Yu - Gi - Oh ! Dark Duel Stories Yu - Gi - Oh ! Dark Duel Stories , released in Japan as Yu - Gi - Oh ! Duel Monsters III : Tri - Holy God Advent ( 遊戯王デュエルモンスターズＩＩＩ " Yūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu III Toraihōrīgoddo Adobanto " ) , is a video game and the third title in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! Duel Monsters " series of games . It was released in Japan on July 13 , 2000 , and it was the first " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " video game to be released outside of Japan , with a United States release date of March 19 , 2002 . Players of the game can trade and battle with other players using a . Duels . Players must beat each player in a stage five times , in order to get to the next stage . Once the player beats a character five times , he or she may continue to duel them for more points [ see " Passwords & More " ] . Here are the list of characters that a player may duel against : Starter Deck . The player ' s Starter Deck consists of the following 40 cards : Format . Dark Duel Stories does not totally conform to the rules of the Official Card Game . This includes many cards having different effects , or having their effects removed altogether , including , but not limited to , Jirai Gumo ; this means that some Monster cards with effects in the OCG may not have any effects at all in this game , whether positive or negative . Rather than having flip effects or passive effects like many cards in the OCG , most cards seem to only be able to activate their effects on the first turn they are played . Many cards seen only in this game ( the ' Creatable ' cards ) also have Type and / or Attribute that do not match their appearance at all . While this can also be seen in the official card game , this happens much more often in this game . During gameplay there is more than one way to win . A player may win by decreasing the opponent ' s life points to zero , forcing your opponent to run out of cards ( have them unable to draw a card at the start of their turn ) , or by having all five pieces of Exodia in your hand . In order to duel , a player ' s Deck must contain 40 cards and be under their current Duelist Level . If the Deck is over / under 40 cards or over the Deck limit cost , the player will not be able to duel until the error is fixed . Here are some basic rules for playing : Battle types . In the game , players may notice a few different types of battle between monster cards . The most basic way to defeat an opposing monster is to have a monster with higher attack Example : Player A ' s card = 1000 ATK , Player B ' s card = 1200 ATK . Player A ' s card is destroyed and loses 200 Life Points ( Life Points ) However , in Yu - Gi - Oh ! Dark Duel Stories monsters can be destroyed because they have an inferior Alignment ( which substitutes Attribute in this game ) . In this format , the difference between Attack or Defense points does not matter and the card with the inferior alignment is instantly destroyed . The exception to this rule is when the monster with the superior alignment also has higher attack points ( when attacking ) or defense points ( when being attacked in defense position ) , in which case battle damage is calculated normally . However , when a defense position is attacked by a monster with an inferior alignment , the monster with the inferior alignment is destroyed . Alignment List : Fire " beats " Forest Forest " beats " Wind Wind " beats " Earth Earth " beats " Thunder Thunder " beats " Aqua Aqua " beats " Fire also : Shadow " beats " Light Light " beats " Fiend Fiend " beats " Dreams Dreams " beats " Shadow No other type of card or alignment has an advantage over a card that has a Divine ( misspelled in - game as Devine ) type and alignment . In addition , cards that fall into one alignment list do not have an advantage over cards in the other . Passwords . In the game , players can go to the Password Mode option . There they can input an 8 - digit password found at the bottom of each trading card ( sold separately ) , saving the card into their chest . Players can add saved cards from their chest to their Deck , depending on how many points they have . The more points , the more stronger cards . You get points for winning battles , but you don ' t lose points for losing . Téa Gardner also gives you 1 card for every duel that you win . If you type in a special password , Yugi ' s Grandpa will also appear and give you another card . Téa and Grandpa will also give the player one card part for each win as well . ( see " Card Creation " for part information ) There are also hidden passwords that unlock the hidden bosses in STAGE 5 and the Credits . Since STAGE 5 can only have one duelist , once the player inputs a password for a STAGE 5 hidden boss ( Yami Yugi , Yami Bakura , Nitemare , Marik , and Shadi ) , the previous boss in that stage is deleted . But , when you re - enter the password for deleted box , the records are the same ( meaning deleted duelist just doesn ' t appear while there ' s another duelist in stage 5 , but when you re - enter them their old scores reappear . So the data of your previous battles with them are saved and are not erased ) . Note : Some cards will not be able to be added with the Password Option . Normally an incorrect password will simply not work , but entering certain card codes , like that of Graceful Charity , will have the game give the alternate message " Can ' t Record Password ! Try a different password . " The cards corresponding to these codes were released in the Trading Card Game at the time this video game was made , but were not actually included in Dark Duel Stories itself . Card creation . It has a unique feature : Players can " create " cards using different card parts , one for the upper half , and one for the lower half . You cannot make a card unless you have at least one top and one bottom half of a card . The player can also preview the created card before using up his / her parts . The only real catch is that the attack and defense can only go as high as 2000 . Fusion . Since Polymerization is not included in this game , Fusions occur differently ; selecting one card and placing it on top of another compatible card could result in a fusion for an entirely different monster . These Fusions are Alignment - based and are reflected as such in the combination they create . For instance , fusing Thunder Kid with Yamatano Dragon Scroll would result in Thunder Dragon . Similarly , combining it with any number of Aqua monsters would normally result in Bolt Escargot . Also , combining Time Wizard with Baby Dragon would result in Thousand Dragon .