In all the years I’ve played Yu-Gi-Oh, I’ve been waiting for that one game. The one that brings everything together. Not a fan-made online deck-building tool, or a condensed version fit for the casual player, but a multiplayer online experience that truly replicates the thrill of opening packs, special summoning, and taking your opponent’s life points down to zero. Then Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel lands in my lap, and at first glance, it seems that Konami has tuned in to my inner monologue.
Duelling itself feels great. I’ve been out of the Yu-Gi-Oh-sphere for a couple of years, but within minutes of picking up Master Duel, I was back in my pomp, activating face downs and watching as terrifying combos hammered my life points into nothingness. It might sound like a cliche, but the game offers the closest experience to playing the actual card game that we’ve got so far, and there’s an acute sense of satisfaction with every successful multi-summon routine.
I’m playing on Nintendo Switch and have had little to no problems with gameplay or connectivity. Following on from the success of Duel Links, it’s good to see that touch mechanics are as fluid as they are in the mobile game, and ranked matchmaking is just as quick and reliable. It’s a little jarring not being able to use my analogue sticks to move around the field in duels, but it doesn’t take too long to get used to going back to the d-pad, and if anything, the slight rigidity makes you less likely to make a mistake in the middle of a long combo chain.
RELATED LINKS: Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel review Source: https://www.pockettactics.com/yu-gi-oh-master-duel/review
