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Yu-GI-Oh! Master Duel on mobile, is Konami playing its best card?

Konami offers us with Yu-GI-Oh! Master Duel, a more complete and more strategic reissue of its legendary card game. Have we succumbed to the Stardust Dragon? Answer in this test.

Yu Gi Oh! it is a franchise that has already 25 years of existence and which rocked the childhood of many players. In its physical version, with the card game, its drawn version with the manga and the anime, or its digital version, the manga has always been able to reinvent itself and adapt to the evolution of entertainment. After releasing both mobile games Neuron and Duel Linksnow Konami decides to release a third version of its franchise with the title Yo-Gi-Oh! Master Dueling.

This new version takes the basics of the original card game in a more complete version, and disregarding the narrative part related to lore. Instead you find modes focused solely on duels, whether your opponent is real or managed by an AI, and maps galore. Does Konami manage to take advantage of this new entry? Answer in this test Yu Gi Oh! Master Dueling.

Many (too many?) cards in play

If you have already played Yu Gi Oh! Duel Linksor even to the game of physical cards, then the operation of Master Dueling shouldn’t be foreign to you. For the others, you are in possession of a deck, in which there are monster cards, which can be summoned to attack the opponent, magic cards, with special and specific effects, as well as trap cards, including the name is particularly evocative as to their role.

At the start of the game, you have a first hand of cards, which you play and then update by drawing cards as your game progresses. The goal is to attack the opponent and use all your assets to bring the number of life points of your opponent to 0, before he manages to lower all yours. Simple rules… in theory.

Because in practice, it is not an easy task. This new entry is actually not simple, and even makes the game as complete (and complex?) as possible. In all, Master Dueling has more than 10,000 different cards, a number that has enough to give us a headache. For a beginner, things can quickly get tough, despite all the trouble Konami takes to provide precise explanations.

The amount of information given is not the only obstacle to understanding the game. Indeed, there are also translation approximations which make everything even a little more messy, especially with regard to certain cards with very precise effects. . If the starting tutorial helps to get the hang of the basics, it leaves us a little unsatisfied for many other strategic aspects.

Game modes for progression

However, novices still have a chance to practice before diving into the deep end, aka the multiplayer games. At the bottom left of your home screen, you will find a single player mode, which contains several other chapters to discover. Here, it is not a question of exploring a narrative framework as in the old iterations of the game, but of seeing step by step certain techniques, or nuances of combat which will be very useful to you for the future.

Our advice is therefore to complete these levels before rubbing shoulders with real players, often franchise regulars who already know where they are going. Once you’ve taken the plunge, all you have to do is enjoy the journey and try to make a name for yourself by chaining victories and unlocking ever more powerful cards. Once again, Konami has thought of everything.

solo mode yu gi oh master duel test
Credits: Konami / JDG

Experienced players will find to their liking the possibility of completely customizing their deck of cards by replacing certain cards with more powerful monsters or by developing strategies, based on a solid defense, or an arsenal of magic cards that has nothing to envy the fiercest of dragons. Note that your collection can also grow by purchasing cards and decks via the in-game store. The objects are accessible thanks to a virtual currency, which you earn in fights.

Pure nostalgia

It is at this point in your progress that nostalgia and pleasure take over the incomprehension and complexity of the beginning. A feeling that grows stronger as you come across monsters with familiar faces, these having remained exactly the same since their first creation. In general, the cards have a vintage look, and are composed of the same colors and designs as those of our childhood.

A choice at the antipodes of excessive modernization, which Konami was right to make. Because ultimately, this complexity and this recognizable design among all are the soul of Yu Gi Oh! since its debut 25 years ago, and we enjoy diving back into the abyss of our memories, even if sometimes it’s a choice that affects its consequences on visual optimization.

yu gi oh master duel release date
Credits: Konami

On mobiles, the experience is not necessarily the best one to take. Although this offers us the possibility of playing on the go, or on the fly, we deplore the heavy weight of the application on the telephone, but also the overheating of our usually very resistant device, or the graphics which do not are not highlighted. On a screen of less than 7 inches, it is indeed difficult to distinguish the drawings on the cards, and it is sometimes difficult to read the description of their effects.

Yu Gi Oh! Master Dueling is therefore a title that deserves to be discovered on PC for an optimal experience in our opinion. Its gameplay is indeed adapted to point & click, and everything is therefore very pleasant with the mouse. An excellent point for Konami, the game is available in cross-play, and therefore supports cross-progression on all the platforms you use, from mobile to PC, including PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

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