/trap cards.
42	** The low mages will always play their respective field cards when they have it if the current field is not their preferred one, even if it would leave them open to a direct attack that would eliminate all their remaining life points.
43	** The AI will never put a monster of 3000 or higher base attack in defense mode, and some monsters that have much higher defense than attack will never attack you, even if attacking with them would win the duel for the AI.
44	** If the AI's monsters are not strong enough to destroy any monsters on your field, they'll always switch them to defense (with the aformentioned exception of 3000+ monsters), even if their attack is equal to yours.
45	** The AI will switch their monsters into defense when they're bluffed into not attacking your facedown monster. This can be exploited to defeat high attack, lower defense monsters that you would be unable to destroy otherwise.
46	** If your life points are low and you have a powered-up monster on the field, the AI will fruitlessly attack it with their monsters if the difference between their attack and your monster's original attack would have been high enough to wipe out your remaining life points.
47	** Despite every monster having two Guardian Stars to choose from, the AI will always place their monsters in their first Guardian Star, even in situations where the second Guardian Star would enable them to defeat a monster it couldn't with their first Guardian Star.
48	** The AI gives away if a card they placed in the backrow is a magic card or trap card; if the AI brings the cursor over the card to black it out, it's a magic card.
49	* AwesomeButImpractical:
50	** Ritual cards can be used to summon very powerful monsters you otherwise wouldn't have access to without cheating, with an extravagant animation for the summoning process. However, each ritual card requires three specific monsters on your field to work, and most of the required monsters are too weak to keep alive long enough without significant assistance.
51	** Dark Hole destroys every single card on the field, but due to the one-card-per-turn limit and having to play a card before beginning your turn, using it will ensure your field will be left completely empty on your opponent's turn, giving them a chance to attack freely.
52	** Magic cards and trap cards in general are this thanks to the way the game plays in comparison to what would eventually become the OCG and TCG. Unlike the real game, only ''one'' card can be placed on the field on your turn period, regardless of the type. Meaning most of the time you'll usually want to play a monster to build up your forces when on the offensive or have something to defend you rather than using a card that barely advances your game state. This leaves only a small pool of magic and trap cards that are worth the tradeoff; usually universal removal cards such as Raigeki and Crush Card since wiping the opponent's board at a cost of a summon is still very valuable[[note]]''Especially'' in the endgame where your monsters are so outmatched, you're often going to need removal cards to win[[/note]], equip cards [[note]]equip cards can be chained to a monster summon thus negating the slowness of the cards, while this game's primary strategy revolves around summoning a bigger beatstick than the opponent[[/note]], field cards [[note]]mainly early on in the game and in speedruns, due to the difficulty of getting equip cards and how important powering up your monsters is, as well to eliminate the mages' field advantage in Campaign[[/note]], and universal trap removal cards such as Widespread Ruin.[[note]]Which can at least be used to stall if you get a bad opening hand while potentially taking out your opponent's strongest monster due to how the AI works, or for protection if your board gets wiped by a Raigeki.[[/note]] Then Swords Of Revealing Light would have also been extremely useful, but is an unobtainable Pocket Station card and thus can only be used with cheats or in mods.
53	* BagOfSharing: When you swap to Yugi, he’ll have the same cards you collected as the Prince. Conversely, when you return to Egypt and start playing as the Prince again, any cards you obtained as Yugi can be used by him.
54	* TheBattleDidntCount: Heishin will continue to duel you into submission if you manage to beat him at the start of the game.
55	* BigNo: The final boss lets out one that fills two text boxes with Os.
56	* BoringButPractical: One of the cheapest spells you can redeem is Sparks, the infamously wimpy spell that only deals 50 damage in a format where the LP is in the high 1000s. Despite its unassuming might, Sparks is important for getting the ball rolling when it comes to acquiring spells and traps quickly. S and A Techs demand dragging out the fight, which Sparks does very well by dealing the smallest amount of burn damage possible while still counting as a spell use in the after-battle ranking.
57	* BossGame: Since you normally get a Game Over for losing even once, the entire game is this.
58	* BossInMookClothing: Villager 2 doesn't even get a name, but he will likely serve you your first loss due to having powerful cards and fusions for that point in the game. If you're really unlucky, he can fuse a Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon.
59	* BossRush: The end game requires you to duel and defeat six or seven opponents in a row, with no chance to retreat and save in between.
60	* BreakTheHaughty: Many opponents are rather smug about the idea of defeating you, but they will make either funny or pitiful face if you manage to defeat them. The most obvious evidence of this trope are Kepura, Heishin 2 and [[spoiler:Seto 3]].
61	* BribingYourWayToVictory:
62	** The game tries an admirable amount to avert players doing this by owning multiple memory cards. The game forbids you from trading with another file that has the same "duelist code", so simply copying your file on a second memory card won't allow you to duplicate your cards. It can't however stop you from having the copied file trade its cards to a different save on a third memory card, which can then trade those duplicated cards to your main save. You can also exploit two memory cards by repeatedly creating new files on a second memory card to transfer over cards from its starting deck to your main save, thus allowing you to easily stock up on good cards from starter decks (such as multiple Raigekis, equips, and good fusion fodder).
