New review

After having played the game for a while and having chosen to go F2P, here's my revised view on things:
The stuff regarding the actual software and how it performs still rings true. They did a really fine job with that and if the rest were any better, I'd still recommend the game.

Now onto the stuff I noticed since:

- unless your deck can interrupt on turn 0, don't bother with ranked past gold/diamond

- you can earn rewards and gems as a F2P player, but since you have to do it in ranked or events, don't expect it to be time efficient

- non-meta is almost non-viable ; non-meta without hand traps is basically non-viable

- you will face the same types of decks that use the same kind of winning strategies 95% of your time, because of the above reasons; that can be fun for a few matches, just to learn where you stand, but as soon as someone plays their first card and it is the usual suspects, expect your enjoyment factor to vanish

- Konami basically planned for you to have to use a ton of handtraps and key cards of your chosen archetypes with the amount of broken cards and plays they allow, so if you don't go free to play, expect to have to buy packs until you have the core of around 10 to 15 generic URs you'll find in almost every deck and the around 10 to 20 UR and SRs you need for your specific archetypes main deck. Extra deck is a little less egregious, but that's only because it's limited to 15 cards.

- Once you have your deck completed, don't expect it to last any longer than 1 year, before the power creep forces you to rethink what you play

- depending on your starting hand, if you go second, don't expect to actually get to do anything

Since the game lacks different formats and modes and rewards are only given in ranked and event duels, don't expect to play casually and still be able to build up your card base without entering former formats.
Also don't expect to find way less meta-cancer in the other formats.

Most used archetypes up to diamond during my playtime were:
Yubel, Tenpai, Centur-ion, Gimmick Puppet, Salamangreat, Labrynth, Branded, Voiceless Voice, White Forest, Tearlament

It's just become a major borefest. Yu-Gi-Oh! might be an eternal format and not have hard rotations, but the reality is, most people will play the same crap and it doesn't really take a lot of cunning, nor is there a lot of interaction over the course of a game, due to power creep.
Cards are too often unaffected, activation windows protected or set ups too unstoppable.


Old review below

I'm gonna try to stay somewhat fair here and only look to the F2P aspect, and what it offers, for my rating, not towards what the actual TCG has (d)evolved into.
The game itself plays nicely, you have lots of ways to gain resources, get plenty of deck slots and the crafting system allows you to get most non-meta decks built in a respectable amount of time.
Solo play has a good amount of content and the amount of different cards available in the game is perfect for me.
I'll recommend the game on that premise.

As a side note for the period of time during which I'm writing this review though:
The fact that almost every deck has to play either handtraps or go into a full single archetype build that is absolutely pregnant with support and synergy options makes the "individual" matches you play feel all the same and either you're joining the horde of victimizers or you become the victim.

If you enjoy close matches, if you enjoy matches that are played out, if you enjoy matches have a storyline to them, it ain't gonna be the time to play this game for you, right now, most likely. You might wanna just build up your card base with the freebies you get and play solo against the CPU and even there, expect to see combo decks in some of the harder missions.

I can only see the game reigned in by first implementing a harsher time limit for your turns and then limiting cards with negate effects, strong quick effects and most hand traps to 1, so decks with less card advantage generation can breathe a bit.

If you enjoy playing against the same concept of deck and the same type of cards every single game, go right ahead, this is the time for you.

New review After having played the game for a while and having chosen to go F2P, here's my revised view on things: The stuff regarding the actual software and how it performs still rings true. They did a really fine job with that and if the rest were any better, I'd still recommend the game. Now onto the stuff I noticed since: - unless your deck can interrupt on turn 0, don't bother with ranked past gold/diamond - you can earn rewards and gems as a F2P player, but since you have to do it in ranked or events, don't expect it to be time efficient - non-meta is almost non-viable ; non-meta without hand traps is basically non-viable - you will face the same types of decks that use the same kind of winning strategies 95% of your time, because of the above reasons; that can be fun for a few matches, just to learn where you stand, but as soon as someone plays their first card and it is the usual suspects, expect your enjoyment factor to vanish - Konami basically planned for you to have to use a ton of handtraps and key cards of your chosen archetypes with the amount of broken cards and plays they allow, so if you don't go free to play, expect to have to buy packs until you have the core of around 10 to 15 generic URs you'll find in almost every deck and the around 10 to 20 UR and SRs you need for your specific archetypes main deck. Extra deck is a little less egregious, but that's only because it's limited to 15 cards. - Once you have your deck completed, don't expect it to last any longer than 1 year, before the power creep forces you to rethink what you play - depending on your starting hand, if you go second, don't expect to actually get to do anything Since the game lacks different formats and modes and rewards are only given in ranked and event duels, don't expect to play casually and still be able to build up your card base without entering former formats. Also don't expect to find way less meta-cancer in the other formats. Most used archetypes up to diamond during my playtime were: Yubel, Tenpai, Centur-ion, Gimmick Puppet, Salamangreat, Labrynth, Branded, Voiceless Voice, White Forest, Tearlament It's just become a major borefest. Yu-Gi-Oh! might be an eternal format and not have hard rotations, but the reality is, most people will play the same crap and it doesn't really take a lot of cunning, nor is there a lot of interaction over the course of a game, due to power creep. Cards are too often unaffected, activation windows protected or set ups too unstoppable. Old review below I'm gonna try to stay somewhat fair here and only look to the F2P aspect, and what it offers, for my rating, not towards what the actual TCG has (d)evolved into. The game itself plays nicely, you have lots of ways to gain resources, get plenty of deck slots and the crafting system allows you to get most non-meta decks built in a respectable amount of time. Solo play has a good amount of content and the amount of different cards available in the game is perfect for me. I'll recommend the game on that premise. As a side note for the period of time during which I'm writing this review though: The fact that almost every deck has to play either handtraps or go into a full single archetype build that is absolutely pregnant with support and synergy options makes the "individual" matches you play feel all the same and either you're joining the horde of victimizers or you become the victim. If you enjoy close matches, if you enjoy matches that are played out, if you enjoy matches have a storyline to them, it ain't gonna be the time to play this game for you, right now, most likely. You might wanna just build up your card base with the freebies you get and play solo against the CPU and even there, expect to see combo decks in some of the harder missions. I can only see the game reigned in by first implementing a harsher time limit for your turns and then limiting cards with negate effects, strong quick effects and most hand traps to 1, so decks with less card advantage generation can breathe a bit. If you enjoy playing against the same concept of deck and the same type of cards every single game, go right ahead, this is the time for you.