Recent reviews by E. Rekt

Literally only have this year's game for CAW. If it wasn't for 2K axing mods, this would be my go-to WWE 2K, but killing mods puts a HUGE damper on the game as a whole.

For a cheap Unity asset flip that looks like it could've released alongside the OG Xbox, it sure does run terribly. The AI also isn't the smartest thing in the world.

Flat-out dead. It's a shame because its weirdness makes me want to try it out.

The biggest problem I have with this game is that some of the darker pieces blend too well into the background to the point where you can't tell if there's an empty space on the board or a piece. The background isn't a solid black. It's more of a brownish black that matches very well with the stained glass aesthetic that the pieces give off. This becomes a huge issue when a lot of the puzzle is together and the tiniest gap blends into the rest of the puzzle. It's not game-breaking, but it gets annoying.

Otherwise, this is a very relaxing and aesthetically pleasing game.

UPDATE (as of 3/5/19)

The team has done a much better job of updating the ban list and dealing with hackers over the past year (although I wish that they would do something about Koa'ki Meiru OTK's). However, they've completely botched the 5D's release by locking characters' ace monsters outside of skills behind boxes. Luckily, none of them have impacted the meta really at all. But we have yet to receive Black Rose Dragon. With the current Tyranno event going on, it has never been easier to build a budget (gems)/F2P meta deck than it is now with the newest Dino build. Ignoring Koa'ki which more than likely will get hit in the next ban list, this meta is the healthiest it's been in a while. UPDATE (as of 4/26/18)

Konami has done no balancing as far as the ban list goes in months. And as a result the meta is flooded with Sylvans, burn, and Cyber Angels even though there are dozens of different types of archetypes already in the game. A lot of those would be viable if only Konami would take care of all the broken stuff and just hit the cards causing the game to get repetitive and unbalanced. The current state of Duel Links has nothing to do with powercreep. Powercreep is inevitable in all card games. The problem is that new cards that are added to the game are never monitored (with the exception of Golden Bamboo Sword/Woodland Sprite).

For example: Sylvan Komushroomo is an extremely powerful card that mills through 1/4th of your 20 card deck. Having several can give players too much advantage too early in the duel. The solution would be to limit Komushroomo since it would still possible to climb with just 1. That would make the Sylvan archetype somewhat challenging to use without killing it all-together. It's simple thing like this Konami refuses to do and as a result the active playerbase is starting to dwindle. And don't get me started on the hackers they never properly took care of.

[ORIGINAL REVIEW]
tl;dr: Play for fun. Don't play competitively if you don't have the time or money to.

LONG VERSION:
If you're looking to play Duel Links competitively and you're on a budget, don't. The RNG kills this game. You will never pass Platinum because as soon as you save up enough gems or money to build yourself a half-decent deck, either:
a) A new box or mini box will release and with it will come severely broken cards such as Golden Bamboo Sword and (most recently) Sea Stealth Attack that won't get nerfed until a few weeks after they launch at the earliest just in time for a new broken card to come along.
b) Some F2P-friendly aspects of the deck you may want to build such as Machine Angel Ritual, Red-Eyes Spirit, and Champion's Vigilance will get limited so you forced to spend even more gems/money on replacements to those cards, or
c) By the time you finally complete the deck, it may be either too week or too slow for the current meta. Sacred Phoenix is the perfect example of this.

Despite all of this, the gameplay itself is implementd very well. Going into Duel LinksI thought that the quick duel format would become a hinderance but all it does is make you play your cards ever more carefully or risk clogging your front/backrow. The events are excellent. As a matter of fact, play right now. The Crowler event is currently happening and Ancient Gears will help you very much through the beginning of the game without costing you much at all.

The one thing Konami has balanced correctly is the skills for each Legendary Duelist that can turn the tide of the duel in your favor or against you if you don't play carefully. For example, Beatdown will boost your Hazy Flame deck but will kill your Cyber Angel deck. Konami also recently cracked down on cheaters in PVP, but just like any other online game cheaters will find a way to keep cheating. Just keep out for them.

In conclusion, Duel Links is a very fun game that you can either play as a little timekiller or during a long sitting. Just never use the auto-dueler.

If you guys aren't aware, the Metal Sonic and Ryo DLC are now free to previous owners. Thanks, Sumo!

EDIT 2: The looping issue seems to have been fixed..

I had a lot of fun for the 10 minutes the game was stable, but it crashes too frequently. Crashed about 8 times in the past 2 hours despite surpassing the minimum requirements.

Other users are also experiencing endless loading loops. To remedy this, paste the following into the game's launch options:
vrchat://launch?ref=vrchat(dot)com&id=wld_97fda4a1-f820-4f09-a88c-2d2a95b668f7:1~private [REPLACE (dot) with .]

EDIT: After trying to jump into the main hub, the loop started all over again. So the problem more than likely is with the hub.

I really hope these bugs get patched soon because I would absolutely enjoy the heck out of this game & Knuckles. Currently though, the game is too much of a mess for me to enjoy it.

I really wanted to like this game (especially given the time of year) but there are so many flaws:

PROS:
+ Free
+ Hunger Games style battle royal gameplay
+ Santa-on-Santa action
+ Very well optimized. Currently running on an old A6 with integrated graphics and getting a constant 60 FPS outside of the menu.

CONS:
- Only 1 tiny map with terrible chokes
- Clunky controls
- Hitboxes worse than those in Team Fortress 2
- Sword is only usable if you're standing still or are aiming straight while in freefall
- The reindeer is totally unusable since you're forced to use A and D to turn and then still have to deal with the horrible hitboxes
- Weapons spawn either too early or too seldomly, which is fine for 20-person games but is crippling for those in smaller games
- No voice/text chat

Long Live Santa is a nice festive little timekiller, but the lack of polish even for a free game leaves very little incentive for me to actually play it much longer.

And the 2017 "Haunts My Dreams" Award goes to...

If a studio isn't going to have faith in their own game and cancel it after what would have been an otherwise successful beta to almost any other independent developer, how am I (the potential consumer) supposed to have faith in it?

Wasted potential. If I learned anything from this trial, it's that there's a market for an arcade-y street skating games in the current year and I hope somebody jumps on it.