63	** Cards can only be bought in this game by inputting their password, which were printed on the real life cards, and thus a player who could buy the real life cards would have access to the passwords in the days before widespread internet access. This is limited however by how most good cards have a 999,999 star chip cost that makes them effectively unbuyable, and some strong cards back then not even having their password printed on them, so in practicality a player would gain little advantage in this game by having the passwords from the real life cards, while nowadays anyone can easily just look up the passwords on the internet.
64	** The original Japanese version required the player to own an external device, the Pocketstation, in order to obtain several powerful cards exclusively available through its features. The removal of the Pocketstation features in the international version got rid of this aspect, but at the expense of said cards becoming unobtainable for everyone.
65	* ButThouMust: There are a few instances where you're given a choice on what action to take in a confrontation, but both choices lead to the same outcome in the story, or the game requires you to pick a specific option to progress the story. Not choosing it will result in a character prodding you to pick the required choice until you do it. This is averted however with the initial choice to sneak out and enjoy the festival, as you can just give up when Simon catches you and skip the entire first act of the game.
66	* ChangingGameplayPriorities: Early on, the game favors basic fusions; just knowing how to do any of the plentiful basic fusions with 1500+ Attack will win you duels consistently. As the game progresses, you'll likely start focusing your deck around being able to fuse the Twin-headed Thunder Dragon as reliably as possible and whatever support you have to power it up. By the end game, you'll move away from fusion, instead relying on the Meteor Black Dragon and other powerful individual monsters with heavy equip and magic support.
67	* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Seto is a far different character, and the sealing of the Pharaoh happens completely differently than what later became canon. Since this was made before the official appearances of Ishizu and Marik, Ishizu becomes Isis and is more antagonistic than in canon, Marik doesn't appear at all, and the Millennium Rod belongs to Kaiba.
68	* CheckpointStarvation: Perhaps one of the most infamous examples in gaming, entering the Dark Shrine serves as a PointOfNoReturn where you have to face the final opponents all in a row without any breaks. The first opponent, [[spoiler: Labyrinth Mage]], can be skipped if [[spoiler:the player defeated him and Seto earlier]], but the remaining opponents, dubbed by fans as the “Final 6”, must be beaten in succession and are [[SNKBoss by far the most difficult bosses in the game.]]
69	* ClippedWingAngel: [[spoiler: Zigzagged with Nitemare. On the one hand, he has no magic, trap, or equip cards in his deck, meaning once you have a monster stronger than the strongest one he has, you'll have the duel won regardless of how badly you were getting beaten. On the other hand, he does have Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in his deck, which can very quickly destroy your run if you can't draw the cards needed to overpower it or remove it from the field. Speedrunners consider Nitemare to be '''more''' dangerous than Seto 3 because of his lack of magic and traps, as Seto 3 can be stalled into playing face down backrow, while Nitemare will always summon high-powered monsters every turn that will wipe you out in two or three turns if you cannot quickly summon something to beat them.]]
70	* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard:
71	** The AI normally plays by the rules of not knowing what your facedown cards are, and have a random chance each turn of being bluffed into not attacking your facedown cards, as well as being fooled into attacking a facedown monster with one too weak to destroy it, or wasting the attack of their stronger monster on a facedown monster that a weaker one of theirs could have destroyed. Some opponents however (Pegasus, Heishin, Seto 3, and [[spoiler:[=Darknite/Nitemare=]]]), are able to read what cards you have face down on the field, and thus can't be bluffed into not attacking, can't be fooled into attacking a stronger facedown monster, and won't waste their stronger monsters' attacks on weak facedown monsters. They'll still always run into your traps though and won't actively trip them with a weaker monster to save their stronger one.
72	** In the international versions, while the players loses access to plenty of strong cards that were only obtainable via Pocketstation features, the opponents' decks still retain these cards, thus the AI has access to an outright stronger pool of cards than the player could ever legitimately have.
73	** The computer may look like they have 5 cards in their hand, same as you. However, when the game was datamined, it turned out that they have ''20'' at a time. This is the reason why it seems like the AI's deck is nearly always effectively top-loaded with the strongest monsters they have (if the AI's random deck construction puts them in their deck that is), and makes it imperative for the player to draw good cards early to win.
74	* CoversAlwaysLie: The Pharaoh is holding up a Magician of Black Chaos on the cover, but the card was only included in the Pocket Station, rendering US and EU players unable to get it.
75	* CrutchCharacter: Fusions are generally this, with the basic fusions dominating the early game opponents and the stronger ones being able to get you through most of Kaiba's tournament too. The best basic fusions however typically don't have much more than 2000 Attack, and fusions requiring more specific monsters aren't much better, while relying on fusion inherently has less consistency to it, especially once you start needing to draw multiple equips in addition to your fusion material to win. So when you're in the third act of the game battling the mages and regularly facing monsters with stats in the high 2000s or over 3000, fusions will struggle to be worth it, and by the endgame boss rush, a deck that relies on fusion still has little chance of survival. The only exceptions are the [[DiscOneNuke Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon]] and [[InfinityPlusOneSword Meteor Black Dragon]] fusions, with the former's Attack being so beyond the other basic fusions, not requiring more than two equips to beat nearly every opponent, and having plentiful and strong fusion material that aren't complete wastes without the fusion, while the latter is the strongest monster the player can possibly summon and its material[[note]]Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Meteor Dragon[[/note]] can be used as decently strong standalone cards or as material for the aforementioned Twin-Head fusion. Even then, an optimal endgame deck would rather have standalone cards of the Twin-Head and MBD, alongside other strong standalone monsters, rather than having to fuse for them.
