‘Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links’: the good and the bad

Does ‘Duel Links’ provide the authentic ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ experience?

Introduction

‘Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links’ is a video game that was launched for iOS, Android, and Windows PC (via Steam) in November 2017 by Konami Holdings Corporation. The game is based on the famous Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (TCG), which is also based on the manga and anime series written by Kazuki Takahashi.

Seeing the popularity mobile gaming has gained in recent years, Konami decided it was a good time to extend its reach on mobile gaming too. I couldn’t agree more, as for me, it’s been a very convenient way of playing one of my favorite games wherever I go, and whenever I have time to spare.

However, mobile gaming has its limitations, and that’s where the drawbacks begin. On top of that, the latest business model adopted by most video game publishers, has degraded the user experience in many ways. In this article, we’ll discuss those aspects, and conclude if ‘Duel Links’ is worth your time.

What we liked

1. Gameplay

The game runs smoothly on most devices and the controls are super easy. There are no complex commands or buttons, but only your finger. The same applies to the PC version, as the only thing you need, is a mouse.

Duels are easy to initiate, and so is building a deck. You can even do it automatically, if you like. The overall speed of the duels is what makes this attractive to me, as I don’t want to spend too much time in lengthy duels. This has been achieved by the 3-card zone, and 20-card (minimum) deck system, which is much shorter than the 5-zone and 40 cards (minimum) of the original card game. The dynamics of the game dramatically change due to those alterations, and sometimes the game feels completely different from any other Yu-Gi-Oh! game. This can also be a double-edged sword, as we’ll see later.

2. Free to play

Another positive aspect of this game, it’s its initial price. It’s completely free (F2P) to download and create an account. With that being said, everybody can play it, as long as they possess a mobile device or a tablet. The in-game currencies can be eventually obtained by playing the game, and they provide a way for players to never have to virtually empty their wallets if they want to remain competitive. However, this has its shortcomings too.

3. User friendly

Most of the in-game processes are automated, and if not, they have some pretty good tutorials showing what you can do in each step. As I mentioned earlier, you only need a finger to play this game. The plethora of graphics can sometimes feel clogged on a mobile device screen, but most aspects of the game unlock as you go, so the chances of you getting confused are low.

4. Multiple Platforms

The beauty of this game is that it runs on the three most widespread platforms: iOS, Android, and Windows PC. You experience exactly the same game on all three platforms, and the controls are the same. Additionally, you can log in to your existing account on each of those three, without losing your progress or your precious cards.

5. Minimum requirements

The requirements for this game to run, are pretty low. There are also settings in the game that give you the option to choose High-Res graphics, and regulate the CPU usage. Most contemporary machines have no issue of running it on ultra-high settings, but it’s a good solution for those that can’t. Even though the game is better optimized for iOS instead of the various Android devices and PCs, most likely, you won’t have a problem running it.

Speaking of requirements, here are for the PC version:

CPU: Intel Core i3-3210.
CPU SPEED: Info.
RAM: 2 GB.
OS: Windows7 (64bit)
VIDEO CARD: Intel HD Graphics 4000 or NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GS or AMD Radeon HD 4800.
PIXEL SHADER: 4.0.
VERTEX SHADER: 4.0.
SOUND CARD: On Board.

What we think cripples the game

1. Pay-wall

Though the initial impression of the game appears to be a legit F2P, you’ll find out soon enough that it’s mostly a pay-to-win (P2W) game.

Grinding for ‘Gems’ (in-game currency for obtaining cards) might sound normal, but it’s almost impossible to get all the cards you like in reasonable time frames. The meta does not make it easy, either. Just when you think you have finally completed your meta deck, another meta barges in, and puts your existing deck out of competition. This can happen as soon as within the same month.

Therefore, you turn to payment options to be able to keep up, only to be further disappointed down the road. For example, if you want to purchase a box of 180 booster packs that contain 3 cards each, you’ll have to spend about $180 for that box.

But wait! There is more! Most meta decks recommend you have 3 copies of your most powerful cards (‘Ultra Rare’), even though each box contains only 1 of them. In short, you may have to buy the box up to three times to get the three copies you need. There are also items or pre-build decks that can be purchased only with real money. That sounds expensive to me.

The bottom line is, the game follows the latest trend of micro-transactions and usage of real money for virtual cards. I’ve even heard horror stories of people spending over $8,000 on this game. I find it absurd to have to spend those sums on a mobile game. This feels no different to me than buying candies in Candy Crush Saga. If I were you, I’d spend the money on real cards, instead of buying thin air.

2. Grinding

Because of the paywall, if you want to make some decent progress and remain competitive, you have to dedicate an unbelievable amount of time to this game. Either because you have to grind for ‘Gems’, or unlock new areas and characters. Either way, the struggle is real. You’ll have to spend about 4 hours (in my experience) per day to reach that goal. The amount of Gems and other in-game currencies obtained from battles and rewards, is quite low, unless it’s some special event. The events themselves are rotational, so you’ll have a chance to get the rewards you missed. It’s convenient, but it can be draining and monotonous. Sometimes they make changes to freshen things up, but the format remains the same.

