History YMMV / YuGiOhReshefOfDestruction

* ContestedSequel: Given that ''[[VideoGame/YuGiOhTheSacredCards The Sacred Cards]]'' was very easy to the point of ItsEasySoItSucks, some consider ''Reshef''[='s=] [[SequelDifficultySpike intense difficulty]] spike to be an improvement, others cite it as FakeDifficulty by way of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard. The card pool is larger and the gameplay more complex than ''The Sacred Cards'', which allows for more intricate strategies while still capturing some EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, but the changes are also the source of the game's main {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s and many of the more interesting cards are at a high-enough level that you probably won't get to use them for most of the game. The story, too, tends to drive a wedge through people, with some naming it BetterThanCanon for taking advantage of the universe of the series and featuring some neat twists and turns, and others labeling it a bad fanfic that crowbars every character it can think of into the plot for no reason.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJBViFL568c the theme]] for Pegasus's castle.

** The music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvhxkfaehMw The music when dueling a high-ranked Ghoul.]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Shadi and Ishizu claim Pegasus was unknowingly possessed by Reshef, but Pegasus himself says that he ''let'' Reshef into his heart. Which is correct is up to the player.
* AntiClimaxBoss: Relatively speaking given the game's difficulty, Bandit Keith. A full third of his deck is made up of tribute monsters, and that rises to ''half'' his deck when you include his Spell cards that only work on one of his tribute monsters, thus it's very possible for him to end up with a dead hand full of monsters he can't summon. His non-tribute monsters are mostly Fiend-attribute save for the Fire-attribute Blast Sphere, so a couple of Light monsters can quash them easily. Or you can just use Umi to change the field to Ocean, giving his Machine monsters a 30% penalty to their stats or use Stain Storm to destroy his machines. All in all he's not too much tougher than most of the Ghouls you faced before getting to him. And for the ultimate insult, if he manages to summon [[spoiler:The Winged Dragon of Ra]] against you, laugh at him as you witness its 0/0 stats since [[spoiler:he doesn't know how to release its Battle Mode.]]
** Kaiba. Even though he’s the second of 2 boss fights, he isn’t that hard, as his strong tribute monsters tend to clog up his hand often and, like Bandit Keith, you can use Umi to power down his machines or play Stain Storm to destroy them.

** The music when dueling [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8L4dpFdreE Pegasus's lackeys]], as well as the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQf7pjF09TY Millennium Guardian]] theme.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaAttcgpYKM theme]] for Pegasus's castle.
** Dark Mokuba's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SBcj3nz2uU theme]].
** The Paradox Brothers' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vzzvchjTwE theme]].
** The music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvhxkfaehMw when dueling a high-ranked Ghoul]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sgHp9r9n0o Ishizu's Request]], where she sends the characters on their mission.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stY-qpK6Ips Pegasus's Awakening]] starts out tense and quickly turns sad.

* ContestedSequel: Given that ''Sacred Cards'' was very easy to the point of ItsEasySoItSucks, some consider ''Reshef's'' intense difficulty spike to be an improvement, others cite it as FakeDifficulty by way of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard. The card pool is larger and the gameplay more complex than ''Sacred Cards'', which allows for more intricate strategies while still capturing some EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, but the changes are also the source of the game's main {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s and many of the more interesting cards are at a high-enough level that you probably won't get to use them for most of the game. The story, too, tends to drive a wedge through people, with some naming it BetterThanCanon for taking advantage of the universe of the series and featuring some neat twists and turns, and others labeling it a bad fanfic that crowbars every character it can think of into the plot for no reason.
* DemonicSpiders: Any of the former Ritual Monsters, like Hungry Burger or Fortress Whale, can turn into enormous headaches because they are summoned normally like any other monster, and their Divine Attribute means they have no vulnerability to the ElementalRockPaperScissors mechanic. The player will need to beat them in a straight battle -- something that's very difficult due to the slow progress of Deck Capacity and Duelist Level -- or use removal to take care of them. The most damning part is that they have a Deck Cost of 999, so even if the player wins them they are highly unlikely to use those monsters for themselves, ''ever''.