76	* DamselInDistress: After you beat two of the high mages, Heishin has Teana kidnapped and brought to his shrine. When you choose to rescue her is up to you, though waiting until after you beat all the high mages will make the endgame slightly more difficult and make Seto 2 lost until your next playthrough.
77	* DevelopersForesight: You ''can'' beat Heishin at the very beginning of the game, even if not on a New Game Plus. Heishin muses "Not bad, boy," but then [[ButThouMust reduels you until you lose to him.]]
78	* DifficultyByRegion: One of the most infamous examples in all of gaming. Forbidden Memories was very much designed with the Pocketstation in mind, which was never released over seas. As such, the American version not only loses access to some critical cards needed to make the game easier, but also ''vastely'' increases the amount of grinding needed to beat the game, as since cards were designed to be gotten from the Pocketstation, most duelist in game end up only dropping one card upon winning far large card drop pools. While the English version can be beaten without the Pocketstation, the difference in difficulty between the two is almost night and day.
79	* DiscOneFinalBoss: Seto Kaiba is the final opponent in his tournament and the final opponent in the present arc. He's the first opponent you have to beat that has a high chance of using a monster with 3000 attack, and he has his own unique battle music.
80	* DiscOneNuke:
81	** The Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon fusion. To create one, all that is required is any Dragon type monster and any Thunder type monster, with one of them having an attack of 1600 or higher. The Twin-Head has an attack of 2800 and is compatible with two field cards and many equip spells, making it easy to power up. With proper deck building around it, the Twin-Head can be reliably used to take on any monster outside of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and carry the player to the endgame.
82	** Summoned Skull, with 2500 ATK and compatibility with many equip cards, can be a rare example of this, if the player is lucky enough to win Job-change Mirror early in the game as a rare drop from Villager 2 or Villager 3. In this game, Summoned Skull can be summoned by fusing Job-change Mirror with ANY Fiend type monster with less than 2500 ATK (except Fungi of the Musk). If the player doesn't want to grind early for it, then they won't get another opportunity to get it again until halfway into the game against Mage Soldier, and buying it isn't an option when it costs 999,999 Star Chips.
83	** You can buy Jirai Gumo, a monster with 2200 ATK and good equip versatility, for only 80 starchips (thanks to its 100 Def, as starchip cost is usually based on combined stats). After only a couple dozen duels, you'll be able to get a strong standalone monster that can run over most midgame opponents on its own, and makes a strong complimentary piece to the aforementioned Twin-Head (as they're mutually compatible with three equip cards), while it can still be a viable card in an endgame-ready deck. You can also win one as a very rare drop from Weevil, though it's typically going to be ''much faster'' to just buy it.
84	** Heishin is available in Free Duel once you finish the early Egypt arc. It's possible for a player that can fuse a Twin-Head to defeat him early on if they get ''very lucky'', and then get a very powerful card from him if they get even luckier, all before they start Kaiba's tournament. Even without getting an S/A POW rank against him, he can drop a lot of monsters with stats in the 2000s, and if a player ''is'' lucky enough to get an S/A POW rank, there are many endgame-caliber cards he can potentially drop, including the ''Meteor Black Dragon''. Granted, the amount of luck needed to beat Heishin and get a strong card from him early in the game is too much to make it worth trying to grind against him early, but it's not impossible to happen. [=TASes=] in fact utilize this to get a Meteor Black Dragon from ''their very first duel''.
85	* DistressedDude: [[spoiler:After you beat Seto for the final time to stop him from taking the Millennium Items to resurrect [=DarkNite=], Heishin takes Seto hostage by holding a knife to his throat in demand for the Items.]]
86	* DittoFighter: In Free Duel, there's an opponent named Duel Master K that's available from the start, and is never seen in the campaign mode. His deck is an exact copy of the player's current deck, making him quite effective at teaching inexperienced players about how useful fusions can be and showing them which fusions their current deck is capable of producing.
87	* EarlyBirdBoss: Weevil Underwood is the second opponent the player faces in Kaiba's tournament, as well as the third mandatory opponent. Weevil's basic monsters are a step up from Rex, as are his fusions, and his duel teaches the player about grinding and basic fusion.
88	* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Due to this game being released before the "Battle City" arc began in the manga, there are some designs that doesn't match with their manga incarnation's appearance.
89	** The Prince wears a black garment with the symbol representing the Millennium Puzzle and shares his skin color with his future reincarnation, Yugi. When he debuts in the "Millennium World" arc, he wears a white garment that has no symbol to the Millennium Puzzle and has a darker skin color than Yugi.
90	** Similarly, Priest Seto wears a purple robe and a headdress with a jewel attached to it, and shares the same skin color with his future reincarnation, Kaiba. When he debuts in the "Millennium World" arc, he wears a blue robe and a headdress with a cobra, and has a darker skin color than Kaiba.
91	** The design of the Millennium Rod in this game depicts it with a green ball with an orb attached to it and a much protruded spikes, while the Millennium Rod in the manga depicts it as a pure golden rod with no orb attached to the ball and smaller spikes.
92	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The game draws inspiration from the ''Duelist Kingdom'' arc of the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' anime when the actual rules of ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' weren't well-defined yet. This resulted in quite a few differences from the TCG that all following anime arcs would follow:
93	** No tributing is needed to summon any monster card, fusions don't require a magic card to fuse and most fusions have general requirements rather than specific monsters, only one card can be played on the field at a time, you draw until you have five cards in your hand while being freely able to discard cards, and you cannot skip a turn without playing a card.
