Lynxelot
Log Status
Played
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
--
Days in Journal
2 days
Last played
November 26, 2023
First played
June 19, 2022
Platforms Played
Honestly, they've more or less gotten the hang of handling this game by now. It's still missing quite a few things I wish I could see in the game, but ever since returning to the game it's seen nothing but improvement with time. We still don't have BO3 or retro formats and the game is still a ways behind the TCG and even further behind the OCG. However, there's a whole lot more added in terms of general functionality and quality of life, as well as plenty more accessories and more robust duel room options (though the rooms could still use custom banlists...).
Banlists are handled interestingly and I see people complain about them a lot more than I'd agree with. I rather like the unique monthly mini-lists over the unknown-timeframe TCG banlists, and it feels like the developers can pivot their picks really quickly if needed. It's a flexible system that I think works perfectly for a game of this nature and style. I think it also makes the climb to Master rank (the current highest rank) pretty interesting with the monthly changes. but that's just me. Of course, shit like Maxx "C" is still legal and FTKs are weirdly easy to find on ladder due to OCG-based lists, so things can only get so good even with the way lists are handled.
The monetization has not gotten particularly better or worse. Points can be given for there being plenty of affordable and powerful structure decks to get ahold of as a new player, and free gems come up pretty often with the monthly events. I'm no longer F2P but have never really felt strong pressure to put anything together other than making a Purrely deck (my favorite deck in the game in a number of ways, making the pressure entirely internal) as well as an all-purpose Dino deck for event farming (which obviously pays for itself).
I've more or less sunk my money in for the purpose of helping teach my friends who are getting into the game as well as for the aforementioned reasons, so I'd say it's nothing too deeply predatory. Still, though, the UR spread is as shitty as always and when you complete a given Duel Pass you ALWAYS feel a huge drought of resources until the next one begins. It's a gacha still as one would expect.
In general I'd say the game has improved substantially from its very middling release, but it's not yet at a point of feeling great. It still needs alternative duel modes for me to even think of pushing it up through the ceiling it's currently at, and banning Maxx "C" would let it come through the next ceiling after that. Master Duel still has so much potential as my previous review stated, but it really needs to come toward it sooner rather than later. It's SO close to being the best YGO game yet released. It's just not there now.
Banlists are handled interestingly and I see people complain about them a lot more than I'd agree with. I rather like the unique monthly mini-lists over the unknown-timeframe TCG banlists, and it feels like the developers can pivot their picks really quickly if needed. It's a flexible system that I think works perfectly for a game of this nature and style. I think it also makes the climb to Master rank (the current highest rank) pretty interesting with the monthly changes. but that's just me. Of course, shit like Maxx "C" is still legal and FTKs are weirdly easy to find on ladder due to OCG-based lists, so things can only get so good even with the way lists are handled.
The monetization has not gotten particularly better or worse. Points can be given for there being plenty of affordable and powerful structure decks to get ahold of as a new player, and free gems come up pretty often with the monthly events. I'm no longer F2P but have never really felt strong pressure to put anything together other than making a Purrely deck (my favorite deck in the game in a number of ways, making the pressure entirely internal) as well as an all-purpose Dino deck for event farming (which obviously pays for itself).
I've more or less sunk my money in for the purpose of helping teach my friends who are getting into the game as well as for the aforementioned reasons, so I'd say it's nothing too deeply predatory. Still, though, the UR spread is as shitty as always and when you complete a given Duel Pass you ALWAYS feel a huge drought of resources until the next one begins. It's a gacha still as one would expect.
In general I'd say the game has improved substantially from its very middling release, but it's not yet at a point of feeling great. It still needs alternative duel modes for me to even think of pushing it up through the ceiling it's currently at, and banning Maxx "C" would let it come through the next ceiling after that. Master Duel still has so much potential as my previous review stated, but it really needs to come toward it sooner rather than later. It's SO close to being the best YGO game yet released. It's just not there now.
if red-eyes black dragon with his "pohtenshul" were a video game, i think master duel would be it. the presentation and general play features of this game are shaping up to be awesome, with some of the most streamlined deckbuilding i've ever seen in a yugioh sim (though i wish there were some better filter options). the actual game in motion looks and feels great (besides how slow/sluggish the animations are), but there's just a lot that master duel is missing at the moment. i'm sure i'm not the first nor the last to bring this up, but bo3, alternative banlists/real banlists, retro formats, better monetization, and more accessories/aesthetic options are all missing. more expanded duel room features are missing. new cards are missing. lots of stuff is missing, giving the impression that master duel is more in an open beta stage than up to a full release. i'm fine with that, but i hope it doesn't last long.
