Yu-Gi-Oh Online 3 Review

For those of you that don’t know, Yu-Gi-Oh Online is a free to play recreation of the collectible card game. If you just squealed in excitement, keep reading. If you yawned or gagged, please stop reading, for this review is going to assume you have knowledge of the game.

Graphics

I know what you are thinking. “Why should I care about the graphics? It’s a card game.” Well, normally I’d say the same thing, but the graphics have a few points that are worth mentioning. First, there are short cut scenes inserted in the duels of you drawing, playing cards, or taking damage, as well as little custom sayings you can make your character say when he/she does these things. The sayings can be fun, but the cut scenes can get annoying. Luckily you can disable them separately in the options. Also, it’s good to note that when you do so it makes the game relatively net book friendly.

Sound

Another thing you don’t think you will care about, but will. Yu-Gi-Oh online has a soundtrack play plays constantly. It’s pretty cool but, again, can get repetitive. I suggest putting your own music on while you duel. But guess what, there’s no options to disable the sound! To disable the sounds of the game in Windows 7 manually, go Start>Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Adjust System Volume>Simply click the blue speaker below the Yu-Gi-Oh online symbol to mute the program entirely.

Gameplay

Surprisingly, this game is very true to its real world counterpart. The in-game ban list is up to date constantly. The majority of the cards you know and love are available in game. All the rules, regulations, chain order, and turn phases are exactly like the real world game. Even the cards are unchanged. There are in game events and tourneyments with prizes, as well as in game chats and friends list, as well as a level system (which seemed to have no point). You may have multiple decks that have the same cards in them (ie: you only have one Time Wizard, but you have two decks. He may be in both decks at the same time) and you may also have a standard side deck. There are many options for duels, including making it a best two out of three match or a single game, as well as adjust time limits for players to take their turns and for the game to last. Ah yes, there are CPUs to play against, if you were wondering?

The Catch

Now, this “catch” is very give and take. When you get in the game you are given a standard 85 card trunk to make a deck from. Now, you can use those cards anyway you want and make as many decks as you want, but you CANNOT OBTAIN ANY MORE CARDS WITHOUT PAYING. Yes, it sounds stupid, but hear this: CARDS ARE ONLY $3 USD FOR 50. Compared to the real life game, that is more than 5x more for your money. This makes this game a great thing to play for a day with a bunch of friends. Everyone throw a few bucks in, see what they get, make the best decks they can, then play. A few days of fun for cheaper than the entrance fee for a festival. Now that’s a bargain.

You CANNOT enter events or tournament unless you have paid for anything in game in the last 30 days. That’s acceptable. If you care enough to play in a tournament you will have done that anyway.

You have to be 18 to buy cards with real money! I don’t care how old you are. This is total bull. I’m not going to lie, I made another account when I found this out. What are they going to do? Sue me for wanting to give them my money and time?

If this sounds fun to you you can download the 1.25 gig (800 mb installer, 350 mb patch) game at http://www.yugioh-online.net/. If you have any questions feel free to leave them as comments to this post!