94	** This game has an ElementalRockPaperScissors mechanic with its alignment system, where monsters temporarily gain 500 Attack and Defense points when battling a monster whose alignment it is strong against, while the actual card game would never implement such a mechanic.
95	** Many of the in-game cards are really early cards released in the OCG that didn't get released outside Japan until many years later, or were never released at all, so they are largely unrecognizable to TCG players. For example, the game's famed Meteor Black Dragon didn't get officially released outside Japan until 2012, 12 years after the game's Japanese release and 10 years after its localization.
96	** Many monsters that are fusion monsters in the card game cannot be fused into in this game, and on the flipside, there are many monsters that can be fused into that aren't fusion monsters in the card game.
97	** Ritual cards work quite differently, as each ritual card require having three specific monsters on the field in order to work, whereas in the card game, any monster can be tributed for them from the field or hand, with the only requirement being that the total level stars of the tributed monsters must match or exceeded the ritual monster's. Additionally, there are many monsters that are ritual monsters in this game, that are not ritual monsters in the card game.
98	** Equip cards work quite a bit differently. They all power a monster's Attack and Defense by 500 points (except for Megamorph, which powers up by 1000 points instead), unlike in the card game where they have a variety of different stat boosts and other effects. Then when an equip is applied to a monster, the equip card does not remain in the backrow, unlike in the card game where active equip cards remain taking up a space in the backrow until either they or the equipped monster is removed. And finally, equips in the card game tend to either be equippable to any monster, or have specific requirements for what monsters can equip them (such as requiring a specific alignment or type), whereas in this game, equips work on a basis of "does the equip remotely fit with the monster?".[[note]]For example, in the TCG, Beast Fangs is equippable specifically by Beast-type monsters, whereas in this game, it's equippable by nearly any monster with remotely sharp looking teeth[[/note]] There are many surprising compatible monster-equip combinations, that will require TrialAndErrorGameplay to figure out (or looking up a guide).
99	** After clearing the present day sequence and returning to Ancient Egypt, Yami Yugi's adventure with Yugi is never mentioned again.
100	* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Each monster can be given one of two alignments available to it, with each alignment being strong against one and weak to another. When a monster fights a monster with an alignment it's strong against, it'll temporarily gain 500 attack and defense points for that battle. The alignments go Sun (Light) -> Moon (Fiend) -> Venus (Dreams) -> Mercury (Shadow) -> Sun, and Mars (Fire) -> Jupiter (Forest) -> Saturn (Wind) -> Uranus (Earth) -> Pluto (Thunder) -> Neptune (Water) -> Mars.
101	* EnemyMine: DoubleSubverted. Seto offers the player guidance on how to find the Millennium Items and defeat Heishin, [[spoiler: but this is all just a ploy to get the Millennium Items himself to summon [=DarkNite=]. When Heishin summons [=DarkNite=], however, he refuses to play along and burns Heishin up in a card, threatening to do the same to the prince and Seto. Seto then tells the prince to invoke the pact with the Millennium Items' cards and defeat him.]]
102	* EnigmaticMinion: Seto isn't happy serving under Heishin, but he's not friendly to the player, either. Teana and Jono note that Seto seems to have his own agenda, Sadin warns The Prince to be wary of Seto, and it's revealed that [[spoiler:Seto was planning to backstab Heishin and using The Prince to collect all Millennium Items in one place so Seto can summon DarkNite and rule Egypt]].
103	* EverythingIsTryingToKillYou: Lose one duel in story mode, even against your friends, and it's game over. The only exception is the HopelessBossFight against Heishin.
104	* EvilIsNotAToy: Heishin's first order of business after summoning [=DarkNite=] is to command him to obey. [=DarkNite=], after a short conversation, turns Heishin into a card for his troubles. This is followed by [=DarkNite=] burning the carded Heishin after declaring him the noisiest and ugliest card he had ever created.
105	* EvilIsPetty: Seto's stated reason for doing horrible things in an attempt to rule the world is because he's of noble blood and you're not, and therefore he's the only one fit to rule.
106	* {{Expy}}: Jono and Teana are Ancient Egyptian Joey and Tea. This is even more prominent in the Japanese version, where Teana's name was "Anzu," the same as her future self.
107	* FinalBossPreview: The HopelessBossFight against Heishin in the beginning of the game shows you the kind of deck strength you're going to have to overcome in order to beat the game.
108	* FinalDungeonPreview: You can attempt to visit the Vast Shrine for a quick glimpse, but won't be able to explore its true inner chambers until the Millennium Items have been collected.
109	* FlavorText: Every card has flavor text, including what would become Effect Monsters in the real life card game, Fusion Monsters, Ritual Monsters, and even Spells and Traps.
110	* ForcedLevelGrinding: Once you're in the present in Kaiba's tournament, your starter deck will be far too underpowered to do much against the quickly escalating opponents. Grinding can be alleviated a bit through [[SaveScumming Start Scumming]] to get a better starter deck, trading cards between different files, and knowing which opponents to grind against, but even then it can take ''hundreds'' of duels before you get the cards you need.