* HilariousInHindsight: When Tristan is [[spoiler:seemingly]] turned into a robot monkey again, Mokuba mentions that [=KaibaCorp=] had once manufactured robot monkeys that could duel, but they didn't sell well. Not long after this game's release, ''GX'' introduced a cybernetic monkey created by [=KaibaCorp=] that knew how to duel.

** The Chevaliers, green lizard-like creatures with Pegasus's original hair. [[ParanoiaFuel They ambush you in a locked, otherwise empty cable car]].
** The image of Pegasus in the opening [[spoiler: and ending]].
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJBViFL568c theme]] for Pegasus's castle.

** The music when dueling [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lexdmw3T9tU Pegasus's lackeys]], as well as the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOfxMLkm9Q Millennium Guardian]] theme.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJBViFL568c theme]] for Pegasus's castle.
** Dark Mokuba's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCIR6lFpd14 theme]].
** The Paradox Brothers' [[https://youtu.be/TwDAjeOIuv8 theme]].
** The music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2jmHDCIPm8 when dueling a high-ranked Ghoul]].

* GoodBadBugs: The game counts "discarding" as "sent to the Graveyard" for the purposes of card effects, which means a lot of monsters that were seemingly ''intended'' to have their effects activate upon being destroyed can instead be discarded to activate their effects instantly. Vampire Lord, Dark Flare Knight, and Ra Phoenix Mode are the most famous.

** The music when dueling [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lexdmw3T9tU Pegasus's lackeys]], as well as the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-WekLwkjsg Millennium Guardian]] theme.

* ContestedSequel: Given that ''Sacred Cards'' was very easy, some consider ''Reshef's'' intense difficulty spike to be an improvement, others cite it as FakeDifficulty by way of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard. The card pool is larger and the gameplay more complex than ''Sacred Cards'', which allows for more intricate strategies while still capturing some EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, but the changes are also the source of the game's main {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s and many of the more interesting cards are at a high-enough level that you probably won't get to use them for most of the game. The story, too, tends to drive a wedge through people, with some naming it BetterThanCanon for taking advantage of the universe of the series and featuring some neat twists and turns, and others labeling it a bad fanfic that crowbars every character it can think of into the plot for no reason.

* BetterThanCanon: Some prefer this game's story to the anime's Atlantis arc.

** Weevil, for one simple reason -- Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. 3500 ATK, and his Forest field powers it up 30%. If he manages to keep Petit Moth or Cocoon or Evolution in play for only a turn or two, you'll find yourself facing one of the strongest monsters in the game fighting on its home turf. Good luck. He can also use Pinch Hopper to summon any insect from his hand.

** Mai. Her Winged Beasts have 1850 ATK or less and can take advantage of her Mountain field. Unfortunately, there are no specific monster destruction cards that can clear the field of WingedBeastHer non-tribute monsters have 1850 ATK or less and most of them can take advantage of the Mountain field. Also, she can power up her Harpie Lady cards by using Cyber Shield and Electro-Whip. If that wasn't bad enough, her Harpie's Pet Dragon can be powered up by every Harpie-related card on the field.
Also, Mai can use Elegant Egotist to transform a Harpie Lady into Harpie Lady Sisters.

Spirit of the Books can summon a Boo

** Weevil, for one simple reason -- Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. 3500 ATK, and his Forest field powers it up 30%. If he manages to keep Petit Moth or Cocoon or Evolution in play for only a turn or two, you'll find yourself facing one of the strongest monsters in the game fighting on its home turf. Good luck.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Relatively speaking given the game's difficulty, Bandit Keith. A full third of his deck is made up of tribute monsters, and that rises to ''half'' his deck when you include his Spell cards that only work on one of his tribute monsters, thus it's very possible for him to end up with a dead hand full of monsters he can't summon. His non-tribute monsters are mostly Fiend-attribute save for the Fire-attribute Blast Sphere, so a couple of Light monsters can quash them easily. Or you can just use Umi to change the field to Ocean, giving his Machine monsters a 30% penalty to their stats. All in all he's not too much tougher than most of the Ghouls you faced before getting to him. And for the ultimate insult, if he manages to summon [[spoiler:The Winged Dragon of Ra]] against you, laugh at him as you witness its 0/0 stats since [[spoiler:he doesn't know how to release its Battle Mode.]]

