Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist REVIEW

I am an avid fan of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, having played the actual physical card game when I was younger, and since then have become fond of the Tag Force series for the PSP. Imagine my excitement then, when I discovered that a re-mastered Yu-Gi-Oh! game was to be released on the PS4! Admittedly, I am an old school Yu-Gi-Oh! fan, as I much prefer the simplicity of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series and ruleset, and I find GX bearable. I thought Synchro monsters were an unnecessary addition, but they grew on me. What I haven't come to grips with yet are the new(ish) XYZ monsters, and I know absolutely nothing about the newest addition to the game, Pendulum monsters. I had grown frustrated that the Yu-Gi-Oh! game had become so complicated, and began to notice that the original storyline, characters and cards were pretty much gone from modern games. 

This artwork shows the main characters of the five storylines
Left to right: Yusei Fudo (5Ds), Yuya Sakaki (Arc-V), Yugi Mutou (Original), Yuma Tsukumo (Zexal), Jaden Yuki (GX)

This brings me onto the most amazing thing about this Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist. It features ALL eras of Yu-Gi-Oh! including the very original storyline, characters and cards, all the way up to the very latest additions to the game. I knew this game was on to a winner as soon as I knew that was the case. This had me hooked before I had ever played my first duel in Legacy of the Duelist. That said, the gameplay is of a very high standard, and places LOTD (I'll abbreviate from now on) at the pinacle of Yu-Gi-Oh! video gaming. All the animations during the duel are smooth, and once you've nailed the rules, dueling is an easy process. There are glimpses of extra effort from the game's makers in the form of minor animations that play when signature monsters attack (so far I've seen it for Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Red Eyes B. Dragon and Dark Magician). They're not particularly impressive and so far have been the only thing I've not been impressed by. I've touched on the smooth and enjoyable playability of the duels in LOTD, which brings with it the experience and excitement of playing an actual physical duel. All aspects of the game have been fine-tuned to create the best-possible dueling experience, including the different kinds of summons and card effects, as well as the navigation of the field, and the playing of the different types of cards. The graphics are high quality and this makes the playing experience even better, as the artwork on the cards and the playing field are all defined and smooth. 

An example of in-duel gameplay in Legacy of the Duelist

Another thing that makes LOTD such a good playing experience is that the game has both offline and online gaming modes. The offline campaign is enjoyable and follows popular storylines from the manga. Using the original storyline as an example, LOTD follows Yugi and his friends through the Duelist Kingdom storyline, and then moves on to the Battle City tournament with the ghouls led by Marik. It's very enjoyable and the duels become more challenging as you move further through the story. If that wasn't enough, there's a further challenge as you can play every story duel in reverse, playing as the opponent rather than the player. This is just one that adds to the variety of playing possibilities. Added to this, each duel gives you the option to play with the story deck, for a greater challenge and to stay true to the storyline, or you can play with a custom deck, which makes the duels much easier; it's not difficult to create an overpowered deck that can sweep away any of the offline opposition. Of course, to get the good cards, a good deal of offline playing is required in order to earn DP (duel points) and open card packs which you unlock along the way. This links to the online duels; there's ranked matches against real online players, and it's very enjoyable. It gives you the opportunity to show off your cards and decks earned in the campaign, and provides a real test when compared to playing against the AI.

All in all, I am completely obsessed with this game. I've been playing Tag Force on the PSP and gameboy Yu-Gi-Oh! games including a personal favourite, The Sacred Cards. Legacy of the Duelist, in a short space of time, has become my favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! game and this shows how good it is. I can't get enough of playing LOTD, both offline and online, and have made friends who I have rematches with. It's a satisfying dueling experience and offers so much more than Yu-Gi-Oh! games have done in the past. If you're a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's a no-brainer. If you've never heard of the game, Legacy of the Duelist provides tutorials and practice duels for you to learn the rules and hone your skills. Anyone who's a fan of card games, you're gonna love this.


Luke

No words are needed for this. Genius.