111	* FullConversionCyborg: Metalmorph can convert non-machine monsters into their machine counterparts, namely Zoa into Metalzoa[[note]]thus gaining 400 ATK and DEF points[[/note]] and Jirai Gumo into Launcher Spider[[note]]which keeps its ATK points at 2200 points but receives boost in DEF 2500[[/note]].
112	* GameMod: There's an active modding scene for the game with many mods available.
113	** The most basic mods make all the unobtainable Pocket Station cards winnable at extremely rare drop rates while leaving the rest of the game virtually untouched.
114	** Another common type of mod is simply upping the amount of cards you win from each duel (up to either 5, 10, or 15 cards per duel), popular with speedrunners for significantly reducing the amount of luck and grinding needed to get good cards (with there being speedrunning leaderboards for these mods), though they are also popular among casual players.
115	** Other mods make the Pocket Station cards have more reasonable drop rates while also substantially altering the opponents' drop lists (typically to make them more sensible, such as the mages actually predominantly dropping cards associated with their specialized types), altering opponents' decks to be more faithful to the manga/anime (for example, giving Rex his dinosaurs and even his Red-Eyes and Serpent Night Dragon), increasing the difficulty farther, and may have some other tweaks like changing the starchip cost for each card and adding colors to cards' names to indicate their rarity. "Mod Perfecto" and "Mod 15" are some of the most known such mods of this type.
116	** There are mods that make more radical changes, such as changing the opponents to new characters and altering the story, replacing cards with new ones, changing existing fusions and adding new ones to the game, and even adding monster effects into the game, while also tending to significantly ramp up the difficulty if you thought the original wasn't hard enough. "Forbidden Memories 2" is the most known such mod, which comes in two flavors: "Ghost" [[note]]which has monster effects, magic and trap cards with new effects, a slew of entirely new fusions, new characters, and changes the story to be more faithful to the manga/anime, while keeping a lot of the original cards[[/note]], and "Ultimate" [[note]]which remains more faithful to the original gameplay by not having monster effects nor new magic/trap effects, but has replaced nearly all the cards with new ones (while the non-equip magic/trap cards were replaced with functionally equivalent ones, such as swapping Raigeki with Lightning Vortex while it has Raigeki's effect), and has an even more extensively changed fusion pool[[/note]].
117	** There's the [[https://www.basededatostea.xyz/home TEA-Online website]], which has an extensive database on dozens of FM mods.
118	** There's also a modding tool and a randomizer available.
119	* TheGhost: The Prince's parents are mentioned, but never seen, and are killed offscreen.
120	* GuideDangIt: The game has several examples of this.
121	** While the description of each ritual card typically gives you a hint on what cards are required, these hints are vague, and often don't cover all three monsters needed to complete the ritual. Some ritual cards don't give you any hints at all.
122	** Basic monster fusions are simple enough to figure out through trial and error, and the fusions requiring specific monsters can be learned from watching what the computer fuses. Fusions requiring magic cards on the other hand are extremely obtuse.
123	** The ranking system can be [[https://www.neoseeker.com/forums/3085/t2018541-calculating-duel-rank/ quite esoteric]]. Getting an S/A-POW rank is intuitive enough; just try to win quickly while limiting usage of fusion/equips/magic/traps. Getting an S/A-TEC rank on the other hand without forcing the opponent to deck out can be cryptic and will almost never actually occur without the player intentionally trying to get a S/A-TEC rank, while trying to do it by deck out will also require knowledge of how the AI works to manipulate it into doing more card combining than the player.
124	** The correct path to traverse the labyrinth when rescuing Teana, which is [[spoiler: right, right, left, right]]. While it isn't too complicated to figure out, there's no indication that taking the wrong path brings you back to the beginning.
125	** The Teana capture quest happens after you beat two high mages, but you're not told about it unless you go back to the dueling ground. If you beat all the high mages before saving Teana, going through this quest will advance straight to the endgame instead of Seto 2, leaving him [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost permanently]] for Free Duel until you beat the game and start a NewGamePlus.
126	** When you beat the game, you're given a password at the end of the credits. You're given no information on what this password does, and it does not work if you try inputting it into the game. It's a password for this game's sequel, ''VideoGame/YuGiOhTheDuelistsOfTheRoses''.
127	* HaveANiceDeath: Losing to an opponent in story mode will have them comment on your defeat.
128	* HearingVoices: Kaiba claims to hear the Millennium Rod whispering for him to defeat Yugi. Given who originally owned the Rod, it's likely Priest Seto was guiding his descendant.
129	* HelloInsertNameHere: As this was long before the Pharaoh's actual name would be revealed in the manga/anime, the game allows you to name him whatever you want.
130	* HeroicMime: The Prince doesn't say a word, and when communicating to Yugi in the present, Yugi speaks for him.
131	* HopelessBossFight: The first time you duel Heishin, he'll be using endgame-caliber cards with monsters that possess near or over 3000 attack. If you defeat him, he'll rematch you until you lose. This is also the only duel in Campaign that you are allowed to lose.
132	* HostageForMacGuffin:
133	** Near the end of the game, Heishin holds Seto in a headlock, puts a dagger to his throat, and forces you to hand over the Millennium Items so he can perform an evil ritual. Despite the fact that [[spoiler:Seto was in the middle of performing the ritual himself until Heishin interfered]], you have to do as he says.
134	** Depending on whether you've defeated all the high mages or not, Seto either captured Teana to guide you to Heishin's Dark Shrine and the endgame (if you did) or to challenge you for the puzzle and simultaneously test your skill (if you didn't).