** The Paradox Brothers' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwDAjeOIuv8 theme]].

** The Kaibaland plot, though it overlaps with a HeartwarmingMoment as Serenity is super happy to see it.

* AwesomeMusic:

* DemonicSpiders:
** Any of the former Ritual Monsters, like Hungry Burger or Fortress Whale, can turn into enormous headaches because they are summoned normally like any other monster, and their Divine Attribute means they have no vulnerability to the ElementalRockPaperScissors mechanic. The player will need to beat them in a straight battle -- something that's very difficult due to the slow progress of Deck Capacity and Duelist Level -- or use removal to take care of them. The most damning part is that they have a Deck Cost of 999, so even if the player wins them they are highly unlikely to use those monsters for themselves, ''ever''.
** Reflect Bounder deals damage to the opponent equal to the ATK of their strongest monster. This circumvents the invulnerability of the God Cards, so you could be in the middle of steamrolling a late-game opponent with Slifer's monstrous ATK, only for Reflect Bounder to show up and kill you instantly.

** The Paradox boss rush has you winning specific cards from the Millennium Guardians on top of the normal duel rewards. When you reach Paradox at the end, you can intentionally answer his question wrongly to be forced back to the start of the boss rush with your rewards intact, meaning you can keep defeating the first Guardian to get a ton of Kuribohs to wager on duels, or keep beating the third Guardian to amass Giant Soldiers of Stone for large sums of money.

* GameBreaker: Due to similar mechanics, almost every game breaker listed in ''[[YMMV/YuGiOhTheSacredCards The Sacred Cards]]'' also applies. On the other hand, you're probably going to ''need'' them to beat opponents with cards far stronger than yours.

** The Paradox boss rush has you winning cards from the Millennium Guardians you defeat as well as specific cards afterwards, meaning you can keep defeating the first Guardian to get a ton of Kuribohs to wager on duels, or keep beating the third Guardian to amass Giant Soldiers of Stone for large sums of money.

* GameBreaker: Due to similar mechanics, almost every game breaker listed in ''[[YMMV/YuGiOhTheSacredCards The Sacred Cards]]'' also applies.

** Weevil, for one simple reason--Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. 3500 ATK, and his Forest field powers it up 30%. If he manages to keep Petit Moth or Cocoon or Evolution in play for only a turn or two, you'll find yourself facing one of the strongest monsters in the game fighting on its home turf. Good luck.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Relatively speaking given the game's difficulty, Bandit Keith. A full third of his deck is made up of tribute monsters, and that rises to ''half'' his deck when you include his Spell cards that only work on one of his tribute monsters, thus it's very possible for him to end up with a dead hand full of monsters he can't summon. His non-tribute monsters are mostly Fiend-attribute save for the Fire-attribute Blast Sphere, so a couple of Light monsters can quash them easily. Or you can just use Umi to change the field to Ocean, giving his Machine monsters a 30% penalty to their stats. All in all he's not too much tougher than most of the Ghouls you faced before getting to him. And for the ultimate insult, if he manages to summon [[spoiler:The Winged Dragon of Ra]] against you, laugh at him as you witness it's 0/0 stats since [[spoiler:he doesn't know how to release its Battle Mode.]]

** You're forbidden from selling or anteing a card unless you have at least two copies of it in your card trunk. While this was ostensibly done to try and stop UnwinnableByInsanity scenarios where the player has no cards to ante and no money to buy more, in practice it'll often mean you win high-level cards you won't be able to use for a long while and may not even want to use anyway, and you have to let them sit in your trunk forever instead of being allowed to sell them to buy other cards or anteing them to win stronger cards.