3. Game mechanics

The game itself has to change in order to adapt to the 3-card zone and 20-card deck. It also skips the ‘Main Phase 2’ on which players further summon monsters or set cards, and limits your ‘Life Points’ to 4000 compared to 8000 of the original format.

This may simplify or dramatically complicate things, such as making you lose easier in a single round (FTK/OTK) than you would in the standard game. Also, certain cards are not available, and others had to change their effects to work on that format to maintain the balance in the game. This, however, makes ‘Duel Links’ feel completely different when compared to other Yu-Gi-Oh! titles on other platforms. It can be frustrating to adapt to the differences, and it’ll certainly confuse beginners.

4. Monotony

Once the initial fad has worn off, you’ll realize that the game rotates around the latest meta decks and repetitive events. The deck builds and play styles are almost identical among players, and rarely do the top players deviate from the meta builds, if they want to remain on top, that is.

The elitist players that have received the KOG (‘King of Games’) title, make things even harder by belittling new players and old ones alike in chat rooms. Somehow, achieving peak performance in mobile games, is what makes them better than the rest. Taking a long break might fix the monotony. It worked for me, at least.

5. Mobile limitations

Mobile games are always simplified for a better user experience and low resource usage. On top of that, the small and narrow screens of the phones don’t make it easy either. I feel like ‘Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links’ has been dumbed down too much compared to its original form.

The 6 phases of the duel are not available, and they’re not explicitly displayed. Summoning multiple ‘Pendulum’ monsters makes the field look cramped, and viewing the detailed art of the cards on the field is impossible. Chatting is also limited to public rooms only, and it’s not available during a duel. You may feel muted in each duel because of that.

There are other aspects that push this game to the negative side, but the bottom line is that ‘Duel Links’ is too far from the actual card game, especially for old-timers like me.

6. Bad porting

Playing a mobile game on a PC, can often be frustrating. There are no keys that activate special functions, and there is no key binding option. The quality of the graphics is low for smoother gameplay on mobile devices, as mentioned earlier, but the drop in quality is consistent across the platforms, even on a PC. Desktop and laptop computers have much more “horsepower” at their disposal, which unfortunately remains untapped.

The screen ratio (about 20:9) on a PC is completely uncomfortable as it maintains the exact dimensions of a narrow and vertical mobile screen with empty spaces on the sides for the necessary 3-card zone limit. The mouse cursor lacks calibration and needs to be precisely placed over the buttons to simulate the larger area finger movement of the mobile version.

Overall, the technical difficulties I encountered on the PC version, shouldn’t be there, and the game itself feels all over the place. All in all, I’d say that playing it on my mobile, makes more sense and the mobile-specific text prompts inside the game are a good reminder of that.

7. Technical problems

The game runs smoothly and is easy to navigate. However, there are frequent errors and crashes that prompt a reboot at random times on all platforms. As of update v.6.1.0, “infinite” loading can occur, also when selecting opponents for a match or browsing the deck, the game crashes and requires a reboot. Imagine if you have to do that when you’re dueling somebody online. Minimizing and restoring the app, on both PC and mobile versions, causes the game to automatically restart. Also, disconnection issues and lag are frequently present in online duels (PvP).

Creating and restoring your account sometimes might not even work if you aren’t careful enough, and you end up losing all your precious cards. You see, on the mobile version, there is a choice between a ‘Google’ and a ‘Konami’ account, to save your data. Trust me when I say it, always use a ‘Konami’ account if you want to be safe. I found out the hard way. Having a ‘Konami’ account can complicate things a bit more, though, as you have to sign in via your web browser while you have your app open, for it to work. Sometimes it doesn’t work because the game might restart.

I am quite patient with the technical problems of my games, because I know they’re a product of human error, and they’ll be quickly fixed. But, I find it unacceptable to encounter the same issues four years after its release, and this is what happens with ‘Duel Links’.

Conclusion

‘Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links’ is an easy and user-friendly mobile game that has successfully captured Yu-Gi-Oh! fans’ attention. However, I strongly believe that it doesn’t convey the authentic Yu-Gi-Oh! experience to the players, due to its lackluster port to Windows PCs, the changed gameplay format, and the many mobile platform limitations.

I could be very forgiving and brush them aside for the sake of recognizing it as a decent attempt to imitate the real thing, but Konami’s decision to introduce micro-transactions that quickly turn into large expenses, has convinced me otherwise. It’s simply not sensible to dedicate incredible amounts of time and money to a mobile game of that caliber. Therefore, I recommend you try it out in a casual and inexpensive way only.

What do you think about ‘Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links’?

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