135	* ImpossibleItemDrop: The Meadow Mage, seemingly just another low-level mook before a high mage, inexplicably gives you the best card drops out of anyone in the game. Dueling him is almost a requirement for success.
136	* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: Atenza the Mountain Mage has a headdress so huge it's a wonder he doesn't fall over.
137	* InfinityMinusOneSword:
138	** For Monsters, Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon is easy to fuse into (fuse a dragon with a thunder, with one of them having at least 1600 Attack), can take a surprising amount of equip cards, and has a very powerful 2800 attack, meaning that with one equip, it gets boosted to 3300, allowing it to defeat all but four monsters in the game, and with two, it can run over everything short of a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. You can additionally win a standalone card of the Twin-Head as a rare drop from a handful of opponents (including Heishein, who is available as soon as you finish the early game), and even buy one with starchips (while a hefty cost at 1900, it's plenty achievable).
139	** Also among obtainable monsters, there's Skull Knight and Zoa, who possess 2650 and 2600 attack respectively, making them powerful on their own. But Skull Knight also possess some of the best equip versatility in the game (while Zoa has good equip versatility too), both get powered up by the Yami field used by half the endgame opponents, and both have the coveted Mercury alignment, which makes them the only monsters besides the Meteor Black Dragon that can defeat a BEUD with three equips, while said equip versatility makes that easier to achieve than with the MBD (Skull Knight also possesses a Neptune secondary alignment, which can allow it to beat the MBD with just one equip, the only obtainable monster that can do so aside from your own MBD).
140	** For equip cards, there's Bright Castle, which can be used to power up ''any'' monster's stats by 500 points.
141	* InfinityPlusOneSword:
142	** The Meteor Black Dragon is the strongest monster card the player can obtain without cheating, with 3500 attack. While it doesn't have much equip versatility, it has the best possible alignments, with Mars allowing it to take out the Ultimate Great Moth without an equip, and Sun allowing it to take out the Gate Guardian without an equip, leaving the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and another Meteor Black Dragon as the only monsters it can't beat by itself.
143	** Megamorph is able to power up ''any'' monster's attack and defense by 1000 points. Having at least one in your deck is nearly ''mandatory'' for beating the game, as the endgame opponents' cards are simply too strong to be beaten by anything else without multiple equips.
144	* InfinityPlusOneElement: Dragons are the game's most powerful monsters on average, having high attack and a variety of alignments, and have the best fusion capabilities (including the vital Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon fusion). This means dragons will be extremely valuable right from the beginning, and will be the player's main attacking force throughout the game. Their few downsides are most high level Dragons being only equippable by Dragon Treasure and the universal equips, and a weakness to Dragon Capture Jar.
145	* InstantWinCondition: Besides reducing an opponent's LP, duels can be won in two other ways.
146	** The opponent not having enough cards in their deck to draw a full hand of five cards. Since there exists no milling cards in this game and the player always goes first, the only way for the player to win by this method would be to exploit the AI into doing more fusion/card combining than themselves. Winning in this manner results in an automatic S-Tec.
147	** A player having all five pieces of Exodia in their hand. It is impossible to win this way without cheating, since Exodia's legs cannot be won and cost 999,999 starchips each. A few of the opponents have access to all the Exodia pieces, but it is extremely rare for them to win this way.
148	* JackassGenie: [=DarkNite=] is supposedly bound to obey the owner of all seven Millennium Items. He is summoned by the tribute of all seven Millennium Items - which means the summoner doesn't have them anymore. He also refuses to obey those who haven't made a contract with him, like Heishin.
149	* LastLousyPoint: There are several obscure cards in the game that are not that useful, but have incredibly low drop rates and are usually obtainable from only a single opponent. Unless you have the original Japanese version and a Pocket Station, there are many other cards that you cannot legitimately obtain.
150	* {{Leitmotif}}: Priest Seto and Seto Kaiba get remixes of the same theme, which is used when they appear and when they duel you.
151	* LoopHoleAbuse: [[spoiler:Used by the ultimate big bad, [=DarkNite=]. His summoning ritual dictates that those who hold all seven millennium items have the right to command him. However, summoning him involves giving up the items in the first place. So while Heinshin summoned him, he technically ''doesn't'' have all seven millennium items now, meaning he doesn't have to listen to him.]]
152	* LostInTranslation: The Japanese subtitle for the game is "Sealed Memories", which, since the game is about the Pharaoh's forgotten memories, makes more sense than them being forbidden.
153	* LuckBasedMission: Every opponent's deck is randomized from a pool of cards they can have for that duel, with each card having a weighted chance out of 2048 of being put into their deck. If you're lucky, the AI will not have access to their best cards at all.
154	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Pegasus seems rather dull when Yugi defeats him and absorbs the Millennium Eye into a card. The Millennium Eye is ''physically'' his eye, which was not only [[EyeScream agonizing painfully]] when he first acquired it, but also, [[spoiler:in the manga, Pegasus dies when Yami Bakura ripped the Eye out of his socket]].
155	* MeaningfulName: Anubisius the Forest Mage is named after Anubis, while the elite Mages Sebek and Neku are named for the Egyptian gods Sobek and Nekhbet, respectively.
156	* MedievalStasis: The modern-day tournament uses the same cards and rules as in Ancient Egypt, meaning that in-universe Duel Monsters has not changed in ''3000 years''.
