Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction has one special feature that really sets the game apart: insane difficulty. Everything else is secondary. Only the extremely patient, skilled, or masochistic Yu-Gi-Oh players will love this game.

The star of Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction is the player himself, an anonymous-looking guy with a hat, who is a good friend of Yugi, Joey, and crew. The player leads the adventure while Yugi and Joey tag along, adding their own dialogue. They'll wander off on their own at Grandpa's card shop, though, where they can be challenged. This is useful for trying out decks in low-risk battles, or trying to build money and experience. You can get some of their favorite cards from them, too - you can snag cards like Spellbinding Circle, Kuriboh, or the entire Exodia set by challenging Yugi.

Plenty of other characters from the show pop up, also. Mai has a mean deck full of harpies; Weevil has a deck with high-powered insects; and Rex attacks with dinosaur cards. That's only a fraction of the tough opponents that can be challenged along the quest. Most of the opponents take advantage of terrain effects, too, so mind what cards you have in your own deck. Major characters have portraits showing their expressions, and sometimes little icons like sweat droplets appear during hilarious or awkward situations.

The quest itself -- well, the idea is to reunite all of the Millennium items, resurrect the (obscenely powerful) Egyptian God Cards, and prevent the destruction of the world at the hands of Reshef, the Dark Being. There are a few twists along the way, of course, especially with Seto Kaiba following his own agenda and alternatively pushing everyone around or helping out.

Generally, the player needs to card-duel through every situation. New players will probably get nowhere fast; while most video games these days explain the game on the go, Reshef of Destruction has no such luxury. Be prepared to actually read the manual and reference it often if you've never played Yu-Gi-Oh before or maybe even if you have. This particular version has a card element system, where some cards can automatically beat another, regardless of attack and defense power. It seems annoying at first when your 1800-attack monster gets owned by a 200-attack weenie, but you'll soon be using it to your advantage.

There are quite a few other features of note. The player can 'ante' a card (if there are at least a couple of the same card in stock) as a wager and receive a card from the opponent if he wins. The player (and almost all other characters) have 8000 life points, but they are not regained between battles; the player has to go back to his computer to restore them. There's rarely anything to stop the player from going back between every match, so it seems like an unnecessary hassle.

Each card also has a 'duelist cost' - if the player's level isn't high enough, they can't use certain cards. Also, the deck is limited to a total cost of cards. The player gains level and capacity by winning duels, usually one point at a time. It seems like a totally unnecessary and bothersome constraint, especially when the game starts to get brutally difficult and each opponent has insanely high-powered cards. Cards are also hard enough to get as it is, too, especially since Grandpa's shop generally charges huge amounts for cards. You'll sure feel clever when you beat an opponent with an incredibly weak deck, though.

There's a feature the player can actually use to his advantage - cards can be 'imported' into the game. Codes found on actual playing cards (or, god forbid, the internet) can be entered into the gizmo at the card shop, and the cards will then be added to the shop's inventory. You have to pay for it and have a high enough level, but it's still fairly handy. Cards can also be traded (and dueled) via GBA link. Trading is fast and easy - large batches of cards can be moved all at once.

Making any progress in Reshef of Destruction is extremely difficult, but definitely possible with just the right deck (or enough time put in to build the duelist level). Tough as it may be, you just might find yourself addicted and determined to show this game who's boss.