** That One ''Trap'', Torrential Tribute, which ''destroys all non-Egyptian God monsters on the attacking side''. Late-game duelists have ''three of them''.

** Weevil, for one simple reason -- Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. 3500 ATK, and his Forest field powers it up 30%. If he manages to keep Petit Moth or Cocoon or Evolution in play for only a turn or two, you'll find yourself facing one of the strongest monsters in the game fighting on its home turf. Good luck.

** Shimon Muran. He runs monsters with upwards of 1600 points in most every attribute in the game, making it impossible to reliably counter him via ElementalRockPaperScissors. Further, he has several tribute monsters that are Divine-attribute, completely immune to that strategy anyway. And most surprisingly difficult is that Shimon only runs three Spell and Trap cards, unlike other duelists up to that point. This unfortunately means his deck is almost entirely composed of monster cards, hence he'll be able to summon those high-powered monsters every single turn with no let-up. If you manage to summon a good monster against him, you still aren't safe, because he has Reflect Bounder to deal damage to you equal to your monster's ATK. Finally, he's fought at the end of the Millennium Guardian BossRush, so you probably aren't in the best of shape in the first place.

** Weevil, for one simple reason -- Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. A Divine-attribute monster with 3550 ATK, and his Forest field powers it up 30%. If he manages to keep Petit Moth or Cocoon or Evolution in play for only a turn or two, you'll find yourself facing one of the strongest monsters in the game fighting on its home turf. Good luck.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Relatively speaking given the game's difficulty; Bandit Keith. A full third of his deck is made up of tribute monsters, and that rises to ''half'' his deck when you include his Spell cards that only work on one of his tribute monsters, thus it's very possible for him to end up with a dead hand full of monsters he can't summon. His non-tribute monsters are mostly Fiend-attribute save for the Fire-attribute Blast Sphere, so a couple of Light monsters can quash them easily. Or you can just use Umi to change the field to Ocean, giving his Machine monsters a 30% penalty to their stats. All in all he's not too much tougher than most of the Ghouls you faced before getting to him. And for the ultimate insult, if he manages to summon [[spoiler:The Winged Dragon of Ra]] against you, laugh at him as you witness it's 0/0 stats since [[spoiler:he doesn't know how to release its Battle Mode.]]

* AntiClimaxBoss: Relatively speaking given the game's difficulty; Bandit Keith. A full third of his deck is made up of tribute monsters, and that rises to ''half'' his deck when you include his Spell cards that only work on one of his tribute monsters. And his non-tribute monsters are mostly Fiend-attribute save for the Fire-attribute Blast Sphere, so a couple of Light monsters can quash them. Or you can just use Umi to change the field to Ocean, giving his Machine monsters a 30% penalty to their stats. All in all he's not too much tougher than most of the Ghouls you faced before getting to him. And for the ultimate insult, if he manages to summon [[spoiler:The Winged Dragon of Ra]] against you, laugh at him as you witness it's 0/0 stats since [[spoiler:he doesn't know how to release its Battle Mode.]]

* AntiClimaxBoss: Relatively speaking given the game's difficulty; Bandit Keith. A full third of his deck is made up of tribute monsters, and that rises to ''half'' his deck when you include his Spell cards that only work on one of his tribute monsters. And his non-tribute monsters are mostly Fiend-attribute save for the Fire-attribute Blast Sphere, so a couple of Light monsters can quash them. Or you can just use Umi to change the field to Ocean, so his Field monsters lose their power bonus and his Machine monsters all get their power drained. All in all he's not too much tougher than most of the Ghouls you faced before getting to him. And for the ultimate insult, if he manages to summon [[spoiler:The Winged Dragon of Ra]] against you, laugh at him as you witness it's 0/0 stats since [[spoiler:he doesn't know how to release its Battle Mode.]]