157	* MissingSecret: There are many cards in the game that you see opponents use, that cost 999,999 starchips to buy, and that you just never seem to win from dueling. These cards are not among the drop lists for any opponent in the game, and you were intended to obtain these cards through features from playing on a Pocket Station. Since the Pocket Station was [[NoExportForYou never released outside Japan]], these features were removed altogether in international releases and thus are impossible to obtain without cheating.
158	* MoneySpider: The Low Meadow Mage is famous for having the best monster drops in the game, including the Meteor B. Dragon. Pegasus has the best magic drops in the game.
159	* NewGamePlus: When you clear campaign mode, you can start the story over with an endgame deck. If you missed any of the optional opponents your first time through, you can duel them in Campaign Mode and unlock them for Free Duel.
160	* NightmareFace: Losing to [=DarkNite=] has him give an evil grin while [[LaughingMad filling up two text boxes with his laughter]].
161	* NintendoHard: Due to being made at a point where the card game was in its infancy and still being formalized, the game is extremely unbalanced. Additionally, the deck strength of your opponents scale rapidly once you progress past the early game, the opponents will have access to many powerful cards you'll never legitimately be able to use, and you will need to grind a lot, often to just defeat the next opponent in the story, and especially to be able to survive the endgame.
162	* NobleDemon: Secmeton the Sea Mage accepts losing gracefully, complimenting your skill. Martis The Desert Mage also shows [[FaceDeathWithDignity this attitude]] somehow even though it's hard to read his expression thanks to his mask.
163	* NonIndicativeName: Despite the fact that there is a '''Card Shop''', you don't actually buy any cards from the card shop. You only save and build your deck in the Card Shop.
164	* NotTheIntendedUse:
165	** The "Trade" system allows the player to trade cards with other players given they have different save files in their memory cards. This system can be easily abused by many to duplicate rare cards (such as "Megamorph", "Widespread Ruins" or "Blue-Eyes White Dragon") by preparing three memory cards; the first memory card to play the game normally, the second memory card to store copied game data and the third memory card to store a new game with different save file for trading cards with the second memory card so the player can transfer the cards they need to the first memory card (the one they use normally).
166	** A crafty player can get mileage out of abusing the Trade system with just two memory cards, by starting a new file on their second card, trading over any useful cards from the starter deck to their main file, and then start another new file on the second card to repeat the process. This allows the player to easily get three Raigekis and valuable equip cards without having to go through the pain of S-Tecing, and load up on good fusion fodder early.
167	* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:After beating [=DarkNite=], he'll transform into [=NiteMare=] and rematch the player, this time with a monster-only deck with all the strongest monsters in the game.]]
168	* OpeningTheSandbox: Once the Present Day arc is completed, you can fight the rebellious priests in any order.
169	* OptionalBoss: Several opponents in the game are completely optional to duel.
170	** Simon Muran, who you can duel if you return to the palace before you attend the festival.
171	** Jono and Teana, as well as Villagers 1, 2, and 3, who you can duel in the dueling ground.
172	** Seto 1, who you can duel if you attend the festival with Teana.
173	** When you return to the past, you can duel Jono and Teana 2 in the hidden dueling ground, as well as duel against Villagers 1 and 2.
174	** Seto 2, who you can duel if you traverse the labyrinth to rescue Teana after defeating 2 mages, but before defeating all of them (if you do this after defeating them, you go to the end game instead). This optional boss is notable as it allows you to skip duelling the Labyrinth Mage in the final boss rush.
175	* OrcusOnHisThrone: While Heishin was very proactive in the beginning of the game, once you return to the past, he leaves the Prince alone to beat all the high mages and recollect the Millennium Items at his leisure.
176	* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling:
177	** The Low Meadow Mage is tough to beat early on but drops many powerful cards at shockingly high rates, including the Meteor Black Dragon. Almost everyone who beat the game did so after some really extensive grinding against him.
178	** [[HopelessBossFight Heishin]] becomes available in Free Duel after you duel him in Campaign, meaning you'll have access to him early in the game. He has the second best card drops in the game after the Meadow Mage and drops many endgame-caliber cards that the Meadow Mage doesn't. As soon as the player's deck gets good enough to start getting wins against Heishin, he becomes a very valuable grinding target.
179	** While S-Tecing Pegasus is very difficult, he drops Widespread Ruin, [[InfinityMinusOneSword Bright Castle]], and most importantly, [[InfinityPlusOneSword Megamorph]].
180	* PowerUpLetdown: Metal Morph can be used on specifically two monsters in the game, Zoa and Jirai Gumo, to turn them into stronger Machine type variations, but neither is worth it:
181	** While Metalzoa has 400 more ATK points than Zoa does, Zoa's alternative alignment is Mercury, which allows it to defeat the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with three equip spells. Metalzoa loses Mercury in exchange for Mars, which is much less useful, as one of Zoa's strongest points is being one of your few viable answers to BEUD. Zoa also gets powered by the Yami field, which endgame opponents use exclusively, and ultimately that ATK boost from Metal Morph is less than the 500 you get from a normal equip.
182	** Jirai Gumo doesn't gain ATK at all by being turned into Launcher Spider, instead getting a massive DEF boost (from 100 to 2500). However, gaining the ability to wall a few more monsters on defense isn't that useful, while the 500 ATK points you would gain from a normal equip is again far more valuable. The only plus point of this machination is the change of element from Earth to Fire, which makes it suitable for fire-based equips like Salamandra and give immediate advantage against Weevil, Mage Soldier, and Forest Mage thanks to its Mars afinity.