what i think is most damning here is the monetization for sure. while it isn't as gross as duel links because of the godsend of a crafting system, things like rarity and gem acquisition are handled in a way i can only describe as pure konamium. my ogdoadic lair deck - a deck weaker than mid rogue, mind you - has taken me upwards of 14 ultra rares to make. meanwhile, my thunder dragon deck is practically budget in comparison with around 5-7. the game gives enough gems to make 2-4 decks depending on how lucky you are, but once you reach that point you're completely fucked unless you're willing to grind out missions for the rest of your life for almost no reward. konami, for the sake of this game's health, should NOT have made it so nearly every archetype or deck type in the game requires at least a few ultras. that should not have even been on the table. are they seriously going to tell me that it was a fair and balanced decision to make sure a fucking venom deck is going to cost at least like 6 ultras to make? don't even get me started on hero, either. i feel for all the people who would want to experiment with them but can't because of how ridiculous the rarity is.
but hey, i still gave this game a middling to positive score. it isn't all doom and gloom. with the decks i have gotten to make, i've had the chance to connect with and play with friends and relatives who i wouldn't dream would be playing yugioh with me up until now. it's opened so very many doors that i hope stay open - it's just up to konami to finally shape up and make a sincere and honest effort at a good game after nearly a decade of going down the drain. i won't stop playing this game any time soon, but it needs to be improved a lot before it really shines.
6/19/22 update: i'm finally quitting this game, at least when it comes to playing it with any sort of actual consistency. the most recent festival and general lack of improvement tell me the developers and/or the higher-ups at konami do not give enough of a shit about this game to want to make it actually good, and that saddens me. what we do have is still a solid skeleton for a game, but it's something with nothing in it and even as a simulator it's far too slow and cumbersome and gacha-y to work all that well. while its presentation is still awesome and it's the best yugioh has ever looked, it's missing so much of what would make it good that it's simply... mid. it continues the trend of (ocg/tcg-based) yugioh games never breaking that ceiling, and this point i wonder if that ceiling will be there forever.
what i think is most damning here is the monetization for sure. while it isn't as gross as duel links because of the godsend of a crafting system, things like rarity and gem acquisition are handled in a way i can only describe as pure konamium. my ogdoadic lair deck - a deck weaker than mid rogue, mind you - has taken me upwards of 14 ultra rares to make. meanwhile, my thunder dragon deck is practically budget in comparison with around 5-7. the game gives enough gems to make 2-4 decks depending on how lucky you are, but once you reach that point you're completely fucked unless you're willing to grind out missions for the rest of your life for almost no reward. konami, for the sake of this game's health, should NOT have made it so nearly every archetype or deck type in the game requires at least a few ultras. that should not have even been on the table. are they seriously going to tell me that it was a fair and balanced decision to make sure a fucking venom deck is going to cost at least like 6 ultras to make? don't even get me started on hero, either. i feel for all the people who would want to experiment with them but can't because of how ridiculous the rarity is.
but hey, i still gave this game a middling to positive score. it isn't all doom and gloom. with the decks i have gotten to make, i've had the chance to connect with and play with friends and relatives who i wouldn't dream would be playing yugioh with me up until now. it's opened so very many doors that i hope stay open - it's just up to konami to finally shape up and make a sincere and honest effort at a good game after nearly a decade of going down the drain. i won't stop playing this game any time soon, but it needs to be improved a lot before it really shines.
6/19/22 update: i'm finally quitting this game, at least when it comes to playing it with any sort of actual consistency. the most recent festival and general lack of improvement tell me the developers and/or the higher-ups at konami do not give enough of a shit about this game to want to make it actually good, and that saddens me. what we do have is still a solid skeleton for a game, but it's something with nothing in it and even as a simulator it's far too slow and cumbersome and gacha-y to work all that well. while its presentation is still awesome and it's the best yugioh has ever looked, it's missing so much of what would make it good that it's simply... mid. it continues the trend of (ocg/tcg-based) yugioh games never breaking that ceiling, and this point i wonder if that ceiling will be there forever.