Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Arena is a new game released by Konami, it hopes to rival the likes of Duelling Network and YGOPro. After playing a good week worth of the beta, I was really excited to see how it would look after the full release. I was severely disappointed, like not just a little bit, I’ve gone from wanted to spend all of my time there to knowing I won’t be going back there again. Here’s my review.
(link to the game at the bottom of the page)
Key points
– Gameplay
– Available cards
– In game currency
– Stamina
– Partners
– Deck editing
– Bugs
– Conclusion
Gameplay
It looks like the gameplay has been transferred straight from the DS games (which is a good thing). Everything is automated, the computer knows every card effect as well as every rule and it makes for a nice, smooth duelling experience. It’s a bit laggy, which is understandable at this stage in the game but for the most part it works really well. The fast paced music compliments the duel speed too, unlike the other powerhouses of online duelling the gameplay is a cut above.
Available cards
One of the biggest questions we all had when we heard of the release. I don’t think any of us wanted another Yu-Gi-Oh Bam! type game where the cards are nothing like their real counterparts but Konami have done well to include every card that has been released so far. You buy the packs as you would in real life, as well as decks and box sets. For those who play IRL and have most of the cards from most of the sets, it re-ignites the spark you used to get when opening packs and hoping for at least one good card, even a common.
In game currency
This is where it falls really, REALLY short. One of the better packs of cards will cost you 6000 “miniclip coins” which is the equivalent of around £2, when I first found this out, I immediately thought “What a bunch of cash grabbing ****s”. You can buy a real card pack for that!
You can buy some packs with the other currency DP (which I believe to be Duellist Points) but you’ll need a huge 4000 to buy a single pack. You get 2000 each day for your first duel and 200 for each duel you win, this makes it so you’ll be getting around 1 pack per day and that’s if you play a lot. You only get 5 cards per pack which equals to 800 DP per card and who is going to be bothered to do that? It’d take months, if not up to a year just to get a half decent deck purely from packs (unless you spend a hell of a lot of money).
My suggestion: Make EVERY 5 card pack 1000 DP or 100 miniclip coins. If not, then well their loss because no one will play their game purely because of this.
Stamina
Another feature pulled straight from my toilet (which I haven’t flushed in weeks). This feature gives you 5 stamina which you use to duel, 1 duel=1 stamina, simple. The stamina has an hour cooldown PER stamina. So you’ll use your 5 battles and then have to wait all of that time, but wait, there’s something you can and I bet you can guess what it is. That’s right, waste (I mean spend) your real life money!
You do get a consumable that fully replenishes your energy after each chapter but still, there shouldn’t even be a stamina system involved. Why prevent your players from players?
Partners
I have mixed emotions about this, I like the idea that you can use a good deck just a few times, but I hate the idea that absolutely anyone, no matter how bad the are, can use a really OP deck. For example, in my first day I got a deck based around Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Yes you read that right, a full deck, Blue-Eyes White Dragon and all, in my first 5 minutes of the game. Of course I can only use it a few times (unless I pay to replenish) but when the NPC’s have stupid decks filled with normal monsters it’s not really a challenge.
It does, however, give you a deck to play with while you grind for months trying to get a half decent deck you made yourself.
Deck editing capabilities
Seems like this was imported from previous games too, it’s quite good, you can sort the cards in your “trunk” to basically any specifications you want. You just move the cards in or out of your deck. It also has useful features like sort by new, and view related cards (useful for fusions/synchros etc to see if you have the requirements).
Bugs
I’ve not found that many seeing as I refuse to play but I’ve found that the deck editing is completely broken at the moment. Will add more if I decide to go back to it.
Conclusion
It has the potential to be a game that thousands of people could happily play. The stamina system needs to be completely removed and the prices of packs drastically decreased (or a way to earn more DP/miniclip credits). Right now there’s not a single chance I’ll play this game, but if the suggested changes were made they would have my time and my money.
You can find the game here
