I didn't know what I was getting into when I first played it, I was expecting something like the anime! Egyptian aesthetics, complex strategy, something like the game its based on...
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses is nothing like the trading card game. I love it for that.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses is a cult classic strategy game for the Playstation 2. In it, you play a version of the trading card game entirely unalike to that you would normally be familiar with - the "Perfect Rule", as the game so mysteriously calls it.
Duelists of the Roses is a refinement of the game it is a sequel to, Yu-Gi-Oh Forbidden Memories. That games elemental attribute - each card gaining benefits or maluses based on whom who it fights in battle - being expanded with additional modifiers based on the terrain types you place your creatures in on the game's grid-based game board. Forbidden Memories fusion system was also expanded as well, knowledge of certain fusions - much alike to Forbidden Memories - being pivotal to a succesful completion of this game.
The game's wonderful musical score, clandestine lore drenched in Arthurian fable and real world history and entirely original gameplay mechanics make this one of my favorite games. I adore it.
| REDUX | A neat little alternative way to play! If you intend to play Duelists of the Roses with a completionist mindset, this is definitely the version to try out, as - similar to some pokemon hacks - every card is available to be added to your collection. A lot of the encounters are more difficult and I enjoy the new map designs, but I definitely miss the original, more wacky battles at times. |
| Unity Remake | This project has a lot of promise! It - if it ever finishes - hopes to be a proper conversion of Duelists of the Roses to Unity! Such a thing would be huge for the game, almost to the scale of Daggerfall's Unity port! Here's hoping the creator is able to finish this at some point. |
| Complete Card List Spreadsheet | A complete spreadsheet of every card in the game and where to obtain them. Originally created by GCAH2006 |
| Wiki Page | The Yugioh Fandom Wiki's page on Duelist's of the Roses. This is one of the best sources for official information and artwork if you need to look up specific cards. |
| JXCB6FU7 | The password for Aqua Dragon. If you are struggling in the early game using the password to get this card is one of the best things you can do. Its excellent stats on top of always having a type advantage in battle through its special effect makes it one of the best cards in the game to build around for new players. |
| Understanding Victory Plays | When playing Duelist of the Roses, its important to consider what your win condition is. The life total in this game is only 4000, so its easy to get a win if you know what you are doing! |
| Victory Play: Occupation of Summon Areas (OoSA) | In Duelist's of the Roses, your Deck Leader can only summon cards to specific spaces around them in a 3x3 radius. If a Deck Leader's summoning spaces are entirely occupied at the end of their turn, they lose the game. You can utilize this to your advantage by pushing your opponent's Deck Leader into the corner, alike to Castling in Chess. This is easier to do when you are playing on a field that you have a type advantage on. |
| Victory Play: The Defense Trap | In Duelists of the Roses, you can place equip cards on monsters in face down defense mode! You can utilize this to your advantage by stacking equip cards on a single monster in defense mode. If you can bait the opponent into attacking your monster they will take the damage, then you will be free on your turn to attack them for a follow up! You can utilize this and win off of a single move if you can get at least 2000 points of damage in their attack on you, then your attack on them. |
| Understanding Fusions | Fusions in Duelists of the Roses are the key to making a powerful deck with a exceedingly cheap deck cost. By combining two monsters of specific attack, level or type you can reliably fusion them together into a new monster without needing the monster in question. (Think of it as if you were pulling the card from out of game into play.) A handy fusion list can be found here |
| Useful Fusion: Pumpking the King of Ghosts |
The strongest fusion in the game by far. The benefit you get from his effect each turn is small - but gradually over enough turns you will be able to make your zombies extremely fierce! Its not unusual for you to be able to get your Pumpking's to 9999 ATK! |
| Useful Fusion: Dark Witch |
This monster - while seeming unassuming at first - is actually an amazing fusion. In Duelist of the Roses there are special equip cards that can only be equipped to "female" monsters, Dark Witch - being a female monster - is one of those! You can benefit from all equip cards that benefit from light, from fairy and from being female! You can utilize this to make a deck with an extremely cheap deck cost that can summon very overcosted monsters. One onf the cards you should be looking to add to your deck to use as fusion material for Dark Witch is Dancing Elf |
| Draw Draw Draw! | One of the strengths of making a low-costed fusion-based deck is that you will be able to cycle the cards out of your hand much faster then you would be able to making a deck full of powerful, high-attack point monsters. When you open up your hand, you can use up on the D-Pad to designate multiple cards to play within the same turn. Always try to be dumping cards you don't think you will need that game! |