183	* ProductionForeshadowing: Upon beating the game you're given one of several random passwords depending on the name you put for the file, which does not work in Forbidden Memories. The passwords are for ''VideoGame/YuGiOhTheDuelistsOfTheRoses'', where they're used to unlock powerful, game breaking cards.
184	* RandomDrop: Every time you win a duel, you are given a card from the drop list of the opponent you defeated. Getting a S/A Pow rating can get you the strongest monster cards the opponent can drop, while S/A Tec rating can get you the strongest magic cards the opponent can drop.
185	* RareRandomDrop: Some cards have ridiculously low drop rates in the game and only drop from one or two opponents. Unless you're particularly lucky, you will have to duel the opponent who drops them hundreds or even a thousand times just to get a single copy of the card.
186	* RuleOfThree: You can only bring at maximum 3 copies of the same card in your deck.
187	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In the ending, [[spoiler:Priest Seto]] immediately leaves the Forbidden Ruins (and possibly Egypt as well) after the final boss's defeat, never to be seen again.
188	* ShockAndAwe: As a nod to its electric attacks in the anime, Summoned Skull's possible guardian stars are Moon (Dark) and Pluto (Thunder).
189	* TemporalDuplication: The Pharaoh needs the seven millennium items to return to his own time in this game. These end up being collected through a set of seven blank cards, which contain the items powers. When the Pharaoh returns to the past, he still has these cards in addition to ''that'' eras millennium items. [[spoiler:This ends up being a ChekhovsGun, as the millennium items of that era are destroyed when [=DarkNite=] is summoned, making him impossible to control or reseal. The Pharaoh is able to use the cards with the millennium items in them he got from the future to reseal him.]]
190	* TheUnfought: In the present day tournament arc, Joey enters the tournament alongside you and wants to duel you in the finals. Kaiba is your opponent in the finals instead, having presumably [[KilledOffscreen defeated Joey on the other side of the semi-finals]], after which Joey is never seen nor mentioned again without you ever dueling him. Tea and Ryou Bakura in the present day are also never dueled despite you dueling their past and Yami counterparts, though neither had the buildup Joey had.
191	* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: When trading with another player, you're not required to put up the same amount of cards the other player is trading, or any card at all. If you were to trade without 40 cards in your deck, and traded enough cards in your chest away you wouldn't have enough cards to make a deck. Since you can't have 40 cards in your deck, the game will not allow you to duel anyone, thus preventing you from being able to get more cards.
192	* UniquenessRule: While you can normally have up to three copies of any given card, the pieces of Exodia are the exception; you can only have one of each, and the card description specifies it to be the case.
193	* UselessUsefulSpell: The majority of the magic and trap cards in the game have situationally useful effects or are just not useful enough to use at all.
194	* VillainExitStageLeft: After you beat the final boss, Seto escapes and is never seen again.
195	* WakeUpCallBoss: Pegasus is a significant step up from prior opponents, with powerful magic/trap cards, good equips, monsters with 2000+ attack, and the capability to create powerful fusions. He is also the only opponent not in the endgame to be able to see your facedown cards, and if the player is unlucky, he may even play a Meteor Black Dragon. He is likely to be the first serious roadblock in a player's progress and drive it in that grinding and proepr strategy is an absolute necessity.
196	* WarmupBoss: Rex Raptor, who is the first opponent you duel in Kaiba's tournament, and the second mandatory duel overall (the first being [[HopelessBossFight Heishin]]). His cards are even weaker than some of the people you dueled in the early game, and he can be reliably defeated with an unmodified starter deck.
197	* XanatosGambit:
198	** Priest Seto enacts one that spans the whole game. He serves Heishin faithfully at first, seizing control of the palace and Egypt as a whole. When the prince returns from the future, however, he goes behind Heishin's back and gives hints about how to overthrow him. His plan is to gain the Millennium Items that Heishin's Mages guard, use the Items to renew a pact with [=DarkNite=], and rule the world--which he only tells you ''after'' you collect the Items, defeat Heishin and do his work for him. If the prince failed in his quest, Seto would defeat Heishin and take over himself. If he succeeded in defeating Heishin, he'd take the Items from the prince instead. The only thing Seto ''didn't'' count on was losing his duel with the prince [[spoiler:and Heishin having seen his treachery coming and staging his defeat]]. To top it off, his deck is even stronger than the final boss's, meaning he was prepared for how strong it was.
199	** He also pulls a smaller-scale version by kidnapping Teana. If the prince came to her rescue after defeating all of the High Mages, Seto could use this as an opportunity to guide the prince to the Dark Shrine and the endgame. If the prince came to her rescue before defeating all of the High Mages, he could use this as an opportunity to test the prince's strength. If the prince loses, he gains the Millennium Puzzle and can carry out the rest of his plan by himself. If the prince wins, then this just justifies Seto's confidence that the Prince is the perfect pawn to carry out his plans with.
200	* YoureInsane: Simon Muran asks Heishin if he's mad at the beginning of the game, when he invades the Pharaoh's palace. Heishin just brushes him off, stating he's there to take his throne.

Context VideoGame / YuGiOhForbiddenMemories