Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links Guide
Complete specific Missions to unlock and these characters! Earn Skills and rewards by leveling up your favorite characters! The game uses the original rules of the trading card game with a few modifications. Players have 4000 Life Points, Main Phase 2 is removed, the number of monster and spell/trap zone is reduced, and characters can have skills that affect the game. The card sets are the early ones released around the time of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime. As a result of this, the large number of additional summoning mechanics created for later Yu-Gi-Oh! series are not included in the game. As players win duels and level up, they receive a variety of rewards, including new cards, Gold, Stones, and Gems. Golds and Stones can be exchanged for new cards via the Card Trader, while Gems can be used to purchase new card packs in the Store. The game also includes a PvP mode where players can duel in real-time with friends, as well as participate in random matches with players around the world. Special events occur for a limited amount of time to provide variety and the opportunity to win rare cards. The first such event was the appearance of Yugi Muto (separate from Yami Yugi) who provided the opportunity to win rare cards such as Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction. The next event was Toon World with the opportunity to unlock Maximilian Pegasus and his Toon monsters. However, the Toon World event was delayed due to server issues.
To achieve this Duel Links takes Yu-Gi-Oh! back to its routes, stripping back some of the more advanced cards and summoning techniques, whilst also giving players a smaller selection of cards to begin with. Players can of course gain more cards though virtual booster packs, and Konami is constantly expanding the cards available through new sets and special events. Nevertheless, to some these changes may sound restrictive. However, they're actually a breath of fresh air, forcing players to go back to basics and find new ways to play. They also allow new players to jump in and compete not only against the computer, but also in the ranked and casual PvP arenas. On top of this Konami has also introduced a new form of duelling entitled Speed Duel. The Speed Duel format offers gamers a new way to play one of the world's most popular CCGs. That's not all though, as it also makes the game perfect for mobile. The new speed duel format does this by fundamentally decreasing the time it takes to battle an opponent. This is done by not only reducing the amount of life points a player has, but also by removing aspects of a player's turn. Now players will find that a duel rarely lasts longer than around two minutes, something which not only creates perfect bitesize gaming, but also encourages repeated play. Ultimately making the game incredibly addictive. The thing is though, no matter how good the gameplay is, or how easy to use the user interface is - and trust me they're both second to none - the real star here is the flawless presentation. Being based on the original series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links features the likes of Yami Yugi, Seto Kaiba, Joey, and all the other characters that fans will remember. What's more, it's all presented in a way that is arguably better than the original anime, and there's even full voice acting delivered by the original voice actors. This not only creates an authentic feel that's second to none, but most importantly, it all adds to the nostalgia and immersion. Ultimately making the player feel like they have literally stepped into the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!.
While the game does not offer a story mode that revolves around the actual events from the anime, it does take you on a whole different journey. A much better one at that. In Duel Links, you can choose between dueling the characters from the anime, such as Yugi, Joey, Kaiba and the rest of the gang. These duels are all fairly easy for people who grew up playing Yu-Gi-Oh! on their PC or Gameboy because the CPU in those games was significantly harder to beat.Apart from being able to duel against the characters from the anime, there's also a PvP mode where you take on real people from all over the world, which is one of the best features of the game. The duel presentation is absolutely fantastic as well. The visuals, the voice acting - it's just everything a Yu-Gi-Oh! game should be.Early on, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links has a wealth of tutorials. It can be fairly intimidating, which isn’t helped by a confusing interface. What does help is being able to visit the Duel School for more information. Elsewhere, you can participate in regular battles, compete with legendary duelists, or fight it out with real players via the PvP arena. Your time is mostly split between battling and arranging your deck. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links has a multitude of ways in which you can boost your deck. You can buy booster packs via its shop (and some all too tempting in-app purchases), trade items for rare cards, or customize your deck. As you’d expect from a Yu-Gi-Oh! game, there’s plenty of reason for you to spend hours tweaking your deck. While early battles easily sway in your favor, the difficulty ramps up as you go along. That makes sense, to an extent, but it’s also presumably to encourage you to spend real money. Pay to win is an important principle here, whether you like it or not.
Each player can have one Skill. The available Skills vary between characters. Depending on the Skill, it may be always activated at the start of the Duel (e.g. starting with "Yami" on the field), optionally activated when a player meets certain conditions (e.g. ensuring the next drawn card is a Spell or Trap Card after the player's Life Points have dropped by 1800), or always activated when a condition is met (e.g. inflicting damage when the player activates a Trap Card). xtra Monster Zones are not used, with Extra Deck monsters functioning as they did before the introduction of the Extra Monster Zone. Duel Links does not fit perfectly into the timeline of any adaptation of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but appears to take place after Battle City as numerous characters reference the events of the tournament. The game takes place in an alternate version of a combination of the anime and manga continuity, but only Yami Marik alludes to having been revived. Some dialogue hints that certain duelists are AI's created by Kaiba, but this is never confirmed. The game tends to follow a combination of the anime and manga continuity, but takes creative liberties to omit the deaths of several characters. Now players will find that a duel rarely lasts longer than around two minutes, something which not only creates perfect bitesize gaming, but also encourages repeated play. Ultimately making the game incredibly addictive. The thing is though, no matter how good the gameplay is, or how easy to use the user interface is - and trust me they're both second to none - the real star here is the flawless presentation. Being based on the original series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links features the likes of Yami Yugi, Seto Kaiba, Joey, and all the other characters that fans will remember.
