Yu-Gi-Oh! CROSS DUEL is Konami’s brand-new Trading card game (TCG). From the popular Japanese manga by Kazuki Takahashi, Yu-Gi-Oh! was serialized in the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP in 1996. Yu-Gi-Oh! CROSS DUEL introduces an entirely new format of dueling that would even surprise the most hardcore fans. In addition, turning the duels from a 1v1 to a 1v1v1v1 has spiced things up for the fanbase.

Yu-Gi-Oh! CROSS DUEL retains several aspects of the original games but has decided to push the boundaries with an almost chess-like strategic gameplay. Since it is a relatively new concept, we decided to give you guys a thorough review of the game and all the good and bad aspects.

THE GOOD

Whole New Duel System

One of the best parts about the traditional Yu-Gi-Oh! card games are that the duels are very systematic and fun to play. However, the downside is that it starts to get boring after a certain number of duels. In Yu-Gi-Oh! CROSS DUEL, it’s almost a chess-like battle royale. With a total of 4 players in each match, each player has a 3×3 grid of playable slots. The top row is to summon monsters, and the bottom row is designated for trap cards.

There are 3 lanes connecting the bases of all the players in the game. Monsters can be summoned in each lane and move a step forward per turn. For the game to conclude, either a total of 8 turns should end, or any player should be eliminated. 

Each player has 4000 Life Points (LP); when an enemy monster directly damages your base, your LP decreases. Conversely, dealing direct damage to enemy bases also gives you LP; at the end of the game, the player with the most LP wins.

This Format has made the game feel much more refreshing and added another layer of skill to Yu-Gi-Oh! Games.

3D Models and Animations

With new and improved 3D rendered models and summoning animations, Yu-Gi-Oh! CROSS DUEL is a highly appealing game. The battles are cool, and the models are lifelike; this has definitely added to the gaming experience. In addition, each Special summon monster has its attack animation and summoning animations. By far, the best execution of models and animations of any Yu-Gi-Oh! mobile games.

Voice Acting and SFX

Yu-Gi-Oh! CROSS DUEL uses classic voice actors and sound effects. This alone added more points, giving me a rush of nostalgia while listening to the characters talking. Highly recommend playing this game with some headphones; the soundtrack was spectacular and undoubtedly added to the gaming experience.

Auto-Fill

One of the biggest issues with past Yu-Gi-Oh! games are addressed in Yu-Gi-Oh! CROSS DUEL that is the Auto-Fill option. For the longest time, creating a deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! had been a daunting task and one that only people who spent a lot of time learning about different cards and their effectiveness could successfully do. However, with the Auto-Fill feature, you can immediately have the best possible deck out of the available cards.

Skills

Special Summon cards have inherent skills; these skills can be mastered as you level up and keep winning. This addition was a nice touch, as it encourages players to play more and ensures that no one has broken cards from the get-go. One of the biggest problems with other Yu-Gi-Oh! games were where the person with the stronger cards won immediately, there was barely any skill gap, and certain cards were simply unbeatable. That has been changed in this game.

THE BAD

Pay-to-Win

The cost ratio to obtaining new cards is ridiculous. Getting new cards for free past a certain level is challenging. Initially, you get to pick certain Ultra Rare (UR) cards for free, but if you don’t choose correctly, you won’t get any more for a long time. You can buy decks using in-app purchases, but not everyone wants to spend that much money on some in-game cards.

Terrible Servers

One of the things that annoyed me the most was how bad the servers in this game are. Granted that this is a relatively new game and the player base is overgrowing, but getting disconnected from a single game several times feels horrible. Especially in ranked games where winning and losing actually matter. Hope they fix this issue as soon as possible.

VERDICT

Yu-Gi-Oh! CROSS DUEL is definitely a game that has pushed the boundaries and tried to innovate a dying franchise. Konami has done well in the visual and audio aspects of the game and even came up with a whole new system of dueling. 

However, the game doesn’t come without its issues. Horrible servers, pay-to-win, and various glitches throughout the game need to be addressed as soon as possible. 

Currently, this game is only a shell of what it could be, so give it some time, and hopefully, Konami will fix the major issues with the upcoming update.

Yu-Gi-Oh! CROSS DUEL is available to download on Google Play and the App Store.