While I tended to spend what little money I had on video games, there is no denying the massive part that Yu-Gi-Oh played in my childhood, both in terms of the anime and the card game. Following Yugi’s exploits against Kaiba and Pegasus was a lot of fun, and winning a game against friends through summoning the pieces of Exodia (contrary to rumors, it is possible to call him) was as climactic as anything in these formative years of my youth. When Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links was announced earlier this year, the possibility of reliving some of the best memories of my childhood through duelling all the characters from the anime – as well as friends online – was incredibly exciting. For fans in Japan and Australia, the wait is now over – over the past week, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links has soft launched on the App Store in the two aforementioned regions, and with both Japanese and English language options already available, it shouldn’t be long until other countries can activate their trap cards in this newest Yu-Gi-Oh game on iOS.
Of course, this is not the first Yu-Gi-Oh title to make the digital transition to iPhone and iPad – Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Generation (Free) launched back in October 2014, and was an extremely able simulation of the card game on iOS, with over 6,000 cards and fully fledged online multiplayer to boot. Duel Links appears to be more of an evolution, rather than a revolution, of this formula – it includes an equivalent amount of cards to play with, and features the same free-to-play monetisation model, which is an accepted precedent for card games on mobile devices. However, one major change is the graphical style – instead of a rather dated and unintuitive 2D interface that was present in Duel Generation, the newest game has gone for a new 3D perspective, which should help make the matches slightly more immersive. Some additional missions to unlock characters, as well as a fleshed out single player campaign means Duel Links is definitely one to watch out for when it launches worldwide in 2017, especially for fans of the series. If you’re lucky enough to live in Australia or Japan, download Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links straight from the App Store – if you’re outside these regions and want to screw the rules, use our soft launch guide to try the game out before its universal release.
